Chapter 281: 280 – Going To The Obsidian Kingdom

With the important decisions on the matter of the international trade council being settled, it was time to undertake the journey to the Obsidian Kingdom.

"How are we going to the Obsidian Kingdom, Grandfather?" Mana asked curiously, looking at King Corvus.

The old king chuckled and patted her on the head fondly. "We will take a ship, little Mana. You've never been on a ship before, have you?" he asked. "You will enjoy it, I'm sure."

Mana couldn't say that she had been on luxury cruises several times in her previous life. So, instead, she smiled at King Corvus and tugged at Raven's sleeve.

"Have you taken a ship before, Raven? How was it? Did you like it?" she asked her fiancé.

Raven bit his lip. "Once," he murmured. "It was…it was all right." When Raven had been thrown out of the Obsidian Kingdom last year by his grandfather, he had been shoved into a ship none too gently. He had gotten sea sick, even, but no one had bothered with him until they reached the port town of the Pearl Kingdom, which lay on the border between the Pearl Kingdom and the Emerald Kingdom. Then Raven had been chucked out of the ship and abandoned. It was certainly not a pleasant experience by any standards.

King Corvus looked rather awkward at Raven's answer. He had heard the ship's captain and the sweeper complaining about how much Raven had thrown up during the journey. Raven would need something for his sea sickness this time, wouldn't he? King Corvus had completely forgotten about it. He quickly murmured an excuse and went off to find King Jaren and Junior Imperial Physician Vale – surely the latter would have something that could help Raven?

Mana barely noticed the rapid retreat of King Corvus because she had caught the hint of gloom in Raven's voice and his rainbow eyes. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Raven sighed and shook his head.

Mana frowned. "Did you get sea sick?" she asked. "When did you travel by ship? Was it last year when you came to the Emerald Kingdom?"

Raven hesitated for a moment, not wanting to show Mana this disgraceful side of his. But then again, it was better for her to know now, rather than later – wouldn't it be far worse if Raven threw up on Mana's shoes during the journey instead?

Raven sighed and nodded.

Mana immediately grabbed his arm. "Come on, then, let's find Junior Imperial Physician Vale and get you something for your sea sickness," she said, looking at him reproachfully. "You have to let me know these things in advance, all right? How am I supposed to take care of you if I don't know these things?" she asked in a soft voice.

Raven was stunned at her reaction, and allowed himself to be pulled away by her in a daze.

Before they could walk much, however, they ran into King Corvus and King Jaren along with Junior Imperial Physician Vale.

"Your grandfather just told us that you require some medicine for sea sickness, King Raven," Junior Imperial Physician Vale said, nodding respectfully at Raven. "Would you let me examine your pulse once before I prescribe a medicine?"

"Sure," Raven said, holding out his wrist. He glanced at King Corvus, feeling strange. How had his grandfather known that he was sea sick? Had he heard from the crew of the ship from that time? And he had even bothered to remember it and even went to fetch Junior Imperial Physician Vale for Raven's sake? Raven didn't know what to feel, to be honest. These days, he often had the feeling that his grandfather was not as uncaring and unfeeling about Raven as he had thought earlier – but Raven was still surprised each time the old man showed his grandfatherly side to Raven, who had never been at the receiving end of much affection from anyone until he came to the Emerald Kingdom last year.

King Corvus met Raven's eye and smiled awkwardly. It pinched him that Raven was still surprised whenever King Corvus did something good for him or stood up for him. But then again, it wasn't Raven's fault, was it? King Corvus really had treated him very badly all these years. Now, he could only regret and try to make amends with his grandson.

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Junior Imperial Physician Vale examined Raven quickly and efficiently and prescribed him some medicine right away.

"You can take one dose of the medicine right now, and another dose when we are boarding the ship," Junior Imperial Physician Vale told Raven. "If you still feel uncomfortable, please let me know immediately. Please also avoid eating any spicy food or food with very strong flavours while you are travelling."

Mana looked at King Corvus. "Is there a kitchen on the ship? I would want to make some lemon and mint based beverages and pastries for Raven," she said.

Junior Imperial Physician Vale nodded in agreement. "That is a good idea, Princess Mana," he said.

"There is a small kitchen," King Corvus said. "You can take a look when we get there, and we will buy anything you need from the port town before we set sail."

"Port town?" Mana asked curiously.

"We will use an array to go from here to the port town of the Pearl Kingdom first," King Jaren said to Mana and Raven. "From there, we will board the magical ship prepared by King Corvus and sail to the Obsidian Kingdom."

King Corvus nodded. "Yes, indeed, that's what we are going to do," he said. "The ship will only be able to enter if either Pica or I are directing it – well, the formation will acknowledge will certainly recognise Raven and Mana now as well. Aqi used to have the authority earlier – we will have to check if it's still working and renew it if it's not."

King Jaren tapped his chin thoughtfully. "So, only the monarch and the heir to the monarch and the spouses of each of them are eligible, is it?" he asked.

King Corvus smiled. "Not all spouses, actually. Yue has never been to the Obsidian Kingdom, so we don't know about him. Aqi was acknowledged as soon as he and Pica got engaged. Naja still doesn't have access. But yes, in general, it is only the monarch and their heirs and their acknowledged spouses," he explained.

"Interesting," King Jaren said. "How would it work with the trade route that we are planning to establish, though? We can't have you or Crown Princess Pica or General Aquila or Raven or Mana come over to direct a merchant ship every single time, right?"

"I will create a special pathway for recognised ships," King Corvus said. "And I will create a token for the Emerald Kingdom, which shall be usable for you, Jules and Mana, another token for the Sapphire Kingdom, which shall be usable for Queen Carolina and Bella, and one more for the Pearl Kingdom, which shall be usable for Raven – and if Raven wants, then I will extend it to Yuki and Yue as well. As long as one of you marks a sheet of paper with the list of people on the ship and the ship's name with the token, that will serve as a ticket to the pathway that I have created, and that ship becomes a recognised ship, and the listed people will be able to travel safely to the Obsidian Kingdom. If there are unauthorised stowaways on the ship, though, the ship won't be able to enter. That much protection I will have to keep for my Obsidian Kingdom."

King Jaren and Mana were very impressed.

"It's a really good system, Grandfather," Mana said. She turned to Raven. "Do you think we can set up a system like this for the Emerald Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom as well? The Sapphire Kingdom already has excellent border control in place, and we are managing pretty decently in the Emerald Kingdom at the moment – but something like this would be amazing, and it would make out life easier."

Raven nodded. "When we are expanding the international trade council later, perhaps we could even have ships that are exclusive to the international trade council and those could be hired by smaller merchants who don't have their own ships…" he murmured.

"Why wait for later?" Mana asked. "We should do that right away, shouldn't we? That way, only the authorised vessels of the international trade council would be able to travel on the specified sea routes and anyone wanting to travel would have to buy themselves a seat on it." Branding was really important, after all, and it would be good for them to have big ships – and running commercial vessels would mean an additional source of income for them!

"Little Mana is absolutely right," King Jaren said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Raven and Mana, don't worry about the expenses – I will fund all the ships for the international trade council, all right?"

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