[Capital City of Marivak]

[The Royal Palace]

Right at the center of the Andura Kingdom was the Capital City of Marivak. Marivak was the largest city within the Kingdom, and it was also the location of the Royal Castle where the king and his council ruled from. The King of Andura did not rule the kingdom in the typical manner that most kings did. Although the King was seen as the highest authority within the Kingdom, he was not capable of taking major decisions on his own! Before the king can pass a decision into law, he would have to pass through a rigorous process where a council of elders would be called, and a meeting would take place to determine whether or not this decision was beneficial for the citizens!

This system was put in place by the Hero Verati after the demihuman war ended, and it was done to ensure that no one race would be capable of possessing an excessive amount of power in the Kingdom! According to the law, the King of Andura must always be a human, while the council of elders is to be made up of the highest-ranking members of all the various demihuman races in the Kingdom, as well as a few members of the human race. In this way, neither the humans nor the demihumans would be left out of any decision-making process in the kingdom!

The Royal Castle towered high over the city of Marivak. Its walls were made from a white stone that shone in the morning sun, and there were tall towers with guards patrolling the perimeters at all times. This was literally the most impenetrable fortress in the entire kingdom!

Inside the castle, a young maid with long rabbit ears and a cute, small face ran through the halls with a frantic expression as she chased the young princess of the kingdom.

"Your highness, please don’t run! You might fall!"

"Hurry up, Fio! I need to talk to Daddy!"

The princess laughed as she turned around a corner, and a pair of palace guards who were heading in the opposite direction quickly moved out of the way and saluted as she ran past them! The princess’s name was Vivian, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was the most beautiful woman in the entire kingdom! She had only turned twenty this year, but she had a grace and charm that most women would never be able to acquire in their entire lifetime! Vivian had long blonde hair that fell to her waist and bright blue eyes that reflected the sun like diamonds! Her face was small, and she had full red lips that fit her perfectly!

Princess Vivian ran past a few more guards before she finally arrived at the inner chambers where her father’s office was located, and she didn’t bother to knock as she immediately barged into the room and spoke!

"Is he really back, Daddy!?"

Vivian’s face was red with a blush, and she had a happy smile as she took in harsh breaths! The king quickly looked up from the documents he had been reading and faced his daughter. King Conred was a tall, lean man with a wise face and a very calm appearance! But even though Conred was always very calm, he was still a Magus of the Sixth realm, so there was an aura of power around him that prevented anyone from looking down on him! Conred put the document he had been reading away once he saw his daughter, and he asked.

"Who are you talking about, honey?"

"Percival, daddy! I heard he was back from his travels! Is it true!?"

Conred’s face scrunched up in slight confusion.

"I don’t know about that, baby. I haven’t heard anything about him returning."

Vivian’s face fell slightly when she heard her father say that, and her head dropped as she wondered if she was wrong, but she looked up in surprise when her father suddenly chuckled in amusement! Vivian’s face brightened again, and she jumped when she realised her father was just playing with her!

"He’s really back, isn’t he!? Where is he?! I need to go see him at once!"

Conred leaned back in his seat, and he raised his hand to tell his daughter to calm down! It had been ten years since Percival last visited the castle. Back then, Vivian had only been a little girl of ten years old, and Vivian had followed Percival around like a little kitten following its mother! But Conred had no idea that Percival would leave such an immense impression on Vivian! After Percy left for his journey ten years ago, Vivian had been asking about Percy almost every single day, and there was always a bit of sadness in her eyes whenever she heard that Percy was not back yet! So Conred could understand why his daughter was so excited!

Conred spoke up calmly.

"I don’t know if it’s a good idea to see him now. He’s in the Verati Academy working as a librarian, but visiting him might cause problems at his job."

Vivian was surprised to hear that Percy was working as an ordinary librarian! But she didn’t bother trying to question it, and she leaned forward and pleaded with her father!

"Please let me go, Daddy! I swear I won’t bother him! I’ll behave!"

"Vivian, I don’t know. Percy is very busy with work. I don’t think he’ll have much time for you."

Vivian shook her head, and she was almost hopping in place as she spoke!

"That’s not true, Daddy! Percival always has time for me! I won’t bother him at all!"

Vivian had complete confidence that she could spend time with Percy! The last time they met was ten years ago, so Vivian had a lot that she wanted to talk about with Percy!

Conred let out a calm sigh as he saw the excitement on his daughter’s face, and Conred began to worry if this would be okay. The last thing Conred wanted to do was to waste Percival’s time, and if Vivian was only going to bother him, then Conred didn’t want her to go at all! But Conred thought back to all the time that his daughter had spent waiting for Percival to come and see her, and Conred decided that this should be fine.

’I’ll send Leonart a message later to warn Percy about her visit. That should be enough.’

Conred smiled, and he nodded to his daughter.

"Very well, Vivian. As long as you behave, you can go visit Percy."

Vivian squealed in joy once she heard this, and she jumped forward and hugged her father happily before she turned and began running out of the room!

"Come on, Fio! We need to prepare the presents!"

Vivian’s servant Fio bowed to the king and gently closed the door behind her before she ran after her mistress!

.....

[Verati Academy Library]

"Lana, how many times do I have to tell you? You need to keep the Basilisk out of the library."

Rita frowned down at Lana with folded hands, and Lana pouted slightly while looking down! Within the Academy Library, multiple students were moving about and picking out books from the shelves. The librarian’s desk opposite the door was currently empty because the head librarian, Percy, was nowhere to be found.

Rita and Lana were standing beside an open door with a staircase that led down towards the library storage rooms. Down the staircase, there were hundreds of snakes with pitch black scales slithering on the ground. These were the pet Basilisks that were responsible for guarding the storage room, and Rita was angry because another Basilisk had escaped from the room when they weren’t watching!