Legacy of the Dark Sage

The Royal Army arrived at half-past twelve. Unlike the Conclave members where Millie escorted them to their quarters, each Royal Army officer went to their assigned rooms without any fuss. This information had been passed to them since yesterday, after all.

At the same time when the Royal Army arrived, most of the Conclave members who returned after walking around the Courtenay Land were gathered at the lounge and waiting for the others.

There were five attendants by the bar and while the Conclave members were not drinking, they still took this time to play a small game of billiard while chatting. Some even tried to get some information from the bar attendants. Though, what kind of information they were looking for was only privy to them.

As expected, as soon as a few officers of the Royal Army went to the lounge, an almost tangible tension filled the air.

Still, none of them tried to approach the other and went about their own ways. But it was obvious that each side was already assessing the other.

Finally, at half-hour before two in the afternoon, Mimi and Millie arrived to escort all of them to the Center Hall, the largest hall occupying four floors in the middle of the dome.

Millie darted her eyes among the Conclave participants trying to find a tall auburn-haired man with aquamarine eyes. To her dismay, there had been no sign of him, nor his shadow.

A young woman with long brown hair tied in a neat bun behind her head, with similar brown eyes, wearing a light blue robe with a cauldron stitched on the right chest, looked at her in amusement. She was from the Alchemist Association and was among the few females who knew Millie's infatuation with Tyr.

"Disciple Tyr is not here, Lady Millie. Master Noir called all the Blacksmith Order members a couple of hours ago and they haven't returned yet."

Millie's expression turned sullen after hearing this. She had been waiting for Tyr to send her a message that morning but never heard anything from him. It was depressing! Did she come to him too strong?

No, that should not have been the case.

Back when Matias tried to sow discord between them, Tyr ignored it. He even diverted Matias's attention away from her and Mimi. Tyr's action toward them meant he appreciated their help but did not want to involve them with childish banter. It clearly showed his positive attitude toward them.

So, why did he not call her?

With a cute pout on her face, Millie did not forget to thank the young woman before returning to Mimi's side.

Ten minutes later, the group arrived at the dome's Center Hall.

The Center Hall was at least 20,000 sqm. in size.

A stage roughly 80 sqm. in size was located at the center. The front row seats on the first floor were forty feet away around the stage giving enough space for people to move around it.

More seats were available on a huge circular balcony on the second floor, while exclusive booths for VIPs were located on the third and fourth floors, overlooking the stage.

The ceiling was currently opened letting the natural light fill the surroundings.

Right now, the stage had been decorated with a red velvet backdrop and gold linings. A golden sphere hovered at the center, alternately showing the Conclave's crest, a golden clocktower, the Royal Army's crest, a black sword and a red mage staff overlapping on top of a golden hexagonal shield.

Mimi led the Royal Army to their designated area, on the left side of the stage, while Millie led the Conclave to the right.

Both leaders from the Royal Army and the Conclave were already in their designated booths on the third floor.

For this event, the fourth floor was empty. There wouldn't be that many people attending since it was a private event between the Conclave and the Royal Army.

After they had taken their seats, the two ladies left and went to their designated VIP booth located on the third floor.

As they were walking along the hallway leading to the entrance to the VIP lounge, Millie's expression was still sullen.

All this time, Mimi kept a close eye on the younger woman's actions. She sighed inwardly upon seeing Millie's obvious disappointment and knew exactly why she felt this way.

The truth, Millie's attitude was the very reason why Mimi convinced herself not to be blinded by Tyr's handsome looks.

Yes, the young man's good looks were very pleasing to the eyes and knowing his Array attainments would not pale in comparison to other well-known Array Specialists showed his bright future.

Such a promising young man was someone any girl of marrying age would love to be acquainted with.

But Mimi had seen so many young men like him. Though they could not hold any candle against Tyr in terms of looks, the future of those young men was bright. They were aware of it, thus, this got to their heads.

Because of their smooth sailing paths to a successful future, they believed they could have any woman they wanted.

This mindset of most men was the reason Mimi kept a certain distance from Tyr and chose to observe. To be honest, it was not because Millie had her eyes set on him first. After all, compared to Millie, Mimi's position in the Courtenay Family was higher.

If she willed it, even if Tyr did not belong to a noble family, she could ask the Patriarch to take him in and be one of her subjects...

Mimi shook her head inwardly as Patriarch Ernst warned her not to get too involved with Tyr's matter. He also warned her to keep a close eye on Millie, because the young woman's infatuation was already known among all the younger generation of the Courtenay. This meant it had also reached the Courtenay Elders' ears.

When Mimi asked why Patriarch Ernst told her that the Royal Family had their eyes on him.

No, to be precise, Patriarch Ernst's word was: "The Crown Princess has set her eyes on Disciple Tyr."

Mimi was not surprised to hear this. She already noticed the Crown Princess's interest in Tyr when they told her about what happened in the Blacksmith Order. It had also been because of this, that the Crown Princess suddenly decided to go to the Tower of Conclave even when it was almost nightfall.

Anyway, getting involved with Disciple Tyr would definitely be a messy business.

Mimi knew this and yet... She looked at the young woman beside her and let out another sigh.

"What do you even see in that guy?" She started.

Millie looked at her with a slight pout and said, "He is like a hero to all of us wanting to become an Array Specialist! He was only a year older than me but his accomplishments in Array is-."

"Too little," Mimi interrupted her midway. "He has only made a name for himself recently because of the 'compensation' he promised for the disturbance that happened in the Blacksmith Order."

At the moment, Mimi could not trust Millie's judgement when she was looking at Tyr with bright colorful flowers and lights in the background.

"That is not true!" Millie objected at once.

Mimi looked at her in exasperation, "What is not true? That his accomplishment is too little or that he has just recently made a name for himself?"

Millie opened her mouth to refute her, but then closed it almost immediately.

What Mimi said was true. But Millie did not like how she said it and wanted to retaliate.

"Anyway, it is not appropriate for a lady to approach a man so brazenly. You will only feed their over-sized ego," Mimi continued, appearing stern but her voice remained gentle.

"Disciple Tyr doesn't have an over-sized ego..." Millie still tried to defend Tyr, but her voice trailed off a bit. It only occurred to her that she indeed acted too friendly when they barely knew each other.

Tyr might think she was a weird girl and was trying to keep his distance!

"How would you know? You barely know him. Besides, with a face and talent like that, it is impossible for him not to notice how much it affected the opposite sex. I will not even be surprised if there are a few same sex people who are attracted to him."

Hearing Mimi point this out made Millie paled.

"Y-You... you're absolutely right! I... I should watch out for those kinds of people! I must protect Disciple Tyr at all cost!"

Mimi looked at Millie hopelessly, "Ah... you're missing the point here, dear cousin."

Unfortunately, Millie was no longer listening and turned around to go in the opposite direction.

She looked at Millie and said, "I remember I have to do something! I'll see you at the function hall two later!"

Mimi sighed as she watched the younger woman's retreating back.

"Our family is supposed to have a friendly match against the Royal Army's team, dear cousin. And it will happen in function hall three," she replied but knew it had gone to deaf ears. She knew Millie would rather watch the Solo Competition in function hall two because Tyr's name was listed among the participants.

With a shake of her head, Mimi turned and entered the VIP booth.

Her cousin's behavior was the reason why she had a very bad image of young men with handsome looks.

=====================

Kyran did not attend the opening program. He felt it was a waste of time. Besides, he was not interested in what the Emperor had to say, or the Three Noble Families' supposed intermission.

Besides his puppets were there to tell him if there was anything worth taking note of.

A quarter before four in the afternoon, Kyran went to the male locker room assigned for the male members of the Conclave.

It was a rectangular room, with lockers on the sides and eight benches in the middle. At the back of the room was a metal door, leading to a shower area.

This room reminded Kyran of his time in the military school.

They had rooms like this one whenever they do practical combat. He also remembered that the locker room did not distinguish between males and females.

However, the Courtenay deemed it appropriate to have separate rooms for them.

Not that Kyran was complaining. He did not care either way. To be honest, he did not get why females make so much fuss when a man sees their body.

Yes, they had different body structures but it was not as if there was any harm in 'seeing.'

Just as he thought of this, he recalled an incident when he saw a certain girl covered in blood and was naked, who clung to him tightly after realizing who he was.

Kyran's brow furrowed at once and shook his head to push the image away.

Why was it that lately, his mind had been drifting too much?

It seemed he had not rested enough. He had to take note of that.

The other three members participating in the Solo Competition were already there, with the last one, a female member, in the female locker room.

When the three saw Kyran, they gave him a short nod. An action that did not seem hostile, yet not too respectful either.

Kyran returned their nod and sat on the bench closest to the door.

He had nothing with him so he did not use the locker.

Soon the door adjacent to the bath door opened and a male attendant wearing a light green uniform with a matching cap appeared.

"Conclave participants, the Solo Competition is about to start, please follow me inside," the attendant called them

Without further ado, the four of them followed him and went out the door.

What greeted them was a 150 sqm. square arena, and a long metal bench lined on the side.

A balcony was built above where a few spectators were already seated.