When Vanessa swooped down out of the sky, scooped Lucas up, and carried him off to the capital, it naturally caused some commotion amongst the migration convoy.

Many wondered what was going on while some even feared they were under attack; however, those leading the convoy didn’t pay it much mind.

The two people who knew the most about what had happened in the South-Western Province were, without any doubt, Allina and Lucas. It only made sense that one of them be present in the capital for the Royal Summit to advise and assist Celestina.

Allina couldn’t leave the convoy as she was technically leading it and was also its strongest protector, so that left Lucas.

Now, that wasn’t to say that everyone was happy about this.

Later that same day, just after they had finished sharing their evening meal, Sasha, Allina, Eris, and Christina were sitting around a table in the ship’s mess.

"Lucas spent the night dealing with a crisis, then he got dragged off to the capital to face all those stuck-up, scheming nobles? It doesn’t seem fair," Christina complained out loud.

Her words drew some ironic glances from those around her, of course, as she was a genuine princess, the noblest of nobles, something she seemed to have forgotten in the heat of the moment.

Still, not wanting to dwell on the subject, Sasha comforted the young girl, "It’s alright, Grandmother knows what she’s doing. At most, Lucas will just be helping her prepare for the presentation, he shouldn’t actually be doing any of the talking, so he shouldn’t be in any danger."

"I still think it would’ve been better if I went with him..." Christina muttered.

"You know that’s not possible," Allina chided, "Not while an Imperial Envoy is still in the capital."

"I know, I know, it’s just... haaa..." Letting out a sigh, Christina slumped over at the table, feeling somewhat depressed.

It seemed like whenever something big happened, Lucas was the one who got carted off to deal with it while she had to stay behind. It was frustrating for the young princess, but it also made her even more determined to get stronger.

Only when she was powerful enough could she assist her Senior Brother with his numerous burdens.

"Don’t worry, Big Sister Tina," Eris smiled, patting Christina on the back, "It’s not like Lucas always... gets into trouble... wherever... he goes..."

Eris’ enthusiasm dropped significantly the longer she spoke, her tone becoming less and less steady; after all, Lucas really did have a penchant for getting himself into messes.

Whether it was his fault or not was debatable in many circumstances, but it seemed like the Heavens had decided Lucas would have many challenges to overcome in his life.

Noticing the mood was growing more and more sour, Allina tried approaching things from a different angle, "You’ve been sending letters to Cyn... your Royal Mother, yes?"

"Hm?" Christina, caught a bit by surprise by this sudden change in topic, nodded, "That’s right."

"You must have mentioned Lucas in those letters, right?" Allina continued.

Thinking back on what she had written, Christina lowered her head and blushed slightly while mumbling, "I might have mentioned him once or twice..."

Sasha and Allina had a hard time not laughing when they saw Christina acting like this, but they somehow managed to remain composed, the latter saying, "In that case, I’m sure the first thing Vanessa will do when she lands at the palace is bring Lucas to see the Third Queen."

"En," Christina agreed, "Mother will probably want to meet Lucas, and given how close she is with Aunt Vanessa..."

"Wow! So, Lucas is going to meet the Queen?" Eris’ eyes practically glowed, "Will he get to meet the King too? I guess he will, the King is your dad, right, Tina?"

Smiling at how innocent her Sworn Sister still was, despite all the terrible tragedy she had witnessed, Christina nodded, "Probably. Mother and father are both good people, as are Mother Marianne and Mother Natasha. They’ll likely want to talk with Lucas and get to know him."

"Indeed," Sasha smiled teasingly, "Maybe they’ll also share some stories about you with him, Tina."

Like lightning had just struck, Christina went stiff, her earlier worries returning in the next instant, and then some.

There were plenty of embarrassing stories from her past that she would very much like Lucas to never learn about, but knowing her mother, those would probably be the first things she told him!

"I really should have gone to the capital with him!" Christina groaned, slumping over in defeat.

This time, neither Allina nor Sasha could stop themselves from laughing, all while Eris simply said she too wanted to hear about her big sister’s childhood.

The atmosphere had become lighter, and other than Christina’s personal worries, the 4 women and girls seemed to have settled down.

"Well, we should all get some rest," Sasha declared, standing up from the table, "We’ll be leaving the canal in a few hours and arriving in Falcon’s Bend late tomorrow evening. Lucas should be arriving shortly after that, hopefully with some interesting stories about our favourite princess to tell."

"Aunty Sasha!" Christina pouted, but still smiled in the end.

Tina and Eris soon found themselves back in their room, lying in their cots, the subtle rocking of the river lulling them to sleep.

The two girls might not have had it as bad as Lucas, but they too had barely slept in the past couple of days, so they were naturally quite tired. Once they settled into bed, it didn’t take long before they drifted off to dreamland.

As for Sasha and Allina, the two of them decided to take a light stroll, eventually finding themselves at the bow of the ship, looking out over the dark waters.

It was a peaceful night, and the conversation was casual.

Allina and Sasha were from different generations, and there was a gaping chasm between them in regards to their status and cultivations, but with somewhat similar personalities and duties, the two of them still managed to get along quite well.

They might not be able to call themselves sisters or close friends, but with all they had experienced together these past 2 months, they were certainly more than just acquaintances.

It was also a fact that, in the future, they would be interacting a great deal more, so neither of them saw any reason to keep a respectful distance.

An hour later, as the lead Raging River Legion warship of the convoy was about to pull out of the Ariana Canal and enter the Lorren, Sasha finally decided to call it a night, bidding farewell to Allina and walking back towards her quarters.

Allina made no attempt to retain the younger woman, nor did she feel much need to return to her room to sleep, so she just stood there, keeping watch.

Rounding the forested bend, feeling the flow of water shift beneath the ship’s hull, Allina decided to scan a bit further ahead.

Where the canal and the Lorren met, there was something of a blind spot for ships formed by the terrain and natural currents, so the risk of collision was a bit higher here than in other places along the kingdom’s waterways.

As such, it never hurt to be a bit more careful when rounding this particular corner.

Releasing her Soul Sense, Allina swept the region about a kilometre in front of the ship, just to be safe.

Nearby, there was nothing, which allowed her to relax; but just as Allina was about to withdraw her Soul Sense, something caught her attention.

It was a single ship, right at the edge of her detection range.

With a few special Spirit Lamps and a decently strong Sea Establishment Practitioner aboard, any ship could navigate fairly safely at night without fear of hitting something or running aground, so spotting another ship on one of the busiest rivers in the Rockwell Kingdom wasn’t odd, even late at night.

What was odd, however, was how this ship reacted the moment Allina’s Soul Sense brushed past it.

Originally, the other ship had been slowly sailing up the Lorren from the south, seemingly heading towards the canal, but the instant Allina detected it, it swerved sharply and was now sailing straight up-river.

This could be because it spotted a large convoy of ships and wanted to change course to avoid hitting them, but that didn’t make much sense seeing how there was still a long way to go before they passed one another.

Something about the other side’s behaviour struck Allina as suspicious, almost like this ship had panicked when it thought its was being spied upon and was now quietly trying to flee.

Given the recent unpleasantness they had faced in Crystal Lake with smugglers, Allina couldn’t help narrowing her eyes and releasing her Soul Sense again, sweeping the distant ship more carefully.

The reaction this time was obvious, with the ship accelerating greatly, turning towards the far side of the Lorren, and making a break for the Darr Kingdom’s shore.

"All hands! To your posts!" Allina shouted, jerking the somewhat sleeping sailors aboard the ship awake.

As she was sounding the alarm, Allina dashed back to the bridge, where she relieved the solider on steering duty and personally took the helm, changing the ship’s course to intercept the suspected smugglers.