"You’re not going to ask anything? We are only a few minutes away from arriving to the main palace," Anastasha looked at Rasmus who was sitting across from her in the carriage. "There will be a lot of people in there, and if I can be honest with you..." She paused as she looked at the palace at the peak of the mountain. "I have nothing much of information to share with you."

"Relying on information is necessary, but most of the time, improvising is the game changer," Rasmus answered as he kept reading the notebook in his left hand. "Just tell us what you want to do in the gathering," he pointed out as he flipped the page.

Anastasha hummed and nodded as she thought of an answer to the question. She knew that all of her siblings would attend, and most of them wanted her dead. Not only that, her father also had decided to go against her climbing the ladder of power. That also meant that the elders, the branch families, everyone in the gathering would point their blades at her.

"A spectacle..." Anastasha raised her brows, wondering if that was the right word to say. "I want the whole mountain to tremble by my presence..." She finally gave a solid answer instead of a vague one.

Rasmus closed the notebook and stored it in the spatial ring. His eyes slowly lifted from his lap to Anastasha’s face, where it was written how much she felt betrayed by her own blood when she was the one who wanted to stop the bloodbath for a seat as the family head.

"You want fear or respect?" Rasmus asked a direct question toward her desire. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Powerlessness," Anastasha stared at Rasmus with a serious expression.

"Fear it is then," Rasmus averted his gaze and stared out the window at the palace.

"Fear..." Anastasha repeated and finally she nodded in agreement, realizing it was what she needed.

Rasmus tried to recall the names of Anastasha’s siblings, there were five of her brothers that were fighting for the seat as the head family. The eldest son, Zayn Asghar, followed by Zeke and Zoran, those three were the ones who had sent assassins to kill Anastasha. However there were two more, Zafir and Zen which were Anastasha’s younger brothers. All the sons of Zachary started with Z, and it had been a tradition for the Asghar family, making it easy to recognize that they were from the Asghar family.

When they reached the main gate, the gate was made of black rock that shone elegantly, it was made from obsidian with gold engravings around it. The moment the guards noticed it was Anastasha, they opened the gate wide, and that was when Serena sat straight and leaned toward the window to look at the garden with Great Wisteria trees that made the whole place look beautiful. There were man-made rivers from the natural spring that moved around the garden where colorful flowers decorated the path to the palace. There were dozens of exotic birds that flew around and nested on the trees.

"Does it look like heaven?" Rasmus noticed how much Serena admired the scenery.

"Not even close, but this is breathtaking..." Serena muttered.

The carriage moved through the long and spacious garden, and they watched the gardeners take care of the flowers and the trees with utmost care. The flowing river going down from one level to another, making the whole palace to feel like the house of Gods since it was made at the peak of the mountain. Even for Rasmus who had a thing for the beauty of architecture and scenery, that place looked breathtaking.

"Do you think this is beautiful? But there’s another place that is said to be the most beautiful place in East Neva. It’s the main palace of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, at the peak of the Immortal Mountain," Anastasha pointed out as she glanced at the garden, vaguely remembering her childhood that seemed like memories of her past life rather than her past. "East Neva has its strong attraction to beauty and art," she muttered as she looked away from the window.

Rasmus found it odd that a single continent was enough to make the rest went pale in comparison. East Neva had martial arts, producing powerful people that made Swordmasters look like a joke, they also had powerful spirits that involved humans that ended up creating half-breeds, not only that, the whole continent looked sacred compared to the rest of the world.

When the carriage stopped moving, that was when Anastasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She listened to the footsteps that were coming toward the carriage, and the moment the door was being opened, her expression was impassive and intimidatingly cold.

"Your Highness the Princess..." A tall light skinned man wearing full plate armor with a cape that had the Asghar family crest on it. He looked like a menace with his striking yellow eyes. "It has been a while," he lowered his head slightly toward Anastasha as he offered his hand to her.

Anastasha glanced at the hand but she didn’t take the man’s hand, she walked down the carriage and went past the man that was twice her size.

"Seeing you don’t even bother to bow, you have grown arrogant, Safir. I’m still an Asghar, I’m no different from my brothers or my father," Anastasha said as she stared at the palace that stood tall in front of her. "You’re still a dog for the Asghar family. Killing you is easy, and none of them even bother to mourn for you when you’re gone. Mind your attitude," she glanced over her shoulder at Safir with a cold gaze.

Safir clenched his jaw before he turned around and this time bowed his whole upper body down.

"I’ll announce your arrive, Your Highness the Princess," Safir said in a deep and relaxed voice before he walked past her.

Anastasha’s gaze was so intense that Safir could feel it piercing his back which was fully protected by armor.

"Keep that head lowered from now on, replaceable dog," Anastasha said as he watched Safir escort her into the palace.

Rasmus and the others walked down the carriage and followed Anastasha from behind, but then Anastasha looked over her shoulder and pointed her left hand at the ground next to her. Rasmus fastened his pace until he walked beside her, and she glanced at him with a smirk on her face when she saw no reaction from him when she mocked and insulted the strongest guard that protected the whole mountain.

When they entered the palace, the whole place was empty, not because nobody had arrived yet, in fact, everyone had gathered in the hall. It was as Anastasha had planned, she wanted to be the last one to arrive to steal the spotlight.

They walked down the long hallway toward the double door made of pure gold that was carved with the Asghar family symbol in the middle. Safir looked at the two guards in front of the door and signaled them to open it so he could announce Anastasha’s arrival. When the door was opened slightly, Safir walked in first to inform all the guests and the family members.

"My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen... Lady Anastasha, oldest daughter of His Grace, Lord Zechariah of Asghar is entering the hall with Her Highness’s guests!" Safir’s voice echoed throughout the massive hall and enough to make everyone quiet.

The whole hall went silent in an instant as the double door opened wide where Anastasha and Rasmus stood side by side with Aris, Rullein, and Serena standing behind them. All eyes were on Anastasha, the daughter who had soared in her achievements and reputations in other continents.

"Honored guests and family, I present you, Count Rasmus Blackheart of Central Neva and his wives," Anastasha said with a cold expression with no shred of warmth both in her words or in her eyes. She then glanced at her brothers before she gave a cold glance at the man that was sitting on the chair on the second level of the hall, observing everything from above.

Rasmus stood there and didn’t even bow or lower his head, he stood there as kept his head high. It was a gesture of challenge and showed no respect toward anyone in the room, an act of arrogance.