Chapter 377: Eventful Homecoming
"Enough!" Ariana Rockwell, who had thus far allowed this farce to carry on, finally couldn’t take it anymore and fully released her Cultivation Aura along with a loud shout.
Although she was surprised to see the young boy standing just steps away manage to endure her Mid-Rank Spirit Elite pressure with barely a flinch, Ariana quickly focused back on the troublemakers, forcing both of them to lower their heads.
It was a tense few seconds before the former queen withdrew her aura and declared coldly to her Junior, "Sonia, need I remind you what kind of price your family paid to have you accompany me on this trip? Or how important it is to your future advancement in the Company?"
"No, Elder Rockwell..." Sonia muttered through gritted teeth.
Turning to her normally sensible niece next, Ariana continued, "And you, Natasha, have your eyes started failing? Or have you forgotten how to read the rank badges of your own family’s force?"
"Of course not, Senior..." Natasha grumbled.
Glaring at the pair of grown women who were still acting defiant under her glare, Ariana’s brow twitched in annoyance as she snarled, "Don’t you think you’ve embarrassed yourselves enough already? You aren’t immature brats anymore, have some self-respect!"
""Yes! Senior/Elder!""
Ariana knew that Natasha and Sonia weren’t seriously repenting, but she had neither the will nor the need to discipline them any further, so she simply let out a sigh and waved her arm dismissively, "The two of you will supervise the convoy’s unloading, and don’t let me hear any reports of fights breaking out or there will be real consequence waiting for you."
Natasha Summer and Sonia Bennett pursed their lips, exchanged a glare with one another, then snorted in contempt, but neither of them dared to refuse as they knew Ariana wasn’t making empty threats, so they reluctantly nodded and got to work.
.....
Having set things back on track, for now, Ariana was more than ready to move on from this little distraction, so she swept her eyes over the rest of the welcoming party, searching for who was the next in charge now that Natasha was ’occupied’.
Reading the faces, auras, and insignias around her, the former queen found plenty of candidates to choose from.
There were military Commanders, civilian officials, and representatives from local Lord’s family, but while any of these people would have been acceptable, Ariana ultimately couldn’t restrain her curiosity and turned to the individual who seemed like the least likely choice available, "Your name, child?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, my name is Lucas. On behalf of my absent Master, Marquess Celestina Balfour, I welcome your return to the kingdom and to Misty City," the only one who could be described as ’child’ stepped forward and bowed politely.
Logically, this never should have happened; after all, a dozen Spirit Initiates were present, including a member of the Royal Family, yet Lucas was hardly even surprised about this development.
Life seemed to have a way of forcing him to take centre stage, even when it made no sense for him to do so. As such, when the former queen called him out, Lucas wasn’t the least bit flustered.
The same couldn’t be said for Ariana, who raised her sharp brow slightly, taken aback at how smoothly and deftly this boy was able to respond to her.
"Interesting," she smiled before asking the question she had been meaning to since she stepped off the ship, "Speaking of your Master, where is Little Tina?"
"Huh?" This time, Lucas was truly caught off guard, his expression turning funny for a second before he realized that the ’Tina’ being referred to here wasn’t his Junior Sister.
Little Tina... is it, Lucas thought to himself, doing his best not to show any amusement on his face as he replied, "Master is currently in Martin, dealing with some administrative issues; however, she should be returning shortly."
"En, very good," Ariana nodded, "Since that’s the case, I will wait for her at the Manor."
"As you wish, Royal Ancestor," Lucas saluted before motioning to the end of the dock, "We have carriages waiting nearby. If you will follow me, then."
"Quite the little gentleman, aren’t you?" The former queen teased, clear amusement in her tone as she extended her hand, "Escort me properly, Lucas."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lucas, already used to being used as a tool for entertainment by the older women around him, didn’t flinch, accepting the hand that was offered before leading the way.
Allina and Vanessa subtly exchanged wry glances as the Royal Ancestor passed by them before falling in line behind her. Neither of them was worried about Lucas, figuring he would be able to handle this unexpected situation as well as all the others he had been thrown into over the past few months.
As for Samuel and Gavin, the two of them took command of the Honour Guard and the dock workers respectively, cooperating with the members of the Vast Ocean Trading Company to maintain order at the dock and to empty the giant ships of their precious cargo.
.....
The trip back to the Manor was peaceful, with the carriage being occupied by only Royal Ancestor Ariana and her young guide, Lucas.
As for Vanessa and Allina, the two of them chose to use a pair of Cloud Treading Colts as they acted as standard bearers, carrying the flags of the Rockwell Kingdom as they rode alongside the carriage.
Originally, Allina wanted to arrange for part of the Honour Guard to ride with them, announcing the former queen’s return as they went, but Ariana forbade it, wishing to remain as low-key as possible.
It wasn’t that she was shy or embarrassed in any way, it was simply a practical concern on her part.
Technically, according to the laws of the Rising Sun Empire, forces from Large-Sized Nations weren’t supposed to interfere directly in the affairs of the Small and Mid-Sized Kingdoms.
Officially, this was to ’protect’ these smaller nations from being bullied by their more powerful counterparts, but the thinly veiled truth was that the Empire didn’t want the Large-Sized Nations to assimilate these smaller countries and gain too much power.
Now, the law itself was quite vague and there were plenty of loopholes that Large-Sized Nations could use to ’subtly influence’ their weaker neighbours, so how complaint people really were was questionable; however, blatantly flouting an Imperial Decree was never a good idea, especially with a member of an opposing faction from the Company so close by.
As such, Ariana Rockwell, despite being a former ruling monarch of the Rockwell Kingdom, had to remain cognizant of what she did and how she acted here as a representative of the Vast Ocean Trading Company.
That being said, there was no doubt about the purpose of Ariana’s visit, and she made no effort to conceal it after Lucas asked, "I heard about the disaster in the South-West Province, so I decided to return to offer some small bit of assistance to my homeland."
"I see," Lucas smiled faintly, "Then, on behalf of all the common citizens of the kingdom, I offer the Royal Ancestor our thanks."
"Oh?" Ariana caught the implied meaning behind Lucas’ words and couldn’t help asking in return, "You’re not from one of the noble houses?"
Shaking his head, Lucas replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "My father is... my father was a blacksmith in a small town in the South-West Province while my mother served as captain of the Town Guard."
Feeling more and more curious about this strange boy, Ariana began asking Lucas more about his background, upbringing, and how he eventually came to be the Disciple of ’Little Tina’.
Since most of this information was already public, Lucas didn’t have any reservations sharing his story with the former queen, relaxing the somewhat stiff atmosphere just slightly.
Ariana was, needless to say, very impressed with this young boy, especially when she heard about how his mother and father were ’gone’. Being able to remain so composed despite having suffered such a great loss so recently was no small feat.