Tale of Discovery

Chapter 187: Promise ; Awkward

Ignoring the shivering man who is still on his knees, I open the envelope and pull the letter out.

As expected, I am unable to make out the contents due to my understanding of the language being limited.

Naturally, I don't let that affect me in any way as I raise my head before saying in a firm tone,

"Stay here."

Seeing the man cower in fear upon hearing my command, I nod my head once before teleporting to the room I was in before arriving here.

As I step out of the gateway, I look over at Siesta who is also looking at me with an expression of confusion while mine is somewhat impassive.

Siesta takes a moment to scrutinize me, and upon setting her sight on the letter, an expression of realization appears on her face as she beams a smile and walks over.

I hand over the letter to her before taking a seat on a chair I casually create.

"This" Siesta says while looking at the contents of the letter as her brows furrow.

"What's wrong?" I say, curious about what it is that has elicited such a reaction from her.

"The letter mostly consists of pleasantries toward Master from the princess of Tristain. In short, she wishes to meet Master and gift you something."

"Gift me something?" I say, perturbed by the content of the letter.

"That's what's written," Siesta says.

Gift? What kind of gift requires my presence? Could this be an excuse to meet up with me? As narcissistic as it may sound, that just might be the case.

"Siesta, I need you to write a response to this letter. Tell the sender that I will be arriving tomorrow at dusk."

"Understood," Siesta responds before adopting a thoughtful and saying,

"But, I don't have anything to write that on."

Hearing this, I create everything she would most likely require before leaning back and waiting for her to get it done.

After a short while, Siesta hands me a letter and says,

"I've initiated the usual the nobility speak in the letter to keep it formal."

"That's great," I say before placing the letter into an envelope that I just created and making sure that it's ready for delivery.

"Thank you, Siesta," I say while beaming her a smile.

As a response to my actions, Siesta beams a smile of hers as she says,

"I'm glad that I could be of use to Master."

Hearing this, I issue a light chuckle before approaching her for a short embrace that lasted no more than five seconds.

Backing away from her a little, I prepare a gateway back to the 'office' while saying,

"Of course. Make sure to not overdo yourself."

Finding myself back in the 'office', I immediately say,

"Get up."

Hearing my words, the terrified courier gets up from the ground with his head lowered.

"Hand this over to the Crown Princess," I say while offering him the letter.

Then, I use Pyrokinesis to generate a small flame at the tip of my finger and move it close to his face before saying in a cold tone,

"I don't need to tell you about the consequences of failing to do so, now, do I?"

The courier instantly begins shaking his head with all the energy he can muster before saying,

"I know what to do."

"Good. You may leave now," I say.

The courier proceeds to carefully take the letter off my hands and hurriedly leave the room without looking back even once.

"Thank you, Father," Gabriel says all of a sudden.

"What for? Protecting my daughter's pride? That's what a proper father is supposed to do, is it not?"

Upon saying what needed to be said, I move closer to Gabriel and pull her toward myself before looking into her enchanting eyes.

We stay in this position for a few seconds before the two of us gradually close in the gap between our lips and begin the first passionate kiss of the many to come - or, that would be the case if not for the peeping tom in front of the door.

Breaking the kiss, I turn my head in the direction of the door before saying in a rebuking tone,

"Enjoying the show, Aruru?"

The moment my words fade off, a small figure rushes inside the room and directly leaps into my embrace.

I catch her from the air and look into her curious eyes as she says,

"It's not fair!"

"Huh?" I voice, a little startled by her words.

"I want to spend time with Father too!"

Letting out a sigh, I say,

"I know that I should spend more time with you. So, how about we go visit the capital we 'liberated' sometime?"

Hearing my suggestion, Aruru nods her small head a few times before leaving my embrace and saying,

"Promise?"

"Promise," I say while patting her head.

Well, I will have to go back there sometime to observe the state of affairs. Having some company when I do so wouldn't hurt.

---

"Now, I wonder where she is," I subconsciously mutter as I make use of Clairvoyance to search for Henrietta's location.

Soon, I find her. She's currently standing in front of a body-sized mirror in her room and inspecting her attire.

From the small hill of clothes behind her on the bed, I can tell that she's been doing this for a while now.

Shaking my head, I begin walking toward the room, curious about how she'll react to my abrupt appearance.

After a short while, I find myself standing right in front of her door, while she's changing to yet another attire.

I wait for her to get it on before knocking on the door a few times.

"Who is it?" a voice comes from inside.

"Your dear cousin," I bluntly respond.

Silence ensues as Henrietta freezes up for a few seconds before she hurriedly begins to fix her appearance up.

She then intends to walk over to the door and open it, however, she realizes the state her room is in as she says,

"Give me a moment."

I continue to observe her panicked state as she uses wind magic to shove the dresses into her wardrobe.

Having 'fixed' everything up, Henrietta swiftly walks over to the door before adopting a small smile and opening it.

Upon seeing me, her smile grows as she says in a cheerful tone,

"Wales! I didn't expect you'd visit me this early."

Shrugging my shoulders, I reply,

"I just wanted to see as soon as possible."

The smile growing even further, Henrietta leads me inside while saying,

"This is my room."

Halfway inside, Henrietta suddenly stops and turns around with an odd expression as she asks,

"How did you know I was here?"

"I sensed that you were here," I respond, deciding to be honest.

Henrietta stares at me for a few seconds before walking toward the bed where she previously had put the clothes.

She takes a seat on the bed, and I follow suit, finding no issue with sitting on her side.

Henrietta adopts a mildly surprised look on her face as she raises her brows before returning to normal a few seconds later.

"I will get straight to the point," Henrietta says before straightening her back and preparing to explain her reason for calling me here.

"There is no need for that," I say, surprising her yet again, "We can take our time."

As a response to this, Henrietta shows me the brightest smile I've seen on her face until now.

Unfortunately, the smile on her face freezes the next moment, as the wardrobe in her room abruptly bursts open, bringing with it a small avalanche of luxuriant dresses.