Tristan took his time, and when he was finished, he walked right behind Raika, the Kingsblade captain.

If he was being honest, he was still somehow annoyed with what his new wife said to him, but he tries not to think or make a big deal out of it.

Tristan then realized Instead of going to the hall assembly as usual, Raika led him into the Vanyar palace courtyard.

By noon, he had arrived in the courtyard, and he was treated to the beautiful sight of a meticulously tended garden in front of him. Trees of various kinds grew along the edges of the yard, coupled with beautiful, colorful flowers emitting a fragrant aroma. In the middle of the courtyard, a wide stone arena surrounded by pure white pillars could be seen.

To his surprise, when he walked closer, he heard the sounds of metal colliding with each other and vigorous shouts, implying that there was fighting going on.

Four masters of the elven disciplines stood surrounding a man in the middle. Tristan could recognize them as Master Ortiz of the unarmed discipline, Master Tella of the bow, and Master Myrtin and Haldir of the blades.

All of them took a fighting stance against the man standing in the middle.

The man was shirtless, his golden hair perfectly complementing his muscular body. Tristan glanced at him in surprise. It was Callan, king of the Arcadian Empire.

"Aaaaaaaarrrrgggghhh!"

The king let out a loud battle cry before parrying the trickshot arrows coming towards him with one swing of his large blade. He used the momentum to dodge and counter the attacks of the other three masters.

During his time in the castle, Tristan had seen the power of each master first hand, and now he was more aware than ever of the power gap between him and the king.

Right now, Tristan believed that even if he managed to increase his body strength to stage 4 Blood Monarch or even stage 5, he might still be unable to defeat the king.

Clank! Clank!

The sword skills the king used had a lot of similarities to the blade singer style of the elven sword disciplines, but the steps and movements added to it made Tristan believe that it was more likely a derivative.

He had to admit that the skill was flawless, and if he could have the chance to learn how, he would take it in a heartbeat. But he remembered that the style belonged to the annoying King, and he immediately dismissed the idea.

The fight went on as he watched… from their movements, Tristan could tell that even though they were using all their strength, this was just a practice match. It made him even more annoyed that the king was able to match the strength of the four masters and lock them in a standstill.

A few moments later, Tristan saw shadows of people from behind him and turned back to see the queen, accompanied by Elder Anmar and the princess.

Tristan unconsciously glanced at Serene, but the princess didn't seem to react, and she glanced back without a hint of expression, like nothing wrong happened between them. Somehow, that just maked Tristan even more irritated.

He decided to not bother himself with his crazy wife and greet the queen instead.

"Your Majesty." Tristan bowed a little as a sign of respect.

The queen stared at him in quiet surprise before saying.

"Don't you think you should call me Queen Mother from now on?"

The simple request instantly made Tristan feel awkward. In his life, he never called anyone mother or father, and doing so now after a lifetime of being deprived of family certainly felt strange.

The queen seemed to notice the glint of hesitation in his eyes, and she quickly added. "Or now that we are family, you can just call me Leena."

"Alright, Your Majesty Leena."

"Good." The queen nodded. This will be sufficient for now.

The queen looked at Tristan before looking at her daughter. Right then, she realized that both didn't even say one word to each other. Tristan did everything he could to avert his gaze from the princess.

Realizing what happened, the queen sighed.

"Here I thought both of you were doing well, considering all those noises you two made yesterday…"

From the corner of his eyes, Tristan saw Serene bite the corner of her lips. He decided to say.

"Of course We're fine, Leena, never been happier!. We merely need to work some things out between us."

"Alright, then." The queen nodded.

Right after they finished talking, Tristan felt the release of massive energy, and right as he turned back, he saw all the four masters thrown back a few steps.

Their duel seems to be concluded, and the queen stepped forward.

"Enough!" The king said, and stabbed the large sword onto the floor, creating cracks on the stone before giving his respects to the four masters.

With sweat still running all over his half naked body, the king approached Tristan. He gave a simple nod to the Queen and the Princess, before finally looking at him from head to toe.

One of the Kingsblade who was standing nearby gave him a huge towel. While cleaning himself up, he said.

"Took you two long enough! Fortunately, the four masters were kind enough to accompany me for some practice" The king roared.

Knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to oppose him, Tristan merely gave him a slight nod and answered his anger with a straight face.

"Anything I can help you with, Your Majesty?" Tristan said, but from his tone, the hostility was clear.

If the king heard it, he certainly gave no indication. He tossed the towel back to the guard and said.

"Yes! Pack your stuff, we are going to leave Vanyar as soon as possible!"

Tristan was stunned into silence right then and there.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,