Free and Unfettered 11 The Eldest Prince, Deltan Destan

Nine eyed the seahorse. It was bigger and infinitely more beautiful than those on Earth. It was large enough to carry two grown people, roughly the size of a horse back on Earth. An ombre of green and blue, the tame seahorse had remarkable visuals that allowed it to blend into the water and environment that surrounded them.

Nine accepted the seahorse's reins from her father, patting it gently, smiling slightly as it neighed with a watery echo.

Beside her, Emperor Destan felt stunned as he was hit with the pure radiance of his daughter's smile. He blinked, drifting away absentmindedly as he was dazed by the gorgeous visuals from the teen. He even forgot to ask her to go to school again. He'd never realized how stunning his daughter was, with how she had a timid personality. Now that Nine's soul had changed, it brought out the body's beauty to the maximum output.

°•°•°•🐢....

Emperor Destan smilingly handed Shade a large basket of fruits brought in from the outside of Cosmos Empire. The fruits were a shiny red and round like a circle. It looked like a large garnet as it glistened under the light. Looking at it made one want to bite into it to see if it tasted as good as it looked.

Nine expressionlessly grabbed and bit into one. A crispy cracking sound was heard as she bit into it. Her cold indifference lightened a fraction as she enjoyed the novel taste of the fruit. It was sour and sweet, somewhat akin to a strawberry, but at the same time it was refreshing. The blue-haired teen could feel her magic capacity increase the slightest of amounts as she slowly consumed the fruit.

Next to her, Shade couldn't tear his eyes away. Why did his master make the fruit seem so delicious?

Nine noticed his staring, teasingly licking the red juice that ran down her fair, delicate hands in rivulets.

Shade swallowed, this throat dry at the tempting sight in front of him. He wasn't gay, but even he couldn't deny the sight his master made. The crown prince had practically been crafted by the hands of the heavens themselves. There wasn't a single imperfection that was visible.

Emperor Destan was speechless as both master and servant ignored his presence, sullenly seeing hinself out.

°•°•°•🐢....

Nine's eyes brightened as she looked at the rare and incomparably books of magic from the founding days in front of her.

"How about it? If you head to school, I'll give these to you," Emperor Destan said confidently. He had seen the way Nine had acted similar to his daughter regarding books and he was sure that today would be the day he managed to convince her.

Nine casually held her hand out and made a counter offer, smiling at her father. "If you give those to me, I'll increase your army's combat effectiveness for you within 5 years."

The emperor's heart sped up as he agreed, almost as if being lured by the words of a devil. By the time he realized what he had done, Nine was already smugly holding onto the books.

Curses! He shouldn't listen to her talk too much, or look at that smile directly. Before he knew it, he would probably end up selling himself to her and help her count the money at the same time.

°•°•°•🐢....

After a couple of days of the same routine repeating, where her father kept coming at various and odd times to coerce/bribe her into going to school, Nine finally stopped teasing him as he proudly presented her with another hidden guard that was around Shade's age. Nine's mouth twitched at the proud expression on his face. Exactly where wss the dignity of an emperor?

"As a twenty-nine-year-old, I've already gone through school. I have no desire to go through it again." Did she say stop teasing him? She meant throw him a loop and continue with the teasing, of course.

The emperor looked at her, crushed. He drew himself up again, seemingly having encouraged himself. Her lips twitched again. For some reason it felt more like he was a younger brother. Perhaps because he only looked like he was in his twenties.

"So you graduated from magic school?"

Nine frowned. "Does it matter?"

"I'm sure it will be a different experience," Emperor Destan tried.

"No," Nine said resolutely.

Then, before he could reply, she initiated a teleport spell that she'd been using to send the emperor out. Instead, she teleported herself, rolling her eyes. She had to get out to stop him from pestering her everyday.

She breathed out as she exited the surroundings of her residence, having long lost any courtesy from the times she threw the emperor out.

Getting on her seahorse, Nine urged it forward. Even if her father had specifically tried to choose a seahorse that wasn't too notable from the rest due to security reasons, Nine's bearing and way she carried herself caused her to stand out. It was like they said. Radiance couldn't be contained.

Outside the crown prince's residence, there was a retinue of seahorses charging her way. Narrowing her eyes, Nine pulled the reins, swiftly dodging to the side with no harm befalling her.

The force from the seahorses whipped up a current, sweeping Nine's hair back valiantly.

Looking at the decorative elements on the seahorses, along with the way their scales had been bred a dashing red instead of the natural blues and greens, they could only belong to the eldest prince. Nine thought with disapproval that it was almost a miracle he had survived this long.

Pulling up alongside her with his bodyguards, if one compared his display compared to the crown prince, they might have thought he was the crown prince instead. The real crown prince seemed inferior and in comparison much too low key compared to him.

At this time, the common folk of Cosmos City had gathered around at a distance, recognizing the eldest prince's red seahorses. Everyone in the city knew that Cosmos Empire's Crown Prince was timid and cowardly, unbefitting of his status. In their mind, a Crown Prince should be lofty and dignified, different from the common folk.

Looking at the situation now, they gathered near enough to hear but far enough to scatter if anything went wrong. They watched with eyes full of schadenfreude as the eldest prince was about to humiliate the crown prince.

Pride filled Deltan Destan's face as he looked at the surrounding gazes. So what if he was the crown prince? The people didn't recognize him and royal father didn't care about him. Not to mention, he didn't have a mother to back him nor his mother's family. He was most likely unable to hold onto the position of Crown Prince for long.

Thinking up to here, Deltan's expression grew even fiercer and fearless and he stared at her impudently.

Looking at Deltan's expressions and the feelings of hostility he was giving off, Nine didn't have any emotional reaction whatsoever. She calmed some part of her that had been slightly uneasy, wondering if she would end up as a completely different person after being in Cosmos City for too long after her exposure to the emperor. Looking at this scene, she instantly felt like this was the way it was meant to be. If she liked her new father, then so be it, but she didn't need any emotional connections to these people, she sneered.

Deltan Destan was wearing a flashy, red outfit with a white cape that matched the seahorses he was parading around on. Unfortunately, this fiery colour instead seemed to drown out his personality, making him look like his outfit had been chosen for someone else and didn't suit him.

He had a slight, lean figure that gave off the impression that he hadn't done any muscle lifting his entire life. He had heavy shadows painting the bottom of his eyes, and his eyes were relatively lacklustre. Nine could only feel that such a person wasn't even worth exchanging greetings with.

As an insignificant person, he didn't garner any of her attention. She would just let him be for now, but if he continued and didn't know his place, then she wouldn't mind slicing him to pieces. She was only afraid that she would find the taste of carving up her eldest brother too good.

Chapter end