Valerian, The Legendary

The lady could not say much and nodded, Fortuna was a dragon but she was not without emotions. She consoled the lady that she needed to be brave otherwise it will affect Valerian’s growth, and also make her the obstacle that stood between the last wishes of his late parents.

Flos decided to risk everything by putting her only child through a childhood so hard that could have twisted him completely into a dark character that would spell doom for humanity, but thankfully he managed to stand through the storm and now had the potential to stand in the front and become a hope for humanity.

After an hour, the barrier came down and the two decided to go not to talk about this matter ever again.

...

Valerian was made to walk away by Fortuna and the boy made his way toward the room of the first prince. The room had a small study inside, and Adele would spend her free time there, recently she has started to visit the capital city and handle the management there. This was all a process for her to get used to looking after her future region of governance.

It has been decided that Libra will sit on the throne till the day he can and then it will be passed down to the prince or princess that has been acknowledged by the people of the country. Both the sons will be given a considerable area to manage and then the decision will be taken. Libra had asked Vulcan for his opinion and the duke had agreed to follow this as it will prevent bloodshed and conflicts inside the family.

Valerian was also asked if he would like to undertake the responsibility too, but the young man shook his head and said that he would like to help both of the princes if they needed. Azula had been focused on her merchant association so she was content with it.

The fourth prince arrived at the door of the room and the guard outside announced to the Princess inside. The door was personally opened by Adele and she smiled at Valerian as she said, “How come I have the pleasure for the fourth prince to visit me?”

.....

Valerian scratched the back of his head and said, “Sister-in-law, I came to see you before I go out for training.”

Adele shook her head with a faint smile and said, “You are a hopeless case, my dear. I will not ask you why are you going out. Come in, I am not letting you go so easily.”

Valerian smiled and followed her inside the room, the lady took him to the study area where she poured him a cup of tea and asked, “When will you return?”

“I have no idea about that, but definitely before the Triumph Meet.”, replied the prince as he picked up the cup and looked at the clear liquid inside.

Adele smiled at him and said, “The taste of lavender has grown quite a bit on me.”

Valerian smiled back and took a sip of his favorite tea. Adele said, “Ignis had been working hard these days, Ashlyn has been worried over the Triumph meet as well, but she does not have the time to look into it.”

Valerian replied, “Well, it is not like she can do anything about it. After all, being young and ignorant requires is not helpful always, and she must prioritize her administrative skills over the rest. The people of the country are looking up to her.”

Adele nodded, and said, “Val, cut him some slack when you meet him during the meet, okay?”

Valerian smiled and said, “You are not helping him like this, sister-in-law. I can understand that you love him and want him to be safe, but a man needs to stand strong and face it all. Do not worry, I will spare his nutsack and his face for you to live a happy life.”

Adele squinted and then she pinched his shoulder, making the boy wince in pain. Then she said, “You be careful with that pretty face of yours, or who knows that Empress of Centaur will stop loving you.”

Valerian opened his eyes wide and said, “How did you know?”

Adele smirked and said, “That girl is cute, she left a note of apology for mother. I was there when she read it so I know what is cooking here. You sneaky player, I did not expect my brother to be such a stud.”

Valerian looked away as a faint blush crept over his face, and then after a few rounds of banter, the prince was allowed to leave the room. He later met Azula inside her office in the capital. The princess smiled and said, “You are seriously not going to stop, will you? Fine, I will not be your obstacle, but you must never lose sight of other things, okay?”

Valerian nodded and then he said, “Sis, I am happy that you found me in that forest that night.”

Azula froze, then she stood up from her chair, moved around the table, and embraced him. She said, “I am glad that I found you too. Who knew that I had such an excellent brother, those two doofuses only know how to trouble me.”

Valerian smiled when he heard this and said, “You do not overwork, okay? I will ask Lady Consano to take you back to the palace forcefully if she needs to. Also, no more healing spells, you have begun to build up tolerance against it.”

Azula nodded and said, “Yes, boss.”

The two laughed around and talked about trivial things. Then Valerian said, “You can tell mom that I will go away now. I do not want to be sad in front of her.”

Azula nodded as she watched Valerian leave her office. The young man came to a secluded alley in the city and then by smearing the token with his blood and then the token glowed and a strong suction pulled him inside the token, leaving nothing behind.

...

Valerian found himself standing in a forest. However, this forest was blue. The trees were adorned with thick canopies of blue flowers. He was surprised to see something like this and then recalling the information from one of the books he read back at the academy, he mumbled, “Sripa Flower.”

An ethereal voice commented, “Seems like you are not as ignorant as we think humans are about the realms of magical beings.”

Valerian smiled and without panicking, he said, “This much is the basic minimum for me to match as Fortuna will smack me for being ignorant and bring shame to her, your grace.”

The voice chuckled and then a small blue bird appeared in front of Valerian. Soon, the bird glowed with light, and in its place appeared a lady. The lady was smiling at Valerian and said, “Welcome to the world of Clar-awks, Master Valerian.”

The young man bowed to the lady and said, “Thank you for having me here, the honor is mine, Your Grace.”

The lady shook her head and said, “I am no lady, but a mere servant of the Maiden. You can call me by my name, Trin.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I will call you, Sister Trin, if you do not mind.”

Trin was surprised and then said, “Do you think it will be too quick for you to establish relations with Magicals?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “Magical or not, every being created by Primus deserves compassion. You may see it as my attempt to act chummy, but all I wish for is a trustful connection between the two sides. Magicals must not be offended, but the same goes for humans too.

The world will be a better place with it, and the Sripa Flower is also known as the symbol of compassion, trust, and unity.”

Trin was surprised but then she nodded, as she said, “Follow me, Master Valerian, the maiden is waiting for you.”

Valerian nodded and followed her through the forest. The arrangement of the trees caught his interest and looking at the way they were planted he could not help but nod. Trin asked, “Why are you nodding?”

The prince replied, “The entire realm is covered with these trees, I can sense that this arrangement is causing the mana to be equally distributed in this plane.”

Trin nodded and said, “Very perceptive of you, it is true.”

Then the two did not talk much, and after a few minutes, they arrived at a clearing. Valerian was surprised as he did not see this coming, a huge tree of Sripa Flowers was standing in the middle, and it was so thick that the trunk could match the size of the capital city of Lumen.

Valerian mumbled, “May Vita bless me.”