Long Chen had promised Qian Yu a battle, and he was going to keep it before leaving.
He had formed the entire plan. He didn't wish to take part in the second stage. After he fulfilled his promise of fighting Qian Yu, he was going to leave.
He was going to collect some information independently about what happened in the last few years to Esteria. If things weren't too bad, he was going to take Qian Yu's help by informing her of the betrayal of Pei Zen and his scheme.
Du Liang was the first person to leave. Qian Yu stepped closer to Long Chen as she walked behind Du Liang.
Long Chen observed her sliding closer to him. He saw her bring her luscious lips closer to his cheeks. Unfortunately, it wasn't for a kiss. She brought her lips closer to his ears.
"Pei Zen's Envoy will be waiting outside to take you to the Tricion Empire. Just tell him that you wish to visit my Qiandi Empire. You still owe me a battle, and we'll have that in Qiandi. If you didn't do as I said, you can imagine!" She whispered in his ears.
Long Chen didn't reply and simply nodded. He wasn't interested in going to the Tricion Empire either since he was not really into going to the enemy's den, especially when he's the one who killed their Prince.
The three of them went to what seemed like the Throne Room of the Royal Palace.
A middle-aged man was sitting on the throne in the hall. There were two rows of seats on both sides of the hall on which the Generals and the ministers were staying.
"Your Highness, Welcome back. And congratulations on getting the top rank!"
"We can't tell you how proud we are. Entire Empire is celebrating your achievement!"
Du Liang seemed unhappy as he heard the praise from all the Ministers who kept standing up to welcome him once after another.
"You already spread this in the Empire?" He asked, frowning.
"This, ah..." The Minister who had spread the news seemed embarrassed and didn't know how to reply. He did have an explanation. It was the Emperor himself who told him to do it. Unfortunately, he couldn't throw the Emperor under the bus.
"Hahaha, Liang'er. Forgive Minister Hu. In his excitement, he forgot that you don't like when your achievements are spread in the Empire. He got a little too excited and did it," the Emperor who sat on the throne laughed merrily as he chimed in.
The Emperor seemed like a good person, unlike the Tricion Emperor. The smile on his face seemed genuine. He wasn't like the ones who always looked serious. Instead, he looked like someone who preferred to dote on his son more than trying to conquer Empires.
"Father, do you really think I won't know that you're the person behind all this? When will you learn?" Du Liang seemed completely opposite of the Emperor. He seemed like the father instead, who was scolding his son for being naughty.
The Emperor smiled wryly as he started whistling innocently.
Long Chen watched everything with great confusion. Were they really father and son who ruled over the strongest Empire in this world? Why did they look like two youngsters who preferred to banter amongst themselves without caring for the others?
There was also an urge inside him to laugh as he watched the Emperor acting ignorant. This was what he preferred all families to be like.
He also noticed a gaze that was especially on him. Looking to his left, he saw a middle-aged man sitting on a seat, looking at him.
The man nodded his head respectfully as Long Chen's gaze fell on him as if he was greeting him.
'That must be the person who's here to take me back to Tricion,' he thought as he understood the gaze.
The man stood up. "Your Majesty, Now that my Prince is back, I'll take my leave as well."
He walked towards Long Chen and stood before him.
"Hah? So fast? We're going to have a feast soon. Come on, stop trying to bail out on us. I promise our food is good," The Emperor laughed out loud as he replied. "It's a happy occasion. Stop being a downer."
" This, Your Majesty, I apologize, but Emperor Ji is also waiting for his son. It's better if I don't delay," the Envoy of Tricion let out as he apologized.
"Cheh, fine. I'll ask Ji to have two drinks the next time I meet him for this. Tell him," The Emperor nodded as he agreed.
"I'll inform His Majesty," The Envoy said before he looked back and Long Chen. "Your Highness, let's leave."
Long Chen looked blankly at him before he shook his head.
"I won't come now. I've promised Qian Yu that I'll go with her to Qiandi," he told the Envoy.
"But, Your Highness?"
"Don't say anything. I've already promised her. Go back. I'll come back after I'm done," Long Chen refused to listen as he shook his head.
The Esteria Envoy nodded his head after seeing how serious Long Chen was. He did ask for confirmation one more time, though.
"Princess, shall we leave?" The Envoy of Qiandi was a seemingly young woman. She also stood up as she asked the Princess if she wished to leave.
The Princess glanced at Long Chen before she nodded.
The Qiandi Envoy looked at the Emperor and asked for the Emperor's permission as well. They were guests here, after all.
"You're leaving as well? Why are you all in such a hurry? I allowed one to leave, but I'm not letting more go. We have a feast tonight for getting such a good rank."
The Emperor straight away refused to allow them to leave as he threw a child-like tantrum.
"Who will attend the feast if everyone leaves? This is final! No one is leaving before the feast is over!"
Long Chen smiled wryly. It was fun to see an Emperor like that who didn't give him a bad feeling.
As the Emperor refused to allow people to leave, they all agreed to stay behind. They spent the evening in the Throne-room, hearing the stories from Du Liang about what happened in the trials while the Empire prepared for the evening feast.
The Empire acted so swiftly that the feast was ready in three hours.
The feast was served in the Throne-room itself. Everyone ate to their heart's content during the feast.
After the feast was over, Tricion Envoy left alone. Qiandi Envoy left with Qian Yu and Long Chen on a flying beast that was as big as a giant ship.