Chapter 224 Shen Ling Reunites With Her Father
As the royal knights rode on top-quality horses, the princess comfortably sat next to Mark as he drove the vehicle. She traveled in a horse carriage, rode on a wild horse, a spirit beast rhino, and even a drake, but the feeling was a lot different when she sat in LMV.
As he drove toward the city of Zhishang while stopping once midway for refueling, she calmly observed everything to understand how the vehicle works.
By the time they reached the destination, it was already around dusk. Mark had driven the vehicle back and forth between the cities with only a lunch break. As a summoner with low physical strength, he is naturally tired.
After dropping her off at the most luxurious hotel in the city, Mark told her that they will meet at a restaurant named Quanjude, which is popular for its duck dish. He further added that someone will join them at the dinner.
When he said that, Shen Ling's eyes widened for some reason and she hurriedly grabbed his hand in front of the royal knights, the hotel manager who came to greet them, and the passersby who are eager to see their princess, "Don't leave. Take me with you."
"Eh?" Mark was taken aback by her response. Maybe, he was mistaken but for that one moment, he saw a look of anxiousness on her. Remembering all of her actions until now, Mark truly wondered whether this princess had fallen for him or something.
Meanwhile, the princess realized her words could instill misunderstandings in the minds of the listeners. She freed him and cleared her throat, "You are an important guest of our palace. I think it's improper for me to stay here while you stay in some ordinary inn. I and our royal knights will go with you. If we are going to meet again after a couple of hours, we might as well leave together for the restaurant."
"Is that so?" Mark fell into thoughts. Since he is going to reunite the father and daughter, the place doesn't matter anyway. He only told Allen to book the entire restaurant for convenience. Now, Mark felt like he wasted 500 gold coins for nothing.
"As you wish, Princess Shen," He let out a smile and opened the door, gesturing for her to get inside.
After giving an apology to the hotel manager, the princess left with Mark, leaving behind the stunned audience. Soon, the royal knights followed behind.
Looking at their backs, the hotel manager mumbled, "What is the identity of that young lord who is making the princess act like this? Was he a prince of northern empires to be engaged to her? Hmm…"
After driving for more than half an hour, they reached a place on the outskirts of the city. But, it wasn't an inn. Instead, they arrived at an abandoned cathedral. It used to be where the believers of the church of light used to worship. But now, it is nothing but filled with dust and spider webs.
As for why Mark had taken her to this specific place, it's because he was new to this city and doesn't know much. All he needs is a quiet place and he happened to hear about it.
Mark escorted her inside the cathedral along with her trusted royal knights. In the church hall, Allen appeared to stand nearby a mysterious person who wore black robes and covered his head with a hood.
The footsteps alerted the King and he got up on his feet to turn around while lowering down the hood, revealing his face to the visitors.
The royal knights were visibly surprised to see their King, although with an aged look, long white beard, and disheveled long white hair that almost reached the waist.
"Is it Shen Qiu, the valiant Grand Prince who sacrificed himself two decades ago during dungeon break?" All of the spectators had the same thoughts, well, except for one, the princess.
Tears quickly filled the eyes of Shen Ling as she rushed forward while screaming, "Father…"
The royal knights were shocked again. This time, even Mark was surprised. "How did she know?"
As the father and daughter hugged while crying in happiness before engaging in a conversation about how she missed him all the years and apologize for being able to save him from the deadly prison, realization dawned upon Mark, "now, everything made sense, her actions, and her words. It only indicates that she knew that the current King is an imposter. Well, this will work in my favor if I play my cards right."
Meanwhile, the royal knights don't know how to react. It isn't easy to believe that this old man is their real king and the current one is an imposter. Only their captain, who was serving the palace for 18 years, felt emotional and believed the truth that appeared before his eyes.
After a while, everyone settled down in the church hall and Mark asked her how she knew about this matter to clarify his suspicions. Her father also looked at her for the answer.
Shen Ling explained to them how she managed to pick up things like how Shen Qiu kept his distance from her mother, how his policies and behavior were too much different from before, how he kept her away from Lunaris city as much as possible, and most importantly, how he showered love on her cousin too much. Small things accumulated and made her believe that it wasn't her father.
"Once I realized that it was my uncle all along, I began to wonder whether my father is alive or dead. Then, one day, roughly about six years ago, an envoy from the Church of Doom arrived at the royal court.
Maybe, she has some issues with Uncle Shen and my mother, or maybe, the organization has internal disputes. I don't know for sure. While leaving, she secretly passed me a note, which not only has the information on my father but also stated a prophecy. It speaks of a man blessed by an ancient divine beast who will arrive at our land and somehow change the fate of the kingdom.
And the first change will be the return of its real king. I waited for several years but nothing happened. I took the task of saving my father into my hands but only faced failure continuously more than twenty times. All the hired Spirit Warriors were mercilessly killed. If not for the fact that my uncle was keeping an eye on my finances, I would have attempted to hire Exalt realm experts from the Northern Empires.
But, now, after seeing my father, I believe it was speaking of you, all along. From the bottom of my heart, once again, I thank you for saving my father."
From her words, Mark understood one thing for sure.
Church of Doom shouldn't be taken lightly. Along with strength, they appeared to guess the events happening in the kingdom. The one who can predict the future is always terrifying because people will attempt to change it as they fit it.
Putting aside his thoughts, he waved his hands with a smile, "keep your thanks for later, Princess Shen. The task is still incomplete. Now, we have to get his Majesty back to his rightful position, although I doubt your mother and uncle will let it happen in a peaceful way."
"I will not spare those two traitors." The King growled in anger as he clenched his fist.
It was at that moment, all of a sudden, a spiral portal opened in the center of the hall, alerting everyone. An elderly woman in pure white robes stepped outside. There was a wooden staff in her hand. A blue orb was embedded at the head part of the staff. It is currently glowing. On her other hand, there's a crystal ball, which looked like something that fortune-tellers who claim themselves as seers would use.
Landing on the ground, she looked around before stopping her gaze at the King and then, at Mark, "I guess I'm at the right place, after all."
Like others, Mark was also alerted. He didn't waste time activating the Sage Eyes ability.
<strong>Gu Ya</strong>
Race: Human
Age: 39
Rank: 6-circle (peak)
Spirit Path: Seer/Mage
Attribute: Space/Wind
Affiliation: Western Moon kingdom
Description: A talented spirit warrior who had an affinity with two attributes.
**
"Hmm, like with other people, her background wasn't mentioned in the description. So, it wasn't known to the public, eh." Mark was relaxed a lot once he realized that she is of no threat with her low cultivation. At the same time, he was also surprised at her unique Spirit Path and her age.
As he wondered about her identity and purpose, Princess Shen Ling pointed her finger at the stranger with a look of surprise on her face, "It's you... The elder from the Church of Doom."
"Huh!"