Knight and Wand

Chapter 319 Long term plan
The sun shone on the streets of Rolandar. Crowds of people lined both sides of the street. Behind the city guards, they cheered the King's name with all their heart and sent their blessings to the Holy Sun.

The musicians played cheerful and exciting music, with drum beats and trumpet sounds interweaving together. Floats slowly passed by, decorated with exquisite coats of arms symbolizing the Holy Sun and the Okrosia family.

Flower petals paved the way for the gorgeous carriages along the street. In the middle, on the large carriage supporting the luxurious roof and flags, there was a young and handsome king who looked to be no more than twenty years old. He was wearing a royal robe and a crown. He leaned on the throne, smiling majestically yet friendly, and waved to the people of the Holy Land City who were surging on both sides, responding to the cheers of his people.

The eight ceremonial horses with shiny coats and huge bodies stepped on the ground in neat and powerful steps, making crisp hoof sounds.

Teams of Serrian knights, in shining armor and holding lances with fluttering colorful flags, stood tall and guarded the king's carriage.

Behind the crowd, Leon and Ines, who had canceled their original departure plan, waited on the second floor of a building near the road that the king's parade team must pass, and stared at King Serian in the guard of honor from afar.

Ines took off her hood, held onto the balcony railing, and looked out from under the sun with her hands on the pergola.

The girl's eyes looked through the gaps between the flags swaying in the wind as the carriage passed through the road, and she saw the unclear figure of Serrian.

Compared to the little princess who was leaning against the balcony and looking out, Leon, who was sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, could see very clearly even at such a distance.

He would never mistake the familiar face of his best friend.

Azerien is indeed Azerien.

However, the man, who was probably about twenty-one years old, still looked young and handsome, but his eyes and his posture in the royal robe were much more mature and majestic than what he was familiar with.

"It's really him." Leon felt complicated.

Ines retracted her gaze upon hearing this, and said with a strange expression: "Sir Azerien. Well, now I should call him His Majesty Azerien. He seems to be quite popular among the people."

Leon nodded. The warm welcome to the king's team in the city did not seem to be a deliberately arranged scene, but a spontaneous behavior of the people.

From what we learned yesterday, Azerien, who replaced the original royal family member who was excommunicated by the church, succeeded to the throne of Serrian with royal collateral blood, led the charge against the invading army, and after the war, introduced a variety of benevolent policies to successfully revive the kingdom's economy in just a few years. He has a special reputation among the people, and his age and handsome appearance make his rise even more legendary.

The church's propaganda and the people of Serrian all claim that he is the chosen king favored by Saint Hilarius to restore order on behalf of the apostate king.

"Seeing him like this by my side would bury his original opportunities and talents."

Leon shook his head and looked at Ines: "Let's go back to the hotel and discuss it."

Ines nodded, put on the hood that covered her face again, and hurried after him.

Leon carefully pulled the girl to avoid getting separated. The two squeezed through the noisy crowd at the parade and hurried back to the hotel where they were staying.

Even after confirming that King Serrian was indeed Azerien, Lion had no intention of meeting him to establish a relationship.

He knew very well that the Azerien here might not even recognize him, let alone whether he was familiar with him.
In the hotel room, Ines leaned on the bed, crossed her ankles, and her simple leather boots swayed instinctively as her thoughts went on.

"So this is the 'parallel world' you were talking about yesterday? There are such strange things in the world."

The little princess raised her eyes and stared at Leon.

She had never heard such a wonderful statement before.

A time and space that is similar to the world you live in, but completely different in many details.
Even the most fantastic myths and tall tales have never had such a bizarre concept.

"That's probably true." Leon leaned back in his chair with his hands folded, and smiled helplessly, "It turns out that the 'Flarel' family in the Holy Land City is actually a branch of the Serian royal family. When I was fleeing with that kid, I heard him say that there are some 'relatives' of his family in the east of Serian who don't like him. That kid said it so nonchalantly at the time."

Ines bent her knees, pulled back her calves, and sat up straight. She was now more concerned about another question: "No matter how absurd this is, if your speculation and statement are correct, since this is not the world we originally lived in, then now, what should we do? How do we go back?"

Leon frowned and shook his head gently: ".I don't know."

He stroked his chin and speculated as best he could: "The only possible way I can think of to go back now is to return to the Orlandon Palace and activate the ancient magic in the Holy Sword Courtyard again. This may be able to send us back to the original world, but of course it cannot be ruled out."

When Leon said this, his voice paused.

He couldn't help but hesitate whether he should tell the other party about the worse possibility now and cause the girl to panic unnecessarily.

But Ines looked at him and calmly replied, "We can't rule out the possibility that the magic has sent you and me to another 'parallel world' that is even more different than the original one, right?"

Hearing this, Leon looked at this extremely smart girl in surprise.

He didn't tell the Third Princess about the concept of "multiple time and space" in his previous life yesterday, but she actually came up with it on her own relying on her imagination.

However, seeing that he couldn't hide his worries, he had to put them aside and said frankly: "Yes, if that's the case, I'm afraid we will be further away from our original 'world'."

After saying that, Leon closed his mouth and secretly bit his back teeth, feeling an uncontrollable resentment towards Mette.

If they were just accidentally sent to three years later, what Olivia and other relatives and friends would have endured was just a separation that was not too long or too short for them.

But what if there's no going back.
Thinking of this, Leon's face twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but clench his palms and take a deep breath to calm the anger that had nowhere to vent.

Compared to his previous life, when he had already left his parents' hometown and became a corporate slave living alone in a big city for many years, his state of mind and situation when he suddenly traveled through time and space and left the Earth was completely different.

They are all independent single lives, the only difference is the environment and situation.

But now, he already has a wife he loves deeply and a "home" of his own where he has settled down.

He could not accept the fact that he could not return to Olivia and was torn away from his family.
——We must return to our original time and space, at all costs.

Silently swallowing his determination, Leon looked at Inis and said, "No matter what, we have to return to the palace to study the ancient magic there. However, we have to find another way back to Orland. The route we originally planned to take from Sobornitz is definitely not an option now."

Judging from what the two had heard yesterday, the difference between this world and the original time and space is not just the fact that five years ago, Azerien was chosen by the Holy Sun Church from among the royal bloodlines of many pro-church sects and was pushed to the throne.

Yesterday, I learned indirectly from the local residents of Rolandar that the massive invasion of the Kingdom of Serian launched by the Kingdom of Kantadar and the tribes of the Uriah Grassland six years ago still happened in this world.

But compared to the past, the two also learned from the locals the details of the fall of the city of Rolandar during the war, as officially announced by the church.

Six years ago, when Kantadar started a war to attack the Holy City, the former king of Serian united with the nobles in the east of Serian, and took advantage of the church's dispatch of troops to support the western border of Lumanthor to rebel.

The former king's faction carried out a bloody purge of priests and church forces in the palace and major cities, as if they had been colluding with foreign enemies for many years, and took advantage of Kantadar's eastward invasion to regain power.

The simultaneous outbreak of the Serian Civil War and the invasion of a powerful foreign enemy eventually led to the inevitable fall of the Holy City in the 860th year of the Holy Solar Calendar.

To be honest, Leon didn't quite understand whether this situation was consistent with the reason for the fall of Rolandar in his original time and space.

But at least it sounded like the Kantadar's eastward invasion in this world, until Aviut successfully occupied the Holy City, was not much different from the painful memories of the dead hunter boy in his mind.

However, the similarities were different after this point in time. The fall of Rolandar was not the end of the Kantardars' eastward invasion, but the beginning.

The Kantardars and the Ulliyas captured the two great territories of the Serian Kingdom, "Lumanthor" and "Valan Valley". The army of Aviut was unstoppable and reached the central part of Serian, almost swallowing up half of Serian in one fell swoop.
In this world, the war six years ago was purely a conflict between humans in the Western Continent.

There is no undead plague sweeping across the land, nor is there a "cursed land" shrouding the Rolandar region.

The city of Rolandar has never been occupied by demons from the spiritual world.

So it goes without saying that since there has never been a "War of the Undead" here, the "Holy War Alliance" led by Sobornitz has certainly never appeared.

In fact, according to what Leon learned from the citizen peddlers, the Holy Sun Church, with the help of the Holy Court reinforcements from the Kingdom of Dineshien, quelled the "apostasy rebellion" caused by the former King of Serian and eventually defeated the coalition forces of Kantadar and the Uriahs.

However, the King Aviut of Kantardar, who launched the invasion that year, still safely evacuated from the territory of Serian.

Without encountering any spirit-like field, he and his many Kantadar generals and Sobonitz lords did not disappear collectively like in their own time and space.

This means that the current Kantadar is not as fragmented as his own time and space. Kantadar is still a complete and powerful southern kingdom.

Therefore, the territory of Sobornitz is still firmly controlled by King Kantadar and the eastern lords.

If Ines and I followed the original route and swaggered into Sobornitz, if something unexpected happened, there would be no one to help us.

Leon doesn't want to go through another journey of escape.

"How about we go north?" Ines recalled the map of the Western Continent and tried to suggest: "Go north to Dragon Claw Fortress, and we can return home through the territory of the Border Marquis of Deyatuk."

Leon thought about it, recalled the border map of the Three Kingdoms that he had carefully studied during the Undead War, and nodded.

Going north through the "Valan Valley Territory - Holy Eagle County" in the northwest of Serrian to reach the southern border of Orland, this is indeed the fastest route to enter the Northern Kingdom from the Rolandar region.

"This is a good idea, but if I want to go back to Avalon, I can only go around the royal territory." Suddenly, Leon stopped talking and frowned uncontrollably.

When Ines saw him suddenly fall silent, she raised her eyebrows and seemed to have thought of something.

The girl's expression became extremely strange.

"Leon, you said this is a so-called parallel world that is very similar to our original world. So at this moment, besides you and me, is there another 'you' and 'me' belonging to this time and space on this earth?"

Leon's expression suddenly became as strange as Ines'.

This was what he had just suddenly realized.

"Myself" in a parallel universe?
"Ines" in a parallel universe?
If this is indeed a parallel world, this is of course a natural and obvious thing.

But let’s not talk about Ines for now.

Another. Self?!
Another Leon????

Leon suddenly thought of something extremely unpleasant and stood up and paced back and forth in annoyance.

If the current Avalon Castle has a parallel self belonging to this time and space, then of course it also means that there is an Olivia in the parallel world.

but
Leon rubbed his face hard, and suddenly wanted to fly back to Avalon immediately and kill himself with a sword.

Even if it was a parallel universe! Even if it was the "Olivia" of this world, he never wanted to see Olivia snuggling up to someone other than himself.

Even if it's another self.

Leon's angry eyes showed through his fingers, and the murderous intent in his heart had never been so strong.

Damn Met! You better be alive, or I will kill you a thousand times next time we meet!

Ines looked at the bulging veins on Leon's forehead in surprise, somewhat puzzled.

Why did this person, who was always gentle and calm, suddenly become so ferocious, with eyes that seemed to be ready to devour anyone?

However, the smart girl changed her mind and suddenly understood what was going on in her little head.

"Leon, you are not? Pfft~~" Ines covered her lips with her fist, and with great difficulty suppressed the corners of her mouth that were about to laugh, choking: "~Cough cough cough cough"

It is rare to see such a strange situation in the world that someone is jealous of himself.

Hearing Ines's covering-mouth laughter, Leon was both angry and furious.

He couldn't take his anger out on this little girl, so he turned around and said goodbye sullenly: "Your Highness! We will set out tomorrow morning and head to Orlando City to find a way back!"

After saying that, he scratched his hair hard, forced himself to calm down, turned around and went back to his room to rest.

What a ridiculous parallel world! He doesn't want to stay there for even a second.

".Hehehe~" Looking at Leon's back, who was inexplicably angry, Ines finally laughed out loud while holding her stomach.

Holding the bedside, she raised her hand and waved: "~ Lord Leon, there is no need to be so angry. This world is different from ours. Have you forgotten?
Maybe you in this world haven’t even concluded a marriage with Miss Olivia, so why do you have to fight with yourself~"

Leon was stunned when he walked to the door.

Yes, even Azerien became King of Serrian.

How could the fate of myself and Olivia in this life remain unchanged?
Leon couldn't help but feel relieved and his shoulders relaxed.

But Ines seemed unwilling to let him go. She showed a wicked smile on her face and whispered like a little devil:
".~Of course~, maybe Miss Olivia has another lover in this world? Who knows~"

Leon felt a pang in his heart when he heard this and turned back angrily.

Ines covered her mouth in mock fear.

"~Of course, of course~~ It is also possible that Miss Olivia is still single~ Oh, Lord Leon's eyes are so scary~"

Leon's brows trembled at the little girl's back-and-forth teasing, and he suddenly had a strong urge to spank her hard and teach her a lesson.

(End of this chapter)