"Ahahaha…" When Leon heard Little Han's endearing voice, a sunny helpless smile appeared on his ever-cold face. "Daddi misses you and your mommy too."
His smile was so warm, gentle, and beautiful.
The light chuckle he let out was not loud, yet the charm in his voice managed to catch everyone's attention in the cave and witness the spectacle!
Third Prince Leon, the Mad Blood Prince is smiling!
"Erherm…" Olivier and Blaze immediately cleared their throats and very discreetly eyed everyone to give Leon some space.
They also took the initiative to isolate his area so that none of the people around could tell who he was conversing with, especially the knights with him who did not know of Little Han's existence yet.
Meanwhile, Little Han kept talking through the communication stone. He was trying hard to tell his dad what he saw during his travels in a lively manner.
Although his speech was still quite childish and his vocabulary is limited, he was already able to communicate quite deftly which brought a sense of pride in Leon and Eli's hearts.
"Daddi, mommi said you are fwighting with bad gwuys…" Little Han told Leon after he ran out of stories to tell.
"Yes, daddy will drive away bad guys so that Little Han and Mommi will be safe," Leon explained with a doting expression on his face.
"Will Daddi get hwurt?"
Little Han had a grasp of bad and good guys when he went to play with his cousins in the Forgeworn and Faraulds. They would play soldiers and sometimes, someone would act like they were hurt and he would play doctor.
So when he heard that Leon will fight bad guys, he already knew that this might happen to his dad. With that, there was a great worry in his voice.
"Maybe, but Daddy will be fine. Because Daddy is strong and I have friends to help me." Leon answered quite truthfully.
"But umcle Kayden is not with Daddi… you can't heal…" Instead of being relieved at Leon's reply, Little Han became more worried.
He remembered that his uncle Kayden was the one who healed him when he and Eli were sick, so naturally thought that Kayden would heal Leon as well.
Eli and Leon were astonished at Little Han's words. Sometimes, they could not keep up with his growth and would even be scared knowing that he was just about to turn two years old! His thinking is beyond his age!
"Don't worry, my love. Daddy also had friends with him who knew medicine…" Eli teasingly poked Little Han's nose while she answered on Leon's behalf.
Although Eli knew that there was no one as good as Kayden present on Leon's side, the Blades are quite capable apart from their talent in wars.
"Your mom is right." Leon smiled, although he could not see their faces, he knew that they were smiling at him at this very moment. "The night is already deep, you too should sleep." He reminded the two.
"You too… when will you set off?" Eli asked cryptically but she knew that Leon would get the meaning of her question.
"Around three hours from now," Leon replied.
"So soon…" Eli sighed in worry and helplessness.
However, she held her anxiousness in and continued, "Then you must get some sleep too. Rest is important and would probably be a luxury by the time you set off."
"I will…" Leon agreed, he knew that Eli would be worried if he did not take a rest so he had no intentions of giving her empty promises.
"Hmmm…"Eli gently hummed and looked at Little Han.
The next second, Leon heard Eli coaxing their son to say goodbye, "My love, your dad is about to sleep. Come wish him good night."
"Owkay…" Little Han's voice was heard in the background. The next second, his voice became clearer again.
"Daddi, let's pway before we sleep…" He mumbled innocently.
Eli and Leon were rendered speechless once again. In fact, they were even embarrassed because the innocent little one even reminded them of praying when they were the ones who needed to do it the most in this circumstance.
"O-okay…" Leon and Eli replied.
The next moment, Little Han's voice rang and his sincere words of prayer rang in his parents' ears loud and clear.
"Dwear Gwanpa Great… pwease pwotect Daddi evewyday. Pwease make him stwong and safe…" His innocent words seemed so simple, but somehow, they gave an inexplicable strength and encouragement in Leon's heart.
He did not know how, but after hearing Eli, Little Han, and his own prayers, and even as he ended the call, a calming sensation swarmed all over his body. It was lulling him to a peaceful sleep which he was sure to not get hours before entering a war.
He had an undisturbed three-hour sleep. By the time he opened his eyes and got up, he felt his body become lighter, and his state of mind become calm and clear! What a nice peaceful sleep.
He smiled, for he knew it was the effect of the prayers his family had poured out earlier. His heart seemed to have been encouraged, seemingly having the will to trust the heavens of this entire endeavor to be overcome.
Leon no longer wasted any second, he picked up his sword and immediately stood up.
When he looked at his men, they were also ready. They received Leon's signal and moved to get out of the hideout.
There was still less than an hour until dawn arrived, and the darkness of the night was still enough for them as cover.
"Olivier… and the rest of the summoner's team…" Leon muttered.
In an instant, the summoners led by Olivier moved, they summoned their largest and fastest flying beasts.
Blaze on the other hand activated one of Leon's paper spell, the bird cage, and instructed the men to put the horses inside so that they can be transported easily.
"We will use the night's cover. Board the beasts and we will set off." Leon commanded.
The men only took less than five minutes to put their horses in the birdcage and mount the beasts. In no time, they were already in the skies flying at an altitude enough not to disturb the beast around and not to attract attention to the possible watch towers nearby.
When they saw the traces of smoke and activity in the distance, Leon signaled the men and immediately landed on the ground completely concealed from the nearby camp's vision.
They landed at a distance that was still somewhat far for them to go on foot. Except for the blades, the knights waited for Leon's instructions as they did not know if he wanted them to go with horses or on foot.
They were confused as to why Leon would let them stop this early when they clearly saw that there was still a significant distance from this point to the enemy camp.
But seeing that the blades did not react they closed their mouths and kept the question on their minds.
Oliver stepped forward ready to perform a hand seal and create an array for a certain spell. But Leon raised his hands to stop him and commanded.
"Summoners, recharge your mana."
"Yes, Your Highness." Olivier and the summoners who used the beasts nodded without question.
Leon opened the palm of his hand and called out, "Biggie…"
"Shweeeee!" Almost instantly a tiny adorable earth golem with round yellow eyes and a single leaf on top of its head appeared jumping on Leon's palm.
The five knights were astonished, they knew that Leon was an open path, but they did not expect that the Mad Blood Third Prince would have…
Such an adorable contracted pet!
They could not help but compare the frigidity of the Third Prince's face and demeanor, versus the cuteness of the little earth golem who was contrastingly named Biggie!
However, they did not dare to laugh…
"Biggie, lend me your eyes and check the camp."
Leon did not notice the odd looks of the new members of his crew. Instead, he gently poked Biggie who was looking with his glowing yellow eyes innocently.
"Vrrrr!" Biggie made a sound as if acknowledging Leon's orders. He got up to his golem feet and jumped straight to the ground.
Then he 'melted' like mud as soon as his body touched the scorching wasteland.
"Now we wait." Leon looked at his men and sat quietly.
His eyes stared intently at the ground.
After around fifteen minutes, something changed on the ground that he had been staring at.
Before the knights and the blade's eyes, the ground in front of Leon started to grow some vines in a peculiar manner.
They waited for a long while for the vines to grow and finally, something took form. It was a miniature version of the camp several kilometers away from them!
It was so detailed except that all of it was formed through twisted vines but they suddenly felt like they were giants watching unsuspecting towns!
"T-that golem… Biggie… is awesome!" One of the knights who went with Leon absentmindedly blurted out.