Chapter 243 - 243 Shock & Awe.

243 Shock & Awe.

Valerian was surprised by the sudden knock on the door and quickly got up to see who it was. He was closer to the door when Fortuna’s voice sounded in his mind, ‘The other party does not seem to be very friendly.’

Valerian could sense something was off too and nodded, he cast an earth spell and a stone knife appeared in his right hand. He placed the hand behind his back and opened the door. The operation was smooth and he only revealed his face from the crack and saw a figure in a black cloak.

His eyes turned cold but the next moment, the cloaked figure revealed his face and Valerian was surprised, he asked, “How did you come here?”

The figure smiled charmingly and said, “To surprise you.”

Valerian opened the door ajar, and then he embraced the cloaked figure. He was thinking about how Morgana managed to get inside the palace at this hour and that too undetected. Although he embraced her, more than love, it was his action of stopping her from making any moves against him.

Morgana saw the knife in his hand and sighed, “To think, I came to visit you on your birthday, but you welcome me with a knife?”

Valerian replied, “It is not a very bright hour that you have selected.”

Morgana nodded and said, “I missed you, Val.”

The boy snuggled close to her and dragged her inside his room. He asked, “How did you come to the palace without getting detected?”

.....

Morgana smiled and said, “I dressed as the maid to the Prime Minister and also used some magical tools to alter my appearance. Why? Are you impressed?”

Valerian could see the flicker of mischief in her eyes and smile. He nodded and smiled back at her. He said, “Yes, I am very impressed by how mischievous can the black witch be.”

Morgana chuckled, she spotted Fortuna laying on the bed, and said, “Hello, Fortuna.”

The tigress cast her a look and then nodded before going back to sleep. Morgana thought of something and then took out a magic core from her magical pouch. Fortuna looked at the crystal ball from the corner of her eye, and Morgana said, “This is a little something that I gained on the way here. I do not know if it is to your liking or not.”

Fortuna yawned and said, “Since you have put in some effort, I will accept it reluctantly.”

Valerian shook his head at how this dragon was acting all high and mighty. He then took Morgana to the side table, where the two sat down and had a small talk being all mushy.

Valerian said, “I am really happy that could come over, but next time does not be sneaky, I might not have waited for you to take off the hood, and hurt you.”

Morgana smirked and said, “You might be strong, but I am not weak either, Your Highness, Valerian.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I stepped into the realm of a magnum magister yesterday.”

Morgana was smiling but hearing this her expression froze as if she was an ice statue. She asked, “Are you serious?”

Valerian nodded and then he channeled his battle aura, soon his arm was covered in a crimson gauntlet. The Empress of the Centaur nation stood up with a solemn expression and said, “I will see you in the Triumph meet and you better be prepared, I will not go easy on you.”

Valerian nodded and smiled, “I expect nothing less from you, Miss Demetrius.”

The couple engaged in a stare-off battle and then smiled before hugging each other. Then after a quick kiss, Morgana fled the room and Valerian mumbled, “She is sneaky.”

Fortuna did not say anything, she was busy gnawing at the magical core in front of her.



The night passed in a blink and Valerian woke up filled with energy, and had just finished freshening up and came out of the room when a page boy came to him and said, “Your Highness, you have been called to the Emperor’s Study.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Thank you.”

He looked at Fortuna beside him and said, “You can go to the training field and train Ignis for a bit, I will come over as soon as things are dealt with.”

Fortuna had no interest in the diplomacy of the human world, in her world, things were dealt with strength, and despite the fact that she was now in the human realm, the beasts were all respectful to her. The magicals were the only creatures that had the right to talk to her on an equal footing.

Valerian moved through the palace and came to the Emperor’s study, where Libra was waiting for him. He bowed slightly and greeted the man, who replied, “Now that you are here, come along with me to the meeting with the dignitaries.”

Valerian raised his eyebrows and asked, “Is it about the alliance?”

Libra nodded and said, “Fragrantia has praised your skills and understanding of politics, so, I thought it would be nice to have you attend the meeting with us.”

Valeri

an replied, “It is my honor to be of your help, Your Excellency.”

Libra then gestured and the two people walked towards the garden in the eastern wing of the palace. There was a big pavilion surrounded by a collection of the most beautiful flowers in the western continent, even some from the Valkyrian nation could be spotted there.

Libra and Valerian were the first to arrive, but soon the other three groups also arrived at the pavilion along with Empress Fragratia of Lumen.

A total of twelve people were sitting inside the pavilion forming a circle. While one figure stood behind Fragrantia with a calm visage. He was not the smiling boy that everyone had spotted last night at the banquet.

Prime Minister Alm stood up from his chair on the right of Emperor Libra and said, “Even though we know each other, let me get over with the formality and make official introductions to each other. Starring from my left, we have Emperor Libra, and Empress Fragrantia of Lumen.

Then we have our friends from Sapientia Nation, Minister Darox, Princess Adele, and General Mado.

Then the leaders of the Centaur Nation, Official Senar, Prime minister Zeenat and the royal Advisor, Madam Dimry.

Last but not the least, the delegation from Stella Nation, Minister Chan, Royal Teacher Jal, and General Artem.

I am Alm, Prime minister of Lumen. Firstly, we would like to express our gratitude, that you all could come here and represent your nations at such short notice. However, we all are wise enough to know that the issue we are facing now is not small and is very delicate.”

The people nodded with solemn expressions and Alm said, “Now we can start this meeting, and I hope that by the end of this meeting, we can all reach some common ground to face the advisory.”

Then Alm sat down and the meeting began. The people from different groups all had their own plans and ways of approaching the situation, in the end, none of them could reach common ground, and the situation fell into a stalemate.

At this moment, Fragrantia suddenly asked, “Prince Valerian, do you have any suggestions?”

Valerian said, “I do have something I would like to say if the leaders do not mind.”

Zeenat was the first to speak, “Please go ahead, Your Highness Valerian.”

She was aware of his physical prowess, but she wanted to see how sharp was this child in terms of politics and diplomacy. Valerian looked at the other two groups and when their leaders nodded he said, “The prime focus of a nation is to make sure that their citizens are developing in peace and happiness.

Do you all agree with that?”

The leaders nodded and the boy continued, “So the first thing we need to do is stop the infighting, both openly and covertly. This only harms the spirit of the alliance we are seeking. Competition and petty attacks are different things. Once any of us go attacking the other, it becomes a never-ending loop.”

General Artem said, “Your Highness, as much as I appreciate your logic, I cannot side with it. The peace that you talk about, softens the upcoming generations. We cannot have that. If some needs arise in the future, and our youths are not up to the mark, it will spell the downfall of our nations and even the civilizations.”

The general received quite a few nods from the people and Valerian said, “I have something to counter your point, General. The solution to this stagnation that you speak of is to stop the discrimination. Among the people sitting in this pavilion, only two are normal humans.

While in the world outside, the number of normal humans or the gifted with low potential is far higher than the gifted who hold the chain of command. If you all can take a moment and think, the total strength of the military is formed by these normal citizens.

If they can receive proper training and good resources their potential can be improved and this thing has been proved by the research of many medicus masters. The downfall that you fear will not come. The nations can hold competitions, tournaments, and scout for talent.

An imperial academy is a place that sends out a handful of talents, think about it, if you can get these talents to train the coming generation then what the impact will be? Only united can we survive the feared doom that you mentioned.”

The people were shocked when they heard his words. This was completely unexpected but this statement was like a nail in the coffin. The wise leaders were left speechless.