Foreboding Storm - Chapter 158

Who didn’t know the tales of the Sovereign of Death?

In the Amayan Empire, every civilian, from young to old, knew about the Crown Prince that guarded the borders of the Ocean of Blood. His valor, courage, and undefeatable record of concluding the Warrior Baptism in the shortest amount of time had spread wide and far.

So when he appeared in a shower of blood, dust, and gore before the hopeless and despairing group of Amayan Citizens, they felt as if the sun had arisen on a cloudy and gloomy morning.

“Crown Prince Lail!”

“Crown Prince, you’re finally here to save us!”

“Crown Prince, why did you take so long? We were so scared!”

On seeing their undefeatable Sovereign of Death appear before them, the group of citizens cheered at the top of their lungs and shouted out their grievances with tearful eyes. If one didn’t know, they’d think the Crown Prince wasn’t their superior, but their beloved family member.

When Aarya Quime heard the thunderous cheers, her heart pounded in her ears and burned with fiery pride.

“Look, this is my husband. His glory and prestige are so magnificent that even the most wretched of civilians cheer and shout out his name as if he was their friend. Clearly, they’re only desperate to form connection.” She disdainfully sneered.

Marui Osklain almost blurted out he was Princess Qamari’s husband. But recalling the slap she received before, she changed her words.

“Yes, he is outstanding. The Jade Snake and Heat Mice were so far away, but he was still able to take them down with a single shot.”

“Hmph! Of course. He’s Crown Prince Lail, the Sovereign of Death of the Amayan Empire.”

Her prideful tone almost made Marui Osklain doubt herself.

Clearly, she’d snatched another woman’s husband by stealing her identity. So why was Aarya Quime behaving as if the man was hers right from the beginning?

What she didn’t know was that over the past few days, the longer Aarya Quime stood beside the Crown Prince, the more she realized the man’s greatness. His accomplishments and achievements before he enrolled in the magic academy were so great that the black-armored guards even bowed and treated her with respect for just being his wife.

And when the guards told her to never leave the Crown Prince’s side again, as he’d abandon the Amayan Empire, an unknown feeling of pride and holding immense power suffused her heart.

Unconsciously, the woman erased from her mind the fact that the person the Crown Prince would abandon the Amayan Empire for wasn’t her, but Princess Qamari.

In her heart, she already considered herself as the only wife of the Crown Prince, Princess Qamari.

Crown Prince Lail and his group of black-armored guards quickly controlled and suppressed the beast horde. In a matter of half a day, the dead bodies of the soldiers were buried and the magical beasts burnt.

The rest were skinned and roasted.

The injured soldiers sought medical aid while the starving civilians finally breathed in gratitude as they ate their first peaceful meal in days.

The next day, the entire Eastern Outpost was taken down and the entourage of soldiers and black armored guards surrounded the Crown Prince and Prince Noore.

In a solemn and majestic manner, the procession made their way back to the Amayan Empire’s Imperial Capital.

*

“Bai Lan, we made it!”

Princess Qamari’s eyes brightened, anticipation and excitement swirling in the violet depths as she looked at the ginormous south-west gates of the Imperial Capital.

This was the gate she’d entered the Imperial City when she’d first arrived in the Empire.

After days of traveling tirelessly, the two arrived in the Amayan Empire but encountered a beast horde. They escaped unscathed, but the exhaustion on their faces was unconcealable.

“Once we enter the Imperial Capital, we can have a long rest.”

Although she said that, Princess Qamari felt unsettled and restless. There was a strange feeling in her heart that her ordeal wasn’t over yet.

“But how can that be? Unless…”

“What was that Princess?” Bai Lan absentmindedly asked. She was too taken with the wondrous sight before her. Compared to the Sealand Academy, the Amayan Empire wasn’t as colorful or magical.

However, the towering green ancient trees, various tiny creatures, streams of lakes and rivers, and now the aquiline behemoth they called walls stretching before her, the girl felt flushed and giddy with insuppressible excitement.

Bai Lan, Bai Lan, you made the best decision in your life by deciding to follow Qamari. Now you get to see all the wonders of the realms!

“So many people!” The sea of busy, chattering people streaming in and out of the City took her breath away. The Bai Settlement only had about 5-6 thousand natives as settlers.

Here, just the people leaving the city already surpassed that number!

Princess Qamari looked at the gawking girl and smiled.

She and Princess Nari must’ve had the same expression when they’d first arrived.

“Next!”

“Bai Lan, it’s our turn.” Hearing the guards call, she grabbed the dumbfounded girl’s wrist and pulled her towards the gate.

“Please, show your pass! No one can enter the city without a pass!”

“This…” She’d forgotten about this.

No one could enter the Imperial City without presenting a pass. But Princess Qamari never received one as when she first entered, she’d entered the gates as part of the Jinn delegate and the Ministers of the empire had personally escorted them.

And when she left, she’d disappeared in a shower of light on the dais of her wedding platform.

How was she going to produce a pass now?

“Sire, I left the city in a hurry and forgot to bring my pass along. Can you let me enter now? I’ll come back to present my identity plaque afterward!”

The guards exchanged a look and looked back at her with a fierce glare.

“Do you take us for a fool? If we allowed entry to anyone that made such an excuse, then why would we even say no one can enter without a pass?” The left guard coldly snorted, convinced the two were quacks that were trying to worm their way into the Imperial Capital.

“Yes, you either show your pass and enter, or you can get lost!” The right guard added just as coldly.

Seeing their immovable expressions, Princess Qamari knew there would be no point in speaking to them. But she really needed to enter the Imperial Capital.

Crown Prince Lail…

As she thought of her estranged husband, a strange emotion entered her heart.

Even if she had to leave, she wanted to leave after speaking with him.

“Guards, If you want, you can send someone in and inform the palace that Princess Qamari is at the City gate. I’m sure someone will come to receive us.” She sighed resignedly.

From the beginning, she had no intention of exposing her identity. That would garner too much attention which was the opposite of what she wanted. But now that she’d reached this point, she had no choice but to bring out her name.

It was the only way to enter the Imperial City, because, unexpectedly, the aquiline walls of the city were magic resistant!

But contrary to her expectations, instead of shock and astonishment, she only got scornful sneers and mocking laughter.

“Haha…you must really consider as fools. How dare you try to use Princess Qamari’s identity to enter the Imperial City? If it was a few days ago, we would’ve even given you the benefit of a doubt. But fortunately, Crown Prince Lail returned with his Crown Princess Consort, Princess Qamari, just a few days ago.” The left guard’s gaze was now filled with disgust and disdain.

Before, he’d only considered the two females as quacks trying to worm their way into the bustling Imperial Capital. But now, he saw them as shameless frauds who even dared to use the Crown Prince’s beloved Crown Princess Consort’s name to enter the city.

His disgust only seeped deeper when he saw her style of dressing that matched so perfectly with the Crown Princess Consort.

“You…what do you mean by the Crown Princess returned? Are you telling me that there’s another version of me?” Princess Qamari felt baffled.

What in the realms was happening here? How and where did a Crown Princess Consort pop up when she was standing in front of the gates?

Was it possible that she’d misheard it?

“You wench! Get lost! Get lost right now before I lose my cool and hand you over to the authorities!” Sicken tired of her nonsense, the left guard angrily hollered and stepped forward to push her away.

But Princess Qamari was now a level 2 Elemental Flushing stage expert. Her physical body alone could rival that of magical beasts. So how could it be easy for the guard to push her back?

He pushed and pushed, but the girl did not take a step back.

Sensing the burning stares of the nearby crowd, his face flushed red with shame and embarrassment.

“Da** wench! You dare to humiliate me?”

His disgust for Princess Qamari instantly transformed into hate and he felt an intense urge to kill her and wipe away such shame with her blood.

Princess Qamari blinked innocently. “When did I humiliate you? Am I not just standing still?”

“Hmph! You wench, you tried to enter the city by claiming the Crown Princess Consort’s identity. We were being kind to nicely ask you to leave. Otherwise, your crime is worthy of death!” The right guard felt indignant on his companion’s behalf.

With fiery eyes, he stepped forward and viciously kicked at her feet. Princess Qamari carelessly lifted her foot and evaded his kick. This made the right guard’s face flush with embarrassment.

Da**! This wench needs to be taught a real lesson!

Abandoning all consideration for the fairer sex, he charged forward and threw his fist at her face. But at this moment, Bai Lan stepped forth and held his fist.

“Sire, you’re the guard of the Great Amayan Empire’s City gate. If word of your unruly behavior towards females spreads to the rest of the empire, what do you think your citizens will say?” She made a pitiful expression that instantly earned her the guard’s wrath.

“They will praise me! For my duty, I was willing to disregard all gender and not discriminate. I didn’t shrink from my responsibility even when the people before me were the opposite sex. As a guard of the Imperial Gate, it is my responsibility to ensure that no suspicious and questionable characters enter the city.” He righteously bellowed.

“That’s right! For the citizens that trust us to keep them safe, we’ll face anyone no matter their gender!” The other added.

The rest of the guards stepped forth and tried to push Bai Lan and Princess Qamari back with fervent eyes.

They were fulling their duty and responsibility. So why should they care whether the person before them was a male or female?

Fueled by their sense of duty and responsibility, the spectating crowd began whispering about Princess Qamari and Bai Lan.

“What are these two trying to do? Force their way into the Imperial Capital?”

“From the look of things, that seems to be the case. But don’t worry. If the guards of the city gates were so easy to handle, why would anyone present a pass on their request?”

“What do you mean? Do they have a formidable background?”

“Heh…you can say that. They are personally trained by Crown Prince Lail and he is the only one they answer to.”

“Crown Prince Lail? Our Sovereign of Death is their backing!?”

“Or else?”

“Da**! I lived so long in the Imperial City and never knew such explosive information!”

As the confrontation of the two dragged on, the crowd at the city gate grew larger until the entire southwest gate became the focus of attention.

“Heh…You wench! You should’ve nicely left when we told you to get lost. It’s perfect now! This matter will be reported back to the Crown Prince and you’ll have to answer to him for daring to use his wife’s identity.” The left guard sneered.

He and another guard faced Princess Qamari and tried to push her away.

But no matter how much force they exerted, the da** wench wouldn’t move a step!

What has this wench been eating? Why is she as heavy as a mountain?

But from her figure, isn’t she too slender to possess such strength?

Their eyes reflected their bafflement, but they remained glued to the spot, not allowing to draw back a step.

They put on appearances of restraining Princess Qamari until the City Guards left and right captains arrived. They had already lost much face by not sending her flying through the air with a single shove.

If they failed to maintain an imposing front, then they’d lose both their lucrative posts and last trace of dignity.

Under their mocking and scorning taunts, Princess Qamari remained expressionless.

She didn’t move. She didn’t panic.

She only waited for the arrival of the City Guards’ left and right captains.

Heh…The Crown Princess Consort returned with the Crown Prince?

Since there wasn’t any possibility of her entering the Imperial City as Princess Qamari, then she would enter it as a criminal to confront her husband!