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Techno headed outside, taking a nice stroll around the castle, enjoying the tepid temperature. It was early spring so it was pretty cold if you stayed in the shade, but it felt quite nice walking on the sunny sides of the garden.

He could vaguely see the guards train in the far left corner of the inner walls, there probably would be one of his friends there so he decided to go pay him a visit. As he got closer, he could see that the guards were divided in groups of two, fighting each other as a man with a large set of large black wings looked over them. Techno smiled, walking over and delivering a strong pat on his back, making the man jump.

"How are the new recruits looking this far Philza? Did you already find someone good?" he asked, the man rolled his eyes, giving him a weak punch in response.

"They are all pretty good, it's a nice batch" he scoffed "You need to stop scaring me like that, i might die of heart attack one of these days" Phil said jokingly, making Techno snicker.

"Oh come on, you're the captain of the royal guards, don't act like an old man"

"I'm older than you, didn't you get taught to respect your elders?" he teased.

"Didn't you get taught to respect your king?" Techno teased back. The two glared at each other for a moment, before erupting into a heartfelt laughter.

"You down for some sparring?" Phil proposed, making a challenging smile appear on Techno's face "Always"

Phil guided him over a small sand area and handed over a wooden sword, taking one for himself as well. The two readied themselves.

"Ready grandpa?" Techno teased.

"I'm going to teach you some manners kid" even though Techno was almost 30, Philza kept calling him kid, since his kind had quite a long lifespan.

Philza was an Elythrian, meaning he had large wings on his back that allowed him to fly high up in the sky, his kind could live up to 300 years, and he was currently only in his 60's. They have bird-like feet and some can even use magic, although Phil wasn't really good with it, he was known to be the fastest flyer among the other Elythrian in the kingdom, as well as the most powerful. That is the reason why Techno elected him chief of the army, he was the first friend he ever made and they were very close, for they had gone through many struggles together, as well as countless fights.

There never was a clear winner when they fought against each other, it would often end up in a tie or the battle would last too long and the king had to eventually return to his duties, leaving the match unfinished.

"Let's see if we can have a winner this time" Techno said eagerly, sprinting towards Phil and delivering a strong blow, which the Elythrian parried, quickly moving to the side. They fought for a good hour and, of course, as it was time for dinner, the king got called back, and again, there wasn't a winner.

"We're gonna need to finish one of these days" Philza said, panting a bit.

"So you can lose? Sure grandpa, whatever you say" he teased, giving him a small wave and starting to leave.

As Techno headed back inside the castle he, unfortunately, ran into the council, who was also heading out to eat their supper, and immediately ran towards him.

"Your highness! We were looking for you. We requested an audience today but it appears like you were quite busy" one of the council man said.

"Yeah i know i uhh... had a lot of work to do" he clasped his hands together, making a loud 'Clap'.

"Now if you excuse me, i'm quite famished, i think i'll go eat some dinner" he tried to move past but they blocked his way.

"Your majesty, we understand that this is an uncomfortable subject for you but please, you need to find a bride soon. You being the last one of your dynasty is a very serious matter! What if something happened to you? The kingdom would be left without a king" one of them reminded, making him sigh, he knew they were right but still, he didn't want to get married to a woman he didn't love.

"I already told you, i'm only marrying the woman whom i'll fall in love with. I will not bound myself to someone for my entire life just because of some political advantages" he said in an annoyed tone.

"Bu-" the man started talking but got immediately interrupted by another one.

"How about we host a ball?" he suggested, catching his attention "A ball?" he nodded.

"This way you can meet many potential consorts and get to know them better, and if you find yourself fond of any of them, we can invite her over to spend more time with you" Techno gave it a thought, it wasn't the best but it was better than just having to randomly choose a bride.

"Very well, i'll allow it" he said in the end, making the council members smile eagerly.

"Excellent! We'll start preparations at once!" one of them said exited "If i don't remember wrong, King Soot and his consort should be visiting next week, why don't we organize it by then, so they can take part" another one proposed.

"That's actually a good idea, send them an invitation" he heard his stomach growl in hunger.

"We kept you from your meal for far too long your majesty, we apologize and will take our leave" they all bowed and quickly headed out, talking to each other about the preparation to make. Techno sighed, already knowing that this was a bad idea.

He headed back into the large hall and entered the dining room, founding Ranboo waiting for him, standing close to the wall, book in hand, as always.

"How did your day go your highness?" he asked as Techno sat down at the head of the large table, food soon starting to get served to him by the cooks.

"It could have gone better" he groaned "Listen Ranboo, we're gonna host a ball in a week, go talk to the council members, they'll fill you in, and do me a favor, keep an eye on them, make sure they don't try anything funny" he ordered, Ranboo was caught off guard for a moment but quickly regained his posture, bowing down an leaving the room to catch up to them.

"What's on the menu today?" he asked at the cook, surprised to see it was Puffy who was serving him this time "Oh it's you again... Puffy right?" he asked, a bit ashamed by the fact he already forgot her name, even though he was the one who hired her in the first place.

"Y-yes your majesty" she shyly answered, clearing her throat "T-today we have s-some mashed potatoes with steak, accompanied by a red wine aged in our cellar" she then proceeded to pour him a small quantity so he could taste it. Techno gave it a sip, it had a very pungent flavor, with a hint of bitterness, he liked it.

"That's a very good wine, is it from our vines?" he asked, Puffy nodded eagerly "Yes! It's from a the harvest of a few years ago, we let it age inside oak barrels so it would gain a more pungent flavor" she explained, Techno smiled, placing down his glass for Puffy to fill.

"I like it, i think we could consider exchanging it with the Soot kingdom, they have great taste in wines and i'm sure they'll like it too" he turned to look at her.

"You're very informed" Puffy almost dropped the bottle but managed to catch it in time "I-i-i just like to know w-where all our p-products came from, t-this way i can make b-better meals for his majesty" she shyly explained, making him chuckle.

"I really appreciate it miss Puffy, keep it up, i can't wait to taste more of your delicious dishes" she blushed a bit, bowing down before running back into the kitchen. The royal taster entered the room and tasted the food for him first to check if it was poisoned, it was a necessary precaution, seeing that the kingdom could not afford to lose their king anytime soon.

He ate his dinner in silence again, it felt quite lonely now that his family wasn't there to eat with him anymore, but it didn't bother him too much, they never payed attention anyway. Still, Techno wanted someone by his side, someone he could call family, sure, he already had Philza and Ranboo but... he wanted someone... closer.

"Maybe this ball idea won't be so bad"

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