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After a few days, the king decided to head out for a hunting session, the council had requested him several times to stop going out alone or with only Philza as a guard but he was having none of it.

"They just want to keep me locked in my own castle until i have a heir, can you believe this?" he said as the two headed inside the forest on their horses, Techno's horse was a Morgan thoroughbred named Carl, to which he was very attached to. Philza on the other hand had a common white crossbreed, since he didn't fancy horses too much.

"You have to understand that they're just trying to keep the kingdom from falling apart, if something happened to yo-"

"Yeah i know, the kingdom would be left without a king, they tell me that eleven times per day Phil, don't make me add you to the pile too" he commented annoyed, dismounting from his horse once they were deep enough into the forest, tying their rains to a nearby tree.

Techno took out his sword and crossbow, alongside a good portion of arrows, and secured them to his belt, starting to silently move into the thick vegetation, looking for a prey. He soon spotted a rabbit hopping by and quickly shot it down, hitting it dead on.

"Your shooting skills are impressive your highness" Philza teased, knowing that Techno hated when he called him that.

"Don't test me old man, i might decided to use you as target practice" he teased back, making him chuckle. The two kept hunting for several hours, managing to catch several more rabbits and a fat boar, which turned out to be a more of a struggle to carry than what they anticipated.

"Did you really had to shoot a boar this fat?" Phil groaned, while finally managing to load the animal on the back of his horse, securing it with some ropes.

"Oh shush your whining grandpa, it's gonna taste great tonight on our plates" he patted his back "And it'll taste better because we caught it with out own hands" he said with a triumphant smile, which made Phil roll his eyes.

"Whatever you say mate" he hopped back on "Should we stop to say hi to the Soot Kingdom? We are pretty close" he suggested.

"Sure, i wanted to pay them a visit soon anyway, might as well do it now"

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The two headed towards the neighboring kingdom, reaching it in a little over than an hour. It was a fairly small kingdom compared to his's, with only one set of walls, which surrounded the castle, leaving the houses outside and the fields completely exposed.

While Techno's kingdom had 3 sets of walls, one around the castle, one around the houses of the upper class and the last one around the lower class, leaving uncovered only the farmlands.

They soon got greeted by a group of guards on patrol, which, once they recognized him, bowed down and quickly escorted them to the king, who was quite enthusiast to see them.

"Technoblade! My friend, what a pleasant surprise" king Wilbur said, going to hug his friend, Techno hugged him back, a smile forming on his lips.

"It's nice to see you too Wilbur" he let go "How's your sweet half doing?" he asked, referring to his wife.

"She's doing great, thanks for asking, we can't wait for our son to be born" he said in an happy voice, he was very exited to become a dad, so exited that every time he came to visit they didn't talk about anything else.

"Honey?" a female voice called, catching their attention, they all turned to see the queen walk in the room, Wilbur immediately brightened up, as if he wasn't already happy enough, and went to her side.

"Hey my love" he delivered a quick kiss on her cheek, making he giggle a bit "Techno came to visit" she lifted her gaze, seeing the other king wave at her with a genuine smile, she waved back.

"You already know if he's going to be a human or...?" Philza asked, now getting a bit curious. In fact, while Wilbur was a human king, his bride wasn't, she was a magical creature, a water spirit by the name of Sally.

She had long blond hair, to which their tips were painted of a shy blue, as well as her eyes, she always wore a necklace with water inside, since she needed to be close to it in order to survive, By being a spirit she was able to change shape as she pleased but she usually preferred to keep a humanoid one, the only things sticking out being her hair and the water particles that always surrounded her, like some sort of aura.

"It doesn't matter" Wilbur kneeled down to place his head against her belly, listening to his son heartbeat "I will still love him, human or not" Techno smiled, maybe one day he, too, would understand what it feels like to be a father, but first he needed to find a bride.

"We'll take our leave then, we just passed by to say hi" he quickly remembered "Oh did you receive the invitation yet?" he asked, catching their attention.

"Invitation? What invitation?" Sally asked.

"I'm hosting a ball in a few days, you are more than welcome to join if you want to" he explained "The council wants me to find a bride, so this is the best idea that came into their mind" he groaned a bit annoyed.

"I see, we'll be more than happy to attend then" Wilbur answered. Sally pulled his sleeve, making him lean down so she could whisper something to his ear.

"Oh!" he said once she finished "Can we bring a guest with us?" he asked, surprising Techno.

"Uhhh sure. I don't see a problem with that" he answered, not sure what his friend meant, since he was also a guest.

"Wonderful! I'll see you at the ball then my friend, have a safe trip back home"

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"How many people do you think are going to come?" Techno asked Phil, as they were heading back into the forest.

"I don't know, but i'm sure there are gonna be a lot, considering that this is the first ball you've ever held since you became king. Many fathers will bring their daughters in hope to marry them off to you" Phil answered, making Techno sigh.

"I knew this was a bad idea, why did i agree to it?" he asked sarcastically, making Phil laugh "There's no turning back now mate. Be a man and face the threat head on" he encouraged, patting his back.

The two kept silently walking their way back, it would take longer, since their horses were now loaded with their preys and couldn't be rode anymore, but it was worth it to him.

About halfway into the forest, they started to hear something, a voice.... a song.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, receiving a nod from Phil "Someone is singing" he listened closer "And whoever it is, they have a very beautiful voice" he said with a smile. Techno decided to find the source of the sound, walking towards the direction where it seemed to become louder.

They soon arrived in a small lake, not even a mile wide, and there they could see a girl wash some clothes into it's crystal water, a smile present on her features. She was dressed very simple, just a long greenish skirt and a white shirt, noting special, and yet, for some reason, Techno was enchanted by her sight.

"She's very beautiful, i'm guessing by the clothing she's a commoner, probably a servant at the Soot kingdom" Phil commented nonchalantly, but Techno didn't hear him. His body moved before his mind had time to catch up, and he found himself walking towards the girl.

"Wha-Techno wait!" Phil called, running after him, catching the girl's attention, which stopped singing once she saw them, a scared expression taking the place of her once bright smile. Without a word she stood up and started running away, leaving the clothes she was washing behind.

"Wait!" Techno called, chasing after her, Phil right on toe, he followed her through the thick forest and was just abut to reach her when, after she turned behind a tree, disappearing out of thin air.

"Wha-where did she go?!" he asked, a bit out of breath. There was nothing nearby aside for more trees and bushes, where could she possibly have gone? He listened closely, trying to see if he could hear her footsteps, only hearing the chirp of the birds in the trees and the sound of the wind.

"Techno" Philza called, placing a hand on his shoulder "What was that about? Why did you ran after that girl? You probably scared her half to death" he scolded.

"I... don't know..." he mumbled, making Phil sigh "Come on, let's head back, the council is probably worried by our long absence" he nodded, walking with him back to their horses and towards his kingdom.

Who was that girl? Why did i chase after her?

These question kept rolling in his head, but he himself didn't have an answer to them, and maybe he'll never know, she was a commoner, it's highly improbable for him to run into her again, it's better for everyone if he just forgot her.

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For those of you who were curious, here's what a Morgan horse looks like