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Chapter 325: The Fifth Member

XXXX Continent, Duvir Province, within the Astelia family household.

After the Ninth Prince left Dane and Griselle off to themselves, allowing the two of them to do whatever they needed alone, he went ahead and headed to the entrance of the household, lightly knocking on the door as he knew that it was already nighttime. Nevertheless, even though it was already late at night, one of the household’s servants opened the door, only to be given the shock of his life after she came face-to-face with the Ninth Prince.

Apologizing that he was requesting something after it was already late at night, he then went ahead and told the servant that opened the door if it was possible for him to rest in one of their guest rooms for the night. Of course, the servant responded to that request by asking as to where Dane went. Surprisingly, she was one of the people who saw how their Lady Griselle banished the two of them away from the household.

In response, Vanadir lightly giggled as he told the servant that it was a secret. Although the servant wondered as to why the Ninth Prince wanted to keep something like that a secret, she still went ahead and asked the others if it was possible for the Ninth Prince to sleep in their household for the night, to which the others hastily responded by leading him to the most lavish guest room they had in their household.

Naturally, it was a shock to everyone in the household that the Ninth Prince, who they thought had already gone back to the palace a few hours ago, had requested to sleep inside one of their guest rooms. Of course, it was an absurd request, but the fact that one of the royal princes of the Seraph Kingdom opted to sleep inside their household rather than head somewhere else was a great honor to them.

Nevertheless, it was a given that Vanadir wouldn’t be interested in any that, only letting out a chuckle as he requested a cup of tea from one of the servants the household allocated to him while he was staying in the household for the night. After taking a sip from the cup of tea he had received, he then looked out of the window to gaze at the night sky as he could hear faint grunts and moans coming from some place. Hearing this, he could not help but let out yet another chuckle as he wondered to himself, “I wonder how long their tussle would last?”

With that in mind, he went to sleep, only waking up once the sun was already at the peak of the sky. Letting out a yawn after taking one of the better sleeps he had these past few days, he got out of his bed and did some light stretching before asking one of the servants that attended to him if it was possible for him to get something to eat. Naturally, the servants of the household went above and beyond since it was a request from one of the royal princes. It did not take long for Vanadir’s request to be accomplished, though instead of a basic meal, he was instead given a fancy five meal course that was definitely fit for a king.

Letting out a light sigh in response to what was given to him, he ate all of the meals given to him since to him, it was a waste if he left food. Deciding to do a bit of strenuous exercise before checking on the two, he then gave the empty plates to the servants before doing some basic swordsmanship moves. After feeling that he had burned off most of the calories he ate, he then headed to where Dane and Griselle were, this time through the corridors inside the household.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Knocking on the door leading to Griselle’s room, Vanadir waited for either one of the two to respond, only to hear a muffled cacophony coming from the other side. After some time, this noise quieted down as the voice of a woman resounded from the room, asking him in a slightly panicked tone, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Vanadir,” Vanadir replied with a light smile on his face as a light sigh could be heard from the other side. A few seconds later, he then heard the woman’s voice telling him to come in, prompting him to subconsciously nod as he opened the door. Of course, he closed the door behind him soon after, knowing what had happened during the previous night.

“I knew something would happen between the two of you, but I wasn’t expecting the two of you to go this far,” Vanadir could not help but mutter as he looked at the current state of Griselle’s room. At the moment, multiple scratches and stains could be seen scattered throughout the four walls confining the room, while at the center, two people laid on the bed with a stained blanket on top of their bodies.

The first person was naturally Griselle, who had responded to Vanadir’s knocking a while ago since this was her room. Right now, her face was slightly red as she listened to Vanadir’s words. With an awkward chuckle, she replied, “It was the heat of the moment…yeah…that’s it…definitely the heat of the moment…”

“Well, I’m not blaming you for having your way with him since I did tell you to do whatever you wanted, but you could’ve at least given him some breathing room, no?” Vanadir could not help but say as he looked at the second person beside Griselle…or at least, what seemed to be a person. If it were not for the fact Vanadir knew who the second person was, he would instantly think that this person was siphoned to near death, with only the faint movement of his chest being the sign that he was still alive. Although incredibly emaciated at this moment, the second person was, in fact, Dane.

“Urghhh…” Dane tried to say something to Vanadir, but only faint moans came out of his mouth, prompting him to hastily move one of his hands to conjure a rift. Naturally, this rift was open to drop down a mana stone on one of his hands, which he hastily absorbed from like a man that had gone without water for days. After a few seconds, he regained a bit of his complexion, as well as his energy as he looked at the Ninth Prince and slowly said, “Your Highness…at the very least…you should tell me…you were planning to do…something…like this…”

“I won’t hide anything from you if it involves your life. Of course, I thought Griselle here would stop after some time,” Vanadir responded to Dane’s words before looking at Griselle, prompting the red on her face to intensify. He then continued with a chuckle, “But it seems I’ve highly miscalculated. Who knew the Great Fortress would have such a ravenous appetite?”

“In any case, now that I’ve held up my part of the deal, it’s time for you to fulfill yours,” he said not long after, to which Griselle timidly replied, “Well, yeah…but…”

“Could you at least let me wear clothes first?” she hastily added soon after, to which Vanadir replied with a chortle as he used his mana to bring the gradually recovering Dane away with him. Of course, he made sure to cover Dane’s naked body with a robe made out of his energy.

By the time the two of them got out of her room, Dane had already recovered enough energy to move on his own, creating a rift that enveloped his whole body. At the exact moment he was put down on his two feet by Vanadir, he was already wearing his usual attire, robe and all that. For a while, silence ensued between the two of them, but this was soon broken by Vanadir as he felt a little bit guilty for having Dane do something like that.

With a light sigh, he looked at Dane beside him and said, “Alright, I apologize for letting you go through something like that…again? Wait a second, did you also do it with Valentia?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Dane lightly nodded as a faint blush suffused from his face, recalling what had happened to him with Valentia. Hearing that, Vanadir said, “From now on, I’ll tell you if you have to do something like that.”

Soon after, a grin appeared on his face as he nudged him by the shoulder, telling him, “But tell me the truth. Don’t you enjoy doing that?”

“Well, indeed, I do, but…” Dane said in response as the blush on his face slightly intensified, only to disappear soon after as a light sigh came out of his mouth as he continued, “To be honest, I’d rather not have this skill at all.”

“You’re telling me you weren’t well-versed in this area in the first place?” Vanadir asked before adding, “Although that skill of yours isn’t the reason why I chose you as my royal advisor, it still gave me an edge when it came to recruiting well…you know…women.”

“I’ll put the blame on my master for that, Your Highness,” Dane replied as he let out another sigh. He then continued, “I studied under him because he was a prodigy in almost all fields that involved the arcane, but who knew he’d place his unfulfilled desires on me?”

“That’s harsh,” Vanadir could not help but say as he recalled Dane talking about his master in the past. Placing his hand on one of Dane’s shoulders, he then asked him, “If I remember correctly, his name is Dalton, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Dane nodded as he continued, “It’s kind of weird that he doesn’t want others to know about his last name…given the fact that he had built an institute for magic under his name.”

“Think of it as him being quirky,” Vanadir let out a chuckle as he soon asked him, “Anyways, do you think if you could ask him if I could grab some of his students from the magic institute? In exchange, I’ll definitely repay him once I win the war for the throne.”

“Well, I’ll try my best to persuade him, Your Highness,” Dane replied succinctly as the door to Griselle’s room was opened, revealing a well-dressed Griselle, a stark contrast to what she looked like quite some time ago. Lightly coughing, she went ahead and looked at Vanadir and asked, “So, my part of the deal is for me to join your team, right?”

“Indeed, Lady Griselle,” Vanadir lightly smiled, taking on a polite tone. In response, Griselle lightly nodded before shifting her vision towards Dane beside him. Not long after, a light blush suffused from her face as she sent a strand of energy to Vanadir, initiating a private connection between the two of them.

“You do know I would have accepted your request even if you didn’t do something like this, right?” she said through their connection before adding, “Back then in our younger years, you helped me out on multiple things, so it makes sense for me that I should repay for it.”

“Is that so? If that was the case, then why did you shoo the two of us away?” Vanadir could not help but ask after listening to Griselle’s words. In response, Griselle let out an awkward chuckle as she replied, “I wasn’t expecting the two of you to come at that time, plus it would be better if we did something like that in the morning, so I shooed you two away.”

“Also…” At this point, the blush on her face became redder as she continued, “I’m on that time of the month, so apologies for coming off as a bit rude yesterday.”

“But did you really have to show my true colors to your royal advisor?” As Griselle said this, she could not help but recall what had happened last night which sparked the whole tussling between Dane and her. In response, Vanadir lightly chuckled as he replied, “Well, sooner or later, he’ll still find out since you two will be on the same team.”

“Man, sometimes I don’t know if I should hate you or thank you,” Griselle said, elicting a light giggle from Vanadir as the connection between the two of them were cut. Noticing this, Dane went ahead and asked the Ninth Prince, “So, what did Your Highness and Lady Griselle talk about?”

“We talked about some conditions for her to join the team,” Vanadir said in response, taking note of the react Griselle had when she had just opened the door a while ago. Scratching her head as she let out a light sigh, she went along with Vanadir’s words as she silently thanked him. Soon after, she then said in the most solemn tone she could muster, “Indeed. I will only join the team on the condition that I can have some…free time…with this…fine gentleman…right here…”

At first, her words were indeed solemn, but as time went on, it then turned timid, and eventually, hard to listen. Fortunately, all of them were at a decently high class at their age, allowing him to hear her final words. Dane could not help but lightly blush in response to her words, wondering if it was the right thing for him to do. As for Vanadir, he lightly chuckled as he looked at Dane and asked, “Are you willing to help Lady Griselle fulfill her conditions?”

Feeling that he had no choice in the long run, Dane let out a long sigh of defeat as he lightly nodded. Seeing him nod, Griselle could not help but feel ecstatic inside as she knew that she would now have the time of her life every once in a while. Vanadir, on the other hand, was glad that Griselle had joined their team as he said, “With the Great Fortress now a part of our team, we now have a solid core.”

“For now, let us head back to my pavilion.”