Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1527: Chapter 254: Are You Ready?

The Royal Palace in the City of the Sun is not as large as it seems—because a significant part of the land belongs to the Temple.

Even so, the palace is obviously not small… The guard followed Princess Yamanlana, walking for about twenty minutes before they finished crossing the transitional area between the Temple and the Royal Palace.

During this time, Princess Yamanlana didn’t turn around to say a word to the guard following her—unsure of what to say.

Princess Yamanlana is someone who likes to reflect, and at this moment, she was contemplating that her recent behavior seemed a bit too reckless—of course, for another royal family, such a small matter might be of no concern.

But Princess Yamanlana knows that to become a wise monarch, power must never be abused… All power must serve the empire and its citizens; only then can the nation endure for ages.

Princess Yamanlana strictly governs the military and closely monitors ministers across the empire’s various systems, and she is even stringent with herself… She suddenly worried whether this guard might associate her with arrogance and abuse of power because of this incident.

—Probably due to the monster incident, which disrupted her Qi Cultivation… The Princess quietly explained to herself.

“Yiben, where is your home?” Princess Yamanlana gently sighed, then turned around with a blank expression, seemingly casually asking.

—Let’s start with small talk… Being approachable is also a quality that a wise monarch should have.

The Princess quietly gave herself ample reasons for her actions.

“Pretty far.” The guard thought for a moment and said, “It’s in the east, quite far from here.”

Princess Yamanlana nodded, “Is it near the East City Wall… Indeed, that’s quite far from the palace.”

The air suddenly fell into a deadly silence for about half a minute. The usually eloquent Princess Yamanlana suddenly said, “I like the market near the East City Wall. I’ve passed by it several times and wanted to take a look.”

The guard blinked, showing a [go on, I’m listening] look.

“… Well, nothing more.”

Princess Yamanlana turned around and walked forward with large strides… She couldn’t help but smile wryly. In fact, she is not good with words, rarely engaging in such simple exchanges with others—not even with her father, the King, in the empire.

She suddenly realized that besides the High Priest, she had never casually talked to anyone in the City of the Sun… Probably not with this guard either—because she is a princess, and he is just a small guard.

“Since you’ve passed by several times and wanted to look, why not go in and see?”

“I can’t stop.” Princess Yamanlana immediately stopped, her response faster than the guard had anticipated. “Once I stop, I will become complacent! The empire is not as peaceful as it appears. We face enormous threats, and if we’re not careful, we could face ruin and destruction!”

“Is the Princess referring to the monsters in the desert?” the guard asked curiously.

Princess Yamanlana nodded, speaking seriously, “These monsters not only have large bodies but can also lurk beneath the desert, and some can even disguise themselves as rocks, making it easy to fall prey to them. To eradicate these monsters, countless young warriors in the City of the Sun have been sacrificed each year. Moreover, this war has no end in sight… Perhaps one day, the City of the Sun will cease to exist.”

The guard turned to look at the distant Temple, curiously asking, “Doesn’t the City of the Sun have the protection of the Sun God… Can it still fall?”

Princess Yamanlana shook her head, seemingly unwilling to elaborate. She stared deeply at the guard and suddenly asked, “Yiben, young warrior, when danger comes, are you willing to step forward and fight to the death for your empire and your family? The longest night of darkness is fast approaching… Are you ready?”

The guard shook his head directly.

Princess Yamanlana looked at Guard Yiben unexpectedly, then shook her head, her expression complex, “Actually, I’m not ready either… The entire empire is not ready, but those who see clearly are few.”

—It seems that the Princess misunderstood something.

But the warrior guard had no intention of explaining.

He just thought for a moment and asked, “What exactly are these monsters?”

Princess Yamanlana suddenly said, “Yiben, you haven’t seen these monsters up close, have you? I’m not talking about the view you see each year on the longest night of darkness from behind the city walls… But standing in front of them, touching their bodies.”

“I indeed have not,” the guard shook his head again.

At this moment, Princess Yamanlana suddenly smiled, as if she had thought of something amusing, “Come, I will take you to a place.”

The guard said, “Isn’t the Princess planning to attend the banquet?”

Princess Yamanlana replied indifferently, “Such a boring banquet can be attended anytime… If you’re hungry, I’ll have something prepared for you.”

The guard chuckled and said, “I don’t seem to have any reason to refuse.”

Princess Yamanlana glanced at the young guard with a hint of irritation… Think about it, as the grand Princess of the City of the Sun, how did she end up feeling like he was the Prince—perhaps because it had been a long time since she’d met someone who wasn’t bothered by her princess status.

“Yiben, have you ever thought about what the world outside is like?” Princess Yamanlana suddenly asked.

“Beyond the desert?” The guard thought for a moment and said, “They say there’s land beyond the desert, only blocked by the monsters, leaving no way out.”

Princess Yamanlana said, “Monsters in the desert aren’t the only things blocking the path… The outside world…”

“The outside world?”

Princess Yamanlana shook her head, her expression returning to one of seriousness, “Nothing, really. We need to move faster… Though it’s not necessary to be on time, continually being absent from banquets could be troublesome.”

She walked in another direction, her pace gradually increasing… On this journey, she didn’t stop to converse with the young guard again.

…

I’m going to die… This thought had completely left Claudia’s mind, replaced by the feeling of [almost dying].

Perhaps she underestimated Princess Yamanlana’s influence in the empire—originally, she was just traveling with the Minister of Agriculture’s son Moni, but the number of people in the entourage gradually increased.

They were all sons of the empire’s ministers… encountered along the way, they immediately gathered as if drawn like ants around honey—they praised Claudia by her side.

Claudia didn’t see how remarkable these ministers’ sons were, but their sweet talk was rather impressive… In school, Claudia had never experienced being surrounded and revered by so many men.

She’s always felt that being surrounded by men gives her the feeling of an animal in a zoo, just like a monkey.

But the real experience is… surprisingly not bad, really pleasant.

Even amidst the crowd of handsome, sunny, and courteous faces, she couldn’t help but feel like floating… Claudia even thought in a bit of a daze: Since I’ve met a Princess Yamanlana just like me here, and have run into a Yiben just like Aria, could I also encounter someone else who got lost, just like them?

One of the sons of these ministers?

“What are you looking at?” Mr. Otto, serving as a guard to Princess Yamanlana, approached at this moment and asked softly, “Did you discover something?”

“No… nothing.” Mr. Otto’s voice dispelled some strange thoughts Claudia had, and she quickly said, “I was just checking to see if that guy has made his way here yet… really.”

“Hmm.” Mr. Otto nodded, looked at Claudia strangely, and then said, “You need to find an excuse to leave in front of these young masters… We’re about to arrive at the banquet venue, and once we encounter the real Princess Yamanlana, we’re in trouble.”

“I understand.” Claudia’s face gradually became serious… if she needed an excuse, then — of course, there’s only that excuse left.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to attend to, excuse me…” Claudia started to speak but was suddenly interrupted.

“Yamanlana, pride of the empire, my child!”

Not far away, the Pharaoh of the empire, accompanied by a group of attendants, was walking over slowly… The sons of ministers around Claudia hurriedly stepped aside.

Claudia’s vision went dark at once, and she gave Mr. Otto a look that said doomed, as she looked at the Pharaoh of the empire approaching her in a cold sweat.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Otto bowed his head at this time and quietly retreated two steps… Claudia’s pupils couldn’t help but contract — she had never seen anyone so shameless!

So frustrating —!

“I thought you weren’t planning to attend tonight’s banquet.” The Pharaoh of the empire didn’t notice anything amiss with the princess before him and kindly took [the Princess’s] hand, smiling warmly and saying, “I sent people to your palace to look for you, but you weren’t there. I didn’t expect you had already arrived here, it really makes me so happy, my daughter.”

Claudia had no choice but to bravely say, “After all, it’s a victory banquet, not attending would make others say I’m disrespecting you.”

The Pharaoh of the empire opened his mouth, somewhat surprised to glance at his daughter, then suddenly burst into hearty laughter, “Everyone says Princess Yamanlana overshadows her lord, never regards me in her eyes… Look, look at this! Those who said such things could yet be executed! This is my good daughter! The pride of the empire! Hahahaha!”

Everyone was silent like cicadas in cold weather, cold sweat breaking out, repeatedly echoing.

The Pharaoh of the empire did not care for these, holding [the Princess’s] hand and leading her towards the banquet hall, loudly saying, “Come! My princess! Let these people see the bond between you and me as a father and daughter!”

[The Princess]… Claudia, clutching at the wrist by this Pharaoh of the empire, was suddenly filled with nerves, her heart pounding, breathing rapidly… her legs turned to jelly.

Going to die, going to die, this time really going to die!

Claudia stiffly glanced backward, only to find Mr. Otto sneaked in among the Pharaoh’s attendants and guards… somewhat comforting still.

Unexpectedly, after a while, Mr. Otto had disappeared without a trace among the attendants… Claudia immediately began to curse, “No man is any good!”

“My child, who on earth has made you angry?” The Pharaoh of the empire was startled, “Did these people offend you somehow? You must tell me! I will execute them for you!”

Just how much does he like executing people…

“Yamanlana?” The Pharaoh asked again with concern.

Claudia suddenly recalled that before entering the Royal Palace, Yiben had mentioned that this banquet was for the Pharaoh to select a husband for Princess Yamanlana, and then a flash of inspiration struck, “Tonight someone will emerge who can spend their life with me, but I would like to give this person some tests.”

The Pharaoh of the empire was curious, “Tests?”

“I need some preparation…” Claudia at this moment said with great seriousness, “For the sake of fairness, only I can know the questions for the test.”

Hearing this, the Pharaoh of the empire promptly waved his hand, “That’s simple… Someone, prepare a room for the princess!”

Thus, [the Princess] in full view walked into a separate room within the banquet hall — but to ensure absolute secrecy for this test, the Pharaoh even stationed a dozen warriors to guard around the room to make sure no one could peep.

Inside the room, [the Princess] slumped at the door, murmuring to herself, “Why did I propose such a demand, isn’t this… self-inflicted punishment?”

At the same time outsiders couldn’t enter, [the Princess] naturally couldn’t leave either.

…

This place did not look as luxurious as other parts of the Royal Palace… but it was definitely not simple — it was heavily guarded by soldiers.

The soldiers looked like elite ones, stern and humorless, even when Princess Yamanlana arrived in person, there wasn’t much of a stir, they just quietly opened the door.

“What is this place?” The young guard asked curiously at this moment.

“The place where monsters are researched.” Princess Yamanlana calmly said, “Here, specimens of beasts killed by the empire over the years are collected. The empire’s finest scholars are all here, their only goal is to find more effective ways to kill the beasts… Come, I’ll show you the remains of a monster.”

Unlike the indifferent guards outside, those working inside the research base enthusiastically greeted Princess Yamanlana when they saw her.

The young guard took the opportunity while Princess Yamanlana was communicating with the scholars here to start looking around.

This place was like a museum; around were shelves that held up enormous carcasses, from the remaining skeletal shapes, it seemed possible to imagine some of these giant beasts’ appearances in life.

The young guard gradually walked to a pool, a stimulating smell immediately drifting over, inside the pool’s transparent liquid, a huge and hideous beast’s head was starkly placed.

“Impressive, isn’t it.” Unnoticed at some point, Princess Yamanlana had come to stand behind the young guard, “This is the head of a beast hunted two years ago. We expended huge effort cutting off its head and transporting it to this place.”

The young guard blinked and suddenly asked, “What is this head soaked in?”

“Formalin,” Princess Yamanlana said as if casually, “a liquid used to prevent corpses from rotting; most of the monster bodies or viscera here are soaked in this liquid.”

Formalin… solution.