Chapter 179 – The Final Talk

“You royalty?” Syrus’s question was as blunt as a hammer whacking on stone.

“What–” Mary was disoriented by Syrus’s words.

“You don’t need to freeze.” Syrus continued her motion, removed the harness from the horse, and brought it over to the carriage as Mary was still processing the question and her response.

It was not how she expected the morning to start, and by Syrus' near lack of seriousness, she was nearly wondering if it was supposed to be a joke, but the topic was so serious for her that it caused a minor malfunction.

“Syrus… this isn’t the time for–”

“What makes you think I am joking?” She replied, “I know my history; I can calculate the age when you would be living in Eletscoep.”

“Yes, I was a child,” Mary replied.

Anlesa said, “So normal nobility or royalty?”

“...Sigh… royalty.” Mary gave up and just said the answer. “Why did you want to know? I’m not exactly royalty anymore.”

Maca and Lavender were the only two others to hear this conversation. Syrus had directed Ethan to take Max away to clean up their eating supplies in the river. Maca just nodded, and Lavender looked over, shocked. There was a massive jump between a noble and full-blown royalty.

Of course, Arisea Station didn’t have enough, even remotely close to royalty, but the nearby kingdoms of Cancole and Nervald did. Cancole’s royal family was quite passive, while the Nevald Kingdom family had a reputation for being aggressive towards transgression. Either way, there were enough rumours that while you might be able to get away with offending a noble, the same couldn’t hold true if someone smack-talked a particularly irritated member of those families.

Luna had experiences interacting with a few royal families during her duties, and her interactions would likely be the outliers compared to what the average person faced. She had also done research into other countries that were at least partially ruled by some sort of monarch or equivalent, and the reputations of each varied.

“It does change things.” Luna said with certainty, “You and your son, unless I am mistaken, are the last living members of the Eletscoep royal family. No matter what, considering yourself a part of regular nobility is the worst thing we can do in this situation.”

Mary questioned, as she felt a headache forming, “You want to treat me with a higher degree of respect?”

“Very much no, but there are other complications about you being royalty. You must know that.” Luna asked, “So what is your plan?”

Mary was the one who pitched this commission, so there had to be a reason for her to want to return. Whether that was for safety or to reclaim power.

Her reasoning wasn’t completely out of left field and was mostly what Anlesa had expected, as Mary explained there were a few reasons for the desire to return to her place of birth. For the simplest reason of her wanting to return to her old home, despite living most of her life away from it, it was the city and country she had grown up in and loved. There was the desire for protection; she had lived her life encountering many dangerous situations, and she had hoped to settle down permanently somewhere for her remaining years, whether that was ten or thirty.

Arisea Station was a place she felt might suit that need, but it was also a very busy location; stuff was always happening, and people were very competitive. There was a sense of camaraderie among the merchants, but the way the city operated, people had to continually improve themselves, their business, etc.

Mary had the commission created before the attack happened, but the attack was what led to her wanting to push it forward. She had always planned to go through with the journey if Maca ever disappeared, as in many ways, he was one of her lifelines she could count on.

Then, in the end, she wanted a place that was safe for Max to grow up in. The royal family of Eletscoep was known to have exotic attributes, and the country was well accepting of them… in the past, anyway. Mary’s knowledge of how education shifted and the great silence that happened afterwards was also unknown to her.

She shared Anlesa's theory that all the adults remembered and that it was discussed behind closed doors, but it was no longer publicly stated. What happened to the city saddened her, as she understood that many people lost their lives–including her own family–and silencing it all seemed so wrong.

“Then–” Mary’s voice deepened as she pulled out her other reasoning. “I want to know what happened all those years ago…”

“...” Syrus nodded.

Mary expressed her doubts about what happened all those years ago, doubts that Luna had spoken about in the past, so she wanted to return to at least find any truth on the matter.

Luna asked, “Does anyone actually know you are alive?”

“I doubt it, but there could always be people who are curious.”

The final question, “Are you going to tell Max?”

“I know I have to, but it is a bit harder than just saying we have noble lineage.” Mary looked conflicted. “I haven’t been a princess since I was ten years old when I was dumped out of a bag and told to run.”

“What about the fact that you could be bringing him into danger?”

“I have insurance for that.” She said with confidence, “And no, I won’t speak of what it is, but I need you to trust me that it would protect him from any harm, no matter the cause.”

“Then Maca?” Syrus asked.

Maca spoke for her, “She has already given me the history of this place; I know the dangers.”

The conversation ended quickly and with the situation properly aligned, everyone prepared for a slightly different journey ahead.

It didn’t take long, but once everyone was reunited, the party hopped back on the carriage and continued on their journey to Eletscoep.