Chapter 600: Another Princess

Celestina then used her Soul Sense to send her voice directly to Edward and Amalia’s ears, "Don’t worry. You will see your son again. I swear it."

The old couple were beyond flattered and thanked Celestina wholeheartedly for both her praise and her promise.

As the residence staff were bringing over the newly arrived guests’ dinner order, Lucas took the opportunity to ask, "Master, you didn’t just drop by for a late-night meal, did you?"

Picking up one of the six, yes six, fully-loaded double-cheeseburgers in front of her, Celestina flashed her usual grin as she nodded, "En, we were all in the middle of a meeting to discuss our new defence posture given all the recent developments when a messenger from the capital arrived."

"Oh?" Sasha tilted her head, "Has something happened in Rockwell City or with the Royal Council?"

"There were a few updates on the upcoming council meeting, but that wasn’t the primary reason Marianne sent a messenger," Celestina shook her head, explaining in-between big bites of her late dinner, "Other than saying hello to my Disciple’s grandparents, I also wanted to let you know that Louise will be arriving in Misty City soon and I was planning on having her stay here in Disciples House."

"Louise... as in... Her Highness First Princess Louise Rockwell?" Victoria’s brow twitched ever so slightly.

"Yup," Celestina shrugged casually as she continued munching away, devouring the literal platter of food at an astonishing pace.

As a Complete High-Rank Spirit Adept, in order to get enough nutrition to fuel herself, Celestina probably should have gotten a steak or some fish made from Tier 3 ingredients, as then she would only have needed 2 or 3 servings instead of 6, but she happened to feel like a burger tonight, and those were made from Tier 1 Mortal Grade beef, so...

In any case, everyone at the table who hadn’t been part of that meeting gawked, not so much at the news itself, but rather at how flippantly it had been delivered.

First Princess Louise was Christina’s eldest sibling, the daughter of First Queen Marianne and King Nathanial, and the current front-runner to become the next ruling monarch of the Rockwell Kingdom.

Louise was vehemently opposed to becoming Queen Monarch as she much preferred the idea of continuing to manage the chamber of commerce she had started as it was a venture she had sunk much of her adult life into building, along with help from Second Queen Natasha, of course.

Unfortunately, unless and until one of her siblings, cousins, or even young aunts or uncles stepped up by showing the necessary competency and interest, Louise was the de-factor heir-apparent.

Allina, Marcus, and Samuel all gave apologetic looks to the others at the table for Celestina carefreely dropping this shocking news on them, but they made no effort to correct her either, which was an indication that the matter was already settled.

"So, we get to live together with Big Sister Tina’s big sister?" Eris, who recovered faster than the rest, asked curiously before a smile formed on her face and she nodded, "Cool! Tina told me about her and she sounds like fun!"

The pure, innocent comment from the young girl pulled a few laughs from the others at the table, with Lucas shaking his head and quipping, "Well, we already have one princess living here normally, and there’s even a foreign prince temporarily boarding in our house, so I guess adding one more royal isn’t going to change much."

"That’s the spirit," Celestina patted Lucas on his head before offering some slight comforting words, "It’s not like she’s going to appear tomorrow, so you’ll have at least until the beginning of next month to get ready, not that you’ll need to prepare much as she’ll probably bring most of her own personnel."

"Good to know," Lucas nodded, not that he felt hiring a few more workers for the residence was a big deal anyways.

"What about you three?" Celestina next turned to tonight’s guests of honour and asked, "Will you be staying in Misty City for a while?"

Edward and Amalia didn’t know how to respond when they were asked this question.

Whether that was because they didn’t have an answer prepared, or they were simply too stunned by how casually the famous Celestina Balfour was being with them to respond, nobody knew.

Braden, on the other hand, had relaxed a great deal since first arriving at the residence; either that or he had just given up worrying after being shocked too many times, so he promptly replied, "I’d like to stay longer, but I’ll probably need to leave fairly soon. It’s a long way back to the Firth Barony, after all."

"Not if you fly, it’s not," Celestina shrugged as she licked a bit of sauce from her finger.

"Uh..." Braden gawked, his brain freezing up as it was unable to process this completely unexpected comment.

"If I’m not mistaken, the Firth Barony should be part of the Campbell Earldom, right?" Celestina asked her trusty adjutant.

"En, that’s right," Allina nodded back, "By ground and river routes, it’d probably take 40 to 50 days to reach there from Misty City, but by Tartan it’s just 2 or 3 days away."

"There’s no way I could impose upon you like that, Marquess Balfour!" Braden shook his head vigorously, having finally snapped back to his senses.

"Nonsense," Celestina, however, brushed the young man’s concerns aside, "I frequently send messages to the capital via Tartan, and the capital frequently sends messages to the north-western border of the kingdom in a similar manner. Having you tag along on one of those trips isn’t even enough to count as a favour."

For the first time in his life, Braden was experiencing what it felt like to have truly powerful connections. The difference in the way they thought was just too much for him, and the forcefulness with which this ’non-favour’ was being pushed onto him was so overwhelming that in the end, all he could do was nod, "Then... I’ll thank you in advance, Your Ladyship."

"Better," Celestina nodded, truly not considering it a big deal to fly the cousin of her Second Disciple across the Rockwell Kingdom.

By now, Edward and Amalia had somewhat gathered themselves as well, so the former replied politely, "The hospitality and courtesy you have shown us already has been more than we deserve, Marquess Balfour, but now that we have confirmed that Sasha and Eris are alright, we should probably return to the Royal Province to continue our retreat."

"En," Amalia nodded, "As long as Sasha and Eris are here, we’ll have no worries about their safety and comfort, which will allow us to focus on our cultivation and hopefully break through to the Sea Establishment Realm."

Neither of them mentioned anything about their son, Charles, as they had already been warned by Sasha that not everyone who was in attendance at the party tonight was aware of his true situation.

Edward and Amalia were naturally worried about their youngest child, but considering just how far away he was, there was also nothing they could do to help him; nor was there anything they felt they could contribute here in Misty City to expedite his rescue.

For the old couple, returning to their seclusion and breaking through as soon as possible seemed like their best option, as ever additional bit of strength they gained would increase not only their lifespan, but also their utility should they ever be called upon.