The bastard child becomes the empires royal consort Chapter 55

Tap.

"Here is your lemonade, sir." The bartender set down a glass of pale yellow liquid and walked away, leaving the two of them alone.

"Might I ask," Jack spoke up, "when do you plan to depart?"

"As soon as possible." Alan took a sip of the drink, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "When were you planning on going?"

"Ah, well, the timing is quite good then." Jack picked his glass back up. "I was just about to head to Kahl myself."

"Like, right now?"

"Well... yes. I was just grabbing a quick drink before heading out." Jack slowly stood up from his stool.

"Where are you going first?" Alan asked.

"To the carriage, I have to do last-minute checkups before we leave."

"Okay." Alan downed the rest of his lemonade in one go and stood up. "I’ll come with you."

"Alright then." Jack shrugged and led the way.

The two passed through the rowdy crowds of mercenaries, Alan looked around and saw the tavern band playing upbeat melodies while a group of men danced nearby, as they reached the exit, Alan took one last look back.

He spotted Lucian, Julia, and Iris, Julia was currently holding a large mug filled with a dark brown liquid, staring at it with an overly excited expression.

’Well, hope she likes it.’ Alan left with that last thought, stepping out of the tavern.

...

The interior of the trading post was just as he remembered, they walked through the complex until they reached the stable.

"Why is it even called a stable?" Alan asked as they entered.

As far as he knew, carriages in this world ran on a mana system, they didn’t need animals to pull them, so the name seemed weird considering the fact there weren’t any horses stationed inside the stable.

"Because there aren’t any horses in the stable?" Jack realised what Alan was thinking. "Well, changing the name of a building just because it isn’t used for its original purpose wouldn’t make much sense, would it?"

"Ah, so stables were used for keeping horses?" Alan muttered, in this life, he had only seen horses on farms or at racing events, he had never seen them used for travel or battle.

"Hmm, I suppose you’re young, so you wouldn’t know," Jack said, rubbing his chin. "Horses were used for almost every kind of travel back in the day."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, knights would ride horses into battles and even use them for travelling across the continent, horses even pulled the carriages."

"So horses used to be very relevant, what changed?"

"Well, raising and managing horses consumed enormous resources, especially when horses from knight orders would die in battles or succumb to illnesses." Jack slowed his speech. "It wasn’t until ’that man’ decided to change everything."

"Who is ’that man’—"

"Shh!" Jack urgently pressed a finger against his lips. "Never speak of ’that man’."

"...Is he a bad person or something...?"

"...Not exactly." Jack cleared his throat. "In fact, he could be considered a very righteous person."

"Then...?"

"He is a scoundrel!" Jack yelled. "He might be a hero, but his morals are down in the bloody dirt!"

"Uh..."

"Screw him! Genuinely screw that guy! Ugh, him and that... that fucking gorgeous face of his!"

"I think you lost the plot..."

"Listen to me." Jack grabbed Alan’s shoulders. "That scoundrel’s the reason my wife divorced me! He’s the reason I’m still single!"

"Hey man..." Alan awkwardly raised his hands to pat Jack’s back.

"I’m fifty!" Jack lowered his head in despair. "Fifty and still single! Who is going to want to marry an old fossil like me?!"

As Alan continued to pat Jack’s back with a blank expression, he started piecing together the clues.

Righteous, hero, scoundrel, gorgeous face?

These keywords reminded Alan of a specific person he’d heard of, the fifth member of the previous generation of geniuses, alongside the Emperor and the three Grand Dukes.

Yet weirdly Alan could never find his name, he knew that the man was a simple commoner capable of competing with people with the bloodline of legends.

The last thing he knew was the fact that many called him a scoundrel, which was even more odd, why was someone capable of such feats degraded to such levels?

"Ahem, my apologies," Jack coughed, composing himself. "I got a bit lost in my emotions there."

"It’s alright..."

"Anyway, we’re here." Jack gestured to the space beside him.

Turning his head, Alan noticed a very large carriage—two separate cabins connected together to form a massive transport.

"You’re actually rich, hey?" Alan raised amused brows.

"Who do you think I am?" Jack laughed. "Will it just be you coming along?"

"Nah, I got three others."

"Well, where are they?"

"Guess I’ll go pick them up." Alan turned around and walked away.

...

At the same time.

"I’m telling you, Juli..." Iris whispered. "Don’t do this."

"Oh hush, Alan said it’ll be fine." Julia chirped with sparkling expression, gripping her mug tighter.

"One sip is enough to sate her curiosity." Lucian calmly cut into a piece of steak without looking up. "Why are you so against her having alcohol anyway?"

"Well, the last time Julia had wine..." Iris glanced at Julia. "It didn’t go well..."

"Hmm?" Lucian tilted his head.

Ignoring them both, Julia brought the mug to her mouth and tipped it back, she didn’t take a sip but an entire huge gulp.

Clang

Then she slammed the mug back on the table.

"Blergh! It’s bitter!" Julia gagged, sticking her tongue out.

Iris sighed with relief.

"But why is it kind of..." Julia’s words trailed off, her expression shifting from disgust to a weird, dazed smile as her cheeks took on a light shade of pink. "...Good?"

Before Iris could move, Julia grabbed the mug again.

"Wait... Juli..." Iris reached out, but it was too late.

Julia downed the remaining alcohol, Iris went still, and Lucian looked up.

Julia lowered her head, hiding her face behind her locks of golden hair.

Then.

"Wooo!" She cheered, her voice twice as loud as before, with her cheeks dyed in a bright red hue, she jumped on her chair. "I feel amazing!"

"What the..." Lucian muttered, finally dropping his fork. "Is this what you meant?"

"I told you!" Iris hissed, standing up to grab Julia’s arm. "Juli! Sit down!"

"No sitting!" Julia shouted, she looked over at the table of five mercenaries, who were staring at her in confusion. "You there with the ugly beard! You look like a potato!"

"Hey, little girl, sit back down before you—" The mercenary started but didn’t finish.

Crackle

A bolt of red lightning arched from Julia’s finger, striking the man’s beer mug and exploding the contents of the mug all over the table.

The mercenary yelped, jumping back as his table was covered in hot foam.

"Aww! I missed!" Julia laughed hysterically with her face flushed, then she turned to Sparky, who was still in his blue cat form on the table. "Sparky! Let’s go on an adventure!"

"Greow?!" Sparky meowed in genuine terror, scrambling to run away, but Julia was too fast.

In a blink of an eye, she grabbed hold of Sparky. "My boy!"

"Greow...?" Sparky responded, somewhat uneasily.

"Go change the music!" Still laughing, Julia hurled Sparky straight to the tavern musicians.

Bang

And exploded the wall.

"Hahaha!" Julia laughed, while every mercenary turned hostile glares to the group.

"Just a single mug of alcohol did this...?" Lucian whispered in disbelief.

"Now you’re seeing what I was warning you guys about?!" Iris yelled. "She did stuff even worse just from drinking a glass of wine!"

A mercenary lunged at Julia, without even looking at the approaching mercenary, Julia leapt into the air, landing on the mercenary’s bald head, then using it as a springboard, she jumped higher, slamming the man into the ground.

"Let’s dance!" Yelling pure nonsense, Julia plunged into the horde of armed men, exploding tendrils of crimson lightning.

Lucian knocked out a man beside him, ducking another blow, he said. "Let’s not leave decisions to Alan anymore."

"Agreed." Iris sighed, punching a man on her side.