Seven Devils and a Rose

Book 3: A Kingdom of Roses and Magic - Chapter 113

Present Day

The Border Between Acaedien and the Forbidden Forest Kingdom, Aurora Realm

It had been one week since we departed the city of Acaedien on our journey toward Wulin for the realm's annual international conference, and I'll be honest, I had just discovered how vast this kingdom was. We had been flying at the speed of one hundred miles per hour, and we had just reached the border of the country between Acaedien and the neighboring nation of the Forbidden Forest.

The one week on this massive, three-story airship named the Acaedien Skywarden—a unique piece of technology operated by a combination of machinery and magic—had been wonderful for me. Some of the time—when I wasn't busy reading Lord Noah's many books to better understand this world or having my routine self-defense lessons with either Felix, Caleb, or Aaron in the gym on the first floor—I'd be taking in the view of the land from high above. Then either one of the lords or the girls would point out important things to me, such as the monument to the seven lords in a small town called Titan where they had first made their treaty to form a clan and rule Acaedien as one. Or the great lake, which was created by a magic water system that ran across the nation and provided the city, towns, and remote villages with a freshwater supply. Or the many national wild parks that had been set up across the land to preserve endangered species, which was simply amazing, to say the least.

"See that river there," Aaron said, pointing to a thin line that curved within the forest below. "That's the border between Acaedien and the Forbidden Forest."

"Does Acaedien have a treaty or a contract agreement with other countries to fly over their lands?" I asked curiously. After all, we were heading into the Forbidden Forest now, and I wondered if there was something like that in Aurora, because surely, one simply couldn't venture across another country's territory without permission.

Aaron nodded. "Yes, we have treaties with most of the kingdoms in Aurora."

"Most?" I cocked my head to one side. "That means there are some countries that Acaedien can't have access to?"

He nodded again. "Unfortunately, yes. Forming any sort of treaty requires a lot of input and negotiation. And some kingdoms' agendas don't align with ours."

I nodded in understanding. In any world, there would always be agreements and disagreements, so it wasn't surprising that Acaedien hadn't formed an alliance with some of the other kingdoms.

I leaned closer to the window again and gazed down, taking in the view of the range of thick, lush mountains that stretched far and wide. If Grandfather Kenjiro were here, he'd surely point out the type of mountain classifications, as he had done so many times when I had been young. Of course, I still remembered some of them.

Because I couldn't help myself, I pointed to one and said, "That one looks like Greedy Wolf Mountain." Recognizing another, I continued. "Oh, and that one the Literary Art and that Military Art."

Aaron must have noticed me pointing at the mountains and saying their Feng Shui classification names odd, because he asked, "Greedy Wolf?"

I pointed to the tall, elongated, elegant one with smooth sides that looked like the famous Mount Fuji in Japan.

"That one is classified as a Greedy Wolf star mountain. Grandfather Kenjiro told me that if one were able to tap into and receive a Greedy Wolf star's qi, one would gain noble status, wisdom, and great achievement in life."

"I see. Your world has mountain classifications too, very much like ours," Aaron said.

I turned to him, astounded. "Aurora has a mountain classification system?"