4. RAVEN FOR THE PRINCES

Bows and arrows aimed at one point. On a road six horse-drawn carriages wide with no distance between them. Archers in the trees and warriors with swords underground were on alert. The dry ground trembled as the gallop of an army approached the kingdom's borders.

The captains of the troops tightened their jaws and tightened their grips on their swords as they realized the enemy was getting closer. Vigilance graced every head covered by a steel helmet. A blood-red robe with a sea shell on the chest.

''Andromeda!''

The captain's shout echoed out. One hand was in the air. Ready to give orders.

However, as soon as the figure in armor appeared- the hundreds of arrows ready to be fired suddenly dropped.

''Is this how my army welcomes their prince?''

''My Prince,'' Leaping from a tree branch four meters high, Bold approached Pascal who was calming the Titan. He growled angrily at the unpleasant reception he received.

''Your Highness, forgive me.'' The captain bowed, followed by the rest of the troops. Andromeda was the name of the special forces directly controlled by Pascal. In a way, Andromeda would only obey the orders of Prince Valliant.

''How is the border?’’

''All is very well under control, Your Highness. With the exception of the Valliant people who trade outside the kingdom, no one goes in or out of the borders,'' Bold said as he looked up from the height of the prince's mount.

''You're very reliable, Captain.''

Pascal ordered the Valliant soldier to take up the position of Andromeda's army now. Where he would patrol the seas and bring his troops aboard. The Valliant Kingdom was in the middle of the sea. So it needed extra guarding on two sides. Land and water.

The mooring ropes were untied from the dock and the ship was ready to set sail. Pascal was on the bow with Titan. Breathing in the cool evening air with the sun about to sink back into the western horizon and emerge in twelve hours. However, there was a strange sight in the clouds above the horizon. The color was no longer orange. Instead, they were red and dense. A sign of the carnage and bloodshed last night.

''Your Highness...''

Pascal turned around, seeing the captain and his deputy. From their gestures, it seemed like they had something to say.

''What is it?" Pascal asked with emphasis.

''A pigeon has just arrived from the palace, Your Highness.''

''White dove or black dove?’’

''Both.''

Pascal probed in confusion. The white dove belonged to Queen Ruby. While the black dove belongs to King Lumiere. If they wanted to deliver a message to one prince, it should have been enough to use one bird. It made Pascal hurriedly open his mouth to ask the contents of the letter that seemed so important for him to know.

''You are requested to return to the palace by the king and queen, My Prince.''

For a moment he frowned, silent and lost in his own thoughts. Then he reached out to receive two scrolls of paper from the two people. The contents were the same. Only with different sender stamps.

''To the palace.''

''To the palace!'' Bold repeated the order from Pascal.

The rudder was pointed ten degrees to the right. Lasting for several minutes, the course finally turned one hundred and eighty degrees. It led to the palace with the blue flag flying on the highest peak of the building.

In his heart, he knew something was wrong out there. In addition to the sky being a sign, his father and mother must have gotten word of the event that made the sky suddenly turn red. In contrast, the blue sea was calm.

The flourishing sails assisted by the wind accelerated the ship to immediately arrive at the dock behind the palace. The access to which Pascal entered and exited because he was reluctant to pass through the public streets that could invite the people to gather to see.

Perhaps he was known as a heartless prince and also liked to kill enemies. But Prince Valliant had a special place in the hearts of the people. Plus having an unusual mount, Pascal had an aura that was different from any prince in the eastern region.

As he was thinking about the color of the sky today- from a deep red, for some reason pink suddenly occurred to him.

''Bring a diver to the palace,'' Pascal said to Bold before getting off the ship.

Bold nodded hesitantly. This was the first time Pascal had asked for a diver twice in a year. But he didn't ask twice to confirm the prince's order. The ship was again moored and would not sail until Pascal gave the order to patrol again.

Dozens of Pascal's maids were waiting to take off his armor and the Titan's armor. Warm water had been prepared as soon as Pascal arrived in his room. He had wanted to do the bathing on the ship, but unfortunately the doves arrived sooner than Pascal wanted to clean himself up.

''Mathias, do you know why I was asked to return before I finished my patrol?'' Pascal asked his personal courtier.

The white-haired man was watching as two of the servants undid the prince's armor. And the rest were undoing the armor on Titan's body. The animal needed more humans to remove the armor.

''King Lumiere received the raven from the Orva Kingdom, Your Highness. After that the king ordered General Carlise to send doves to your ship. That's all I know.''

Ravens from Orva? Pascal thought. It couldn't possibly contain a message from Crysta. He was present at the famously brave princess's event. Over and over again, Pascal still had no vision of what news the Kingdom of Orva was sending to Valliant.

In the smoke-filled pool, Pascal had two ordinary sights when he was soaking in his room. One, the expanse of the Valliant Kingdom's buildings - two, the Titan tearing into a pile of meat in the corner of the room. Both made Pascal smile often without cause. But this time the servants were a little confused because they didn't see a smile on Pascal's lips this time.

With Pascal hurriedly ending the activity, it further added to the question marks lodged in everyone in the room as large as the queen's secret garden.

The handsome man in white pants and a black tailored top then entered the banquet hall, sitting on the chair where the king and queen had already sat down.

''Roast lamb, Your Highness?'' A servant offered. But what the thirty-five-year-old woman got was an upraised hand. Pascal preferred the grapes that were already on the table.

''Have you lost your appetite, Prince Rascal?''

The grapes had not been completely swallowed and he had not been sitting there for two minutes. But the queen had teased him by twisting his name. Pascal became Rascal. Which means asshole.

''What's my fault this time, Mother?" he asked after swallowing the purple fruit.

Queen Ruby only called her little prince by that name when Pascal disobeyed her orders. Or made mischief like skipping dinner. But this time Pascal obeyed all of his mother's orders. He was asked to go to the Orva Kingdom, he did. He was even asked to go home even though he was carrying out the kingdom's routine activities. So it was only natural that he asked for an explanation as to why the queen did not call him Pascal but Rascal.

''You went alone without a single Valliant or Andromeda soldier to the Orva Kingdom, you know very well how dangerous it is out there, don't you?''

Damn. He who traveled without an escort had been discovered.

For a few moments, the banquet hall was silent. There was only the clink of spoons and plates touching each other. Pascal did not answer. He would speak once his mother finished her questioning.

''Perhaps you have dealt with the rebels at the root. But you must understand that in the eastern region the rebels are not only attacking our kingdom. The enemy is everywhere and you could be killed without anyone knowing.''

This time it was her father who spoke up. It was as if the king and queen of this kingdom were judging an unruly little prince.

''We have never doubted your skill in fighting, attacking or anything related to self-defense, Little Prince. But I hope you understand that the royal heir should not take for granted the lives that mean so much to so many heads in this kingdom.''

Pascal chewed the second grape. Listening gracefully to a mistake that should not have been debated. Traveling with soldiers would take a lot of time to arrive back. At the very least he would waste twelve hours slower and traveling with the Titan had cut down that time.

Although he was still late to arrive at the Orva Kingdom due to him not wanting to attend but being forced to go by Queen Ruby.

''I know you'll be proud of yourself for getting home safely without getting hurt, Rascal. But do you know what happened to Princess Crysta's fiancé?''

''Prince Logan?’’

''And also his brother.'' King Lumiere replied.

''Prince Axa?''

From the shock, the king and queen knew that Prince Valliant was indeed unaware of the sad news that had befallen the Mytris Kingdom.

''One night being someone's fiancé and the next day being at a funeral. Why do you think Father and Mother are so angry that you left the palace alone, Pascal?''

Pascal stared at the king. His throat struggled to release the words he had deduced from the explanation. It took him a few seconds to speak out loud.

''You mean- Prince Logan and Prince Axa are dead?''

''That's right. The Orva Kingdom sent a message through the raven to find out about you. If it wasn't for Queen Ophelia's information, we might never have known that you were riding alone.''

The soldiers and servants who overheard the conversation at the dining table exchanged worries. But they were grateful that their prince was not the target of the attack. Pascal who looked calm yet empathized with the grief that befell the Mytris Kingdom even more made them admire the rogue prince belonging to the Valliant Kingdom.

What was it that made the sky suddenly change color? Is Crysta okay?