The city of Livia bustled with life despite the giant cloud looming over the horizon. Being the capital of the kingdom, Livia enjoyed the great barrier that King Solomon created. That is why even with the Mernars' countless attacks, the city was not affected in any way.

"Privilege of the rich," Arthur muttered as he looked out of the carriage and saw the joyful mood. Dia sat beside him, leaning and closing her eyes.

"People choose places of safety and services to live in, and this leaves Livia in demand, so the prices skyrocket," the princess said as a matter of fact. "It does not matter where you are. This will always be the case."

"A true Livian to the bones," Arthur smiled as he grabbed her hand. "Do you feel at home?"

"It has only been a month," the princess scowled at him. "Something is unsettling about this war summit. The King must be planning something," she said with worry.

"Everyone is planning something all of the time," Arthur said. "The true unease stems from our safe trip. I expected no less than three assassinations."

"Are you disappointed?" she said teasingly.

"Not with how we spent it," he shot back, making her blush and pinch his arm. "Ouch! I only have this one left, so be gentle," he said.

The carriage took them toward the inner city to the palace that they had visited once before. Arthur could feel Dia's gaze on his missing arm, looking more upset by its absence than him.

"Why don't you create a new one? I know a great mechanic, but we'll have to kidnap him first. Another option is to use spirits," her expression was pondering and expectant.

"Does it bother you?" he genuinely asked because he didn't care a lot about it. Yes, he considered those options. Yes, sometimes it bothers him too. However, he never considered it a priority to be fixed.

"It reduces your battle powers, and it is commonly thought to be a sign of weakness," the princess said as the carriage came to a stop. "I want you to be safe, so it's best to prepare."

"Well, if I need another arm, I'll just use this one," he smiled and concentrated his spiritual energy around his arm to etherealize it. Despite his lacking control to wield it, his abundant spiritual energy made it easy to create this arm.

His spiritual body in the Spirits Realm was unmatched, but the only reason for that is his body wasn't there to restrict. It was the same concept of using a spoon to scoop out of the ocean.

"Halt!"

A shout came from outside, and Arthur simply smiled. The door was thrown open as countless guards surrounded their carriage, pointing their spears at them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dia growled at them, and it sent waves of cold that glued the guards to the ground.

"Stay your hand, Miss Diana," a man appeared out of thin air, and it turned out to be the Duke of Battle. "They are only wary, just like the rest of us, because of the aura coming out of your carriage."

"We apologize for the little stunt," Arthur smiled as he stood up and jumped off the carriage, his ethereal arm looking the same as his physical one. "I was simply learning some new tricks. I will defuse it right now," he snapped his fingers on the ethereal arm, and it disappeared.

The scattering spiritual energy turned into giant ripples that traveled across the palace and the surrounding area, making the guards take a step back.

The Duke of Battle stood unwavering against his spiritual energy, but his face hardened as he glared at the smiling Arthur. Then, after the ripples settled down and the aura disappeared, no one dared to say a word.

"As impudent as ever, Lord of Hidden City," the duke used his official title as he spat. "Such offenses are disallowed in the palace and a sign of treason to the throne."

"The only treason is the incident of crystals," Arthur didn't flatter in front of the man. "If His Majesty wants me dead, then my head will roll by early morning," he said some bullshit that he didn't mean, but it worked to establish his allegiance.

The duke glared at him with displeasure, but a projection appeared in the sky above them. It was King Solomon himself, sitting atop his throne.

"Your head is too precious to touch the ground, Seika of Living Beings. I can see that you have grown stronger once again, and it makes me proud of having you as a lord," Solomon said with sincerity. "Before we meet at the summit, I have a matter to discuss with both of you. As for the others, stand down."

No one dared to dispute his orders, and the knights lowered their weapons. The duke glared at him with battle thirst, as if he wanted to see for himself how they would fare against each other.

Of course, Arthur had no chance to win or even injure the man if they only compared their stats. However, he was confident about staying alive or even standing a chance if he used all of his trump cards.

Dia retracted her ice, but her expression didn't ease. It seems the king summoning them made her unease stronger, and it was understandable. As the guards allowed them entry along with the rest of their people, Arthur and Dia walked toward the inner hall of the palace to meet Solomon alone.

***

"Your absence raised many questions in the circle of nobles," King Solomon sighed as the three sat around the table. "When words arrived that you have confronted the knight of nobility and the duke in Hidden City, most decided that your allegiance lay with the Seika only."

"They are not mistaken," she said without fear, and Arthur's heart almost skipped a beat.

"... please don't say that easily," the king sighed, but he seemed to know that fact already. "The Seika is in a delicate position. The nobles hate him for killing one of them, and the lords are against him because of his ambitions."

"Thank you for the praise, your majesty," Arthur said humbly, and Solomon looked at him with equal helplessness.

"... that was not praise. You two are truly reckless."

"Life is for the bold," Dia said as she placed a hand on the table, ready to stand up. "Is that all, your majesty?"

"And death is for the reckless, so don't mistake the two," King Solomon continued with his words before taking out an artifact from his pockets. After placing the artifact down, it projected a moving picture in the air. "These are our guests from Alva."

The picture was about a group of people standing around. They recognized some as nobles from this city, and the King's Hand was one of them.

"Why are they here?" Dia stood up from her spot with agitation, and Arthur had to grab her arm to make her calm down.

Among the group of people were people they both recognized, albeit from different points of view. There was the Duke of Fire and a young man with white hair, accompanied by others. It was Neray, Dia's fiancé.

"They are here as an envoy from Alva," King Solomon continued as if he didn't notice their shock. "Given the current condition of the kingdom, we are thinking of signing a peace treaty with them that includes conditions of theirs."

"Conditions that aren't exactly what we want," Arthur said as he forced a smile. "What did they ask for?"

"An expanse of land, a few artifacts, and of course, their princess," he said as he looked at Diana, and Arthur's aura changed. His expression crumbled as he was about to use his teleportation rune.

"And have you agreed?" Arthur's question came without any politeness or formality, and there was even a hint of hostility.

"Calm down, Seika," the king said with a smile. "I have yet to agree or sign anything, and this summit is a part of the process that will help me decide what to do next."

"You are considering it?" the princess's flames were about to explode from her body, but she did well to restrain them.

"I am thinking of what is best for my kingdom, but I don't think that agreeing to their condition is best," the king said as the image disappeared, and he took back the artifact. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have told you this, right?"

His words made sense to both of them, and they calmed down somewhat. If he truly wanted to sacrifice them, then he wouldn't have told them beforehand, alone and with the opportunity to escape.

"Then why are you telling us this?" Arthur asked as Diana sat back down, and they decided to listen.

"I believe that this is a chance. They should attack us regardless of whether we sign a treaty or not, as we are in a weak position. However, they should be sending their armies toward our borders, and that should be the best chance to take over Alva."

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