Third person POV
Russell and his group are now on the outskirts of the capital city of the Barewell Mountains and entering the nearby urban town of Blaue Blume when a couple of horsemen from the country's army pursue them. Upon seeing that, Russell is alerted, and he presses the gas pedal hard to try to outrun them. Aren and Kazi notice the increase in speed and look at the pursuing horsemen through the windows.
"Oh, no…"
"They're after us, Russell-sensei!"
"I know, I know!" responded Russell back while driving fast and quick.
The scene is like a car chase, and one woman in Blaue Blume saw it and was astonished to see a bus in it.
And then, after a few more kilometres of driving, the bus group managed to outrun the horsemen, giving a sigh of relief for them. However, seeing that from her palace balcony, Frannie was still lovestruck at Russell saying, "Maybe next time, my love…"
Although she lost him, she knew that someday, she would have him.
Meanwhile, Russell sighed in relief. "Phew! That was so close." Aren and Kazi were also relieved to have escaped the country. "Man," Russell said to them, "that princess was crazy. I didn't know she was in love with me."
"Wait, what?" Kazi responded back. "Is that why she put sleeping medicine in our cookies?"
Aren was shocked to hear that detail from his subject. "What? She did?"
Kazi then glanced at him. "Yeah, it tasted like that…"
Aren felt upset and angry and apologized to him and Russell for Frannie's bad behaviour.
Russell and Kazi were taken aback by his response.
"What???"
"How's that is your fault, your Highness?"
"Well…" replied Aren, trying to calm down. I'll explain it to you two when we get home to Queva City. Let's stop there, and you two may stay at my place for the night."
And so, Russell and Kazi agreed with him, and Russell eventually rerouted his drive to Queva City as the afternoon came in. At 5:15 p.m., all of them arrived at Aren's palace grounds, where some of Aren's palace guards and advisors were waiting for him. Seeing the bus really made them take aback, and as the door was opened, Aren got off and wiped his sweat from his forehead.
"Sir!" one of his guards responded back. "You just left off a few hours ago. What happened?"
"It's…personal for now," answered Aren back while trying to calm his anxieties. "These two are our guests, so please welcome them here."
His guards and advisors did so for him and his two friends, one from within Batela and another from the Southern Plains.
Not long after, Russell, Kazi, and Aren are at one of the palace's drawing rooms, and some servants of Aren serve some hot tea to them. Russell and Kazi got some and sipped on the tea to quench their thirst. Aren then explained to them his connection with Frannie, revealing that she was his distant relative with a very wide distance in terms of a generation gap. That distance was as wide as a chasm in the Northern Territory. And so, Aren was related to Frannie, but it was not in terms of literal blood relations.