The bastard child becomes the empires royal consort-Chapter 62: We meet again [1]

Alan leaned over the edge, looking down at the water. "Did he just... commit suicide?"

"I don’t think so." Julia commented, her voice muffled by a mouthful of ice cream as she pointed a sticky finger towards the water. "Look, he’s walking."

"Huh?" Alan squinted his eyes, beneath the surface of the bay, he noticed the vague outline of a dark, shadowy man walking along the sandy floor of the harbour.

What made it even more bizarre was the fact the man was moving casually, like it was a normal occurrence that he was able to traverse the water without drowning.

"He’s walking on the ocean floor." Lucian observed, his voice tinged with a rare spark of interest. "He doesn’t even seem to be holding his breath."

"Is everyone in this city a freak?" Alan muttered, standing up.

"Maybe he just really hates boats?" Julia suggested, finally swallowing her ice cream. "I mean, have you seen the prices for a cabin? I’d walk too if I could."

"Julia... you haven’t seen the prices for anything."

"So what?" Julia tilted her head.

"You’re also a princess, so why is money an issue all of a sudden?"

"Hmph." Julia turned her head away. "A woman has her needs."

"The only thing you’ve spent your money on since coming here was ice cream..." Alan was going to keep speaking, but trailed off as he noticed Iris’s glare.

"Ahem." Alan cleared his throat, quickly changing the subject. "Have you all noticed anything strange?"

The group fell into a small silence as they observed their surroundings with a frown, Iris was the first to voice it. "There aren’t many people here..."

"She’s right." Lucian nodded, his head turning slowly as he scanned the bay. "There are hundreds of ships, yet not a single sail is unfurled, a seaport of this size shouldn’t be so empty."

"Maybe it’s a strike?" Iris offered, though she looked unconvinced.

"Who knows?" Alan looked back at the place the strange man was seated before. "That guy said the ships aren’t moving for a reason, so if the trade routes are frozen, we might be stuck in Kahl for a while."

"It’s still too early to jump into conclusions." Iris reminded him. "The terminal is just a few blocks away, we can just get the answers there."

"Fine." Alan agreed.

"The duchess would disagree." Lucian started, abruptly speaking nonsense. "A leader must possess a fiery heart, and mine is currently described as tempered ice."

"Lucian... did you just quote something from your novel...?"

"Indeed."

"Go jump in the water."

...

They watched the man’s figure vanish into the distance without ever seeing it rise to the water’s surface, Alan stood there with dozens of questions swirling in his mind, questions that would probably remain unanswered his whole life.

With a collective sigh, the group turned their backs on the docks and headed toward the terminal of the city.

It didn’t take long to reach a massive building of glass and iron that smelt of coal and steam, outside the entrance gates was a massive sign that read ’The Grand Terminal’. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Knowing they were at the right place, Alan stepped through the entrance, expecting the place to be the most crowded and busy area, instead he was met with an eerie silence.

The polished marble floor echoed with their footsteps, almost no one was inside

On the far right side of the building, where the walls were plastered with large wooden boards which usually listed the departure time schedule of the ships, were not covered in aggressive red ink, saying one message.

ALL VOYAGES SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Alan’s face soured in real time as he took all of this in, his previous suspicions proved to be right.

As the group continued onwards, they heard a fairly angry voice.

"What do you mean, suspended?!" A merchant screamed at a man, slamming his hands on the ticket counter. "Do you have any idea of the supplies I have stored?!"

"Sir." The man in response seemed bored, sighing as if he had already experienced this situation numerous times before. "As stated, the departures to the Western continent are suspended until further notice."

"Who decided this?!"

"The higher-ups." The receptionist shrugged with indifference. "If you have an issue, I suggest taking it up with them, now if you’ll excuse me, I have more people to disappoint."

The merchant stormed off, muttering curses under his breath as he brushed past Alan’s group.

Julia and Iris, apparently deciding that now would be a good time for an adventure, wandered off to investigate the building, leaving Alan and Lucian to face the desk.

"Did you expect this?" Lucian asked.

"Somewhat." Alan replied, stepping up to the reception.

The man behind the desk leaned his chin in his hand, looking up at Alan with tired eyes, he let out a small sigh before speaking. "Welcome to the terminal, how may I help you waste both our time today?"

"Straight to the point, I like it." Alan leaned against the counter and jerked his finger to the boards on the wall. "Are all the ships suspended?"

"Yes, sir." The man nodded. "There is one last departure, but other than that, everything is suspended, for me to assist you better or tell you how impossible your request is, could you tell me where you were originally headed?"

"The demons continent."

The receptionist’s hand froze over a stack of paper. "...Sorry, sir, I think my hearing is faulty these days, could you repeat that?"

"The demons continent." Alan said, his voice flat and unblinking.

After a moment of silence, the receptionist finally looked up properly, his gaze drifting over Alan’s blindfold and then Lucian’s silent, imposing frame. He let out a short, dry laugh. "Well, you two certainly don’t seem like the normal type."

"Never said we were." Alan shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, anything you can do to help us?"

"Well, as I’ve said before, and as shown on the boards, all vessels of transport are suspended."

"Yeah, nah, I didn’t fucking notice."

"And especially to the demon continent, all routes over there broke down about two years ago."

"Oh, did it now..." Alan stroked his chin, he wasn’t aware of such things.

"Yes, as there was a sudden gradual increase of irregular water activities in the ocean over the past years." The receptionist tapped his chin. "Which obviously increased the risks of travel, any and every route to the demons continent was always one direction either way, so only lunatics would accept such travels in the first place."

"So there’s no way to get over there?" Alan asked.

"Well, there might be..." The receptionist suggested. "You do know all the continents are shaped they share a ’close point’ the certain place where two continents are closest to one another."

"Hmm..."

"So if you just went to the east or west continent and managed to find yourself a legal vessel to carry you the rest of the way, you could technically pull it off."

"Oh, hey, that’s not a bad idea." Alan smiled. "So when’s the next ship that’s headed east or west?"

"Suspended."

"Fucking hell."

"But." the man whispered, leaning in closer, "There is one last departure, it’s a private transport leaving tomorrow at dawn, headed for the Eastern Continent, it’s the last vessel allowed out before the full suspension fully settles in."

"Oh, sweet." Alan smiled again. "How much are the tickets?"

"All sold out."

"God damn it."

"Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t trying to play with you." The man shook his head. "The captain is just really strict about the procedures, I don’t know, maybe you could talk to him and get in?"

"If I had charisma like that, I wouldn’t be in half the situations I’m normally inside of."

The receptionist let out a short, dry chuckle. "I figured as much, you don’t exactly seem all that ’charismatic’ with that blindfold and especially those two girls currently trying to dismantle the stationary behind you."

"They’re what?" Alan glanced back, just in time to see Julia scratching a golden compass embedded on a pillar, while Iris was watching with intense focus, Alan sighed, returning his gaze back to the amused man. "I don’t know them."

"Yeah, sure." The man finally let out a small smile for the first time. "Are you lot new to the city?"

"Yeah, how’d you know?"

"Well, it’s fairly obvious just from looks, you know." He chuckled again, then reached under the table, bringing out a crumpled bundle of paper. "And also didn’t expect to run into such infamous people."

"Huh?"

"The Bondage Bastards." The receptionist put on a mischievous smirk. "Quite the legendary name you have."

"Ah... so you knew?" Alan asked.

"Well, I just realised." The man rubbed his chin. "I just thought you seemed really familiar before."

"Is that so..." Alan muttered. "I didn’t know the news reached here."

"Are you dumb?" The man laughed. "The newspaper supplied throughout the continent is all the same, you know, meaning timing doesn’t matter, news travels everywhere."

"Oh, boy." Alan whispered again, this time realising the meaning behind the stares he received all day long.