Following behind the Maid, we walked through the hallway, heading towards who knows where, but I could only assume it was where the Queen was, so maybe the throne room or some other place I've no clue exists.
'Man, this castle is way too freaking big.' Thought Alexander lightly as he gently shook his head, having spent a few minutes merely walking to their destination.
It shouldn't take someone multiple minutes to reach another room in a place you live, but I suppose that's just a lifestyle I'm not used to.
'Well, technically…' Mused Alexander with a faint smirk, only to shake his head.
While we were walking, three Dryads wearing fancy clothes and jewelry passed us, prompting the maid I was following to stop as she bowed toward them; not knowing what to do, I copied her actions and bowed as well.
'Hmm, they must be royalty. Ahh, family.' Thought Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he gazed at three Dryads that disappeared behind a hallway, only to chuckle in amusement.
Once we stopped bowing, we continued our leisure walk, taking the same path as those three Dryads, until we eventually arrived at a set of large double doors with a tree engraved between the two; green jewels were used to represent the leaves.
"Queen Vestalis is just inside, Esteemed one." Said the Maid as she deeply bowed while gesturing to the double doors, prompting Alexander to nod.
Taking a deep breath, I reached forward and pushed open the doors, which was much easier than I had anticipated, before entering what looked to be the throne room, though I momentarily froze when I saw how many people were waiting for me. Inwardly cursing, I closed the door behind me and began approaching the group in the distance, though if it weren't for my trait, [Heart Of a Hero], I would definitely be nervously sweating, and the fact only my footsteps could be heard wasn't helping.
Along the way, I happened to use [Heroes Gaze], though what I saw caused me to wince; although it seemed like the people in front of me were the only ones, there were an extra fifty people hidden throughout the room, each one concealing themselves using magic. Of course, I couldn't accurately judge their strength, but from how much mana I could see within their bodies, the weakest was comparable to the Boss of the Yemen Mercenaries, with multiple being much stronger.
'Especially the one hidden within the Queen Shadow… She is extremely strong.' Thought Alexander with a wry expression, only to sigh deeply, calming himself.
Now that angering them was entirely out of the equation, not like I planned to do that in the first place, when I arrived close, I dropped to one knee and lowered my head. I actually had no idea if I was supposed to do that; I just copied what they did in movies from my past life, though seeing how none of their emotions changed, I was doing something right.
"Y-You're not L-Lavender." Said Azalea softly with a frown as she narrowed her eyes at Alexander, who wryly smiled while shaking his head.
"I am not, um, M-Miss…" Replied Alexander respectfully as he turned and glanced at Azalea, only to slightly widen his eyes.
I'm sure the average person wouldn't have been able to notice it through her aged and weathered appearance, but I spotted it almost immediately; she looked nearly identical to Master; it was honestly crazy how similar the two looked.
"You may stand, and if you could remove your hood." Said Violet softly as she coughed to grab Alexander's attention, her words causing him to nod as he stood up while grabbing his hood.
"Um, please don't attack me." Said Alexander softly, his words slightly confusing everyone, only for their eyes to slightly widen in surprise as he revealed his face.
"A human?" Said Violet in surprise as she gazed at Alexander, who awkwardly nodded before suddenly bowing.
"Um, I would like to apologize for accidentally destroying the barrier surrounding the edge of your territory; I-I just intended to make a small opening, but that didn't happen." Remarked Alexander apologetically as he bowed to Violet, who frowned, though before she could respond, the doors were suddenly opened.
"Hmph, to think the culprit would come right to the heart of our Kingdom." Said the Grandmage with furrowed brows as he eyed Alexander while approaching him, his sudden intrusion causing Violet to sigh.
"I apologize for the interruption, Queen Vestalis, but when I sensed the culprit's mana signature within the Palace, I had to find it. I needed to meet the person who destroyed my Grandspell." Said the Grandmage as he bowed towards Queen Violet before eyeing Alexander, who awkwardly rubbed his head.
"So, how did you do it? How did you break my Grandspell? It should've been impossible for anyone except Princess Lavender." Asked the Grandmage as he eyed Alexander, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Um, I just spoke to it? C-Can you not do that?" Replied Alexander in confusion as he looked at the Grandmage, his words shocking them all.
"H-He can speak to life!?" "O-Only Aunt could do that!" "D-Do you think she might've taught him?" Remarked Iris, Dahlia, and Aster, respectively, as they stared at Alexander in shock.
"Hmm, I knew it, though for my speculation to be confirmed is still surprising." Muttered the Grandmage lightly as he rubbed his chin while glancing at Alexander in shock, prompting him to tilt his head in confusion.
"Y-You can really speak t-to life?" Asked Azalea hoarsely as she looked at Alexander, who nodded, causing her to softly smile.
"Now, while this is shocking information, I do not appreciate you barging in here and interrupting me, Scarloc." Said Violet lightly as she glanced at Alexander before eyeing the Grandmage known as Scarloc, causing him to nod while he backed away.
"I was told you had come to return some items and relay information regarding Grandaunt?" Asked Violet as she eyed Alexander, who nodded and grabbed his space pouch before outstretching his hand toward her.
"Yes, Master had some items, and I figured it would be best to return them to her family." Replied Alexander softly as he looked at Violet, only for Scarloc to nearly interrupt him, though he managed to wait until he finished speaking.
"Master!? Are you perhaps Princess Lavender's disciple!?" Exclaimed Scarloc with widened eyes as he looked at Alexander, who calmly nodded, causing Azalea to be thoroughly shocked as well.
"Scarloc, if you interrupt again, I will have to ask you to leave." Said Violet sternly as she eyed Scarloc, who nodded before remaining silent.
"S-So, a-after all that talk about not wanting a d-disciple, she ends up g-getting one anyways." Remarked Azalea between a few coughs as she gazed at Alexander, her eyes noticeably softening while everyone remained rather calm, not fully understanding how shocking such a revelation was.
"Y-Young man, w-what is your name?" Asked Azalea as she floated towards Alexander, who awkwardly smiled.
"I'm sure we can ask that, Mother–" Dahlia lightly as she glanced at Azalea, who gestured her to be silent while her focus remained solely on Alexander, who nervously gulped.
"My name? I-It's Alexander… Vestalis." Replied Alexander softly as he looked at Azalea before averting his gaze, though even so, his voice varied a hint of pride.
"I'm confused now." Said Aster softly as she looked at Alexander, while everyone nodded in agreement, completely shocked by what was just spoken.
"Alexander Vestalis? You had taken Lavender's last name." Said Azalea softly as she gazed at Alexander, who nodded, noticing the varying gazes directed his way.
"Um, I would like to say I took Master's last name before discovering she was a Princess." Remarked Alexander lightly, his words causing everyone to glance at Scarloc, who nodded.
"He speaks the truth, though, at the end of the day, Princess Lavender's status as a Princess pales in comparison to her status as an SS-Class Adventurer." Stated Scarloc, his words causing many to furrow their brows, yet none refuted him.
"Since everyone loves to keep speaking, I suppose you might as well inform us what Grandaunt wished to say." Said Violet in slight annoyance as she dismissively waved her hands, causing Alexander to sigh deeply.
There was no way to lighten the blow I was about to say, so all I could do was say it how it was.
"Master is dead." Stated Alexander softly, his words ominously echoing throughout the silent throne room.
"W-W-W-What?" Asked Azalea softly with a frozen expression as she and everyone else intensely gazed at Alexander as if they were trying to bore holes into his body.
"Six, nearly seven years ago, Master drew her last breath. A Mythical poison was the cause of her death, and unfortunately, I haven't discovered the one responsible for it as of yet." Declared Alexander, his words causing Azalea to slowly look at Scarloc, who had his head down.
"Scarloc, is he lying?" Asked Azalea, her voice sounding surprisingly clear as she eyed Scarloc.
"No, Madam, he is telling the truth." Replied Scarloc softly as he refused to raise his head, causing Azalea to softly nod.
The woman didn't utter another word and simply hovered out of the throne room, which had been engulfed with silence.
"I'm sorry." Said Alexander softly as he lowered his head, though his words helped little to soothe their rampant emotions.