Jamie started jogging into the woods in the direction Gale pointed in, and a few minutes later he found a large forest clearing. The trees were black, barks and boulders were laid on the ground everywhere and the place looked like it went through a disaster. Sitting and leaning her back against a tree was Lena, and a few meters away laid a bleeding corpse of a large wolf, with scorched fur and its body full of cuts and burns.
Lena's condition wasn't that good. Her right arm and left leg were both broken, and her body had many small cuts and bruises. Her flesh wounds were already semi-healed with her light-type mana, but the same couldn't be said about her bones. Jamie approached her and Lena raised her vigilance seeing a stranger coming.
"Hello, are you Lady Lena? I'm Jamie, the guard of His Royal Highness the fourth prince Florian. Gale showed me the way here and said you might need help to defeat a fourth-stage wolf."
"That's me. Where is Gale?"
Lena ignored everything he said and asked about Gale first. She wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to him because of her carelessness.
"He is injured but he will be fine soon, His Royal Highness gave him a high-rank potion. He is healing as we speak."
Lena sighed with relief and kept healing herself. She already consumed a potion that was helping to mend her broken bones, but it would take a few hours to completely heal.
"What is the purpose of the prince for coming to the forest?"
She asked without adhering to formal addressing. The guard was already aware of her rebellious nature, it was all written in the files they collected on her, so he didn't care about it. After all, if the prince's plans go well, she'd soon call the prince using his first name anyway, and she'd be Jamie's boss too.
"He planned to visit your home along with Her Royal Highness the fifth princess Raya."
The only plausible reasons Lena could come up with for the royal family to visit her home were war, oppressing a rebellion, and marriage. Since there was no war nor rebellion, and the prince sent someone to protect her, it must be the third option. However, since both the prince and the princess were sent, she didn't know if it was aimed at her or Donne. If she had to guess, she'd say it was probably for her, since she was the more talented one. Or maybe both?
"Since he comes with good intentions, tell him I need to rest for 3-4 hours before I'm fully healed."
Jamie took out a squared device from his pocket, inserted mana into it, and spoke.
"Sir, Lady Lena won the fight, she is safe but injured. She needs 3-4 hours of rest to be fully healed. Should I keep guard?"
"Yes, tell her we will keep Gale safe too until she arrives. Was it really a fourth stage wolf?"
The prince added a question at the end. It seemed like everything was wrong in their info, when did she become a mage? It raised her value by multiple times!
The guard was stunned; he totally forgot about it. Lena was only 23 years old, what kind of concept was becoming a mage at this age?
"Yes, Sir. It's true."
The prince was glad he approached them with sincerity. He doubted his father's orders to approach her before, but not anymore. He might have brought better gifts if he knew she was so strong already.
A few hours later, Lena got up and they reunited with Gale's group. Both Gale and Lena were fully healed by then.
"We are going back home; we have nothing left to do here. Update me later on the details of your fight against the wolves."
Gale and Lena went to the main mansion together with the royal delegation. Upon arriving, a servant announced their arrival and they were led to the mansion's entrance. Evidently, the prince sent a messenger in advance, as the yard was clean and decorated.
"Welcome to my house, Your Royal Highness. You may leave your belongings here."
Earl Stormborn waited for the prince's arrival at the door and bowed to the prince and the princess. He showed them a room where they can leave their belongings and led them to the large dining room.
Earl Stormborn sat at the head seat and placed the prince in the seat of honor, to his right, and to the prince's right, he placed Lena. To Earl Stormborn's left sat the princess, and Donne by her side. Gale sat next to Lena and his mom was sitting opposite the earl.
Gale understood the scheme as soon as he saw the seating order; the princess came for Donne and the prince came for Lena. It was easy to forget Donne's talent because of the constant comparison with Lena, yet he was a genius in his own right. At the age of 21, he was already on the verge of breaking through the third stage, and he was expected to get there when he would be 22 or 23, which was the average age for nobles to get to the second stage.
The food was of a much higher standard than usual, and a chef from the city was hired to cook the meal.
"The food is delicious, thank you for your hospitality."
Princess Raya remarked. She was quite confident about marrying Donne but wanted to help her brother have a good conversation with the host. She was confident because according to the files on Donne, he was ambitious and wanted to get better chances to become a marquess. However, getting the title of a marquess was anything but easy; there were only 40 of them in the whole kingdom and 3 dukes. However, she was worried about her brother's success as she didn't think Lena was interested in marriage.
"Thank you for your compliment, Princess Raya."
"So what's the deal, why are you here?"
Lena ruined all chances of having a politically correct conversation and asked directly. She was never a big fan of going in circles in the name of manners. Surprisingly, it made the fourth prince smile.
"You are as direct as the rumors say, Miss Lena. We are here to propose a marriage alliance between our families. Of course, we haven't come empty-handed."
The prince raised his hand and his guard entered the room with gifts.
"The royal family was indeed considerate and sincere. They sent the fourth son who is known for being talented and uninterested in the throne for Lena who shares similar traits, and the ambitious fifth princess who is known for her beauty and talent."
Gale's mom commented. Gale was surprised, his mother rarely expressed any interest in politics. Or in anything else; he only saw her come to the family meetings, eat, occasionally nod her head, and leave.
"Of course, we are very sincere about the proposal."
The fourth prince was a True Mage at the age of 35, making him one of the youngest mages in the kingdom, while Princess Raya was still an Expert Magician, she was expected to get to the Mage Phase by the age of 40, which the royal family estimated as an equal talent to Donne's.
"I refuse. I won't be bound by a kingdom, and I plan to leave the kingdom eventually and find new ways to get stronger and improve."
"That brings me to the next reason we are here; the imperial tournament."
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