Meeting the Imperial Prince

Edited by: Chip

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After his history class, Atlas, Sir Walter, and Cyrus met up with Sophie inside a popular restaurant called Tulip Garden. As the name suggests, this restaurant was more like a greenhouse for Tulips but the restaurant was created so everyone could appreciate the tulips the owner’s husband cultivated for him.

The owner’s favorite flowers were tulips, so his husband made sure he was always surrounded by them. This made the owner want other people to appreciate the beautiful tulips his husband planted while enjoying the food that he made. That was how the Tulip Garden was created.

Tulip Garden was known for its elaborate sandwiches made with fluffy flatbread, combinations of meat, and special sauces.

Atlas didn’t know what to call these kinds of sandwiches, but he had one with a pesto-like sauce and it was his favorite. Cyrus got one with tomato sauce while Sophie got a sandwich with vinegar sauce.

The Tulip Garden was also known for its floral teas, though none of them were made from tulips. Still, with the beautiful flower garden and the wonderful sandwiches, no one cared about what flowers the teas were made of.

The trio was silent as they ate their sandwiches with vigor. It wasn’t that they didn’t like to talk while eating, it was because the food was so delicious that it was all they could focus on!

Sir Walter didn’t really eat food as a Divine Beast. He could enjoy it if he wanted to, but he got his nutrients from the magical energy in the environment, so he sat comfortably on Atlas’ lap.

As they were heading out of the restaurant, a young boy with a hood walked past them in a hurry. The reason why this brown-haired and brown-eyed person stood out was because they were using the same cloak as Atlas and Cyrus. It changed a person’s hair and eye color.

Following the young boy were three scruffy older men who seemed out of place in the Tulip Garden.

Atlas and Sir Walter felt something sinister from the three men who were following that child. To get that cloak, they had to be a noble, so that child was definitely from a noble’s family.

“Cyrus, those three men…”

“Yeah, I felt it too.” Cyrus also felt what Atlas was feeling. Since they both had the Blessing of the God of Light and the Dragon God, they could feel when people had bad intentions, especially toward them. “Let’s go follow them.”

Sophie saw how serious they were, and decided to come along too. “I will help you as well.” She was a top-class mage for her age, training under the best teachers. She was more than capable of helping out.

The three of them rushed out of the restaurant and through the streets to catch up with the boy and the three grown men chasing after him.

To others along the streets, it looked like Atlas, Cyrus, and Sophie were playing a really intense game of tag in the busy streets. Kids were often seen running around, but not using magic like they were.

Some speculated they were nobles who were so bored, they decided to up their game of tag…

The streets of the capital, Hirim, were always crowded, so the trio split up and weaved through the crowds as best they could. Since Atlas was always running around in the forest with Sir Walter, he ended up being the fastest and was even able to move around people without hitting them.

Cyrus and Sophie were a bit slower, but Sophie used an enhancement spell called “Haste” to speed them up.

The three men also split up, making sure that the kid they were targeting didn’t slip into one of the endless alleyways of the capital. It seemed they did this often because they knew which alleyways to block.

The kid was also fast, almost inhumanly fast, but he still had short legs, so over time, the three men were catching up to him. They were also using magic, so the kid felt that these three were assassins trying to kill him.

When the kid saw they cornered him in a dead-end alleyway with tall walls, he realized his mistake. He thought he knew the capital like the back of his hand, but these people seemed much more experienced than him. The three men were about ten feet away from him while he was backed into the wall.

The kid didn’t look scared, just annoyed that these people had somehow cornered him.

All three of them stopped running. He knew he could’ve jumped the wall and made it onto the roof but he had no plans to do that. These people came right up to him, he might as well deal with them right here and now.

“So, you must be the assassins from the Holy Kingdom, right?”

The three unkempt older men didn’t say anything, they just took out their weapons. To them, this was a mission that they were prepared to die on, so they didn’t hide their faces.

If they got caught, they knew what to do.

“I understand, I will just kill you all here.” The younger boy didn’t talk like a child. His eyes began to glow, but because of the cloak he was wearing, no one could see that his pupils changed into slits like a reptile. Scales began to form around his neck and his arms.

It seemed like he was about to transform, but he saw someone standing behind the three men. That stopped him in his tracks. He couldn’t let anyone see that he could transform.

There was a wolf next to the boy, ready to move at the young boy’s command.

“I knew you three were up to no good!” Atlas shouted, getting the attention of the three assassins.

If he had to compare himself, he felt like a hero in a movie, ready to stop the bad guys! That was why he said that incredibly cliché line.

The cloaked boy was not impressed. Actually, he was wondering why this kid and this big wolf had followed him, making things more complicated for him.

One of the men clicked his tongue. “You two, take out the brown-haired child, I will take out this one.”

The other two nodded and ran toward the cloaked boy. He also took out his sword, ready to defend and kill these assassins himself.

“Go get him!” Atlas shouted while pointing to the two assassins.

Sir Walter bolted at Atlas’ command, seemingly teleporting in front of the cloaked boy, and slashed the two opponents with his claws.

The two assassins tried to block his attack, but they were flung back, almost crashing into their comrade who was trying to kill Atlas.

Atlas coated his fists with lightning and smiled. “Since I am so nice, I will be sure not to kill you.”

It was the first time any of them felt the presence of someone with an obscene amount of mana. Still, the assassins were not going to lie down and let themselves get beaten.

When an epic showdown was about to happen, Cyrus and Sophie finally caught up.

“Shit, there’s too many people around,” the leader of the three assassins said. “You two know what to do.”

“Yes, sir!”

The three assassins bit something in their mouths and collapsed to the ground. They began to seize and foam came out of their mouths. When their eyes rolled back, they stopped moving.

The trio decided to kill themselves because they were outnumbered.

Seeing the assassins on the ground, Atlas canceled his magic and looked over at the boy who was also wearing a cloak. The boy had a cold, unfeeling expression on his face. He didn’t seem scared or surprised.

“I will take these three men from here.” The cloaked boy said after a long silence.

Cyrus and Sophie were about to say something but the boy gave them a look to shut their mouths. The boy knew who these two were, even if they changed their hair and eye colors. He had seen Cyrus once, but not with his real hair and eye color. As for Sophie, he had met her quite a few times and was familiar with her parents.

Cyrus and Sophie also knew of this boy’s identity, but Atlas didn’t.

“Okay, do you need help carrying them?” Atlas innocently asked, ready to show off what his training had done for his strength. He felt like he could carry these three men by himself!

He obviously didn’t see the look on the boy’s face that seemed to scream, ‘Would you go away?’

“No thanks. I have my people on their way.” Then he looked over at Cyrus and Sophie. “Pretend you didn’t see anything.”

Cyrus nodded. “I understand. Atlas, Sir Walter, let’s go.”

Atlas still had questions, but he kept his mouth shut and followed Cyrus. He looked back to take a look at the young boy one last time before following Cyrus and Sophie back to their carriage.

Sir Walter was already in Atlas’ arms and didn’t look back. He didn’t care too much for this stranger and was following Atlas’ orders.

Seeing them all leave, the young boy sighed in relief.

A couple of seconds later, a butler and three bodyguards arrived at the entrance of the dead-end alleyway.

“Your Highness-!” The butler couldn’t finish his sentence because the boy cut him off.

“And I’m going to stop you right there.” The boy being addressed as “Your Highness” cut off his butler because he didn’t want to hear him nag him.

“I didn’t transform. They killed themselves. Take the bodies of the three assassins and see if you can find anything on them. I believe they are from the Holy Kingdom again.”

Not many people knew this, but the Holy Kingdom had a one-sided grudge against the Hirean Empire. The two countries freely traded with one another, but behind closed doors, the Imperial family and other high-ranking nobles had to deal with attacks from assassins sent by the Holy Kingdom.

As for why the Holy Kingdom was sending assassins, nobody from the Imperial family or the high-ranking nobles knew for sure. But it all happened after a dragon attacked the borders of the Holy Kingdom. Some speculate that the Holy Kingdom thinks that it was the Hirean Empire that sent that dragon over.

In actuality, it was just a lesser dragon that had no ties to the Guardian Dragons or the Dragon God, Sohtris. Lesser dragons were dragons that did not have the blessings from the Dragon God, and therefore, didn’t have much wisdom. They were highly aggressive though.

The butler made sure his master was uninjured and finally gave a relieved sigh when he didn’t even see a speck of blood on him.

“Your Highness, next time, please do not leave the guards behind.”

“I told you I do not need them. I can take care of myself.”

“It is not about whether you are able to take care of yourself or not. It is about-“

“Alright, alright, I know. It is about decorum as a member of the Imperial family. Since I know, you can stop talking. Let us go back.”

Even though the boy’s words sounded harsh, he didn’t punish his butler or yell at him. Actually, he tolerated him and didn’t mind his presence.

The Prince and his butler went back to the Palace while his bodyguards carried the assassins with them.

Traces of the battle in the alleyway seemed to disappear, almost like nobody was there in the first place.

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Grandpa Marky: Hey everyone! I'm updating at 8 in the morning because I haven't slept and I don't want to have to update later. xD I hope you enjoy this next set of chapters.