(Manami POV)
"It's been a while dear sister, how have you been?" Lian Li asked
"Ohohoho~ Very, very well! Never better! I've made a lot of breakthroughs in my research!" Elaria laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
All of us were currently seated in one of the drawing rooms, waiting for the Royal Family to join us as invited by the princess and king.
"That is good to hear. You said that you were also working on something that will aid us with the Dongs?"
Elaria snickered, "Heh heh heh… That is meant to be a surprise! Don't worry, iIf they do come after what Onii-sama treasures, I will burn them all in cleansing flame!"
Master's little sister is very outspoken as usual, though I think she had somewhat simmered down as compared to last time.
"Where is Onii-sama? I wanted to show him all of Onee-sama's drawings of him! That kiss scene between Kiyomi Onee-chan and Onii-sama on the stage… That was the best work that Onee-sama has drawn so far!"
My cute little Kiyomi's ears pricked up, "Could… Could I get a copy?"
"Eheheh~ For one of the main stars, of course you can!"
Elaria pulled out a thick piece of rolled up parchment, unfurling it to show a very scandalous picture of Kiyomi dressed in men's clothing locking lips with a very young Master.
"Ara, ara? My dear little Kiyomi looks absolutely dashing~" I giggled.
I have to admit, Odriana's drawing skills are incredible. She managed to capture Master's divinity in this picture and he looks absolutely delicious.
We still have the stash of memory pictures that each of us keep, I think Diao Chan had even compiled entire books to archive each of them that we made, including the really, really saucy ones of our night activities.
I was just thinking about calling Master through telepathy tonight when the doors were opened, revealing the King and the rest of his family with the exception of the Third Prince and the Princess.
All of us stood and bowed, the King waving at us in acknowledgement.
He took a seat at one of the couches while the rest of the Royal Family followed his lead with the other seats.
"Thank you for accepting my daughter's and my selfishness, I welcome all of you again to our palace for her Coming of Age. Please, take a seat and let's dispense on ceremonies, I personally find them very stifling."
We obliged, just as several servants marched into the room to place cups of tea in front of us.
"I see that Mister Vera and Master Lin aren't joining us?" The Crown Prince asked.
"Mmm… Mister Vera sends his apologies as he had an emergency to attend to, so he would not be joining us," Elaria explained with fake remorse.
What she said was a partial truth.
Indeed, Dill Vera had something else to attend to since the other merchants would now know of his House's value. He would have his hands full with just receiving the business offers from everyone else and he will need all the time he can get to go through them.
We have no intention to sell it to anyone of course, not even if they offer an extraordinarily large sum of money for it.
The plan here was to gain prestige, not wealth.
So of course fulfilling this plan was much more important than entertaining the King. We're only here to find out what the princess wanted.
Lian Li gave the King a regretful look of her own, "Master had told us he was called away to deal with something urgent as well. So he won't be able to attend."
The King gave a wry smile, "I see, that is indeed regretful but it can't be helped."
"Such a shame… I even thought I might get the chance to meet the Legendary Immortal Master Lin face to face," The Queen sighed. "May I ask if it's true that Master Lin is single?"
I smiled at her weak attempt, "Ufufufu~ I believe that Master has too big of a heart to be tied down by one single person."
"Oya? Then is it perhaps true that, pardon me, he is more interested in those of the same gender?"
I could feel Eris tensing up beside me but I managed to calm her by placing my hand on her knee. On the other side, I could hear Brendan stifling a cough.
"Ara, ara? It seems the Queen is quite interested in our Master. Pardon my rudeness but I think your Majesty should keep your husband in mind."
"My, how bold," She chuckled. "Worry not, I am only asking as a passing curiosity. You need not worry about me."
The King coughed into his fist, trying to change the subject, "I must say, Miss Lyndulf, you have an exceptional mind for a lady of your age. To be able to create such a thing is truly wondrous!"
Elaria bowed her head, "I am not worthy of such praise. It was all due to the teachings of my dearest Onii-sama that I am able to reach here today."
Everyone else in the room looked at her in confusion.
"Oni… Samar?" The King repeated.
"Yes, that is my dearest brother. Without Onii-sama's guidance, I would have still been blind to the truth of this world. Everything that I achieved is all due to him!"
"That is… Interesting. Would it be possible for us to meet Mister Onisamar in the future?"
Elaria shook her head, "My Onii-sama has lost his memories. I am afraid that before I can help him get his memories back, he is not himself."
The Second Prince adjusted his glasses, "It seems like your Family has quite the special circumstances… I did a bit of research and I believe your Lindulf Family effectively staged a coup on the local lord. How do you answer to that?"
It seems like this 'invitation' was a chance for them to interrogate us, was the princess also a part of this? If she is… I would definitely like to have a word with her.
"That is incorrect," Elaria answered without hesitation. "We have always been aiding the ruling lord in governing the town. But since the current generation had no heirs and our recent efforts brought great changes to the town, he gave us his blessing to govern it in his stead."
"Without my father's own blessing? That is almost like treason, is it not?"
Elaria tilted her head, "I'm sorry, I thought we were here as guests?"
The King chuckled, "You have to forgive my son, he has always been the inquisitive one, somethings overbearingly so."
That is not a good sign since he is the second prince and all, no?
Hmmm… Then again there was that stupid prince that came from Dong as well and he was way trashier so I guess he's still acceptable.
The Queen gasped, "Where are my manners? Please, do try our tea. The leaves are specially grown by the Royal Family itself."
Brendan took out a few things from his pocket then, "Apologies... Master told me to have Cai Hong, Diao Chan and Eris take these pills. Their stomachs weren't feeling that well today right?"
They aren't? But they never said anything about--
We noticed Brendan glancing towards the tea before looking back at the pills.
Oh.
Well then.
"My~ Master is always so considerate of us~~" Diao Chan giggled, taking the pills from Brendan to pass them to Eris and Cai Hong.
"Appreciated..." Eris muttered, popping the pill into her mouth.
Cai Hong took hers with a big smile, "Thank you big brother Brendan!"
Elaria also caught on to the hint, "Oh, does that help with indigestion? I admit I may have eaten a tad too much just now. Do you happen to have one more?"
"Of course," Brendan nodded, passing over a pill to her.
The rest of the Royal Family watched on, not suspecting a single thing.
The rest of us took a sip of the tea, 'appreciating' its taste by using our Elemental Quarks to neutralise the poison present within the tea.
With this act over, we just need for this disgusting family to reveal their true intentions. I must applaud Diao Chan for having the foresight to devise a plan specifically for them. In the absence of any other problems, we would just have the entire royal family wiped and…
The door burst open, revealing a princess who was still half bound with a charred length of rope, most likely burned by her lightning.
"Don't drink the tea! They've been poisoned!"
Ara? I guess we can allow for one princess to be spared at least. Ufufufu~