"How is any of this my fault?" Red looked at his friends with sincerity. "I simply dished a fitting punishment."
"Red, how is it that every time you and your father dish a fitting punishment, I'm the one stuck cleaning up your messes?" Alice looked at her son Red and imagined James making the same evil laugh Red had expressed seconds ago. Red looked at his mom and tried to make a cutesy face while closing and opening his eyes a few times shyly. "I'm sorry mom." Despite Alice knowing full well that her son was not sorry, her expression had softened a bit, Red's tactic having worked.
"Well, what's done is done. The fact that this attack happened as soon as Sybil and her children arrived in Uruz can only mean one thing." Alice said this with a grim countenance. "They're looking to create a casus belli right?" Red knew the consequences that would arise had a noble from a different kingdom been killed in Uruz. "That's right, had they succeeded they would have had a justification to start a war. Not only that but they could get rid of Sybil at the same time."
Sybil Kailen Alhambra was a powerful noble in Asterion, since her husband had passed away, this made her the head of the Rosales household. Since Sybil and Alice were close friends, she would never condone a war with Uruz. By dealing with her, the king of Asterion had been hoping to eliminate the most influential noble that would stand against him.
"Mom, we can't just let this stand, it's only a matter of time before those fools try something else. They'll succeed eventually. It's not if but when." Red knew that weak men were some of the most dangerous individuals that you could make an enemy of.
"It's not that easy kid." A robust man walked in to the throne room. Even Rosalina and Azure who had never met him before knew who he was in an instant. This was because of his resemblance to Red, despite their faces being dissimilar, they both had extremely wide backs with strong builds. 'Red's more handsome for sure.' Rosalina thought this first and then Kitty. Everyone then vowed their heads, everyone except for Red and Alice at least.
"What do you mean?" Red asked expecting annoying exemptions or a reason as to why they couldn't do anything.
"Well, you can't just go destroy an entire city without proof that they are involved, you have to think things through son." James looked at Red as if he had just dropped an earth shattering truth. Alice could only sigh, knowing that that was probably James' first instinct.
"What are you talking about? Why would I destroy the entire city?" Red was already exasperated with his father. "Look kid, I already told you, imagine how many innocent people live there, you're only going to make enemies for yourself if you go through with it." James had apparently only heard what he wanted to. "Are you going senile already, when the hell did I say I was going to destroy Asterion?" "I told you you can't you brat, listen to me for once, how are you so stubborn?" James and Red then proceeded to squabble for close to fifteen minutes, before Alice stopped the argument.
"No one said anything about destroying Asterion you fool!!" Alice had witnessed first hand just how long her son and husband could spend arguing, and now was not the time for that. "I'm sure someone said it." James loved arguing with people. "Why are you even here james? I told you I would take care of it." Alice usually handled delicate situations, James was incredibly powerful, but he couldn't do anything delicately to save his life.
"I'm planning to turn this city into a country soon, so I need you to start pulling your weight son." James said this nonchalantly but everyone else in the room was left to pickup their jaws from the floor. "Why now? I thought you said you were too busy lately and that you couldn't handle any more work. It's going to be a whole lot harder to run a country then a city." Red wasn't following his father's reasoning. James simply looked at Red confused.
"Goddammit kid it's about time you stop lazing around, how are you gonna run this city some day if you can't even run a country!!?!!?" James let out a sure roar which shocked everyone present but his family. They knew James was a man that rarely thought big decisions through, but he had always managed to achieve his ambitions.
"Okay dad, I'll help you, Dominic said he wanted to talk to you over beers though." Red knew that Dominic wanted to talk James' ears off about the spells he had used today, and that James was a sucker for beer. "Far be it from me to ignore my servants' humble pleas." James and Dominic then took off to one of the taverns in the castle square.
"Is he serious?" Red could only be astonished at the man that was his father. "Probably." Alice could be seen visibly worried about all the work to come.
Letting out a sigh Red continued with the previous topic. "I think that an investigation is in order mom, but we can't send just anyone." Red still couldn't believe his father thought he would actually recommend the annihilation of a city. "You're right, we have to make sure that it's actually that knave Oscar behind this. But we also can't send Dominic or another of our military leaders, they would stand out too much." Alice hated having to always be the one to take care of this delicate work, but she also felt it was her duty.
"I have an idea mom." Alice looked at Red. "Let's hear it then." Red had sort of a master plan that would serve him well and grant him revenge. "Well, it's a given that lady Sybil, Azure, and Rosalina have to return to Asterion, even if their life is in danger there, there is no guarantee that remaining here wouldn't lead to a war between our cities, they could always accuse us of kidnapping them, leading to another casus belli." Red had started thinking this through from the moment he had calmed down after his fight.
"That's true, but there is still the matter of who to send with them, all their guards have been defeated, and it would draw suspicion for them to arrive like that. I also do not know if it would be better to cover up the attacks, since they might be direct disciples of the king. This might mean that they'll realize that they're locked up here being interrogated as soon as they're seen missing." Kitty and Rosalina couldn't help but admire Alice, for she had proven she was both intelligent and a skilled mage in her own right.
"That's true. Which is why I think Kitty, Christopher, and myself should accompany them." Red had thought it would be better for him to deal with this directly. "I would also be more comfortable with sending you three, but you would stand out too much. Even Kitty and Christopher are quite famous for being genius nobles that you favor." Kitty and Christopher both visibly enjoyed being called geniuses.
"That's the thing, we'll make a point of calling attention!" Red had barely started to reveal his plan. "I really can't think of a circumstance where that would help us, if they suddenly saw you three calling everyone's attention, they would surely become secretive, maybe even deny you entry." Alice was sure Red had a plan, but she failed to imagine what this would accomplish.
"That's would usually be the case, but not with the method I'm thinking off." Red held a smug grin. "What method is that?" Alice was visibly worried. Red waited until silence filled the room to say: "Well, we'll announce that both Rosalina Rosales Kailen and Kitty Calico are set to marry the genius Red Uruz Alfwar, we'll even say that I dueled her brother to prove myself worthy!" "A furious blush appeared on both Rosalina and Kitty.
"Huh!!!?" No one had seen this plan coming, even though they had fully expected something crazy. "What are you thinking?!!" Kitty swung her fists at Red's chest. Alice could also be seen doubting this plan.
"It's no secret that lady Sybil was hoping for Rosalina and I to enter an arranged marriage, practically the whole of Uruz knows, I mean lady Sybil did get quite drunk and started telling everyone at my party last year." Rosalina's face couldn't get any redder. "Oh, mother!!" As Rosalina yelled in shame a voice responded.
"I think it's a great idea Alice, although I don't know anything about me getting drunk." Sybil had come into the throne room, the timing surely being deliberate. "I also don't mind, but I don't see how that could help our current predicament." "I'm sure my son in law will provide a good enough explanation." Rosalina had never been more embarrassed in her life.
"Well like I said, announcing an engagement with Rosalina and Kitty would call attention to us but in a good way. The engagement would create a pretense for my visit to Asterion, since Kitty would also be engaged to me it would be all the more natural for her to come with us. Chris is famous for being my favored lackey so him attending as a bodyguard would also not be suspicious." Red chuckled when he said the word lackey.
"I think you mean your favored knight." Christopher had always hated being called anything but a knight. "I'm also your only knight from what I know." Christopher said this under his breath. "I heard that!" Red had quite the sensitive ears to anything regarding himself. "Oh really my prince? I do apologize but I merely said the TRUTH!!"
"Boys, enough. Continue with what you were saying. However, getting engaged to two young women just because it would be convenient for your plan is unacceptable, keep that in mind." Alice thought that Red might have been insensitive to the two girls.
"Well, Kitty's family is also quite well known for their parties, so I wouldn't be surprised if many people would be keen to loose the tongues if an invitation to her wedding was on the line." Kitty didn't really like that they might be engaged because of her families' parties.
"Now onto myself, I'm known as a genius far and wide, and my family has already established prestige. It wouldn't be rare for someone of my position to have two wives, and if we even reveal the fact that I saved both their lives in a stunning display, it would be hard for people to be suspicious of the union. But more than that, my presence is sure to make those fools make a mistake." Red bared his fangs at the end of saying this.
"It might make for a decent plan, but that's still no reason to get engaged, your heart has to be in it Red." Alice had been convinced that the plan could work, but she believed that that wasn't what relationships should be. Alice finally asked: "Why do you want to be engaged to Kitty and Rosalina?"
"That's the easy part, I honestly think they're both really cute, I like them as people, and they're also really fun to tease. But even more than that, my heart already considers them mine." Red had chosen to use the words that best described what he felt, and it paid off.
Rosalina grabbed Red's hand with both of hers and excitedly said: "I feel the same way!" Kitty then hugged Red's back and whispered: "You better be serious about this." "It appears my son in law is even more dashing than I thought." Sybil couldn't hide her smile.
"We still have to speak with lord Calico, but to be honest, Kitty's mother had already mentioned a marriage between you two." Kitty blushed while still clinging to Red. "You're somehow both incredibly similar and different to your father." Alice had felt pride for her son at that moment, he had grown mature enough to help provide a solution to the problem and to voice his emotions properly.
"There's still the matter with the guards however, we could say they all died without being interrogated, but there's no guarantee that that will convince them." Azure wasn't surprised about the engagement, he honestly thought it was about time, and that they should get it over with.
"I thought about that too, we'll just use Leonorio!" Red chuckled at the last part of his plan. "It's the cherry on top!!!" Azure was just exhausted after this day, he already knew that what Red would say would sound crazy.