Aravel

Chapter 56

The next morning, two carriages pulled by wyverns had already arrived at the palace. On it were Shiina and Sakuya along with a few other dragonkin guards, acting as the security force for bringing Kaze's group over to Aravel.

"Oh man... this is really it," Ethan shuddered with a huge smile on his face. "The day where representatives from our nation get invited over."

"Come on dear, you don't have to overreact now," Kathy, standing by his side, sighed at her husband. "You have already freaked out enough yesterday. Mia, please check on Yuuji and his friends."

Yuuji had arrived back at the palace the day before to reconfirm everything with his parents. By the time the rest of the group had obtained approval, the matter of them going abroad to Aravel was ordered for their parents to keep silent about this. Since this could very well concern international issues, it could be said to be a royal decree that everything concerning this was kept confidential.

Right now, Yuuji and the rest were already waiting at the hall of the entrance of the palace with their luggage. Since it was already confirmed in the letter that the carriages to bring them would be stationed at the palace, everyone moved out of the house to sleep at the palace in preparation for the journey tomorrow. Other than the trio being Lunaria's close friends, everyone couldn't get much sleep the night before.

"Father, you called?" Yuuji approached Ethan with Mia following closely behind. "Is it time already?"

"Yes. Please have everyone get ready to board the carriage," Ethan nodded. "We have secured the area."

With permission, the group picked either one of the two carriages to board together. Ethan, Kathy and Mia were among the few available at the scene to watch the departure. It took a bit of convincing for Mia to not make a fuss over the fact she wasn't invited, probably because she was not a close friend of Lunaria. Mia wasn't so keen on visiting Aravel, rather it was the fact she had to be separated from Yuuji for an extra week. Thankfully, Yuuji managed to reassure her by means unknown to the rest and thus their trip was settled.

Everyone else was able to get permission without an issue. They would be spending their break over at Aravel, which arguably was the best break possible for them. Not even the rulers of Czech were able to travel due to it being a visit rather than a business trip. Plus, Ethan had his hands full with the devil situation so a visit at this time would only be detrimental to his nation.

Waving goodbye to the small group, the carriages departed and left for Aravel. Kaze, Sera, Rena, Chris and Irene were in the first carriage, whereas Yuuji, Shoko, Albert and Noel rode in the second. To enable communication between both carriages, a magic device was built in place such that the voices of others in the separate carriage would be heard individually by each person. It was certainly technology not applied in Tristania, something that amazed everyone upon realizing this.

Once they got over the fright of being lifted into the air, they quickly realized how steady the flight was. The wyverns being led by the dragonkin guards were doing a great job keeping the process steady, albeit a few shakes here and there due to the current. Wind magic was also casted around the carriage to further stabilize it during the flight, once again emphasizing the amount of consideration put into their transportation.

"What do you plan to do once we are at Aravel?" Chris asked the group. "I'm definitely going to try to savour their cuisine. If Lunaria is able to make such delicious foreign food, I'm ecstatic at what we would be eating there."

"Man, you really got me thinking," Shoko responded from the other carriage, her voice filling the first carriage. "It's been a while since I was in Aravel."

"Oh, were you not from Aravel?" Noel asked Shoko politely while hugging her swords close to her chest.

"Nope. Sera, Rena and I might be Lunaria's close friends, but that does not mean we live there," Shoko shook her head, her tone implying so. "As the one with wings, she travels often between Yvel and Aravel for fun."