"Maybe some other time, yeah? Just send him my regards, is that okay?"
Although a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to show off her cool uncle, Ariel knew better than to force, so she nodded her head, "Alright, I'll tell him you said hello. By the way, I can tell you're in a hurry, what's going on?"
"It's a long story, it might take an hour or so."
"I still have a few hours to spare before I leave." Ariel shrugged her shoulders in reply.
Of course, Henry also had time to spare. He already informed his father of the celebratory invite to the Corona Kingdom and he would probably take a while to get things done first before leaving.
It may not look like it but Kings rarely leave their Kingdoms and even if they do, they bring a ton of Knights for their own safety.
However considering Henry's strength and the fact that even Master Elias was invited to join, even if they only brought Liam with them, Henry doubts even an entire army of Knights could serve as a threat to them.
———
"I'll be fine on my own, Henry. Thanks a lot, I'll make sure to come back once father lets me." At the Lioncrest shores, Ariel waved him goodbye, and Aqua happily drifted behind her.
Henry waved at her back. It turns out, Ariel had long planned to take Aqua with her, to find her some company before eventually bringing her back to Lioncrest once Ariel finds the chance to do so.
Although Henry felt bad to part ways with Aqua, he was indeed neglecting the poor creature, so he had no choice but to give her a vacation.
It only took a few minutes for him to get back to the royal castle, and from there he watched as Isabella herself and her retinue dragged the unwilling Timothy through the ground to escort him to the mines.
"No! No! Release me this instant! You can't do this to me! I'm a prince! I'm a royal prince!"
Isabella sneered, "Not anymore, moron." Her hand around Timothy's silky blonde hair tightened, which earned a painful grunt from the opposite party.
Meanwhile, King Maximus and Queen Olivia watched the entire scene with indifferent eyes. To the latter, she felt nothing since Timothy was practically a person whom she despised long ago because of his conceited nature, and also the fact that he had been behind several assassination attempts on her son.
On the other hand, the former felt a slight pang of pain in his chest. Timothy may not be a fair and kind person but the kid was still part of his blood, it's just unfortunate that he wasn't there to raise the child and instead, left the raising to Victoria, which turned out not to be the best decision.
"Let's go?" Henry asked, seeing that Maximus was already dressed in a fancy attire. However, he noticed his mother was still wearing her royal gown.
Maximus nodded his head, "I'm ready. Unfortunately, your mother can't come with us. The Kingdom can't be left behind without a proper overseer, you never know what the people do once I'm out of their sight, especially those with bulging pouches."
Henry nodded in agreement, he was slightly disappointed, but it couldn't be helped.
As if noticing her son's change of mood, Olivia warmly smiled and pulled Henry into a motherly hug, "Oh don't you worry about me, dear. I'm not even interested in venturing outside the Kingdom's walls, so I'd be better here watching over the place while you and your father are gone. And besides, next week is your birthday, we'll have the entire day with just the four of us."
She was referring to herself, Maximus, Henry, and lastly, Lily.
Speaking of Lily, the little gal woke up this morning without a slight clue of what just transpired in the Kingdom due to a certain case involving her. Well, it'd be better for the girl to remain clueless about it.
"Well lad, it'll just be you and me. We'll definitely have tons of fun in Corona. It's been a while since I last saw Fred but trust me, back in our days, he's the best guy you can ask for if you want to have fun."
"And by fun, you don't mean picking up wenches and involving them in the fun, aren't you?" Olivia's spine-tingling tone from behind quickly made Maximus shiver in fear.
"Oh love, I don't mean it by that. And besides, Fred and I are already old, I doubt there are girls out there interested in senile old men, am I right Henry?"
'Why're you dragging me into this?' Henry's lips twitched.
Instead of answering him, Henry's attention was caught by his mother, "Henry dear, sorry about this but before you go, can I trust you to watch over your father for me, please?"
Henry's body stiffened and he quickly gave a salute, "Yes ma'am!" As someone who had seen and even experienced the Queen's wrath, he had long sworn to himself to never do anything that would antagonize her.
Olivia nodded her head with a smile before turning her attention back to her husband, "As for you, Maximus Charming III. Behave yourself, understood?"
The King instantly replicated Henry's posture, the salute, and the stiffened posture, "Yes ma'am!"
"Good, then take care of yourselves you two, okay?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Now that the hidden wrath of the Queen has dissipated, Henry gave his thanks to the stablemaster who brought Boy and Maximus's personal horses to them.
Just as he climbed atop Boy and settled on his saddle, a courier came out of nowhere with his iconic satchel and pointed hat. He was holding a small folded letter in his hand that he was waving in the air.
"Letter for Crown Prince Henry!" Everyone's attention panned to the heavily sweating courier.
With one last deep breath, the courier approached Henry and knelt on the ground, raising the letter above his head and within Henry's reach.
Henry grabbed the letter and tossed a single gold coin before unfolding the paper while the courier caught the coin and left with a deep bow.
The first thing he noticed was the familiar insignia of the Arendelle Kingdom.
'Elsa sent me a letter? What's this about?' He asked under his breath before proceeding to read.
[Dear Henry Charming of Lioncrest Kingdom,
I have written this letter to you as I have heard of your upcoming birthday celebration next week. I have already tasked Kai to prepare the grandest gift befitting of you and a ship for fast travel so I could attend on your birthday.
Of course, I also have another gift that I'd like to personally present to you, preferably a private space with just the two of us.
P.S: No need to bathe yourself after the party.
Love,
Your future Wife and Queen, Elsa.]
A beaming smile instantly graced Henry's face as excitement rolled across his body. Though the last line made him shiver in both euphoria and fright.
'What have I done? Elsa shouldn't be this lewd, especially for a letter bearing her mark! What if someone accidentally read this letter?' With that being said, Henry quickly folded the paper back and hid it in the saddlebag.
"Well, what is it, Henry? Who sent you a letter?"
Henry gulped loudly, chuckling to hide his nervousness, "It's from Elsa, you know, the future Queen of Arendelle."
"Oh her? So what did she say?"
"….It's nothing. She just wanted to attend my birthday next week, that's all." Henry acted nonchalantly, hoping his mother wouldn't probe any longer.
Thankfully she did not. Olivia clapped her hands happily and beamed with happiness, "That sounds great! All the more reason to make your birthday celebration grander than the previous ones!"
"You two should leave now while I'll go and make arrangements for your upcoming birthday. Take care both of you." With an excitement similar to someone hitting a jackpot, Olivia strutted back inside the royal castle.
Meanwhile, Henry and his father turned their horses to leave, with Ser Liam following behind them with his retinue within a certain distance.
Master Elias joined them just before they left the main gate, the old master riding on his own pure white horse without a caparison or armor unlike theirs. His saddle doesn't even have its own bag and he's holding his wooden staff instead of the horse's reins.
And yet as they rode out, the horse moved as if he's an extension of Master Elias's body. He rode beside them naturally without the horse getting astray or anything.
'Wait, I can also do that…' The realization dawned upon Henry.
"Hey, Boy."
"Yeah, boss?"
"Do you see that horse? The one the old man is riding on?" Henry pointed at Master Elias's horse. Boy was weirded out of it.
"Don't tell me you want me to crack that one? Seriously, that's a stallion! Not a mare!"
Henry reeled back in disgust, "And just how in god's name did you come up with that assumption? I never said anything about cracking and I'm not gonna ask where and how you learnt that word. What I meant is, I'm going to let go of your reins, from now on, we'll start riding by guiding you with my voice instead of the reins. What do you think?"
"….I mean we can try? I'm used to having someone pull my reins to ride. Without it, I might forget I have someone on my back and wander aimlessly. So make your presence known to me from time to time, will ya boss?"
"That's fine. Leave it to me."
———
Needless to say, Boy was having trouble at first. It's like when a guy who has been used to doing the same thing over and over again every day suddenly changes his routine, leading to accidents and miscalculations.
That's what's happening to Boy at first. From time to time, he would accidentally go astray, bump into some other horses, and even try to flirt with one of the horses.
Eventually, Henry had to teach him during those moments before Boy was finally able to heed his commands properly and stick to the road without much guidance.
By the time the sun was starting to settle down, which also meant the departure of Henry's sun's buff, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Corona Kingdom.
And what they encountered next was nothing short of extraordinary.
The entire place was lit up in bright lights. It's as if the sunlight had never left the Kingdom's vicinity. Upon closer look, Henry realized it was simply due to the abundance of the lanterns floating all over the sky that it would look like a huge ray of sunlight from a distance.
Maximus turned his head to look at him with a smirk, "What did I tell you about Fred knowing what fun truly is?"
Henry shrugged, "Fine fine, you're so right." He then raised his hands and feigned surprise, "Oh my god my father is so right! I can't believe I didn't hear a word he uttered earlier!" Before turning monotone and snorting while discreetly pointing at Maximus with his thumb.
As if implying, Get a load of this guy!'
"Hey! Hey I saw that! I'll snitch on your mother for how you're being disrespectful to me!"
"Heh, sure. Then I'll tell her how you fancy a wench and want to bed her. We'll see which of our words has more weight on her."
Embarrassed especially after seeing the hidden curve of Master Elias's lips and Ser Liam looking away to hide his laugh, Maximus cleared his throat, "…I take it back. Let's just forget about this and join Fred before the fun ends."
"Good choice."