Arthfael: The Grinding Hero

Chapter 7. The Esteria Palace

For three days, Arthfael was on his way to the Esteria Palace. Arthfael's once enthusiastic spirit had dwindled completely. Even when the carriage he was riding in entered the palace grounds, Arthfael just slumped in his seat, staring out the window.

"Hey! Wake up! We have arrived at the Esteria Palace!" shouted Valentina, pulling Arthfael's hair to get him to snap out of it. But Arthfael's body felt too weak to move.

Finally, the carriage carrying Arthfael, Magnus, and Valentina stopped right behind the carriage carrying King Galen and the Princess. The royal guards in their armor quickly lined up to greet the arrival of King Galen's entourage, who had just returned from Suncrest City.

"King Galen and the Princess have arrived!" shouted one of the guards to announce the leader's arrival in the area.

The guards who had lined up from the front of the carriage carrying Galen and the Princess to the entrance of the palace immediately stood tall and puffed up their chests to show respect.

Arthfael, along with Magnus and Valentina, then got off the carriage and walked right behind Galen and the Princess. The guards immediately looked at Arthfael and Valentina, who was a fairy, strangely.

"Hey, isn't that a fairy?" whispered one of the guards that was clearly audible to Arthfael.

"Yes, I haven't seen that kind of species since I pulled out my baby teeth," answered another guard.

Arthfael forced a bitter smile, "Don't they know how to whisper? Why are they talking about me so loudly?" he thought to himself as he continued to walk with the newly arrived Kingdom entourage.

Behind the doors of the Esteria Palace, several servants also lined up to welcome Galen and the Princess's arrival. At the end of the line, a male head servant stood slightly bowed towards Galen to show his respect to the King.

"Welcome back, my King," said the head servant to Galen.

Galen nodded his head and walked past the head servant, then turned to a woman with yellow hair similar to the Princess's.

"That must be the Queen," thought Arthfael as he saw the woman, who seemed delighted to welcome her husband's return.

"My King, my Princess, you have finally returned." she said.

The Queen's gaze turned to Arthfael, who was standing behind the King with a puzzled look on his face. Then the Queen looked at Magnus and asked, "Magnus, who is that man?"

Magnus lowered his gaze slightly and did not immediately respond to the Queen's gaze.

"He is Arthfael, Queen Calliope. He won the match against Ogreking owned by King Galen without getting hurt at all. Because of his skill, King Galen invited Arthfael to come here," Magnus replied.

Queen Calliope smiled happily and approached Arthfael to greet him. Arthfael looked bewildered as he did not know how to greet the Queen. Arthfael immediately remembered to bow with his right hand in front of his stomach and his left hand behind his waist.

"Nice to meet you, Queen Calliope," said Arthfael.

Queen Calliope looked puzzled by Arthfael's greeting. "Oh, yes. Thank you. Welcome to the Palace of Esteria, Arthfael." she replied, then looked towards Valentina who was flying beside Arthfael.

"Isn't this a fairy?" Calliope asked, pointing to Valentina.

"Yes, Your Highness. I am a fairy. My name is Valentina." Valentina replied, then bowed her head slightly to greet Calliope.

Upon hearing Valentina's answer, Calliope was surprised. "This is the first time I remember seeing a fairy since the last time a tooth fairy took my last baby tooth." Calliope replied.

Several servants who overheard their conversation also eagerly looked at Valentina's figure flying beside Arthfael. Especially since the fairy race is the rarest race found since they live in the forbidden forest which cannot even be accessed by ordinary humans.

"Is this your pet?" Calliope asked.

Valentina was taken aback by the question asked by the Queen of Esteria. Meanwhile, the Princess seemed to be holding back her laughter, hearing her mother's statement.

"No, Your Highness. I am Arthfael's friend. We are a team." Valentina replied.

Arthfael quickly nodded his head.

"Oh, I see. In that case, you can go to your rooms... William, please escort them to their rooms," ordered Calliope to William, the head butler.

"I will also go back to my room to change my clothes, Mother," replied the Princess.

"Very well. Clean yourself and wash your hair with the aloe vera shampoo brought by the merchant from the city of Arcadia," replied Calliope.

The Princess nodded her head and then went with some of her female attendants to her room to clean herself. Arthfael and Valentina followed William to the room they would be staying in.

They walked quite far from their original arrival point, and through a corridor in the outer area of the main palace. Arthfael and Valentina, who had just arrived at the Esteria Palace, continued to look around and see every corner of the palace.

"By the way, does the Princess not have a name? I haven't heard her name since earlier," asked Arthfael while walking behind William.

"Actually, it is taboo to call the Princess by her name when talking. Unless the Princess allows it. The Princess's name is Arabella. She is the second child of King Galen and Queen Calliope," answered William.

"The second child? So there is still a first child?" asked Arthfael who was still curious.

"Right. His eldest child is currently waging a war in Ravenwood City to drive away the Firebelcher monsters that have been attacking the city for the past month." William answered again.

Arthfael was shocked to hear it. Just hearing the name was scary enough, let alone having to fight for a whole month.

"Is his eldest child also a girl?" Arthfael asked again.

"His eldest child is a boy. He is a Prince named Frederick." William answered again before stopping in front of a closed door and opening it using his magic.

"Please come in." William invited and gestured for Arthfael to enter the room first before he followed.

The guest room that Arthfael would be staying in was twice the size of the previous room. There was even a window that showed a mountain from the room.

"Since Miss Valentina is a fairy, I'm worried that giving such a large room will make Miss Valentina have difficulty. So I'll make a small room on this table." William said and waved his hand in the air, creating a replica of a small house that could be occupied by Valentina.

Valentina smiled happily and immediately flew towards the house, just as William finished creating it using his magic.

"Wow, the size fits me perfectly! Thank you, William!" Valentina said.

Arthfael was still amazed by the various magic performed by the people in front of him. It made him also want to have magic.

"If you need help, please move the bell next to your bed. The palace servants will come here soon," said William.

Arthfael looked towards the bell mentioned and nodded his head.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" asked William.

"That's enough," answered Arthfael.

"Dinner will be held at 7 o'clock. Please go to the dining room before the King arrives. If the King has arrived, we will automatically close access to the dining room," requested William.

Arthfael nodded his understanding. After all the messages were conveyed by William, William said goodbye and left Arthfael's room, closing the door behind him.

Shortly after William left, Arthfael realized something.

"Isn't there a clock here?" asked Arthfael.

Valentina pointed to the black line on her wrist, "You can use that."

Arthfael immediately tried it and sure enough, there was a clock feature that showed the time in that world. Although the numbers were quite strange, Arthfael could easily read it and understand the writing on it.

"Ok. Then I want to take a bath first," said Arthfael, then headed towards the door in the room followed by Valentina behind him.

As the door opened, Arthfael and Valentina were both amazed to see the spacious and clean bathroom.

Before entering, Arthfael turned around and pointed at Valentina's face, "Don't come in until I finish bathing! You dirty fairy!" shouted Arthfael before entering and slamming the bathroom door, leaving Valentina stunned.

Valentina blinked her eyes repeatedly and tried to process Arthfael's words. Until her brain finally found the meaning of Arthfael's words and her face turned red instantly.

"Hey! I'm not dirty!" Valentina shouted while pointing at the closed door in front of her.