I spotted the crown prince of the Crugren Kingdom standing stiffly inside the grand room as if he tries to look more intimidating than he really is.

"Everyone is here," the aid of the emperor whispered into the emperor's ear.

I was grateful that I had good hearing as everyone in the school I attended was extensively trained to have higher senses from the manipulation of their mana.

The emperor nodded in approval as Lucius announced, "We will then commence the meeting."

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Silence occupied the grand room as no one comes to speak with the heavy atmosphere that will influence the lives of many people.

Before I entered the room, I saw Lucius silently mouth to Luke that we could leave the fifth district as soon as this meeting ends.

Since life here was more constricting than being in school, I wished to depart this place as soon as possible. I was sure not to miss Lucius after his painful lecture yesterday, although I may miss Belle a little.

Belle was really kind to me during our stay here in the fifth district. She ordered the chefs in her castle to keep a constant supply of strawberry desserts, knowing that it was my favourite.

If it wasn't for the desserts, I may have exploded more often and earlier, which would have earned me more lectures from both Luke and Lucius.

The room kept its silence as no one wanted to be the first one to speak as they would get the majority of the backlash.

Seeing that this meeting would continue for hours at this rate, I offered the same advice that I offered the crown prince.

"I think this meeting is pointless," I started.

Cillian and Belle sighed as Luke tightened his grip on my hand to urge me to apologize.

"Why?" The emperor curiously asked with his eyes widened that a young girl was the one to break the silence.

"It's obvious that the solution is that the Crugren Kingdom can take on a debt from the empire for food until their harvests get better. In return, the empire can demand an alliance from the Crugren Kingdom when need of help in terms of military power and lack of food later on as means of repayment." I bowed to the emperor once I was finished.

"It is a interesting idea!" the marquess in charge of managing supplies enthusiastically agreed.

With the marquess supporting my idea, Luke quickly came up with a more detailed plan with my idea as a base.

"The transportation costs and the fixed nature of the overhead expenses can be added onto the debt of the Crugren Kingdom," Luke finished his long argument how the feasibility of my idea is reasonable.

After Luke's eloquent speech, everyone was captivated by this new plan as I noticed Lucius smiling from seeing his younger brother's growth.

"Then does everything agree about initiating this idea?" Lucius tried to conclude the first item on the agenda.

Everyone started to vote as majority lifted their hands in agreement while few stayed unmoving. The royalty from the Crugren Kingdom raised their hands as if it was their only option better than a costly war at the present.

"Then we'll go for a fifteen minute break before moving on to the next meeting on the agenda," Belle announced with confidence.

"We can go to the teleportation gate now," Luke whispered into my ear after majority of the people left the room to escape from the hefty atmosphere of the room.

I agreed as I didn't want to partic.i.p.ate in this war conference any longer. It was just like reading a story with no moving plotline as if the characters were stuck in the past or afraid to face what was to come in the future.

If I didn't speak, there would have been no discussion initiated as time slowly flowed outside the room as the numerous commoners urgently awaited on the decision made from the people from this room.

When Belle was finished with her conversation with the numerous aristocrats coming up to her to try to gather more benefits from the Crugren Kingdom, she walked over to us to lead us to the teleportation gate.

"The teleportation gate is actually located underground. So we can access it from our castle or even the imperial palace for emergencies," Belle explained to us.

We were currently walking down the stairs with a lantern in Cillian's hand for a source of light. The stairs made of grey stones were chipped from the great history of the empire.

Lucius stayed back in the room to distract the emperor from our presence so that Belle could have enough time to lead us to the teleportation gate.

The endless stairs spiraled down in darkness as we went the down the stairs continuously for more than ten minutes.

"Does the royal family of the empire know about this route?" I asked.

"They don't. There's a barrier before entering this staircase that lets only people with mana to be able to enter," Belle answered nonchalantly.

"And only people that possesses mana can see the door that opens to a long staircase leading to the bas.e.m.e.nt," Belle waved her hand to indicate that we were almost there.

That's why the door seemed to be less luxurious than all the other doors in the palace! The door had no decorations and seemed to be made out of rotten wood. It seemed unfit for royalty compared to the other doors such as the guest room I used, that was finely polished to give off the s.h.i.+ny glare when hit by the sunlight.

When Belle stopped walking, we found ourselves staring at the familiar teleportation gate.

"The location is already set," Belle checked the settings of the gate.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Cillian greeted Belle farewell as he earnestly shook her hand.

"Just get in," Belle shyly laughed as she pushed us inside the gate.

The last thing I saw was Belle's sad smile as she waved goodbye before seeing myself in the familiar grounds of the mountain.