Tale of Discovery

Chapter 212: Artificial Magic ; Delay ; Interruption

"Victor, what was all that for?" Henrietta hurriedly questions once I get back to the balcony.

"The safety of our kingdoms," I impassively respond while walking past her.

She follows me and begins to ask me a series of questions that mostly consisted of her worries regarding what just happened.

"Don't worry," I say, "Do you think they would dare to face someone with such unconventional magic and prowess in war?"

"But, they have the strongest military!" she anxiously says.

"Henrietta," I say as I stop in my tracks, "that's no longer the case."

An expression of disbelief covers her face as she doubtfully asks, "What do you mean?"

"You heard me," I respond as I begin walking again, "Albion's army will soon be unbeatable."

---

"Come in," I say as a response to the knock on my door.

The door swings open as Saturnus enters the room with a smile plastered to her face.

"It seems like you had fun," I remark.

"Yes, Creator," she responds before closing the door behind her and approaching me.

"So, did you manage to investigate their transportation method?"

"Yes," she responds, "They seem to have traveled here by unscientific means. Once I had taken the humans down, they quickly retreated to the outskirts of the capital."

"There is nothing outside the capital for transportation, so you assumed they used magic, huh?"

Saturnus nods her head as confirmation.

Perhaps, the method they used is similar to that of Osmond's. If it is, then I can have it researched and reproduced.

Like that, transportation between the three allied kingdoms will be easy and much more efficient.

I'm aware that numerous issues would arise from that, but with proper maintenance, it would yield many benefits.

Shaking the thought aside, for now, I shift my focus back to Saturnus.

"Is there anything else that you have to report?"

"Yes," she responds, "A few days ago, I researched the 'magic' in this world."

"Was it by fighting against the five elves?"

"That's correct," she says while beaming, "Through careful inspection of their internal structure and the surrounding air, I've analyzed enough data needed to reproduce 'magic' and utilize it."

Huh? Is she saying that she will be able to use magic? How would that even work out?

"However, the product will be an artificial imitation and requires specific components."

"Oh. So, you're saying that as long as I get you to the place you hail from, you will be able to recreate the magic system of this Platform?"

"That's right," she responds while nodding her head.

I have no idea how that would be possible, but if she says so, then it must be true. She's that smart after all.

Hold on, how intelligent is Saturnus? I can't believe that this hadn't crossed my mind before.

Not only is her reaction beyond anything I've encountered before, but she can predict attacks.

Setting such thoughts aside, I look Saturnus in the eyes and ask, "How was the state of the humans in Platform: Higgins the last time you saw them?"

"Their population had declined by 15%, and their technology had degraded to that of a few decades ago."

I nod my head once and say, "Do you have any information regarding the Core of the Platform?

"Core?" she asks with a confused look on her face.

Seeing her reaction, I assume that she doesn't know about it and say, "Never mind."

Nevertheless, she was present when Gaia spoke to me regarding the Core of this Platform. Did that not raise any questions for her?

Just as I'm about to inquire further, a loud knocking noise reaches my ears.

Checking it out, a small smile forms on my lips as I say, "Come in."

The door slowly opens as Laura sneakily steps inside and closes the door behind herself.

She looks over at me before shifting her sight to Saturnus as a troubled look appears on her face.

Shaking my head a little, I say in a firm tone, "Saturnus, you may leave now."

"Understood," she responds.

Not wasting a single second, Saturnus directly leaves the room and closes the door behind her. That causes a bright smile to form on Laura's lips before she rushes over to me.

I embrace her small body for a few seconds before lifting Laura and placing her only lap.

"What's wrong?" I question while stroking her soft cheek with my left hand.

"I couldn't sleep," she responds while looking down.

"What about Guiche?" I ask with a dubious expression.

"He went out to talk to some big sisters," she says.

That jerk. How could he abandon the cute little Laura for some chicks?

"Don't worry about it," I say soothingly, "you can sleep by my side tonight. Are you fine with that?"

"Yes!" she enthusiastically replies, indicating just how lonely she must've felt.

Truly, trash. I need to teach Guiche how a brother should treat his sister sometime.

And so, Laura and I both lie down on the bed and doze off.

---

Early morning, I wake up and immediately go inside the Arena to take a quick bath.

Once that was over, I returned to Sorcerers' Lair and exited my room, deciding against waking Laura up.

Soon, I find myself in the dining room, where Guiche, Louise, and Charlotte are sitting at the table already.

Looking over at the three, I notice that Guiche has a gloomy look on his face as he stares at the table.

"What's with him?" I say as I take a seat.

The two girls don't respond to me for a few seconds before Louise opens her mouth and says, "His sister has been missing since last night."

"Oh, that's all?" I say while grinning, "Hey Guiche, don't worry, she slept with me tonight."

Guiche's head immediately bolts in my direction as an expression of disbelief covers his face.

"You... slept with her?" Louise asks skeptically as a blush covers her cheeks.

"Well, yes. That I did," I respond casually.

Hmph. Now, this should teach Guiche the consequences of leaving one's sister behind to go and flirt around.

Suddenly, the door which came through opens. Then, a middle-aged woman enters the room along with Henrietta.

Upon closer inspection, the two look quite similar.

"Good morning," Henrietta says while the middle-aged woman nods her head as she looks over at each one of us.

In the end, her sight settled on me as she squinted her eyes with mild intrigue visible in them.

All of us greet back as the two of them take a seat at the table beside one another.

"Victor," Henrietta says while lifting her arm, "meet my mother."

A surprised look appears on the woman's face as she glances at Henrietta and asks, "What do you mean?"

As a response to that, Henrietta adopts a wry smile as she begins to speak of my 'circumstances'.

"How terrible," the woman says once Henrietta explained everything, "Is there no way to fix this?"

Henrietta shakes her head and says, "There is nothing to fix in the first place."

Hearing this, a smile forms on my lips as I nod my head approvingly. It seems like my efforts in separating me and Wales wasn't wasted.

--

Once Kirche, Saturnus, and Laura arrived, we all began silently eating breakfast, while Saturnus stood behind my back with a serene look on her face. That didn't last long, as Henrietta's mother, Marianne, started asking regarding the state of Albion and how I was managing it.

Shortly after that, a frown had formed on her face as she seemed to disapprove of the way I handled matters.

"This marriage," she said, "delay it."

The moment she uttered those words, Henrietta had a stunned look on face as she gawked at Marianne.

"This is for your good, Henrietta," she said, "marrying an incapable king would bring you more harm than anything else."

Naturally, I was more than a little pissed off by her words, and so was Saturnus.

Before the two of us could respond in kind, she raised her arm and said, "Do not misunderstand. I merely want to see if you can rule your kingdom properly."

Hearing that, I coldly chuckled and said, "Sure. However, you better not forget this day."

"Victor," Henrietta muttered in a distraught tone, while the rest continued to eat their breakfast, acting like heard and saw anything.

What she did was utterly disrespectful. She disregarded my status as a king and called my capabilities into question.

Even if she did it for her daughter, I am intolerant of such behavior.

And so, I will be delivering her proper punishment in due time.

"What are you thinking about?" Kirche's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Nothing much," I respond while repositioning my head on her lap to a more comfortable position.

"Lies," she teasingly says while poking my left cheek.

"Whatever."

Silence ensues for a few seconds before Kirche asks, "Will you be leaving soon?"

"Yes," I respond, "How did you know?"

"I just had a feeling you would," she wryly replies.

Seeing her slightly dejected expression, I lift my head from her lap and lock my lips with hers.

Before she can react, I push my tongue inside her mouth as I begin caressing her breast using my left hand.

Soon enough, I manage to slide my hand underneath her clothes and begin pinching her nipple.

A slight gasp escapes from Kirche as I proceed to push her down on the sofa, intending to undress her.

At this moment, the door suddenly opens as Laura walks inside while saying, "Brother Wales?"

Before she can spot us, I use Illusion to render Kirche imperceptible as I get off the sofa and approach Laura with a composed look on my face.

"You were looking for me, Laura?"

"Yes," she says while running over, "I want to play with Brother Wales."

A wry smile forms on my lips as I pat her head and look over at Kirche and shrug my shoulders.

Kirche, who has now fixed her appearance up, looks over at me with a smirk on her face.

She proceeds to get up and walk over to us as I dispel the Illusion.

"Next time," she says while patting my right shoulder before leaving the room.

"Brother..." Laura's voice reaches my ears, "Where did she come from?"

"I don't know," I simply respond before guiding her out of the room.

Hopefully, returning here will be easy...