Another chaos - III
"Your royal highness, will it be fine letting them stay within the imperial palace?"
The old man's worries were encapsulated in those words as he saw the four people walk away with two guards. A white-coloured single piece of clothing covered his body from head to feet.
His age was past sixty years, for sure. At least his physical appearance said so. His expectant, sunken eyes were fixed on the man sitting on the throne.
This old man was the advisor of the very king of the Sabbianyth Empire. It was due to his wisdom and knowledge that Kamran was able to gain all his riches.
"It will be. That way, we can keep an eye on them."
Kamran had a sophisticated expression on his face. Even though he acted as if he had let down his guard, there was an uneasiness stirring within his heart.
The old man standing beside the throne knew Kamran very well. For the past ten years, at that. It didn't seem that there was any need for him to warn Kamran any further.
'That's what they must be thinking...'
With that thought on her mind, Aliana's lips curled up slightly. Like an angel smiling innocently, the real devil was imitating it. The people following her could feel that she had something planned.
After the introductions, Kamran asked the guards to lead the four to the rooms prepared for them. Aliana had already seen through his thoughts.
Kamran was the richest person on the continent. But there was someone else who was filthy rich. And even smarter than him. Who could it be?
Of course, it was Aliana. If anyone said that she was the richest person in Dragonaria Kingdom, then no one would've been able to deny it.
Even the amount of money she possessed was unknown to anyone else aside from her. That's why no one knew what else she could achieve in the near future.
And she was far scarier than anyone within the imperial palace currently. If she felt like it, she could completely destroy the whole place and walk out as if nothing had ever happened.
'That's not my goal, though.'
What Aliana wanted to gain was something guarded heavily within the very palace they were standing in. Sneaking in with fake identities was a huge success.
The final thing left to do was to get past the security around the said thing. Aliana obviously knew that it was going to be the toughest of all things.
Tap tap tap
Turning left around the long corridor outside of the throne chambers, there were countless doors in front of them. Claire wondered what all of those rooms were for.
Not that she had the courage to ask about those to the two guards guiding them. She could only steal glances at her surroundings while tightly holding Melanie's hand.
Thunk
Soon, their footsteps came to a halt in front of a door. Those four rooms were situated in the far corner of the path they just walked through. Why only those rooms out of all?
Aliana and Rudia were the only ones who understood what Kamran intended to do. Those rooms were a trap meant for the four.
In case they tried to cause any harm, they would've been arrested immediately since there would almost be no escape route available.
"Respected emissaries, these are the rooms you will be staying in. If you need anything, ring the bell present inside."
The guards were simply doing their work. They weren't told anything else aside from guiding the emissaries to the rooms prepared for them.
Claire was going to speak when Aliana's face came into her view. No expression was displayed on it, as if she never even really cared what they did.
That reaction was enough for Claire to understand that it was better to not make any fuss. It would've been bad if she caused unnecessary troubles.
She simply stood in her spot, watching the guards take their leave. As soon as they turned right around the corner, she let out a sigh. And then she stared at Aliana.
"Is this even fine?"
"Why not?"
Aliana shrugged her shoulders before walking inside one of the rooms and shutting the door. Claire was a bit late to realise that Rudia had occupied one room.
She glanced at the last two rooms remaining and at Melanie, who was still standing beside her. A long sigh of exhaustion escaped her mouth.
"You are staying with me."
"Hmm."
There was no way she could've left a child like Melanie alone in that place. Surely Melanie was strong, but she was not capable of defending against those trained guards and similarly talented individuals.
The uneasiness in her heart never vanished, even after entering the room. She put her head out once to check if anyone was there, and then closed the door.
Clankk
------------------
-5 days later-
"After that, they said they were planning to go sightseeing."
"And his majesty let them go?"
"It's surprising, to be honest."
The three guards marched forth and back with the spears in their hands. Their conversation seemed rather normal. The 'they' referred to the emissaries, though.
Aliana and others lived as if they were normal people, hailing from the Aranthia Kingdom, for the past few days. As per Aliana's instructions, they had managed to mingle with the people in the palace.
Everything done till then was to make sure that Kamran let down his guard. Even if it was for a minute, Aliana needed it to happen somehow. And then that day finally arrived.
Aliana asked Kamran for permission to head out under the pretence of sightseeing. Since there had been no suspicious movements from the group, he let them do as they wished.
Little did he know that it was going to be the biggest mistake of his whole life. The imperial treasure of the Sabbianyth Empire was being guarded as usual.
Since the outsiders staying within the palace had left, there was no reason for anyone to be overly cautious. Even Kamran was busy taking care of the internal affairs of the kingdom during their absence.
Snap
Her fingers lightly tapped across her palm as she sprinted forward swiftly. The black robe she was wearing floated backwards, exposing the black bodysuit underneath it.
Thankfully, the hood covering her head made sure to not expose her hair. The black mask covering her mouth only aided in making the woman look dangerous.
Aliana was dashing in a certain direction while maintaining three different magic spells at the same time. Not to mention that they were all of different attributes.
The wind attribute magic enhanced her speed and swiftness. Meanwhile, the fire attribute magic modified the temperature around her, making her invisible to normal people.
The last spell active at the moment belonged to the nature attribute. But what even was that? Nothing actually seemed to happen, even though she had been maintaining that spell for the past few minutes.
Rumbbbblleee
Soon, that harmless-looking spell had turned into something disastrous. A huge black cloud was floating only above the imperial palace.
The blocks of sandstone used to build everything in the huge city were trembling at the approaching storm. Just what had Aliana brought to that place?
The ground beneath the feet of people inside the royal court was vibrating faintly. An earthquake? It didn't seem like that. Kamran was having a bad feeling for the first time in a while.
"Something's not right. Ask the guards to report the situation immediately."
He gave out orders, abandoning the meeting that every noble of Sabbianyth was sitting at. Those meetings were normally held to discuss the internal affairs of the kingdom every now and then.
The tremors they were feeling were the oddest ones. The Sabbianyth Empire was in the far west of the continent. Next to it lied the ocean.
Above all, for the past hundred years, there have never been any earthquakes reported in that area. Something wrong was definitely happening without Kamran's knowledge.
Then, all of a sudden, the gears in Kamran's brain began moving. He realised what was even more suspicious. He gritted his teeth before yelling out loud.
"SUMMON THE ROYAL KNIGHT ORDER AND BRING ME THE EMISSARIES!"
Why was everything happening on the very day the emissaries chose to go out to sightsee? That fact looked negative to Kamran. It was beyond suspicious.
His anger had just been fueled by the weird series of coincidences. That was only a smoke grenade someone had thrown at him.
Soon, the actual grenade was dropped on him. A guard came in rushing in a worn-out condition. The blood covered his whole armour as he spoke before collapsing.
"The... royal treasury was... attacked..."
Thnk
The very royal treasury, guarded by the most skilled personnel, was attacked. Who would even be that crazy to do something so ridiculous?
Kamran's fierce gaze moved towards the nobles sitting behind him. The veins in his body had become barely visible because of his unsettling anger.
Every person present could feel a strange suffocation along with a creepy sensation. Kamran's rage-filled voice demanded something that left those people with pale faces.
"Get them in front of me right now. Be it dead or alive. Or else..."