King Karol smiled warmly as he looked toward Soral and the others
"Oh, pleasure meeting you again… hmm"
"Soral," she answered calmly, "that is my name"
King Karol blinked before letting out an awkward laugh
"Ah forgive me for forgetting your name, Lady Soral…I hope you can forgive me"
Soral waved her hand casually
"Sure, no problem at all"
The king's gaze shifted toward the people standing behind her
"So who are the wonderful youngsters you brought to the palace?"
"Oh?" Soral glanced back briefly. "That's my husband and his friends"
"…!"
King Karol's eyes widened instantly
"Oh no way, Lady Soral I didn't know you were married!"
He quickly bowed his head apologetically
"Forgive me once again… Mrs…?"
"Waltarnabi"
"S-Sorry, Mrs. Waltarnabi"
"It's fine," Soral sighed softly. "Just call me Soral instead"
"Oh, alright"
The king turned toward Dranexx
"So you must be Lady Soral's husband then"
"The name's Dranexx Waltarnabi," he answered casually, "but you can call me Dranexx"
"Well then, Mr. Dranexx you're all welcome here"
His eyes moved toward the others
"and you guys are…?"
"Lenshi Akube"
"Scorpy Ruane"
"…Ruane?"
King Karol frowned slightly
"That name sounds familiar…"
"Anyways," Soral interrupted immediately, "we're here to talk, so let's get on with it"
"Oh right," King Karol nodded quickly. "Of course"
A few minutes later, the atmosphere inside the throne room became much more serious
"So…" King Karol leaned back slowly. "You two were the ones who took them down, eh?"
"I'd prefer if you kept that to yourself," Dranexx answered calmly while crossing his arms. "You can just give the credit to someone else… make up some 'ultimate secret protector' story or whatever"
King Karol looked genuinely surprised
"But why? You saved our kingdom. At the very least, let us show our gratitude"
Elder Gatu nodded immediately
"His Majesty is right. We truly wish to repay you for protecting this kingdom"
"It's enough"
Soral's voice instantly cut through the room
"He said no… and his no is no. Got that?"
The elders immediately went quiet
"And call your man back. Stop the investigation"
King Karol exhaled slowly
"…Very well"
He turned toward Leo
"Leo"
"Yes, sire"
"Find Jakashi and tell him to call off the investigation"
"No need, sir," Leo answered immediately. "Jakashi is already outside the kingdom… he's returning with a lady"
"Oh?" King Karol looked relieved. "He's here already?"
Before anyone else could respond Dranexx suddenly narrowed his eyes
"That aura"
The entire room became silent
"Whoever's with him is no joke"
"Yeah," Akube rubbed the back of his neck. "She's tough, I'll admit that"
Scorpy smirked excitedly
"Looks like we're about to get some action"
"No one is getting into any action," Dranexx replied coldly. "Got that?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Akube sighed dramatically. "Chill bro"
Soral slowly turned toward him
"What did he say?"
Akube straightened instantly
"I mean yes ma'am, we won't"
"Hmph"
Leo stepped forward again
"They've already passed through the gates. They're on their way to the capital now"
"Oh…" King Karol nodded. "Well then… we might as well wait for them"
Meanwhile, Soral quietly narrowed her eyes
"Damn"
"That aura as expected, it's Lisa"
She glanced sideways toward Dranexx
"He still hasn't figured it out yet but I'm sure he'll recognize her once they meet"
A slight frown appeared on her face
"Damn it…she's my rival now"
"Because she's in love with Dranexx and now that she's here, she definitely won't leave him alone"
Her expression darkened further
"Dranexx can't abandon his classmates… though Akube probably could"
She sighed internally
"Hah… whatever. Let's just see how this goes"
Meanwhile, inside the moving carriage Lisa rested her chin against her hand lazily
"So we're heading to the royal palace first, huh?"
A faint smile appeared beneath her mask
"I wanna see Dranexx already"
"Well…" Jakashi sat across from her calmly. "That won't be difficult. The moment we entered the kingdom, the king likely sensed our arrival already"
"Whatever," Lisa looked outside the carriage window. "There's the royal palace… let's go"
Not long after, the carriage finally arrived
As they stepped down they noticed the palace gates already opening
The king and the others were personally approaching them
Lisa immediately spotted Dranexx among them
Her heart skipped slightly
But
she kept calm
She wanted to test him first
Would he recognize her even with the mask on?
"Welcome back, Jakashi," King Karol smiled warmly
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Jakashi bowed respectfully. "Forgive me for arriving this way, but I would like to introduce you to—"
"Don't"
Everyone blinked
"Huh?"
Lisa stepped forward calmly
"Pleasure meeting you, Your Majesty… but I believe my name isn't important here"
Silence
Dranexx's eyes widened
"No way"
He stared directly at her
"Don't tell me… Lisa, is that you?"
Lisa instantly burst into laughter
"Mhmhahahahahaha!"
"As expected"
She pointed proudly at him
"I knew you'd recognize me"
"WAIT WHAT?!" Akube nearly lost his mind. "What's this witch doing here?!"
"Who are you calling a witch?!"
"Obviously you!"
The atmosphere instantly became tense
The two glared at each other angrily
"Enough, you two," Dranexx sighed tiredly. "Lisa… you're still short-tempered as always"
"No I'm not," Lisa pouted slightly. "Akube just pisses me off"
"Yeah, I understand," Dranexx chuckled softly. "But seriously… I can't believe it's you"
His eyes narrowed slightly
"You've gotten ridiculously stronger. That aura isn't normal anymore"
"Nah," Lisa shrugged casually. "Not really"
"Alright," Soral suddenly stepped between them. "Introductions complete"
She grabbed Dranexx's arm immediately
"So let's go home, bby"
"Bby?" Lisa's eyebrow twitched. "What's she talking about?"
"Oh, you heard me clearly," Soral smiled sweetly. "I said bby"
"Quiet," Lisa pointed directly at her. "I'm talking to Dranexx"
"Huh" Akube immediately stepped back. "You really don't wanna do that, Lisa. She's trouble"
"If you two fought one-on-one trust me, she'd one-shot you"
"Come again?"
"Seriously," Akube raised both hands. "I can't explain it here but you'd be shocked if you found out who she really is"
"Mind you—" Soral suddenly looked directly at Lisa. "I never liked you from the very beginning"
The atmosphere instantly chilled
"You may be in love with Dranexx but I'm his wife, and we're together. Got that?"
"Huh?!"
Lisa's face instantly turned bright red
"What are you even talking about?!"
"Ohhhh…" Akube grinned mischievously. "I see now"
"Shut your mouth!"
Scorpy casually looked between both girls
"She's a hottie, Dranexx… how lucky can you be?"
"I hate you," Lisa glared at him instantly
"I hate you too," Soral added immediately
The air became unbearably intense
Even the guards nearby started trembling
Only Dranexx, Akube, and Scorpy remained completely relaxed
"Will you two calm down?" Dranexx sighed deeply
Then he looked toward Lisa seriously
"Look… I appreciate your feelings toward me"
Lisa froze slightly
"But Soral and I are together. A lot happened after we came into this world"
"I don't care"
"Huh?"
"I said I don't care," Lisa folded her arms stubbornly. "Have you touched her?"
"Pardon?!"
Dranexx almost choked
"Have you kissed her? Or done anything else with her?"
"Woooo…" Dranexx rubbed his forehead helplessly. "We kissed, yes"
"But the other thing? Absolutely not"
Then he coughed awkwardly
"Well… not yet anyway"
"Good," Lisa nodded confidently. "Then I'll keep trying until you fall in love with me too"
"And you—"
She pointed at Soral
"I'm not giving up that easily, okay?"
"Oh," Dranexx blinked slowly. "Okay"
Jakashi awkwardly cleared his throat
"Lady Lisa… would you like to stay in the palace instead?"
"Nope," Lisa answered immediately
"I'm staying with Dranexx"
"No way"
"NO WAYYY"
Soral and Akube shouted at the same time
"Don't you dare come near our mansion, girl," Soral's smile twitched dangerously. "Otherwise it's going to get ugly"
"Hey!" Akube pointed toward Dranexx desperately. "Tell her she can't stay!"
"She stays," Dranexx answered casually before turning around and walking away
"Bby come on!" Soral quickly followed after him. "She'll invade our privacy!"
Meanwhile Lisa smirked victoriously before following behind them and just like that the argument continued the entire way home
At the end though they accepted Lisa
Well not fully
Later that evening inside the mansion Lisa awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck while standing in front of Soral
"Look…"
"I know we started off badly"
Then she looked away slightly
"So… sorry about that"
"For Drane's sake… let's make peace"
Soral stared at her silently for a few seconds before sighing softly
"I hate admitting it"
"But I'd do anything for Drane"
A small smile appeared on her face
"My baby"
"So yes… we're cool"
Then her eyes narrowed immediately
"But don't do anything weird around him"
"No promises here," Lisa answered instantly
"…Huh?"
Soral's eyebrow twitched
"Don't you dare"
Meanwhile—
Scorpy stepped forward casually
"My name's Scorpy Ruane"
"Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too—"
Lisa suddenly paused
"Wait….Ruane?"
"That name sounds familiar"
Her eyes widened slightly
"Are you somehow related to Ryio Ruane?"
"Hold up"
Scorpy blinked in confusion
"That's my younger brother"
"You know him?"
"Well…" Lisa smiled proudly. "We fought two months ago"
"Trust me… he's no joke"
"But I won"
"Don't make me laugh," Scorpy folded his arms. "You actually beat my kid brother?"
"Yes," Lisa nodded confidently"It was tough… but I won"
"Hah…"
Scorpy smirked slightly
"Interesting"
"By the way" Dranexx suddenly looked toward Lisa curiously "Why does Jakahi treat you so respectfully?"
"Mhmhahaha"
Lisa laughed proudly while placing her hands on her waist
"First of all, it's Jakashi Not Jakahi"
Then she flipped her hair dramatically
"We fought and I demolished him in hand-to-hand combat"
"Haaah"
Dranexx nodded slowly in understanding
"I see now"
"That's impressive"
Then a grin slowly appeared on his face
"So you've actually been improving while you were here too"
"Excellent"
He cracked his knuckles lightly
"If you're really that good at hand-to-hand combat…Let's fight someday"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!"
Lisa instantly panicked
"Hell no!"
"There's no way I'd stand a chance against you, Drane!"
"I refuse!"
Akube burst into laughter immediately
"Kuhahahahaha! Look at her panicking"
"She knows she'll get folded"
"Shut up!" Lisa snapped instantly
But despite her reaction she truly meant it
Even after all her growth…Lisa still believed herself completely inferior to Dranexx no matter how powerful she became she knew she would still lose to him in every aspect
Compared to her Dranexx existed on an entirely different level
A higher existence far beyond her reach
Right now she still lacked the power to defeat Akube and especially Scorpy
But with enough time…enough training,enough growth perhaps one day she would finally close the gap