In Sickness And In Health (Yandere M. Genius x F. Reader x Yandere M. Prince)

Chapter 9: Valiende

The landing was smooth, and the limousine was even smoother. The (h/c) haired girl stretched her arms behind her back as they landed from the nearly day-long plane trip. Thankfully, the luxury jet had equally luxurious beds, even if Haru did try to sneak into hers. To have to sit in the car for an hour to get to the palace definitely wasn't ideal, but it was what had to be done, so she put up with it. In the meantime, she played games with Sona and Bastien, both oblivious to her rampant cheating.

The moment the palace came into view, the littlest Akahito immediately directed his attention to the shiniest thing he had ever seen. Despite the age of the building itself, some of it surpassing over 8,000 years of history and most of it closer to 2,000, it was pristine. The walls were a gorgeous white that seemed almost unnatural, and some select parts of the palace were visibly green with precious, native Vethelan plants.

It had quite a few spires, reminiscent of a time long past, and hundreds of stained glass windows. From where they were, the glass looked like gems as the light hit it. The roof was supposedly stainless, with no sight of dirt or grime despite the earthen roots of the country. It made one wonder how they managed to keep it so shiny. The number of people employed on the walls alone must have been a force of over a hundred people. Nonetheless, since Bastien enjoyed its cleanliness, it must have been a similar thing for the Vethelan royals.

Besides the pristine walls and roof, the castle's area was worthy of being a small city of its own. It would have taken close to an hour to walk from the back of the castle's interior to the front, and more than that to traverse the exterior. That was likely the reason why there were visible carriages carrying nobles from one place to another. Then again, it may have been a style decision, particularly because only those belonging to a noble family could ride in them, and foreigners typically didn't receive the nice carriages, even if they were nobles.

Thankfully - or perhaps not - the Akahito family was, in fact, considered a noble family, mainly because they descended directly from various highly-ranked nobles across the world. At some point in time, one of Haru's direct ancestors must have been a Vethelan noble, too, so they were given a very nice-looking carriage once they approached the gates. Though, it became more obvious that they were being stared at as they made a beeline for the main palace.

The road was made in such a way that all buildings lined up so as not to obscure the palace, likely intentionally. It gave a gorgeously clear view of the castle, but it also drew a lot of attention to them. After all, they were the only car driving on the road, and many civilians gasped in awe at the sight of a car. It wouldn't be until later that the (h/c) haired girl would learn that most residents in the imperial city were noble-born. Either way, the guards stationed at the main gate soon bowed to them, recognizing the national flag of Echal, its bright orange hard to miss.

"Welcome," one of them spoke in Echali, taking some time to figure out how the somewhat different grammar structure from Vethelan, "We are happy to see you here. Please. Give some time to call someone for you."

Within moments, a woman came rushing to the gate, bowing to them and beginning to speak to Kazuya. She had been informed that the man was well-versed in a few languages, but that, for the sake of simplicity, it would be easiest to speak in a different language. After all, though (Y/n) and Bastien had an elementary grasp of the Echali language, they were very comfortable with Athainian. The woman, therefore, was able to rotate from Vethelan to Athainian easily.

"Please, follow me this way, President Akahito," she smiled, bowing at the waist to show her Echali etiquette as well as her grasp on its culture, "The imperial city is vast and we prefer to travel by carriage. Our values, as you know, tend to steer towards our traditional connection to the earth. I hope you can understand the need to switch vehicles."