The gate of the Capital had finally opened on the day of the Quest, to see thousands of people roaming around the street was too overwhelming for the Knights and the people of Parriah. All the brothels and inns around the city were fully occupied; shops were running out of goods to sell in an instant, and restaurants around the city were all full of people to serve.
"Knight Commander Astel, we don't have enough room for the other guest to settle in," Astrid could feel the anxiety from everyone in her platoon. Not that she could blame them when the expectations and responsibility to protect the Land of Parriah and its people were placed on their shoulders to carry.
"We can use the campground outside the city to establish a place to accommodate the remaining guests. As instructed by His Imperial Highness, the princes of the three kingdoms and those from the Ducal houses will have to settle inside the Shentis Palace," The campground outside the city was near the border of the Kingdom of Aetas on the North and Valtos on the East. Since the end of the civil war three years ago, the campground was left for the Holy Knights to maintain.
"Wouldn't that cause an uproar from the Holy Knights, Commander?" Astel could understand Theo's concern, although both the Holy Knights and Imperial Knights were under the direct supervision of the Head of Defense, the Imperial Knights has the same authority as the Black Knights who follows the order of the emperor. A fact that causes a rift between the two for a long time.
"I'll deal with it, Theo, just focus on gathering the materials for the temporary shelters before the sun sets," After designating more task to her squadron, Astrid requested an audience with the emperor before retiring for the day. Solving the problem at hand was her top priority, and after discussing every possible action to handle the situation with the other Commander and the Head of Defense, Knight Commander Astel had to speak with the emperor himself.
"Greetings to the Sun of the Empire," she greeted courteously.
"You look exhausted, Knight Commander Astel," His worries were so evident that she felt bad for appearing in front of her father right now. She reeks of sweats from running around and checking the progress of the temporary shelter on the outskirt of the city.
"Your Highness, you need not worry about my well-being. Rest assured that I'm doing well,"
"I heard that you had a meeting with the other Commander and the Head of defense, go on, speak of your concerns,"
"With the overwhelming number of participants and visitors coming in and out of the city, the Imperial Knights would like to request for permission to move the first elimination a few days prior to the actual starts of the Quest," It was the best solution that they could come up with at the moment. The Land of Parriah might be the center of power in the Empire, but it has too many limitations when it comes to territories. Since the land of Parriah was the center that connected all the four kingdoms, it was used to be an exchange point for envoys and the center of commerce all throughout the empire, but unlike the four kingdoms, it has very little land to its name.
"Aren't you please, my princess? Looks like you'll have a ton of suitors waiting to capture your heart," Her worries seems to be the least of her father's concern at the moment, the emperor was clearly enjoying her misery.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid I don't have enough time to be please right now, with the number of people inside our territory, the possibility of an invasion was too high for us to ignore," Astrid was more worried about another assassination attempt aimed at the emperor to even feel honored to be the one receiving all the affection of a thousand men outside the palace wall.
"Well, a few days earlier wouldn't make much change anyway. Let's proceed with the first Quest the day after tomorrow. And since majority of the most prestigious participants hasn't arrived yet, we will have to go on with the elimination for the next three days. I'll give the instruction to Lord Davis for now, you go back to your room and rest for now, my dear," She appreciated how her father, the emperor, listened to her and how easy it was to work harmoniously with him in matters that concern her as the Head of the imperial knights and as her daughter.
"I will, thank you for your concern, Your Highness, and oh, Father, please take a rest too; we have a long journey ahead of us," Astrid bid the emperor good night, returning to her chamber in no time to finally end her day in peace, not realizing how chaotic the following days would turn out to be.
The plan to start the Quest earlier than its original schedule turns out to be harder than Astrid expected it to be. Before the sun could rise on their land, the Grand Arena of Parriah, which could hold more than a hundred thousand people, was already filled with spectators, and participants from the entire Empire of Shentis.
"Knight Commander Astel, the Prince of Haybeast has arrived; Vice Commander Morandi is currently escorting them to the palace as you ordered," Astrid was pissed, to say the least. The Prince of Haybeast wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow. Lucky for her that one of the knights at the border saw the crest of the Kingdom of Haybeast passing the border near the Kingdom of Aetas that leads to the Land of Parriah; otherwise, the Prince of Haybeast would cause a scene in their territory for not being welcomed in an acceptable manner. She knew how temperamental the bastard Prince of Haybeast could be.
"Knight Commander Astel, we have to start the ceremony shortly; there were reports of fights inside the Minor Arena."
"These people are giving me headaches," Astrid was anticipating the fights to break out while the participants were waiting in the Minor Arena, after all, putting a bunch of people capable of wielding weapons in one room would do just that, but for them to start before the emperor could even start his speech was unacceptable. The emperor was still in his chamber, and the other High Official was still not inside the Arena at the moment.
"Send Vice Commander Lucius to the Minor Arena; tell him to settle the matter before the Emperor makes his appearance," The concerns just kept on coming up one after the other, and it was still the first day of the quest. To think that she has to handle this mess for the upcoming days, Astrid just wanted to disappear in an instant.
"His Imperial Highness is here Commander!" One of the knights was quick to alert her, she was too preoccupied to even notice the Black Knights walking towards them.
"Greetings to the sun of the Empire," She greeted along with the knights present inside the room outside the viewing deck where the emperor will be watching. The Head of Defense, Marquis Apollo standing on his left while Sir Khalil, the Commander of the Black Knights on the right side, surveying their surroundings with watchful eyes.
"Let's skip the pleasantries and start the ceremony; I've heard quite a few misfortunes already," The Emperor's words weigh heavily in the air, gritting her teeth for not handling the matter quietly.
The sound of trumpets and drums welcoming the emperor rang throughout the entire Arena, matching the people's loud cheer. His speech was both humbling and straightforward; the emperor was not fond of long speeches after all, and when the signal to open the gates connecting the two arenas opened, Astrid knew that she couldn't let anyone of them achieve their goal of marrying her.
Knight Commander Astel Pyrestorm was considered to be one of the strongest warriors of the Entire Empire of Shentis, and being the sole heir to the throne as Princess Astrid Von Malthor, her swordsmanship was one of the things that she took pride in. It was only appropriate to hold the Battle of Swords as the first Quest; the rules were simple, the participants will be group into ten, the person who emerge victorious among them will automatically proceed with the next elimination. The process will be quite tedious and repitative, but it was the best way to lessen the participants in an instant.
"Looks like we'll be seeing each other on the third day, my dearest Knight Commander Astel," Lucius Thorne, son of the house of Thorne, who was a loyal guard of the house of Malthor for decades, was one of the few that stands a chance against her in an actual combat.
"Looks like the first Quest would be easier than I thought it would be, don't you think so, Vice-Commander Lucius?"
"I guess it is if you say so. I feel sorry for the other knights who heard about your participation on the quest, they gave up before even trying because of you,"
"Well, they have better things to do than join in this Quest after all,"
"And here I thought that Knight Commander Astel Pyrestorm would never be interested in such a thing; I guess the chance to be her Majesty's, the Crown Empress, husband can do such wonders,"
"Watch your mouth, Lucius; slandering the Imperial Princess could cause your life in an instant," she reminded him, not that Lucius Thorne needed to be reminded of, after all, he was a loyal and trustworthy servant of the House of Malthor. His devotion to her as Princess Astrid Von Malthor cannot be on par with anyone; if he only knew that her master had always been beside him, Lucius would gladly take his life for always treating Knight Commander Astel a little unfairly than others. Lucky for her, the last time that Lucius saw Princess Astrid happened years ago; now, only trusted servants inside the Shentis Palace could see her and knew what Princess Astrid looked like.
"I don't mean it like that, Knight Commander Astel, you know that my loyalty and my life were devoted to her Royal Highness. I just want to see the Imperial Princess, and that's why I'm participating in His Majesty Quest,"
"So, you're not interested in being her Majesty's future husband?"
"Of course not! How could I even dream of doing such a thing? I'm not worthy enough to be her Majesty's other half," For some reason, Astrid felt a sense of relief, realizing that not everyone who entered the Emperor's Quest was interested in marrying her.
As the sun sets in the distance, signaling the end of the day, more than half of the participants barely made it through. Astrid was quite pleased with how the first day ended; the realization that there were quite a few people who actually caught her attention with their swordsmanship surprised her enough to look forward to what the next day would bring.
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