Inside the flying carriage, Wendy was seated on William's right, while Brianna was seated on his left.
The little Loli was looking starry-eyed at the scenery that she was seeing for the first time. After tying up the loose ends, William and his group, along with Sir Jerkins' entourage, left the Kyrintor Mountains. The two flying carriages flew side by side as they made their way back towards the Hellan Kingdom.
"Don't poke your head out too much, Brianna," William said helplessly. "You might fall out of the carriage window if you lean more than that."
"It's fine," Brianna replied while still gazing at the scenery under the flying carriage. "Big Brother is holding my waist, I'm not going anywhere."
"You're so troublesome." William sighed and the little loli just giggled in acknowledgement of his claims.
The Half-Elf then shifted his attention to the beautiful lady with light-purple hair and eyes that was seated in front of him.
Aila, the Second Princess of the Zelan Dynasty, was also looking outside the carriage window. She had stayed in that pose ever since the flying carriage took off in the air. William wondered what her fate would have been if her marriage to Connal hadn't been interrupted.
As if sensing his gaze, Princess Aila turned her head to the side to look back at him.
"Is there something on my face, Lord William?" Aila asked.
"No," William replied. "I'm still not sure what Prince Alaric was thinking when he asked me to take you to see my grandfather."
"My Big Brother might seem easy going on the surface, but he is a worrywart at heart." Princess Aila closed her eyes as if trying to hold back the sadness in them. "He only wants the best for me, so he decided to ask a favor from you."
"I see…" William didn't pursue the topic because he felt like Princess Aila didn't want to continue the discussion.
After a few hours, they finally arrived at the town where a teleport gate was stationed.
William and Sir Jerkins had talked beforehand about their next course of action before parting ways. The ambassador was to return to the capital to inform the King about the result of their mission.
William, on the other hand, would first head to Lont and drop off Princess Aila before going back to the Royal Academy.
To be honest, William was worried that Princess Aila was a spy sent by the Crown Prince to monitor their movements. He hoped that his grandfather would be able to supervise her and ensure that she didn't do anything stupid while she was staying in the Western edges of the Hellan Kingdom.
Two days had passed after they had left the Kyrintor mountains. It was around noon when they saw the familiar town of Lont appear before their eyes.
Brianna suddenly screamed and grabbed William's arms while pointing outside the window of the carriage.
"T-There are Wyverns outside!" Brianna exclaimed. "They are heading in our direction!"
Princess Aila, who was meditating, suddenly opened her eyes and showed an anxious expression. There had been several Wyvern attacks in the Zelan Dynasty and the people there were very wary of Wyverns.
There was an occasion when her entourage was attacked by a Wyvern while visiting the towns near their borders. Since then, Princess Aila had been extra careful about not venturing into the territories where Wyverns were said to hunt.
"Don't worry," William patted the head of the anxious loli. "They are on our side."
"Huh?" Brianna looked back at William in confusion.
A few seconds later, the Wyverns flew alongside the flying carriage as if they were guards protecting a VIP guest.
It took Brianna a minute to realize that the Wyverns were indeed not there to harm them. She then poked her head out of the carriage to stare at these notorious beasts that were often called "Lesser Dragons" in their domain.
Princess Aila had also calmed down after her initial shock, but she didn't let her guard down. She just stared at the Wyvern's outside the window with a complicated gaze, as the carriage slowly descended from the sky.
Dave guided Lionheart towards the Ainsworth Residence and landed fifty meters away from the main entrance.
James, Mordred, Anna, Eve, and Helen were already standing in front of the entrance and waited for their guests to disembark from the carriage.
"I came to visit," William said with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Grandpa, Uncle, Auntie, Eve, and Aunt Helen."
"Will!" Eve immediately reached out to her "Big Brother".
William chuckled as he hurriedly picked up his adorable cousin and kissed her cheeks.
James smiled as he looked at the guests that William had brought along with him. He was already familiar with the others, but there were several new faces that he hadn't seen before namely Amelia and Princess Aila, who were both beautiful ladies.
The old man laughed as he patted William's shoulder. "You did well boy. Should I start preparing for a grand wedding ceremony?"
Before William could even give a retort to his shameless grandpa's words, Brianna hurriedly ran towards James and grabbed his hand.
"Grandpa James, we meet again!" Brianna said with a big smile on her face. "Do you remember your promise? You said that you would give me a Wyvern the next time we saw each other."
"Brianna?" James almost didn't recognize the adorable girl that suddenly clung to him. "What are you doing here? Did your old man allow you to leave the mountain? Wait. Don't tell me... you ran away from home and hitched a ride?"
A mischievous smile appeared on Brianna's face as she gave William a side-long glance before returning her attention to James.
"Grandpa, Big Brother William said that he fell in love with me at first sight," Brianna stated with a face filled with injustice. "He challenged a Prince in order to win my hand in marriage. Right now, I am his fiance."
James almost choked on his saliva when he heard Brianna's words. He then stared at William as if he was looking at a scum.
"Boy, even though I always tell you to look for girls to marry, I didn't tell you to prey on little girls," James said in a righteous manner as if he was free from sin. "However, since you can't uncook cooked rice, I will turn a blind eye on this matter. Just make sure that you treat Brianna well in the future."
William snorted and raised his hand to flick the loli's forehead. Unfortunately for him, Brianna had already anticipated his reaction and backed away while giggling. She then stuck out her tongue at William which made the Half-Elf scratch his head in helplessness.
Eve found William's reaction funny. She then reached out her two small hands to grab his hair and pulled on it.
William ignored Eve's actions as he confronted his grandpa.
"It is true that I won Brianna's hand in a duel, but I intend to pair her with Prince Ernest," William hurriedly explained because his Aunt Anna and Aunt Hellen were looking at him with displeasure. He didn't want the two ladies, who had helped to raise him, to have any misunderstandings.
He then glared at Brianna who was hiding behind Wendy's back.
"I see." James played with his beard as he accepted William's explanation. "Then how about the other two ladies whom I haven't seen before? What is your relationship with them?"
William felt relieved because his Grandpa readily accepted his explanation. He then started to introduce the two new faces that accompanied him back to Lont.
"The beautiful lady with green hair is Lady Amelia Louise," William said. "She is a permanent member of my own knight squad."
"Louise? Is she perhaps the daughter of Philip? The Baron of Bradford?" James inquired.
Amelia who was standing not far away from William made a curtsy. "It is an honor for Lord Ainsworth to know of our humble origins."
James grinned as he waved his hand in a casual manner. "Your father and I are not close and we've only met twice in the past when I was passing through your barony. Even so, Philip is well-known in the noble circle for not sticking his head in places that he shouldn't stick his head in. Your father is quite an admirable person."
Amelia blushed at James' praise towards her father. She didn't expect that the Hidden Overlord of the West had met her father in the past.
After that brief exchange, William then introduced the VIP guest that had accompanied him from the Kyrintor Mountains.
"This beautiful lady here is the Second Princess of the Zelan Dynasty, Aila Sol Zelan," William announced. "Her reason for coming here is due to the request of the Crown Prince, Alaric Sol Zelan. He also asked me to give this letter to you, Gramps."
William took out the handwritten letter from his storage ring and presented it to his grandfather. James opened the letter and started to read. At first, there was a frown on his face, but his expression calmed down after he finished reading the letter.
"Aila, was it?" James asked in a friendly manner. "From this day onwards, you will be a guest of our humble town of Lont. Although the amenities we have can't compare to the things inside the Zelan Royal Palace, they aren't too shabby either."
"Thank you, Lord James." Princess Aila made a respectful curtsy towards the legendary figure that once visited their domain many years ago. "I will be in your care from now on."
"Mmm." James nodded his head. "According to Alaric's letter, you are studying Life Magic, right?"
"Yes, Lord Ainsworth."
"Do you have a Master teaching you?"
"No."
James once again nodded his head. "It's quite fortunate that we have a very capable Life Archon here in Lont. If you wish, I can introduce you to him and ask him to take you on as his disciple."
Princess Aila's eyes widened in shock. She didn't expect that this small town had a Life Archon in it. There was only one Life Archon in the Southern Continent and that person had been shrouded in mystery.
The only thing that the Life Mages of the Southern Continent knew about this legendary figure was that he liked beautiful young women and his stamina seemed endless.
"Lord Ainsworth, are you referring to the Archon of the Spring of Life?" Princess Aila couldn't stop herself from trembling in excitement. "Is he here? Is the renowned Life Archon, Sir Owen, here in Lont?"
"Yes." James chuckled. "Knowing that old man's taste, he would be more than happy to make you his disciple."
William who was listening to the side had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He didn't expect that the old coot that boasted about his ability to go several rounds in bed was someone so famous.
He even wondered if Princess Aila was referring to someone else, and not the shameless and perverted old man, who had secretly told William several tips on how to make a woman feel good in bed.