Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 136: Decision

The convoy left Morphey Forest the next day.

Garcia lifted Angelina up and kissed her forehead softly. "I'll wait for you in the empire, my dear."

"Okay, Big Sister." Angelina smiled. She knew from a few days ago that she was going to study in Aomar Empire next year.

"I'll let you deal with Adamrys' scales then," said Garcia to Romm.

"Don't worry about it," assured Romm. The purple scales wouldn't just fall off from Adamrys' body in one night; it would take half a year for 200 purple scales to shed, after which they would be transported by a convoy to the Aomar Empire in the coming year. Romm was put in charge to supervise the operation.

Garcia stopped talking and put her helmet on. She then stomped on the ground and flew towards the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving only a green ray of light behind her. As the dignitaries from Aomar had already left Faustian for almost a week. Garcia needed to catch up with them. Romm disappeared as well. No one knew where he went off to.

"Let's go!" ordered Xif. The convoy continued on towards Felor in an orderly manner.

"Have you made your decision about what I've told you?" asked Angelina to Locke in the carriage.

Locke peeled off the skin of a nut in silence. Angelina had told him that she was going to study in Aomar and she hoped that he would go with her.

She was annoyed at Locke's silence. "Is it because you don't want to part ways with those Shalorian women?"

Locke shuddered as soon as he heard her words. Did Angelina already find out about Suzanne, Glace and the others?

Well, it was actually quite obvious. Locke had placed them at the joint camp outside of Audis for such a long time; she could've easily discovered them if she tracked his whereabouts.

Locke's silence was a tacit agreement. He wouldn't just leave his women there and leave his hometown. Plus, his parents were still there.

Angelina thought that she'd made things worse when she saw his sullen face. She didn't mind if he had other women with him, she just couldn't stand it when Locke ignored her. As she was still young, that mattered quite a lot to her.

"What if I agree to let you bring them along with you?" suggested Angelina.

His eyes lit up. But he soon lowered and shook his head.

"I still have my parents" said Locke.

"I'm going to somewhere so far away alone. Are you not going to accompany me?" Angelina started tearing up.

Locke's heart ached and he put his arms around her waist. "I'll think about it." He couldn't stand to see his beloved cry.

"Okay." Angelina wiped her tears and hugged him tightly.

She was already making a huge concession by allowing him to bring Glace and the others with him, so he didn't want to disappoint her.

Actually, Angelina, who was born in a royal family, knew how frivolous a man could be. Many of her sisters had married men who loved them, but they all had other women too. Not to mention, her father and brothers had more than one wife, so she didn't really mind. She just wanted to be Locke's legal wife.

After the convoy arrived in Felor, Angelina was directly escorted into the palace by the shadow guards, whereas Locke was left at the city gates. She hugged Locke tightly before they parted, as if she didn't want to let go of this man.

"Don't worry, we'll meet again in two months," comforted Locke.

"Yeah."

After bidding farewell to the convoy, Locke went to Falcon's camp that was located outside of the city, borrowed a horse from the courier station, and headed back to his hometown.

They would be meeting each other again in two months because Xif mentioned that the Faustian king would be promoting nobles and entitling some commoners too, especially those that took part in the war, in two months' time.

Xif belonged to the household of the fourth margrave in Faustian. He was a count and Shia was his cousin. He wasn't blind and could easily guess the relationship between him and the princess, given how often he'd gone into the princess' tent for the past few days.

But Xif didn't expose anything. This Ritter was opened minded and neither supported nor opposed the relationship between the princess and the commoner. Overall, he had a good impression of Locke. It was rare for a commoner to reach such heights. Plus, he could sense from Angelina's blood circulation that she was still chaste, so he didn't need to worry about anything.

Although the love affair between commoners and nobles are rare, it didn't mean that it didn't exist. Angelina's late mother was also a commoner. Back then, several nobles in the royal capital had attempted to court her beautiful mother. But the king was the one who'd succeeded in getting her hand in marriage.

Anyway, if Locke wanted to have something with Angelina in the future, he must first become a noble. Locke would also want to bring honour to his ancestors.

After riding for three days, Locke finally returned to Cardoj's territory. He went to spend time with Glace and the others for a night and then returned to Maple Village the next day.

"How about we move to Felor?" Locke asked his parents.

Locke's father was stunned for a moment. He then shook his head vigorously and said, "No! Why do you want to go to the royal capital all of a sudden?"

"Yeah. I know that you've got a lot of money now, but who knows? Maybe you won't even have enough to spend there." Tia thought Locke wanted to move there because he thought that he was rich now.

"I'll be given a knighthood soon," said Locke directly. He didn't want to keep this news from his parents anymore.

Locke's father dropped his smoking pipe onto the ground, while Tia covered her mouth, dumbfounded. Lia was the calmest person there. She merely looked at him calmly, as if what he just said paled in comparison to his charm.

Locke's father finally came to his senses after a while. "Really?!" asked Locke's father excitedly. His wrinkled face was flushed.

"Yeah!" Locke nodded.

Whereas, Tia kept tearing up while covering her mouth. She was excited for him as well.

"Let's celebrate tonight! Go and get two bottles of wine for me, I'll head to the mountains and let our ancestors know that we have a noble in our family!" said Locke Senior excitedly.

Tia didn't forbid Locke Senior from drinking this time. While the old couple were busy being excited, Locke went outside and sat on a stool alone. He didn't tell his parents about this news impulsively. He would only be at ease before accompanying Angelina to Aomar if his family moved to Felor.

Locke had thought about this for a long time. He wasn't letting go of his family for love. He simply wasn't used to living in peace and harmony anymore. He'd been fighting for his life ever since he was fourteen, he couldn't stop that hectic life now. Locke wasn't sure what the future held for him, but he was definitely sure that he wouldn't want to end his life here in this little Maple Village.

Lia suddenly walked out of the door and put her cold hand on his shoulder. The siblings didn't usually talk much, but they could always guess what was on each other's minds.

A month later, the Faustian troops in Shalor finally returned home under the orders of Prince Kenzir. Though, there wasn't any distinction between Shalor and Faustian anymore at this moment, because Shalor was now Faustian's territory. In essencem the three major corps travelled from the eastern part of Faustian to its central part. A part of Shalor's territory was given to Karaman, and the rest of it was Faustian's new territory.

It was divided into a total of three provinces. The names of the provinces were also finally approved by the Faustian king after they were discussed by the members of the noble council and the House of Lords a month ago.

With the return of the three major corps, countless nobles who'd returned from the victory were sharpening their knives and preparing to enjoy their piece of the pie.

In the castle of Cardoj's territory, Baron Cardoj was trying on some formal attire that came from the royal capital.

"What do you think of this suit that I'm wearing right now?" asked the baron to a beautiful woman who was tidying up his sleeves. She was his first wife and Barton's mother.

The woman didn't even have the chance to reply, as another woman beside her who was more luxuriously dressed than her interrupted, "Of course it looks good. I was the one who picked this tuxedo in Felor."

This woman was Cardoj's legal wife, one of the dozen daughters of De Sandro, and Solon's mother.

The beautiful woman was interrupted by the legal wife but she didn't express any unpleasantness, doing nothing but smoothening the baron's clothes silently. The baron finally decided on what to wear. He put them on and admired himself in the mirror, feeling very satisfied with his look.

"Who'll be going to Felor with you then?" asked the luxuriously dressed woman. This lady was good in all aspects. She was beautiful, had refined manners, and was from a noble family. Otherwise, the baron wouldn't have taken her to be his legal wife. It was just that she was a little petty and always liked to compare herself with his first wife.

Fortunately, his first wife was a sensible and mature person. She and Cardoj were childhood sweethearts. And although her legal wife status had been snatched away and she had to become the second lady, she didn't make a fuss over it, which made Cardoj particularly pleased.

"We'll all go together as a family," decided Cardoj.

The first lady didn't argue with him. Cardoj was the head of the family and she was only a daughter from another margrave's family, so she could only abide by his decision. It was his assertiveness and shrewdness that charmed her.

"Then what about your territory?" the second lady asked. Unlike the first lady who was only keen on fighting for being the favoured one, the second lady was more concerned about assisting the baron in handling his territorial matters. She was indeed the better wife.

"Johann can stay and look after the house," said Cardoj as he adjusted his tie.

Johann was an outstanding butler. Other than the great strength that he possessed, he also had excellent management skills.