In the last chapter...
"Ah, how about you guys have a restful sleep? We will be arriving in exactly 2 hours. I know you have an eventful day today." Suggested Hesekiel, looking at them in sympathy because he noticed how tired they were when he took a closer look.
All of them nodded in agreement without protest, so the five college students laid down on the back of Sheila's, and they immediately fell asleep while they huddled themselves together because of how cold it was.
The night had fallen, and the wind was blowing mildly with a soft beat of the wings. The stars and the moon illuminated around them to lighten up their path.
Hesekiel felt at peace, and he decided to watch over them while they waited for their destination.
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Hours passed by as the Wyvern was slowly descending, it was his queue to wake them up.
After they wake up, they sat up. Others were yawning and rubbing their sleepy eyes while some began to stretch out their body, popping out the kinks of their muscles.
"Are we there yet?" Alexander said with a groggy voice, wiping the leftover tears after he had yawned.
Everything was dark, and he can't see much, except for the moon and the stars illuminating them softly.
"Ah, I apologize. Let me cast a light for you." Hesekiel said, snapping his fingers until the medium size flame appeared. His royal mark glowed softly behind his neck with the use of his magic in light brown color. His mark only appeared whenever he used magic, and he used his fire and wind magic at the same time. The burning flame was still while his wind magic helped to give out space to the fire so that it would not burn out in the cold night. It was difficult for him doing a double casting. It was not as amazing as the King of Club did, using his magic simultaneously in ease.
The American wowed in wonder softly while his teeth were gritting quickly because of the cold evening. His arms wrapped around his shoulders, rubbing it with his upper arms rapidly. The five of them were still gathering closely in order to share each other's heat, even though the others were displeased for being too close.
They could see Hesekiel's face easily thanks to his magic, and they could feel a slight heat after summoning his flame.
Seeing them huddling like that, he felt really guilty for not helping them out. He already uses his wind magic so that they won't fall down easily as a support, and he had to concentrate hard because of how many they are, casting a medium-size fire was not a problem at all, but making it more will lose his attention.
Hesekiel's body temperature was fine because he has the wind and fire affinities to balance each other. You see, in different elements of magic, the fire type has a warmer temperature than the ordinary humans has. They could not withstand if the weather is too cold as they will feel really uncomfortable. The magic users could control their body temperature at will to feel comfortable in their type of magic.
Meanwhile, with the wind magic users, they could stand up with the cold and warm weather, but changing their body temperature based on the weather quickly and being too much is very uncomfortable.
With the water affinity, the water type could adjust their body heat automatically based on the atmosphere. At night, it was warm like on the beach. In a sunny and rainy day, it was cool. If its in a cold climate, they will feel like they were freezing. If it's too warm, they will feel like they were boiling.
Lastly, with the earth type, they have firm bodies as hard as a stone. Mostly in fair climate, they have a cool temperature. Their body temperature could change that depends on the atmosphere. In rainy days, their skin becomes damp. In bright sunny days, their skin becomes dry.
"We are almost there. Sheila is flying down right now. I think you will love it when you look at the scenery below. You could see the castle too." He answered with a smile, and he wanted to wake them up before they landed. It was because he wanted them to see the scenery, which he's very proud with his Kingdom.
They scurried around hurriedly until they reached on the left side of the mystical beast in curiosity, and they were being careful because they were afraid that they might fall off. They were amazed after seeing the castle.
The castle stood majestic on top of the hill with grey stones already erected in various shapes and sizes. There's even a castle wall as forts with a steel portcullis attached on the barbican and watchtowers to stand guard. The wooden drawbridge was closed because of how dangerous the evening was. The palace was surrounded with small white orbs that were floating lazily with soft lights, and there's a lot of blue banners attached on the castle with the Spade symbols in intricate designs. Outside the castle, it was surrounded by trees that went down towards the hill.
The castle looked like it was out of the fairy tale, even though it really was because they entered into a fantasy world.
In five miles away below the castle, there was a human civilization living in it that was surrounded with stone walls and watchtowers connected to it as a protection, and there's even a thick wooden door that was closed off. It seemed that the town was asleep because the houses' lights were off while the only source of light on the streets was those floating orbs. Beyond the enclosure, they were surrounded by trees too.
"I wish I have my cellphone with me to take a picture with it," Julian said forlornly. The Frenchman knew he left his phone at the bedside table before taking a nap. Unfortunately, with Albrecht and Michael, they left it on the desks while they were busy.
"I do have my phone with me," Nikolai answered, picking up his mobile phone inside his pocket.
"Same with me." Added Alexander.
Meanwhile, with Hesekiel, he was curious and took a peek behind their backs to see what it was.
"What's a phone?" He asked them curiously. The five of them directed their gaze on him.
"Dude, you don't know what the amazing cellphone is?!" The American gasped dramatically. Michael smacked the back of his head by using his hand in annoyance. The American whined childishly while he looked at him with puppy eyes.
"Why did you do that for?!" He protested, rubbing his slight throbbing head in comfort.
"That's for being rude with him." He smirked at him in satisfaction. His puppy eyes never work on him anymore. When he was young, it affected him because of how adorable he was. But now, he grew up as a terror.
With Julian, he only looked at the American in mild amusement.
Albrecht only sighed in exasperation while shaking his head, and then he glanced apologetically at the Jack of Spade.
"A cellphone is a piece of technology or a device in our world to communicate. Not only we use it for communication, but it also becomes our entertainment too by playing games, capturing pictures with the camera, and other useful functions." The German tried to simplify it as best as he can so that he could easily understand. Hesekiel only understood half of it, but he nodded after he acquired that information. That 'cellphone' he was talking about sounds very interesting to him.
Meanwhile, with Nikolai, he was busy taking a photo on the beautiful view with his phone.
"Ah, we are going to land." The Belarusian informed them, seeing the emerald creature descending towards the spacious courtyard slowly. He could see the tiny soldiers wearing grey metallic armors and swords beside their hips from his point of view, gathering around to wait for them to land patiently, and they gathered in a neatly organised way by lining themselves up.
The five of them waited in anticipation mixed with nervousness while the beast landed on the ground softly with a soft thud.
The guards began to salute them with their fists positioned on their left side of their chests.
"Your Honor and Their Majesties, Welcome back!!" They greeted them politely in unison. Most of the college students cringed inwardly because they didn't get used to calling them like that while the Jack of Spade felt the opposite, but he felt sympathy around them at the same time. After all, Hesekiel was a farmer before the mark appointed him, and he was spooked after hearing and seeing them saluting to him daily until he got adopted to their manners. He knew that they would adopt it soon like he did. It was an eventful day to him. Now, he felt a little bit homesick and missed his parents in the village.
The Jack of Spade nodded at them in acknowledgement, giving them a clue that they should stop saluting them, which they did.
Hesekiel gracefully jumped down on the ground while he helped them down one by one. They thanked him politely in their own languages which he was confused about what kind of dialect was that.
One of the guards stepped up.
"Your Honor. I have an important message from the Queen privately." He replied while placing his hand on his chest once more in a sign of respect, and he peeked at Michael curiously. He was confused why he's there while Michael glanced back with a glare. The soldier yelped inwardly while he was looking away quickly from him awkwardly.
After helping the foreigners, he glanced at him and nodded.
Hesekiel glanced at the group of college students with an apologetic look.
"I apologize that I didn't escort all of you towards the dining hall by myself, but one of the guards will lead you to that place instead of me." He said sincerely.
Alexander nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry, dude. We understand." He replied while the others agreed about what he said.
Hesekiel smiled at them gratefully, and then his hazelnut eyes darted towards one of the guards nearby.
"Ethan, would you do the honors escorting them in my stead?" He smiled at him friendly.
Ethan nodded enthusiastically with a bright smile while he stood straight after being called.
"Yes, Your Honor!" He said eagerly while one of the guards beside him glared at Ethan, reminding him to behave himself, and he noticed him while he blushed in embarrassment.
"Oui~ Let's go~ I am quite hungry." Chirped Julian while he noticed the interaction between the two soldiers earlier, so in order to save Ethan's face, he had to intervene.
"Ah, yes, your highness!! Please, follow me." Ethan said politely, and then he saluted one last time towards Hesekiel while the Jack of Spade nodded as a queue to dismiss them.
After seeing that, Ethan went ahead to lead the way.
The temporary monarchs bid the long black-haired male goodbye, and they followed after Ethan.
They walked in the quiet long hallway. While walking through the hallway, they noticed a lot of guards saluting them when they passed by, and the maids and butlers too.
Alexander didn't like the silence, so he broke it up.
"So, Ethan. Do you know who we are?" He asked curiously. Ethan, the young male with short brown hair and chocolate eyes, glanced at him and nodded.
"Of course, your majesty!!" The American flinched in dislike for calling him like that. Dude, he's just an ordinary citizen in the United States of America!!!
"You are Regis Herbert, the King of Spade! One of the heroes five years ago together with the King of Club, Heart, and Diamond." He explained enthusiastically, glancing at the fake monarchs excitedly.
"Their Royal Highnesses solved the problem about the miasma. After Their Majesties found the solution, Your Excellencies fell sick while the elders sacrificed themselves. I'm so glad that Their Royal Highnesses are healthy once more." He hero-worshipped them. The five of them winced in displeasure addressing them in such a manner.
Most of them knew that it was a lie after they feed them publicly in false information, but they did not correct him.
Ethan's bright mood quickly changed into a depressing one.
"Even though I don't know the complete story why it happens in the castle, I felt so useless 5 years ago. At that time, I was an artisan and my town almost got annihilated by the wave of monsters, and my parents died protecting us while my only family left are my siblings." He quickly looked away while his hands clenched into fists tightly.
The group of college students looked at him in pity, which majority of them understood the hardship of life and the pain of losing their beloved since they experienced it.
"I apologize for making the mood sout, Your Excellencies." Ethan sighed deeply.
Julian strode forward until he wrapped his arm around the soldier's shoulder. Alexander, seeing the Culinary student doing that, did the same on the other side.
"Well, I think I have in mind why you become a guard in Spade. I admire your bravery and your goal to protect your kingdom." Julian said cheerfully, making an assumption that he became a guard because of wanting to protect the citizens after the traumatic experience, but he's sincere after telling him that, which his conclusion was spot on.
"Like Jul-Jeanne said!!" Alexander quickly corrected himself after seeing Julian's glare, and he supported the Frenchman too. He knew immediately that they would use their temporary name in this world. Well, that kind of sucks.
"Da. It is really admirable. At least you have your siblings with you. You should stick together and help each other up in order to survive." Nicholas added. After all, he's almost the same as him with different circumstances when his parents got murdered by a serial killer instead of a monster. Well… The monster and the serial killer were the same kind to him in his perspective.
Meanwhile, with the German, he was just awkward, but he listened to their conversation silently while Michael nodded in agreement with them.
Ethan felt joy and relief after hearing their comfort, and then his face got covered with his arm while he began to sniff, indicating that he was sobbing.
"T-Thank you, Their Majesties!! You are too kind." His voice quivered.
"Ok, group hug!!!" Exclaimed the American happily, and then he hugged Ethan. Julian didn't mind doing the same, and he glanced at Michael, using his blue eyes to communicate to him that he should join in. Michael only scoffed, but he reluctantly embraced the soldier.
Nikolai didn't mind inviting himself in while Albrecht sighed deeply in defeat, awkwardly cuddling the young man.
In the standpoint of the outsider that was passing by, they were curious why Their Royal Highnesses were hugging each other, but they decided to ignore them because they did not want to be punished.
...**************...
Firmament: I think I won't update in NovelToon tbh.
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