A new day began—Jareth came to pick Kadyn up in his luxurious car. After instructing others Kadyn went with Jareth. As he sat inside the car, he felt a kind of nostalgia. He remembered the time on earth, when he went on a trip, together with his parents, in a car. He sighed and turned towards Jareth. “Let’s go,” he said.

 Jareth instructed the driver, who used his mana, to drive the car. Though magic stones could also be used for the same purpose, it wasn’t cost-effective. Mages could always recover their mana, after a night’s meditation, but magic stones were exhaustible resources. Furthermore, driving could also be considered a kind of training, as it helped mage to control the mana more effectively.

 Kadyn watched the large buildings on the way, wide roads, playing kids, and working people. He also saw a temple—after asking Kadyn realised that the people of the Ceston were quite religious, and they worshipped quite a few gods. 

They took quite a few turns on the way, and twenty minutes later, they reached their destination—when Kadyn exited the car, he spotted a majestic castle in front of him. It was where the emperor lived.

“Let’s go,” Jareth said, as he walked ahead of him. The guards at the entrance saluted when Jareth passed and eyed Kadyn curiously. He caught up to Jareth. He examined his surroundings—the garden; the servants; the intricate designs on the walls of the castle; the beautiful long pillars that supported the walls and ceiling; the expensive carpet on which he walked; the gallery that went on and on, to a few hundred metres, whose end was obscured.

—

“Who else is coming, Your Majesty?” asked a man politely, who sat on a plush chair, as he rested his hands on the table before him.

“You will know when he arrives, Eugan Sweeder,” said the emperor, as he tapped his fingers on the armrests of his throne. He had broad shoulders, and he was tall. He had black hair, revealing under the crown that he wore, and a small beard. He didn’t seem to be an arrogant fella, as he had a gentle smile on his face. Though one could not judge a book by its cover, it was hard to tell his true nature.

Eugan Sweeder fell silent as he exchanged glances with his companions sitting around him. At this moment, another man spoke, “May I know the purpose of today’s gathering, Your Majesty?”

“Mr. Oswyn Webney,” spoke a man who sat at the very front of the table. “His Majesty has already said that you will know when the expected person arrives. Can’t you wait just a bit, or you have more important work to do?”

“I was just asking, Left Minister,” said Oswyn Webney, smiling. “All of us have already gathered. Even His Majesty has arrived. However, this person has yet to come. Don’t you think he is too arrogant—making His Majesty wait for him?”

“Don’t try to play your petty tricks here,” frowned the Left Minister in displeasure. “His Majesty decides everything here. Not you, nor anyone else. Or you think you are above his majesty?”

“You are twisting the meaning of my words!” Oswyn’s expression changed when he heard the Left Minister’s words. They never saw eye-to-eye, but Oswyn never thought the Left Minister would try to set him up. After all, he was just trying to express his displeasure for the person who still hasn’t arrived, who knew this bastard would twist the meaning of his words.

“That’s enough!” The emperor waved his hand. His gaze roamed on the people in the hall. His face frowned in displeasure.

“Commander Jareth has arrived”—just when the emperor was about to chide them, a guard’s voice entered the hall from the entrance—”with a distinguished guest. He is asking permission to enter, Your Majesty.”

“Let him enter,” the emperor said.

The eyes turned towards the entrance, curious, to know the identity of the person for whom the emperor made them wait. First to enter was Jareth—after he arrived a thin and tall looking boy around the age of nineteen. The hall was pin-drop silent. No one could fathom this scenario. They thought they were waiting for some big shot. But who knew it was just a kid.

“We were waiting for him?” Oswyn frowned. “Who is he?”

“I think your son hasn’t told you about him yet,” Xod Woulsto, the leader of House Woulsto, spoke with a chuckle. “He is the owner of Heaven’s Door.”

“Oh,” Oswyn and the other two leaders of the Four Great Houses narrowed their eyes as they stared at Kadyn with deep gazes. 

Only Xod Woulsto had a smile on his face as his main business wasn’t artefact and potion-making. While Segast Wilbrick remained expressionless from start to end. No one could tell from his expression what he was thinking. On the other hand, Oswyn Webney and Eugan Sweeder peered at Kadyn like hungry wolves. After all, because of him, they had received quite a few setbacks.

As everyone in the hall was examining Kadyn, Kadyn was doing the same. His gaze passed through everyone’s faces. He already knew about every one of them. His Intelligence Hall wasn’t just for show. He even knew many of their secrets, but he would only use them when he needed to use them. 

However, when he was about to retract his gaze, he felt as if a vicious viper was staring at him. He tried to find the person, but the feeling had already vanished. He frowned. ‘Is it Oswyn or Eugan?’ he thought, but then shook his head. It wasn’t time to daydream. He turned towards the emperor and greeted him with a slight bow. 

Just as Oswyn was about to shout at him for not kowtowing, a voice sounded. “Alright,” it was the emperor, he nodded at Kadyn and said. “Take your seat.”

Everyone appeared bewildered. Other than the leaders of the Four Great Houses and a few other officials, everyone needed to kowtow in front of the emperor. However, Kadyn didn’t do it and the emperor didn’t get angry. ‘Doesn’t that mean, the emperor treats Kadyn as important as the leader of the Four Great Houses?’ The same thought appeared inside everyone’s head.

Kadyn nodded and sat on a seat at the corner. People raised their eyebrows. Every one of them wanted to sit at the very front, in the spotlight, but this guy just had to sit at the furthest seat in the hall. After Kadyn, Jareth also sat beside him. People shook their heads. Not paying much attention.

“At least, he knows his limits,” Oswyn sneered. 

Eugan chuckled at his comment and shook his head. His thoughts were similar to Oswyn. Xod and Segast remained silent.

“Alright, begin the meeting,” said the emperor.