Of Roses... And Blood? Wait What-?

Unprecedented

Although the obvious destination for the group to head for was the 'giant black castle' in the Forest of Darkness, Rosalyn suggested for them to first stop by the Henituse Territory. According to Rosalyn, it would be rude not to notify the person in charge of Rain City if they were to head there.

The other members of Choi Han group did not disagree with Rosalyn's suggestion, including Alberu. And so the group took a quick change of rout and headed for the place where the Golden Turtle resides.

The carriage stopped right in front of Henituse County. As they stepped down one by one, Alberu noticed that Choi Han seemed a bit miffed to be in the territory. He was possibly thinking about the trash of the Count's family, who had badmouthed Harris Village.

Alberu knew that Choi Han had long forgotten about his grudge with the trash. However, that doesn't erase the foul words said about the village by Cale Henituse. Alberu himself personally thinks that he would've never forgiven Cale Henituse if he was to talk trash about dark elves. This was why he truly admired Choi Han for his kindness and compassion towards even the worst of people.

Now Ron and Beacrox were a different matter. It was difficult to read the father and son duo's expression, but Alberu was aware of their years of servitude in Henituse County. Even after leaving with Choi Han, the affection for the territory might've not waned. Who is Alberu for him to know what was going on in these two assassins' minds? But Alberu would like to believe they cared to a certain extent. 

Regardless of his group's feelings, Alberu took a confident step towards the knights guarding the Henituse's front gates. They were about to stop whoever was trying to enter, until they realised it was Alberu Crossman himself who was at the gates. They immediately stood at attention.

"Salute! Your Highness Alberu Crossman!"

Alberu waved his hand as a signal for the knights to be at ease, in which the knights did just that. Immediately, they put on friendly faces towards Alberu. No, if he looked closely, it was near to admiring...?

Which was simply weird. At this point in time, despite garnering support from nobles due to him possessing the world's youngest swordmaster as his knight, majority of nobles still support the other princes rather than him. But to see the knights admiring him, especially from the Henituse family who has a neutral standing?

Alberu pushed his thoughts aside and focused himself towards the knights who seemed like they were about to say something.

"Your highness, pardon us but we thought you were planning on heading to the Dragon Lord's castle? Are you here for young master Cale? If so, he's already at the Dragon Lord's castle!"

The other knight quickly interjected for his chance of say.

"He came here early morning for breakfast with his family before going back to the Forest of Darkness. Ah, but young master Cale did say that there was a possibility for your highness to come here. We were told to escort his highness to meet with Duke Deruth if it so happens for you to be here. Please come this way!"

It was happening. The incoming waves of headaches that Alberu has been dreading so much about. There was multiple information for him to address and process here. Excuse me? Alberu turned to look at his subordinates, and thankfully, they all had similar thoughts. It looks like it wouldn't just be Alberu who has to suffer.

Choi Han looked as if he was ordered to go to the battlefield, Ron had his blank face on, signifying the beginning of his hard-to-read thought process, and last but not least, Beacrox managed to look offended somehow? Only Rosalyn and Lock looked confused as they shifted their eyes between the three members. Unlike the three, they don't have a strong attachment towards the Henituse County.

Speaking of County, Alberu noticed that Count Deruth was addressed as Duke. It's possible for him or any of the royal family members to have given him the title in the future, considering this is an alternate timeline. But why the Henituse County? Had or will they play a larger part in the Henituse territory battle than Alberu would like to think? It's unlikely when Rain City is a small territory, unlike the Capital. So then why?

Assuming the Dragon Lord's castle is the giant black castle mentioned by the citizens, what does Cale Henituse have to do with any of this? Why was he mentioned as if he is a close friend of Alberu's? The way Cale was brought up with familiarity struck a chord in Alberu. Things were going in a completely different direction, and it seems to be way bigger of a deal than what Alberu first thought it would be.

Meanwhile...

>>>>>>>>>>

"Human! It looks like cookie prince went to your family house, just like you said! What should we do now, human?" An adorable blob of black lands directly on top a red haired man.

The man was pale and thin. His soft, vibrant red hair was tied in a braided half ponytail. With looks as frail as a twig, he was the embodiment of fragility. 

......

If only it weren't for his reddish-brown eyes which glimmered in extreme annoyance towards a certain god.

"That motherfucking God of Death. I can't even rest for one second before he decided to throw another one of his problems my way. I swear I'll burn that bastard's temple down..."

"Don't worry, Cale-nim. Me, the wolf children, and Eruhaben-nim are already working on bringing the God of Death's temples down. Well, at least the ones in the Capital. The ones in other territories might take longer times to destroy."

Choi Han paused, thinking of his next words.

"Mmm... Rosalyn is thinking of creating mana bombs that can activate at a far distance so that the children can detonate the temples safely. While Cage had already burned two of them down. She's complaining about how difficult it is to destroy them simultaneously, so the dragons are working on that as well. It won't be long before all of the temples are destroyed." Choi Han smiled.

Cale casted an incredulous glance towards Choi Han's abrupt report.

This vicious elder...

Sure, Cale was extremely annoyed at the God of Death, and he was serious about his threats of burning the bastard's temples down. But to think that his family actually did it...

He glanced down, towards the two sleeping kittens in his arms.

"Arson and explosions are dangerous."

Cale suddenly felt the need to remind his precious children. Though judging by the snort coming out of the two children, it looks like they were not so asleep afterall...

Unfortunately, Cale had forgotten that he himself was the one to have taught the children various offenses and destruction known to mankind. If asked, Alberu would be more than happy to list the multiple crimes Cale had committed towards the royal family, Roan Kingdom, and neighbouring kingdoms. But that's a story for another time.

>>>>>>>>>>

Author's note:

Have another chapter for when I realised I was actually gone for nearly 2 weeks. I thought it was only 1 week. Time sure moves fast... But eyyyyy, a glimpse of Cale and his gang! The meeting is getting closer soon! They'll spend some time in TCF world before moving on to the next arc where TCF characters are brought to TBOAH. I just realised the synopsis doesn't match the story anymore. In the end TCF still goes to TBOAH lol. Kicking myself in the butt for not thinking the plot through lmao