Once Abium sent the letter to Dust Gate Town, he quietly sat on the chair and started to ponder about the upcoming Royal Banquet.
'Should I save the King? Or not?' A frown appeared on his forehead.
'If I do something, it might affect Prince Raollet's and Prince Huggin's growth. There is a possibility of some seers noticing my action and targeting me.' Although he didn't know whether a seer was hiding somewhere in this city or not, he decided not to let his guard down.
After a long ponder, he sighed deeply and shook his head.
Then, he stood up from the chair, moved towards the main door, and walked out of his guest room. Within a few seconds, he arrived in front of the nearby room, raised his right hand, and knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
A few seconds later, a blonde-haired young girl opened the door from inside and looked at him in puzzlement.
"What happened, Abium?" Helena asked, tilting her head towards her right.
"I came here to invite you to the Royal Banquet," Abium went straight to the point.
Meanwhile, Helena froze for a moment and soon widened her eyes.
"Are you insane? Won't that anger Count Tibal? I heard that he had already complained to the Royal Family and even put a bounty on my head!"
"What? He put a bounty on your head?" This time, it was Abium's turn to be surprised.
"Well, unlike you, I'm just a commoner. So, he has the authority to put a bounty on me using his noble title." Helena said with a sigh and then added.
"He is already pissed off by my action. Let's not anger him any more."
Abium, however, shook his head and spoke with a different thought in his mind.
"Hiding away from a noble won't solve the problem, Helena. Moreover, it's the right time to tell the world that fairy isn't an experimental material but a normal being."
"Are you scheming something again?" Helena's eyes squinted suddenly.
"Nah, I want to let these arrogant nobles know that both of you are my precious guests. That way, no one would dare to think of coming after your sister." Although he spoke calmly, a chilling aura suddenly appeared around him.
At that moment, Helena also felt this was a smart idea and agreed.
"Ah, yes. I forgot to give you the bidding amount." She said in a hurry and took out a silver treasure chest from her space ring.
"This treasure box has a total of 1200 white gold coins, Abium. Please take it."
'Although I don't need this money, I'll just take it to not hurt her feelings.' Abium was well aware of her character and decided to accept the money.
After that, he thought of something and raised a question.
"What are you planning to do after this, Helena? Are you planning to continue your adventurer job?"
A forced smile appeared on Helena's face.
"With Camilla being around, it's difficult to continue the adventurer life." She hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Can you recommend a suitable job for me?"
"Ugh, what's the deal with the long-winded questions? Tell her that you want to hire her in your territory!' Azolla said in an annoyed tone.
'Well, I'm afraid she might decline my offer.' Abium had long thought about bringing her along and dumping all the official territory duties on her. But he didn't know where to begin.
'Tsk, I shouldn't hesitate like a teenage kid.'
Abium took a deep breath and spoke.
"Actually, I'm also searching for a suitable candidate to manage my territory, Helena." He deliberated for a second and asked.
"Are you willing to become the administrator of my territory? I'll pay you 50 white gold coins per month as salary."
A dead silence appeared in the corridor as he ended his speech.
Meanwhile, Helena stood rooted to the ground, unable to wake up from the shock after a long time.
'Are you serious?' She couldn't help but stutter.
Fifty white gold coins per month was not a small amount for any adventurer!
Even a Noblewoman would agree to work under Abium if he submitted this request officially!
'It's too much!'
Even if she worked hard by taking the most challenging mission on the guild board, she would only earn around five white gold coins per month.
The offer was too lucrative, which made her heart beat faster.
A look of confusion appeared on her face as she asked,
"But why are you giving me such a high-level job?".
"I am sure I can find a more capable and smart person for this job, Helena. But there is something others lack the most. It's called trust." Without waiting for her to continue, he quietly turned around and started walking toward his room.
"Get ready for the Banquet before 6.P.M."
As he said this, he entered his room and shut the door from inside.
On the other hand, Helena stared at the empty corridor with a dumbfounded look for a while and then let out a deep sigh.
"It seems I have no choice but to agree now." She shook her head and closed the door.
...
34A Dust Mansion, Noble Borough.
It was around 6.30 P.M.
The soft glow of evening illuminated the twilight sky like a symphony played in the heavens. As the sky darkened, Abium, Baron Auguinare, and Helena walked out of the mansion house and looked around.
Abium was dressed in a white pleated shirt, pants, a metal belt, and a black overcoat. On the other hand, Helena wore a scarlet top and long narrow, wrapped headdress and held a wooden flute-like stick in her left hand.
In truth, that was a foldable hand fan that most noblewomen prefer to hold during banquet times!
"Achhoo!" At that moment, a loud child's sneezing voice came from Helena's right side.
If someone looked at her shoulder closely, they would find a young fairy sitting leisurely and wearing the same dress as Helena. Her wings shone in rainbow color at that moment, and she looked prettier.
The young fairy was none other than Camilla!
She sniffed slowly and asked while tilting her head.
"How long will it take to get there, Helena?"
After giving Camilla a gentle pat on the head with her finger, Helena responded calmly, "We'll be there in half an hour."
Meanwhile, Baron looked at the fairy and gave Helena and others a stern warning.
"You guys have to be very careful during the banquet."
"If anything abnormal happens, I'll protect her with my life on the line." Helena was well aware of the dangers and nodded in agreement.
At that moment, two carriages came from the carriage house and soon stopped before them.
One was a luxurious four-wheeled carriage with two horses, while the other was a single-horse-driven wooden carriage.
"I have some other work to do, so you guys should go ahead and wait for me at the banquet hall." Baron Auguinare said solemnly, moved towards the luxurious carriage, and stepped in.
Meanwhile, the coachman whipped the horses and drove the carriage towards the compound gate. Before long, Baron Auguinare's luxurious carriage left the mansion and soon disappeared from others' sight.
"Let's go." Abium turned his gaze towards the wooden carriage and noticed that Richard was the one driving!
"You didn't go along with Lord Baron?" Abium asked in puzzlement as he walked closer to the carriage.
"I don't think he needs my protection, Lord Abium," Richard said with a laugh and signaled them to get in.
'Heh, does he think we are weaker than Baron? Well, he indeed never saw me fighting anyway.'
Shaking his head, Abium moved towards the carriage door, turned the doorknob, and stepped inside. After that, Helena followed him and sat in the front seat.
"Let's go," she said as she closed the curtain and locked the door from inside.
Meanwhile, Richard pulled the horse reins and started driving the carriage.
The carriage quietly moved away from the mansion, reached Noble Borough's main road, and soon met with heavy traffic.
When their carriage reached Royal Street, it was already around 7.15 P.M!
The carriage soon arrived near the Royal Palace's compound gate and was stopped by the Royal Gatekeepers.
"Gatekeepers are asking for the Noble Seal or an invitation badge, My Lord." Richard's voice came from the front a second later.
'Hmm? Invitation badge?' Abium suddenly recalled the badge he received from Crown Prince Huggins six months ago and took it from his space ring.
Then, he opened the carriage door, stepped out of the vehicle, and showed the invitation badge to the gatekeepers.
Soon after, their carriage entered the Royal Palace compound and parked along with other carriages in the front yard.
"Let's go." Abium opened the carriage door and stepped out.
At that moment, Helena also adjusted her dress, moved out of the carriage, and soon looked up ahead.
In front of her was a dome-shaped palace, unlike any other building she had ever seen. The building covered an area of around a 1 km radius, appeared to be around 200 to 300 meters tall, and looked domineering.
"Wow!" She couldn't help but let out a gasp in shock.
"This palace was built by the current king twenty years ago to celebrate his victory against the Wadel Kingdom." Abium gave her a short explanation.
"It's so lovely!" Camilla muttered with glittering eyes and flapped her transparent wings to fly towards the building.
Helena stopped her from moving recklessly and said sternly,
"You shouldn't leave my side, Camilla!"
"Y-Yes," Camilla's wings dropped slowly.
On the other hand, Abium took a step forward and started walking towards the Palace Building.