Chapter 447: House Zenith’s Estate

“What?” Julius asked her. He wondered why she had that look on her face. It kind of made him nervous.

“Lily and Derek, you said?” She asked him.

He tilted his head. “Yeah. Do you know them?”

She chuckled and let out a sigh. “Yeah, their grandparents told me about them. Somehow, I am not that surprised that you know them.”

“You know their grandparents?” He asked with interest.

“Yep, Cain and I last saw them at a special event. They both couldn’t stop talking about their new grandchildren. How did you meet them?” Freya explained.

Julius smiled. “We went to school together at Goldencrest. I’m honestly surprised you know them as well.”

She shook her head with amusement. “What about your other friends? Do you think we would know them, too?”

Julius shrugged. “There is also Aubrey and Edgar, but I don’t know if you would know them. You might know Aubrey’s mother; her name is Fiona.”

“Fiona Crysalia?” Cain interjected with a surprised grunt.

“Yep,” Julius said with a surprised nod, but glanced at Freya when he saw her pinch her nose. “What’s up?”

“We were worried that you wouldn’t have anyone backing you when you came here. But it would appear that we were very wrong,” she muttered.

“Is that why you came with me?” Julius asked curiously.

“Partly, it was also a nice excuse to go on a vacation,” Cain spoke for Freya.

Julius nodded. He got the sense that it was a big reason as well. Cain was always so busy when he was back at the school that Julius doubted the man had many chances to relax.

“Okay, change of plans. Let’s go find your friends now and then decide what to do later,” Freya suddenly said to them.

Julius didn’t have any problems with that. The only problem was that he wasn’t able to contact the others with his communication device yet. Either they weren’t in range or something was blocking it.

He said as much to the two of them.

“Are they supposed to be here already?” Freya asked.

He nodded. He was pretty sure that they were supposed to already be in the capital, and they had told him that they would either be staying at Lily’s or Derek’s estate, depending on the situation.

“Let me see your communication device,” Freya said to him.

He didn’t question her and passed it over.

“Seriously?” He heard her ask with a deep frown.

“What?” He was confused as to why she sounded a little disgusted.

She held the device in her hand and fiddled with it. “Where did you get this?”

He glanced back and forth from the device and her. “Um, someone gave it to me as a gift. Why is something wrong with it?”

“Nothing is wrong with it, but the distance of communication is seriously lacking. Especially when there are so many enchantments in the capital that impede most communication devices. Here, take this,” she said as she removed a small sheet of inscribed metal. It was very different than his little communication orb.

“What’s this?” he asked as he turned the sheet of metal in his hands.

“It’s a communication device that has already been connected with the capital’s communication array. It will work much better than this dinky item would,” she said while waving his old communication device at him. “Sadly, you won’t be able to contact them until you re-exchange contact information.”

He shrugged. “That’s fine. You mentioned you had a way to contact them?”

“Yeah, it should be pretty easy,” Freya assured him.

“Perfect,” Julius said with a soft nod and couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t wait to see his friends again, especially after how he left things. He just hoped they weren’t too angry at him.

***

It was actually surprisingly easy to contact House Zenith. Cain and Freya obviously had some impressive contacts in the capital, and it didn’t take long for them to get a response.

Before long, a representative from House Zenith came running to meet them. Apparently, Derek must have said something about Julius or let his family know that he was coming, because they had been expecting Julius to show up.

There weren’t even that many questions, and before long, they were being taken through the inner district in a carriage that was unbelievably luxurious. The carriage they had come in with Antoly was nice, but this was extravagant in every way.

It took some time to get all the way through the inner district, but eventually, they came up to another gate. Julius should not have been surprised, but it would seem that Derek’s family lived in the core district. A place that was the center of the capital, where many influential people lived.

That being said, the core district wasn’t small. In fact, it was positively massive. Enormous buildings of complex designs spiraled throughout the district. He saw several buildings that spiralled up to the sky.

This gate wasn’t as large as the one separating the other districts, but he didn’t let that fool him. The power he felt from the enchantments was worlds apart.

He could feel his skin buzzing from the ambient mana being put off from the barrier. Even Drasil could sense the mana from Julius’s soul space. The little glutton likely wanted to take a lick and test the mana for himself. Julius made sure to keep the life spirit tucked away for the time being. Perhaps, he would allow Drasil to taste it at a later time.

Stolen story; please report.

As they were being taken into the district, Julius was able to see a very tall palace situated at the very center. He had a feeling that this was the palace and also the place where Reinera was. He wondered if she was there at the moment and if he would be able to see her.

She had said she was allowed to see the tournament because it was one of her royal duties, but he didn’t know if that meant she would be able to spend time with him as well.

Eventually, the carriage pulled up to a stop, and they exited the carriage to see a very impressive estate. Many guards were patrolling the area, and Julius spotted House Zenith’s symbol across their black uniforms.

As expected from a Ducal Household, they had many powerful guards. Their auras were very experienced and powerful. He knew that this wasn’t the main property of the House, but it was still very impressive to see.

They were politely told to wait for a moment, and Julius suspected that the others were being alerted to their presence. Now all he had to do was wait.