"You do not defy a King without any repercussions," Gerald said, his heavy voice laced with threat.
Lucien nearly fell to his knees under the intense pressure Gerald was exerting on him.
Till now, Gerald was more like an interrogator to him. But now, he was a King.
"I-" He could barely utter any word, since his lungs weren't able to intake any air due to the pressure. "I am aware."
Gerald stood there for a bit before he turned around and started walking away.
He was leaving the room, but paused at the door, "The punishment would be formally decided in my court on July 14th, sharp at 19:00."
He walked out, shutting the door.
Haah!
Lucien slumped down, his legs giving up as soon as he was alone.
A strange sense of achievement surged inside his body, confusing him for a bit before he accessed his memories.
It was the first time Gerald hadn't looked at him with disappointment.
It wasn't pride or praise either.
But it wasn't anything negative this time.
He closed his tired eyes and grumbled, "The consequences of my actions."
"Lucien!" He heard a sweet, feminine voice as he lowered his head down to see Maria standing in front of him.
Saying that her condition was a mess would be an understatement.
Lucien felt guilty.
His gaze naturally fell, unable to look Maria in her eyes.
There was an uncomfortable silence around them.
Maria said nothing, just walked forward and hugged him.
The hug was tight and slightly suffocating, but Lucien didn't say anything.
It lasted for a good few minutes, both parties staying silent.
Lucien couldn't see her face, but he could feel Maria's body trembling slightly.
Such a strong woman like her was acting like this.
'I'm sorry.' He wanted to say this, but he couldn't utter these words.
After a few minutes of this, she got out of the hug and started leaving the room.
But just as he opened the door, Jessica barged in the door, her face angry.
Slap!
She slapped hard on Lucien's cheeks and left the room just as fast as she entered.
Maria didn't stop her, nor did Lucien complain.
Her back was facing him when she stopped at the door. "Come downstairs. I am hungry, and I have questions to ask."
She left.
'More consequences of my actions.'
…
July 12th, 1513; 15:00 hrs;
"Good Afternoon, Your Highness. I am Megan, your new trainer assigned by the Palace administration."
A young brunette lady, who looked to be in her mid-20s, was standing in front of him, bowing slightly as she cockily introduced herself.
"Palace administration? Which side?" Lucien asked, biting into an apple, his eyes squinting.
"Side? I don't understand what-"
"Shut up!" Lucien cut her off. "Did Ophelia's faction send you?"
The King ruled the Palace with an iron fist, but he also knew that he wasn't omniscient.
He had a council under him to help him make important decisions to run the country, and this council had factions supporting different people.
It was mainly divided between people who supported the first Queen, Ophelia, and people who supported the second Queen, Maria.
Ophelia was not only the first one here, but her child, Edric, was a generational genius.
On the other hand, Maria was second, but her power and glory were known throughout the entire kingdom, even before her marriage. And despite Lucien not showing any signs of being a genius, Jessica was.
The third queen, Hazel Callastre, was still new, and her kid wasn't even a teenager yet, so her grip on the Palace's politics was still weak.
Megan was stunned, not expecting Lucien to raise such a question.
Her reaction told Lucien what he needed to know: "Ophelia's faction, huh?"
"Well…" He paused, staring at her intently. "I don't mind training under you. It's not like I am planning to hide my powers anyway. You are just not allowed in my quarters anymore."
"As you wish, Your Highness." Her previous smirk was nowhere to be found anymore, replaced by nothing but annoyance.
"Alright, let's go," Lucien ordered, as Megan nodded.
She started walking outside, followed closely by Lucien.
…
"Sorry, can you tell me what you are again?" Megan asked, confused, seeing Lucien in front of him. "Sorcerer or Warrior?"
"Huh?" Lucien frowned. "I just told you that I am a warrior."
"But aren't you a member of the Royal family? Isn't everyone here a sorcerer?" Megan's eyes were bulging out. She had already found some interesting news for Ophelia.
"My mother is a warrior." He answered, but Megan's eyes went to his hair.
Clearly, he had more in common with his father than his mother.
But she knew enough about heredity to know that this was possible. "Alright, I guess."
"But I am a sorcerer." She mumbled under her breath, but it was loud enough for Lucien to hear.
"Well, I think you can at least teach me the basics of a Recruit warrior," Lucien told her, since it didn't really matter to him.
He was once a warrior in the Titan realm.
He probably knew more than Megan.
Also, since Megan was easy to rile up, she didn't pose a real problem, so it was better to keep her around than to let Ophelia send someone with more experience.
"Of course, I do." She fell for it. "Even a sorcerer in the palace must know the basic techniques of warriors, and I was top of my class."
The Recruit realm was the first ever level for an exalt, and it was so basic that people couldn't even use their spirit energy properly.
In a way, Recruits were just normal humans, but the top 0.01% of athletic ones with some spirit energy.
Lucien chuckled, "Well, that's certainly reassuring."
"Mhm!" Her chest inflated with pride. "Well, do you have a weapon you use?"
Luckily for him, both he and old Lucien used to use the same weapon.
Lucien nodded, walking towards a rack full of weapons right next to the training ground.
He didn't stop on his way and went straight to the leftmost part of the rack and picked up his weapon.
"A sword?" Megan chucked, then added, "Aren't you a basic one?"
'Well, people were kinda basic 900 years ago.' Lucien quipped under his breath.
Megan suddenly frowned and asked, "I'm sorry, what was that? I wasn't paying attention?"
"Nothing. Let's get started. I've been dying to get stronger."