Vesper and Catherine turned to see a young man with blonde hair and green eyes, he wore a robe that had the insignia of a snake. The young man was Drake Belmont, one of the high ranking noble houses in the Velentia Empire.
"Sir Drake, it is a pleasure meeting you here." Catherine said.
"Good day Sir Gideon, I trust business is going as well as always." Drake said to Gideon.
"It is going well, Sir Drake." Gideon replied out of courtesy.
Drake smiled and continued, "What brings you here princess."
Catherine was uncomfortable as Drake seemed to pester her, Gideon on the other hand had a difficult expression on his face, the Belmonts were one of the big four families after the imperial family, and Drake was a very unreasonable person.
Vesper on the other hand saw how Drakes' gaze never left the princess, completely ignoring him like he was not present.
"Catherine, you said you have to show me something, it will not be nice of you to keep me standing here, don't you think?" Vesper said.
"Yes, Vesper, Drake this is my brother, Vesper, Vesper this is Drake Belmont, son of Duke Belmont." Catherine said as she shifted towards Vesper.
Drake frowned slightly, when he heard Vesper interrupt his conversation with Catherine, but afterwards his expression returned back to normal, Vesper and Gideon noticed it but they did not point at it.
"Prince Vesper, I have heard a lot about you, the famous war prince, they say your skills in the 'mortal' battlefield is legendary." Drake said as he emphasized on the mortal.
"It is my honour to capture the attention of a great noble such as yourself, my fame has grown higher than expected, even the great Sir of the Belmont family has heard of me." Vesper replied.
"If you do not mind, Catherine and I are in quite a haste, so we would have to leave you now, Sir Drake, maybe we might meet another day. Sir Gideon please take us to the items I requested for." He continued.
Drake was stumped at how he was peacefully and respectfully tossed aside by Vesper, he could not even find fault with how Vesper excused himself and the Princess.
Drake smiled and bid them farewell, but in his heart he was filled with wrath and all he wanted to do was make Vesper suffer, he wanted to talk to Princess Catherine to get to know her but that was impossible now.
Gideon watched Drake leave and said in a low voice that only three of them could hear, "Prince Vesper, you might have gained a new trouble now."
Catherine looked at Vesper before sighing, "At least you should have let me tell him directly, you didn't need to gain a new problem, you know that the nobles don't exactly care about you because they know how father treats you."
"Even if his Majesty doesn't say anything about my ill treatment by his children, it does not mean that any noble can treat me in that same manner, but I only did that because he asked for it, daring to ignore my presence under so many watching gaze would bring a rumour that I am weak." Vesper said as he turned.
Gideon looked at Vesper and smiled before leading them up the stairs to a room, as they entered, Vesper felt the increase in the mana in the air.
Gideon then took them to a row of display tables were different space artefacts were kept, there were necklaces, bracelets and even rings with space of at least fifty cubic meters.
Vesper looked and found a black bracelet type space artefact, it had two functions, one for storage of objects and second function was to teleport its user within a fifty meter range once a day.
"How much for this one?" Vesper said pointing towards the black bracelet.
"My prince that one is fifteen thousand gold, but the royal family has a ten percent discount so it would be thirteen thousand and five hundred gold." Gideon replied.
Vespers' brow scrunched a bit, the price was way more than his estimate but it's price was well deserved, it was a life saving artefact as well, and Vesper was sure he saw this because Catherine had personally recommended him.
"Sir Gideon, I have ten thousand gold, how about I pay that and come back to pay in three days." Vesper said.
"Do not worry Vesper, Sir Gideon deduct the money from my card." Catherine said.
"You do not need to pay for this Catherine, I can get the money soon." Vesper said, sounding somewhat displeased.
"I am not paying this, because you lack the capacity Vesper, as long as I know you are a royalty, you can get the gold from father if you wish, take this as my token of friendship, so please do not reject it." Catherine said.
Vesper looked at Catherine and sighed, then he turned to Gideon telling him where to deliver the artefact.
Vesper and Catherine decided to tour around the capital market before going back to the palace.
Vesper and Catherine got back to the castle only to see a woman standing just behind the castle gates, one of her hand held a sword, while she stood listening to a black haired lady who was clothed in all black.
Vesper and Catherine stopped the moment they saw the woman with the sword, her aura was sharp and her blonde hair swayed slightly as she stood, Vesper felt that if he took even one step forward, his body would be shredded.
"Such a sharp presence, truly a sword master." Vesper muttered under his breath but his voice was loud enough for Catherine beside him to hear him perfectly well.
The woman's gaze shifted slightly, as she suddenly turned looking at Vesper. Vesper on the other hand felt a wave of pressure engulf him as he struggled to breathe, then he steadied his breath and let out a soft breath as an invisible aura covered him.
Chloe's brows raised slightly as she looked at Vesper, then her lips curved into a smile, but Catherine and Lisa know that this smile was anything but good news.
"Mother, why are you here, I thought you would be at the training room by now." Catherine said trying to diffuse the atmosphere.
"Well my dear daughter, I heard you followed a boy outside the palace so I decided to come and take a look, it seems he is interesting. Vesper I heard you mastered the halberd intent, I thought it was a just a rumour but now I can see how true it is, well then, let us see the intent put to full display." Chloe said as she tossed her sword towards Lisa and lunged forward with index and middle finger joined together piercing forward.
Vesper felt all his hair stand as he kicked the ground and stepped sideways, then he bolted towards a corner.