"She is not turning on?" the man asked. He looked at the captain with eyes that said what he had just said was not acceptable.

"We are set to head back to the capital. When will the ship be working?" he asked, his voice pressed with urgency to tell the captain that there was no time at all.

"I’m sorry to say this," the captain said in a way that someone who was genuinely tired and pissed would, "but the ship might not leave today. The issue might be small or big, but we are yet to know what has caused it.

The engineers and mages are working all around to find the issue, and they are yet to. We have to go through the entire ship and find out what is wrong," he said and proceeded to stroke his chin impatiently. He turned and looked at the ship with a gaze that spoke volumes of his anger at the situation.

"If there is no other way, then we will wait, but please work as fast as possible. The princess and children of the dukes are here. It’s of utmost importance that they are taken back very fast. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

For now, we shall contact the marquis and stay at his estate for the time being," the man spoke, finding a solution to their predicament fast, as that was his job most of the time.

He turned and looked at the four knights without helmets. "Have one of your men ride fast ahead and inform the marquis that we will be staying a while at his estate. He should prepare rooms and food for our coming," he spoke in a manner that made it clear it was not a request but rather a command, as if the marquis was in no capacity to refuse them, and indeed he wasn’t.

"Understood," Micheal said and turned to one of the knights. He gave the information, and the knight rode fast through the city, headed for the estate.

After he was gone, the princess stepped out after the long wait. She looked at the man and then asked, "Sir Ross, what is the issue?"

"My princess, there seems to be an issue with the flying ship. It will take a while to fix, so we shall be staying at the estate of the marquis for a bit," Ross said, calmly explaining to the princess.

She frowned, evidently irritated at the new development.

"Can we head there now? I want to rest," she asked before walking back into the carriage.

Ken watched from the window and heard everything. He assumed Luna and Leo heard as well, after all, they were elves and their hearing was many times better.

"Seems there is an issue," Leo said.

"I doubt it," Ken said.

"What do you mean? I heard what they said," Leo said. He was pissed because it seemed like Ken wanted to discredit what he said always.

"A ship from a royal family, and they have an issue? Unlikely. For the sake of the princess, they must have checked it before they left the capital, so it should not suddenly get an issue.

The odds are not zero, but they are pretty low," Ken explained.

"Huh? Are you trying to say it’s a lie?" Leo asked.

"Probably," Ken replied with the weight of someone that had realized something. He turned and looked at Luna. "No matter what happens today, do not leave my side."

Luna heard the way he spoke. A blush formed on her face, and she looked away shyly. "I understand," she replied.

’Huh? Tch, seems I was a little bit too passionate with that.’

He pulled back from her and leaned back into the chair. He kept his eyes on the window, the figures in the alley still on his mind. He had a feeling that something would happen, and the ship not working had something to do with it.

The convoy was turned around and they left, headed for the estate. The roads were cleared for them. They rode safely until suddenly, there was a massive crowd on the road, a bunch of people looking at something there and blocking the path of the convoy.

"Hey! Get out of the way!" Micheal yelled.

A few people in the crowd heard and turned. They saw that it was a royal convoy, and they very quickly moved away, causing more people to move away as well until the cause of the crowd was shown, and lying down on the ground with their head blown away was the guard that had been sent to meet the marquis.

Micheal was stunned when he saw the sight, but that did not last long, as out of nowhere a magical formation formed in the sky, a blood red circle with intricate patterns and runes. It spun fast, unleashing a blast of flames going right for the first carriage.

A dome of ice suddenly rose from under the carriage and covered it entirely, blocking the attack. The flames smashed into it hard and shattered the ice but did not touch the carriage at all.

The scene immediately caused panic. The crowd ran in every direction, whereas all the knights pulled out their weapons in trained fashion, knowing that someone was attacking the princess.

"Everyone be ready, we are under attack. Protect the carriages and kill anyone that moves close!" Micheal yelled. The other three with him came down from their horses as well. They pulled out their swords, and that alone changed the atmosphere, as though their eyes could see all at the moment.

The door of the first carriage opened and Ross stepped out, and in his hand was a clean silver sword. It was sleek and slim, yet it oozed immense amounts of power. He looked at the alley ahead and then spoke, "They are hiding in the alley, keep your eyes there. Attacks will come, kill without asking." He gave the instruction, and every knight there got ready. A bloodbath was about to start.