At the dinning hall, all the prominent figures were present…
the king of the Unified Nation of Warmark and host, King Leohart Von Warmark, his prime minister and Lord of the capital city, Grand Duke Konrad Von Warmark, the crown princess of the nation, princess Diamond Lillian Von Warmark, the second princess of the nation, princess Clover Tio Von Warmark, the older twin of the royal family, Princess Spade Stella Von Warmark, and the younger twin and only son of the king, prince Ace Alexis Von Warmark…
And the guest present was the emperor of the kingdom of Kosuke, emperor Kosuke Oni Riko and his closest aids…
Next was the king of the Holy Kingdom of Righteous, King Gustavious Von Righteous, his daughter and the commander of the Holy Knights, crown Princess Erica Von Righteous, her Vice commander, Sir. William Grey, one of the highest Ranked Knight in the core, Alice Von Hidenham, and lastly one of the main reasons for the gathering, the former heir for the Dynasty of Menssai, Jericho Von Menssai.
They all sat together, to enjoy their meal, the dishes served were varieties of the different cuisines from each of their nations and the smaller nations in the human continent, they enjoyed their meal, laughing and drinking together, trying to wash away the panic and stress that was once felt, with the invasion from Jace.
After their meal, the heads of their respective nations sat together separated from the rest, drinking as they enjoyed each others company, they noticed king Leohart's mood was so much better than anything they've seen since the war three and a half years ago, they instantly knew king Leohart had finally had the talk with Jericho, and Jericho as finally lifted the heavy regret and guilt he carried all this years, to their delight.
The others were getting more acquainted with one another, princess Diamond expressed her joy of finally meeting Jericho, her excitement was unnerving for Jericho and very confusing to the others, Clover covered her face in embarrassment as her sister continued, she also went on to hug the person she was greatly familiar with, princess Erica, as they are both long time friends.
Clover stood, noticing how close Jericho seemed with Erica and Alice, she started having a tight feeling in her chest as she watched them, including her sister princess Diamond, after a while Jericho managed to break away from the group, and made his way outside for some air, as everything was still overwhelming, seeing him leave, as her eyes never left his side, Clover took it as her chance to finally speak with Jericho alone for the first time since they finally met again, she followed him into the garden maze where he stood, just at the entrance staring into the night sky filled with stars…
"you are still uncomfortable with large crowds I see… princess Clover" Jericho stated noticing the presences of princess Clover before she was ever ready to make herself known to him…
"{he still remembers that?!}… (smiles)… h-how did you know it was me?" she asked in surprise…
"well, I wouldn't before but now with soul energy, I can sense the presence of another person that possesses it quite easily, both hostile and non hostile, no matter how large or little said person soul energy is, except they manage to conceal it very well, which isn't easy" Jericho explained as he made his way to her side, she stared at Jericho with her big black eyes as if she was in a trance, her sliver hair flowing in the wind as Jericho closed the distances between them and gave her a smile, seeing that her heart skipped a beat, and thanks to that she snapped out of it…
"s-so you mean I also possess this phenomenon known as soul energy?" Clover asked, trying to distract herself from her feelings…
"of course you do, it's quite impressive too, I shouldn't be surprised, it is you after all" Jericho responded with a light laugh, Clover looked away trying to hide her smile…
"Princess Clover… (she answered and locked eyes with him)… it is truly very good to see you again, and I must say you have changed so much, you've become much more beautiful than I remember, I shouldn't be surprised, you are now a woman (smiles)… I've also seen your influence in the world since I returned, and I wasn't surprised when I found out it was your doing, I knew you were just that amazing, am so proud to be acquainted with someone like you… Princess Clover" Jericho concluded with a smile, Clover had become so red at this point steam could be seen coming out of her head…
"d-do you mind just calling me Clover… I-I mean we are old friends are we not?… (looking straight into Jericho's eyes, he smiled, apologized and called her by her name, without the title)… and also… (her demeanor chanced to a sad one)… am also very glad and relieved you are alright Jericho… when I heard you were killed, I was completely beside myself, it was so very hard and painful, I lost the will to do anything.. (sigh)… but then, our conversation from a long time ago gave me the strength and inspiration I needed… I wanted to use those feelings and carry out both our dreams, I figured that would make your memory live on… (she got closer to Jericho and rested her head on his chest, an action that blindsided Jericho)… I haven't felt this happy knowing you are alive for a very long time Jericho… so glad you are here with me again" she said, as tears dropped from her eyes, seeing that Jericho smiled and wrapped his hands around her, giving her a tight hug…
"thank you for worrying about me Clover… don't be sad anymore, I am here and am not going anywhere… let's take the world to a new age together, just as we talked about all those years ago" Jericho responded with a smile, Clover gave a sigh of relief as she released Jericho from the embrace.
Back inside, princess Erica, Alice, Sir. William and Princess Diamond all sat together still talking and getting along, before Erica noticed Jericho wasn't there, she asked about him as she looked around, princess Diamond noticed when he left for some air and also noticed her sister Clover going out after him, but to give them more privacy she covered for her sister…
"oh.. em.. I saw him walking towards the leaders, I think he just went to have some words with them" she answered with a nervous laugh…
"I see… what about princess Clover… oh, she really hasn't changed, she doesn't like wasting her time doing fruitless things… sitting and talking would be one of the things she would hate the most" Erica asked and responded herself with a huge sigh…
" y-you know my dear sister" princess Diamond responded with a relieved tone and laugh, as she looked out the door where they passed… "{good luck Tio}" she though with a huge smile on her face.
They both stood looking up at the sky together for a while, then Clover spoke, asking about what she has been curious about since he got to the kingdom…
"Hey Jericho… what is your relationship with that princess and the lady knight?" she asked, giving Jericho a curious look mixed with jealousy, Jericho had the look of panic in his face as a cold sweat ran down his face…
"w-what do you mean Clover?" he asked, with his heart beat increasing…
"oh just you seemed so very close with those ladies, anyone would have sworn you were engaged" she responded with a suspicious look…
"{oh crap… her intuition is frightening, am not really engaged but it's in the air… how do I respond to this… I guess the truth?}… w-well no am not engaged to either of them, but it was brought up once, but I haven't accepted it" Jericho explained still sacred of Clover's reaction…
"I see… I suppose I understand… (Jericho exhaled with a sigh of relief)…have any of them told you how they feel, or is it just something that came out of nowhere?" she asked as she started to get nervous…
"hmmm… now that you mention it, I guess not, we are just good friend, nothing of the sort is going on, so yes it was something that came out of nowhere (Clover looked relieved but still nervous)… why do you ask?" Jericho asked getting confused.
Clover took a deep breathe and spoke… "well I wanted to make sure am at least the first person to say this to you Jericho… (took a deep breathe again)… I am in love with you, I've always been, from that moment we talked for the very first time, you became my inspiration for everything I did, I wanted nothing more than to make your acknowledge me so I can stand by your side forever… I- I want you to always be proud of me as I am of you, I haven't felt this way for anyone in my entire life except you Jericho… I do not want a reply to what I just revealed to you, all I want is for you to know how I feel, and to know you will always have me by your side no matter if you feel the same way or not… (she turned and locked eyes with a frozen Jericho)… that is my true feeling Jericho, and it is all yours" she concluded with a smile, then lean in and pressed a kiss on the lips of Jericho which knocked him out of the surprise of her confession, and replaced it with the look of shock, after a while she released him…
"CLOVER!!!" he exclaimed, still in utter shock, her lips felt so soft and smooth on his, he touched his lips as it was still very unbelievable to him, she smiled at him as she turned to leave and said…
"am no longer holding back Jericho, I lost you once, this time I do not plan on losing you again, not to death or another woman… so get ready dear Jericho, you are no longer getting 'The Golden Mind' Clover… no, from now on you will be getting… 'A Woman in Love' (smiles as she looks behind her shoulder at him)… I now have a new goal, change the world, and getting the man I love… (she started to walk away)… see you around, dear Jericho" she said as she disappeared back into the Castle, leaving Jericho, standing alone, dumbfounded, and still wondering if he was dreaming…
"{what in the world just happened… I must be dreaming… I can't sleep like this, I have to do something to clear my head}" he thought, still staring at the direction Clover exited with in shock.
After leaving the castle grounds for hours, to clear his head cause of what happened to him with Clover, Jericho returned and made his way into the castle, looking around he saw most of them had retired to their quarters, just Erica, Alice and princess Diamond was left.
Looking at who entered the room they were in, they were all glad to see it was Jericho, he then walked towards them and took a sit… "hey, where have you been all this while" Erica asked…
"oh… em… I-I was just out for a walk… hey have any of you seen Clover by any chance" Jericho digressed as he asked, the ladies exchanged curious looks with one another…
"{not princess Clover?… good job Tio}… uh.. she was here like an hour ago but she left, she said she had a lot of work to catch up on" princess Diamond responded with a light smile…
"are you alright Jericho, you look exhausted" Alice asked looking worried…
"oh… no no am fine, I wanted to speak with her about something, but it's late right now, and we've had a very long and eventful day, she must be pretty tired as everyone is, I will talk to her tomorrow… anyway ladies (stood up)… I think I will be calling it a night too, need to rest well for tomorrows meeting, you too make sure you go to bed early yeah… if you will excused me ladies" Jericho bowed as he walked away…
"g-good night… rest well" Alice called, then Jericho shot her a smile and a nod then walked out of the room and disappeared into the corner…
"well that was strange… he didn't use her title, and he looked so confused and shocked… I wonder what happened" Erica pondered suspiciously…
"{oh my… Tio, what did you do to this man (giggled)… she is bolder than I thought}… well am sure he is just tired after the day he had, I think we should follow his lead, and also call it a night too" princess Diamond responded as she stood up…
"well you're right, good night LiLi" Erica gave her a hug as she got ready to leave too, so did Alice, they all exited together.
The next day, after everyone got cleaned up and had breakfast, they all gathered in the audience room, all the nobles, the rulers of the vassal states around Warmark, and the lords of the cities and villages were all present for the meeting, all three rulers of the three great powers of the world were also present, Jericho on the other hand was stationed just outside the room with Erica, as requested by king Leohart, Jericho was confused by it but he couldn't disobey, after a while the meeting finally begin, with a guard introducing the prominent figures in the room, and the other, and then it was concluded with a welcoming speech by king Leohart.
"welcome all of you, great leaders of our great nation of Warmark, I know we are just recovering from a crisis, and you all would want to be at your domain to help with the recovery efforts, but this is a very important summons that can not be postponed, so I thank you all once again for making it to this urgent occasion" king Leohart concluded his welcoming speech, he then singled for Grand Duke Konrad to take it from there…
"we now begin with an update report from the front lines… (he single the soldier in change of the report to step forward and speak)… "my king.. (he went on his knee, with his head bowed, and continued)… I bring you good news from the front lines, I got word the troops were able to finish off the rest of the invaders earlier than we thought… according to reports, it was like a miracle from the gods themselves (murmurs ran through the room upon hearing that)… as they were locked in battle against the invaders, with the assistance of our allies from Righteous and Kosuke, they witnessed a blinding light from the heavens, then suddenly saw a giant head of what looks like a tiger, in the form of lightning, in a battlefield crowed with both friend and foe, yet it somehow only targeted just our enemies, striking them with lightning… every single one of them fell, with none escaping the light, according to reports, it was a truly breathtaking scene" surprised ran through the room, as the guard concluded, the three kings exchanged looks, while Sir. William gave a sigh and a grin after hearing the report, Alice also gave a nervous smile, with princess Diamond noticing their reaction, she was smart enough to know it just had to do with Jericho, as he was missing for so long the night before, she smiled then locked eyes with Clover, she reacted very suspiciously, and tried to avoid eye contact with princess Diamond, this action confirmed her suspicion, Clover and Jericho had the talk last night, and with that deduction, princess Diamond had a look of excitement on her face as the guard continued…
"some of our friends from Righteous confirmed that wasn't the first time they've seen it, and it is always assisting them… thanks to that divine entity, they were able to round up sooner that we thought, and are making their way back to the capital, they should be back by the end of tomorrow… we are victorious and we didn't suffer any casualties… my king" the guard concluded still bowing, sighs of reliefs ran through the room and smile coated everyone's faces…
"thank you for your report, you may leave… (he stood up and made his way out of the room)… now on to the next agenda… honoring the people that was here in our time of need, and sacrificing a lot for us… first we honor a great man that has done a lot for our nation, he was our light for many many years, he was a true patriot, and had true love for his king and nation, distinguished guest, let's hold a minute of silence for a true hero, our hero… Captain, Sirius Osborne" Grand Duke Konrad pronounces, and the room went dead silence, in honor of Captain Sirius, tears filled the faces of some of the Royal Guards and the atmosphere was a gloomy one.
A minute later Grand Duke Konrad continued… "I hereby call on Michad Osborn, the son of the desist Captain Sirius Osborn, to come collect the honor on his father's behalf" Michad made his way forward, he was a young man, about fifteen years old, with short curly sliver hair and a dark skin as do all Warmark citizens have, he bowed and was bestowed a title by the king, Michad Osborn was now a Baron, and put in charge of a small village in one of the vassal states of Warmark, with the leader of that Vassal state also supporting the appointment, he was also given a small fortune to go with his new title.
Michad, bow and accepted the honors and made his was back to were he was sitting as everyone around him congratulated him…
"next we are honoring an ally from the Kingdom of Righteous, she protected our second princess, she was brave and strong and stood between our princess and danger, welcome, Lady. Alice Will Hidenham, a four stars Holy Knight, of the Kingdom of Righteous" Applaud ran through the room as Alice stepped forward and bowed, she was gifted a medal call the KNIGHTLY STAR MEDAL, it's a medal just below the top three medals any person would be blessed to achieve… And she was also given a monetary reward as she wasn't a citizen of Warmark, that was the best they could do to honor her.
She bowed once again as she accepted her reward and made her way to her sit…
"next, for her strength and bravery, not only saving the life of our princesses and our young prince, she was able to soundly defeat one of Jace most high ranking generals, crippling his military for awhile in the process, I present the commander of the prestigious Holy Knights of the kingdom of Righteous, the crown princess of Righteous, her highness, princess Erica Von Righteous" as Grand Duke Konrad announced, the entrance swing open, and a very beautiful woman walked through it, making her way forward, her bright red hair tired it a ponytail, her pale, lighter skin glowing in the lights of the room, dawning a light make up that enhance and complimented her true beauty, wearing a beautiful blue dress that showed off her assets that are usually hidden by her armor… it was Erica, slowly making her way through the room, all eyes glue on her as she walked by, her beauty was extremely unexpected to those that knows her but normally sees her in her armor, this was a very pleasing revelation, as they all were captivated by her, she was now looking like a her true title, a princess.
She made it to the front and gave a courtesy bow, she was bestowed a TWINSTAR CONTINENTAL MEDAL… this medal is one of the top three honors anyone would be extremely blessed to have.
The three great powers invented the medals during their first alliance and peace treaty, Forty (40) years ago, to honor the heroes of the first world war against the residences of the neighboring continents (Demonoid and Drakziel), that ravished the earth and lasted for four (4) years, a dark history some of the current leaders of the world are trying their best to avoid repeating it's self, but still they are some, on the human, demonoid and drakziel sides that aren't satisfied with the outcome of the war, and wants to decide once and for all who the superior race is.
Back to the present, this historical medals can only be passed out if and only if the leaders of the three great powers of the world approve and decide ahead of time, all three must be involved in the decision for it to hold any merit, which in this case it does, as they all agree…
The other two medals are… 'the TWINSTAR NATIONAL MEDAL which is the lowest of it's class, yet very difficult to obtain, and the TWINSTAR WORLDLY MEDAL, this is the ultimate honor out of reach for anyone as it is practically impossible to be seen worthy enough to have it, in fact no one in this current generation knows the criteria of obtaining it, what they do know is, anyone with this honor has just about the authority of a king, and is seen as one, even without a nation, one of the reason people find it hard to believe it actually exists…
It was is so rare, as no one has been seen worthy enough to achieve it, but they is a rumor going around that princess Clover, the Golden Mind might be the first person to achieve it for her immense contribution in the restoration of the world.
Right now, unlike the Twinstar Worldly Medal, someone has been seen worthy enough to obtain the one just below it in importance… applaud rang around the room, with looks of disbelief the kings saw her worthy enough for such honors, but that was only from people that didn't see the immense significance of what she accomplished with their own eyes, but they was excitement for the people seeing the medal for the very first time, King Gustavious looked like he could explode with how proud he was, Sir. William and Alice couldn't stop smiling, as they never thought their respect could grow much more than it already has for her.
After receiving it, she took her sit next to both princesses of Warmark, Diamond and Clover, princess Diamond held her hands and squeezed it, to congratulate her, while princess Clover sent a nod of approval and respect her way, which was surprising to Erica, as that was the first time Clover actually saw her worth and acknowledged her, Erica then smiled and returned the nod to Clover, she could be wrong but it looked like Clover was also smiling as she looked away.
"next, for her undeniably immense contribution to the recovery of not only our nation, but the entire world after the war three and a half years ago, with her clever inventions and groundbreaking research into the past relics, implementing her findings to our world and drastically making life easier for everyone, I present our very own, second princess Clover Tio Von Warmark, the Golden Mind… who will be receiving the highest honor in the history of mankind… (gasps of shock and surprise filled the room while a few wasn't that much surprised as they was already heavy rumors circulating)… here to present this honor is our very own king, his majesty, king Leohart Von Warmark"... the people around her turn to her in surprise, not that she didn't deserve it, but what an amazing feet she had just accomplished, and she is just only eighteen (18) years old…
"TIO… DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS!!!" princess Diamond exclaimed as the others sat around still stun, Clover shrugged and answered..
"who knows" with a little grin she stood up and made her way forward to receive her honors from her father, King Leohart looked down at her as she bow, then a smiled appeared which he controlled as he spoke…
"for your single handed efforts in the recovery and development of not just our nation but the entire world, bringing us fascinating wonders we could have never dreamed of, and spare-heading the better lives our people and the others in the world are enjoying, both in agriculture, the economy, the infrastructures, the military, the increase in the literacy rate thanks to education, and advancement in health-care… I bestow upon you this medal (handing her a opened finely crafted box that fits on the palm, inside the box rest a golden plate with a carving of a dragon holding up a star coated in pieces of diamonds, it was a truly beautiful medal, and definitely one of it's kind) befitting your achievements, congratulation princess Clover" King Leohart concluded this time he couldn't control the smile as it was exposed to everyone.
The room erupted in cheers as Clover received it, a medal they thought was just for show, a medal they thought was a legend cause of how ridiculous the power someone will obtain by simply having it is, that medal… the Twinstar Worldly Medal, someone just achieved it, it was an historical moment.
Clover closed the box as she got to her sit, ignoring the stares she was receiving.
After the shock and surprises died down, Grand Duke Konrad then proceeded…
"and finally, for some of the council members this might be a shock, while others are already aware, the true purpose of this summons wasn't only because we wanted to honor our heroes… (murmur filled the room as they were all confused, king Leohart lifted his hands, and the noise instantly died down as Duke Konrad continued)… this was also to welcome someone we thought was lost Three and a half years ago, someone so dear to our king and nation, and on top of welcoming him, we are also honoring him today for his valiant efforts in the recent attack we faced, he was very pivotal in clearing all those shadow creatures which we have come to know are call the LOST… and also, thanks to this individual, our king and myself still stand before your this day, as he saved us, as we were confronted and almost killed by one of Jace high ranking general… I introduce to you all… the former heir of the Dynasty of Menssai, the Saint Prince of Menssai… Jericho Von Menssai" everyone except the people aware of his return instantly froze with shock as they heard that name, turning their attention to the door as it opened, a young man walked in, with a neatly combed hair, and a shinny white suit, the council members jaws dropped upon seeing with their own eyes, that indeed, Jericho was truly standing before them.