Strongest Necromancer Of Heaven's Gate

Princess Anastasia woke up early and impatiently walked down the hallways of the Royal Palace.

"Princess, it's still too early," Millie yawned as she followed behind the Princess who hadn't had breakfast yet. "I think he is still sleeping."

"Millie, remember this," Princess Anastasia said as she walked briskly in the hallway. "The early bird gets the early worm. If I don't act now, the worm might get snatched from me."

"Uhh… I don't really understand, but if Her Highness says so, then it must be true," Millie stifled another yawn as she followed behind the adorable Dwarf who was so energetic early in the morning.

After returning to the Capital, the five of them went to meet with the King, who was very happy to see that his daughter was safe. However, since there were other people around, he acted like how a King should act and listened to Lux's tale about how the Princess was saved and what caused the destruction of Dunspear City.

Aside from the King, there were six more people inside the room who listened to his narration.

After his report ended, the King once again thanked him for saving the Princess and promised to give him an adequate reward.

Lux was exhausted both physically and emotionally, so he excused himself to get proper rest.

The chase to save the princess, as well as the pressure he endured when he faced the Seven-Headed Dog and the Necromancer, took a toll on his body.

If not for the fact that the King had personally called for him, he would have gone to sleep the moment he arrived at the Royal Palace.

"Good morning, Sir Lucien!" Princess Anastasia greeted as she unceremoniously opened the door without even knocking.

Seeing that no one was in the living room, she headed straight to the bedroom, where Lux slept soundly.

The Half-Elf was sleeping face down, still wearing the clothes he had on yesterday. The funny thing was that he was still wearing his shoes, which made Princess Anastasia and Millie assume that, the moment Lux entered the bedroom, he went to sleep right away.

He must be so tired that he could not even be bothered to change his clothes or remove his shoes.

Eiko was also sleeping on the pillow beside Lux's head.

Just like her Papa, she was also very exhausted and didn't even stir when Princess Anastasia barged inside their room.

To Millie's surprise, the first thing that Princess Anastasia did was take Lux's shoes off of his feet before sitting down on the bed to look at the Half-Elf's face.

The Princess didn't like touching dirty things, yet she didn't even hesitate to remove Lux's shoes which were quite dirty.

"His sleeping face is quite handsome, don't you think so, Millie?"

"M-Maybe a little?"

"Poor thing, he looks really exhausted," Princess Anastasia said softly as she brushed away a lock of hair that covered the Half-Elf's face. "I must give him a proper reward for saving me."

Millie blinked once then twice before a realization hit her.

'C-Could it be?!' Millie wasn't a dense person, but she didn't know if what she was thinking was correct.

(A/N: M-Masaka?!)

The fact that Princess Anastasia seemed to be quite interested in Lux didn't surprise her. However, she only thought that the Princess only wanted to make the Half-Elf one of her retainers, just like her.

However, after seeing her affectionate gaze, the green-haired Dwarf finally connected the dots, making her look at the Third Princess of the Kingdom of Gweliven in disbelief.

"Princess, do you like Lux?" Millie asked.

Princess Anastasia didn't answer right and continued to look at the Half-Elf's sleeping face.

A few minutes later, she shifted her gaze toward her loyal retainer and nodded her head.

"Yes," Princess Anastasia replied. "I like him."

Millie pinched the bridge of her nose before asking the Princess another question.

"You like him—as in you want to poach him to become your retainer, right?" Millie inquired.

The princess shook her head before giving the sleeping Half-Elf a side-long glance.

"Although I would be happy if he becomes my retainer, I don't think he will accept my invitation," Princess Anastasia said with a smile. "Yes. Millie. I like him. If possible, I want to make him my fiance."

The corner of the green-haired Dwarf's lips twitched after hearing Princess Anastasia's reply. For a brief moment, she imagined Lux being tied to a chair with a gagged mouth as the Princess dragged him to a temple to have a shotgun marriage.

As if reading Millie's thoughts, Princess Anastasia puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

"How rude," Princess Anastasia pouted. "I'm not that kind of lady. Do you think that I would force someone to marry me by tying them up with a rope? Just what kind of Princess do you think I am?"

"The type that will use any means within her power to get what she wants?" Millie replied without batting an eye.

"Is that what I am like in your mind?"

"A little."

Princess Anastasia once again pouted before looking at the sleeping Half-Elf beside her.

"I know that it is next to impossible," Princess Anastasia stated. "I'm sure that father will not allow it. But, even so, I can't lie about my own feelings."

Millie walked towards the Princess and crossed her arms over her chest.

"But you only met him a few days ago," Millie commented. "You don't even know what he is like."

Princess Anastasia smiled and nodded her head.

"You are right, but can't you see that baby Slime over there?" Princess Anastasia asked as she pointed at the sleeping Eiko beside Lux. "For him to care about this little one means he is inherently a good person. Even if he does bad things, I believe that he will have a good reason to do so."

"Princess, I didn't believe this phrase before, but I believe it now. Love is blind."

"Perhaps."

Princess Anastasia didn't deny or affirm Millie's statement because she understood that what she might be feeling right now was gratitude instead of love.

However, she believed that if she was given more time and got to know Lux a little more, then the feelings that had started to grow inside her heart would definitely bear fruit in the not-so-distant future.

—-----

"I can't believe that we fell for Twilight Rain's trick," a Dwarf with silver hair said as he gnashed his teeth in anger.

"Albert, it's not your fault," Nikola stated. "The enemy is just too shrewd with their methods, preventing us from knowing right away that we were sent on a wild goose chase."

"Fortunately, that boy, Lux was there," Galileo commented. "Isn't that right, Charles?"

The Dwarf, who was wearing spectacles, snorted. "At least he didn't waste the blood of the Jade World Dragon that I procured to fake his death."

The four men who were in the same room with the King of Gweliven were none other than four of the members of the Order of the Griffin.

The silver-haired dwarf who seemed to be in his early twenties was Albert Tesla.

He was an S-Ranker and held the second highest authority within the Order that served directly under the King.

Albert was also Millie's Master, and he arrived in Dunspear City after it was destroyed by the Monster of Ruin.

(A/N: I'm sure that the majority of you have already forgotten these characters. In order to refresh your memories, feel free to re-read Chapter 189 up to Chapter 217.)

Uther Von Gweliven, the King of the Dwarven Kingdom of Gweliven, sighed as he pressed his hands together.

"I am truly grateful for Lux's help in saving my daughter," Uther said. "And I will reward him handsomely for it. However, we have bigger problems at the moment. After hearing Millie's report, I fear that the peace we now have will shatter once that Monster of Ruin makes its move."

A profound silence descended inside the room because all of them knew the severity of the situation.

"If we can believe the Necromancer's words, then our Kingdom might be spared from the calamity," Nikola commented. "Memento Mori hasn't made any moves over the past decade. I almost forgot that they existed."

Charles snorted after hearing Nikola's comment. "You forgot or you wanted to forget? Those Necromancers might have been busy amassing their Undead Army in the years that they didn't make their appearance."

Albert nodded his agreement and made his opinion known as well.

"I believe that it is only a matter of time before we hear from them again," Albert said. "For now, we should inform Those TWO, just in case. Also, Twilight Rain is still active. We shouldn't let our guard down."

King Uther nodded his head because he too agreed with Albert's view.

"For now, cover all the traces left behind by the Monster of Ruin," Uther ordered. "Since those who know of its existence are currently with us, Twilight Rain will also be in the dark about what happened. Be sure to be discreet and leave nothing behind."

The members of the Order all bowed to the King before leaving the room to carry out the mission that their King had given them.

When he was the only one left in the room, King Uther sighed before closing his eyes.

"The first Mythical Guild in the World has appeared, and now, the Monster of Ruin has been released from its imprisonment," King Uther muttered. "Could this be a coincidence?"

The king didn't know the answer to this question, but he hoped beyond hope that, whatever plans the organization, Memento Mori, was going to execute, they would do it far from his kingdom and allow his people, who had suffered over the years, to regain a semblance of peace that they rightfully deserved.