[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV
Toussaint.
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Entering the temple wasn't difficult. There was a broken entrance below the main gate, and Madara swam through that narrow path. Ciri followed right behind him.
They entered beneath the ruins and found the passage where the water could no longer get in due to the air that still remained inside the structure. Madara emerged, bursting water into a small cave. Ciri came out of the water right after, her curious gaze peeking while her shoulders were still submerged, naked because they hadn't put their clothes back on after having sex in the middle of the lake.
She then followed Madara to the shore and climbed onto the structure, with Madara taking clothes out of his scrolls for them.
"How does this place still have air?" she asked, curious and with a glimmer of fascination.
"When it was buried by the water, there was still air inside. That kept the water from flooding it while there was no entrance for the air to escape. You've seen this concept with the glass in water — I showed you that trick with a glass cup…", Madara said, while using a wind jutsu to blow the water off his body in a small whirl. He did the same to Ciri, and soon they began to dress in other clothes and explore the ruins.
At the same time, in the duchess's castle, Ser Palmerin of Launfal — who had been together with Ser Milton de Peyrac-Peyran at the tavern of that village where the peculiar couple had been, and came to the castle to deliver the information Ser Milton asked him to — arrived at the place, immediately requesting an audience with Anna Henrietta as an emergency.
Since this was not something that happened often, Anna was sought by her men right after, who informed her about the knight while she walked with her ladies-in-waiting through the castle garden, as she always did around mid-morning.
"Bring him at once." Her expression quickly grew serious while the young women behind her whispered. The duchess followed her men to the hall, where the knight awaited her. When he saw her, he immediately knelt before the red-haired woman.
Anna had an exotic beauty, always taking care of her appearance and wearing striking and feminine hairstyles. She was a beauty in everyone's eyes, and with her position as a duchess without heirs and now single, even distant lands sent proposals, offering unmarried sons — some even heirs and others already Lords — in exchange for alliances with the duchy and the hand of Duchess Anna Henrietta.
"Lady Henrietta." The man greeted her, still kneeling. She stopped a few meters from him as the place began to fill with people. The commander of the duchy's men arrived with other knights; the ladies-in-waiting clustered in a corner, waiting to be called while trying to hear what was happening; a few nobles also approached to listen to what was so urgent.
The castle used to be quite lively. Whenever an important matter arose, everyone gathered and gossiped. Although Toussaint was not a duchy full of darker political games like treason, assassinations, and promiscuity, there were still its problems — though nothing compared to the great courts of kings in many kingdoms and even the heart of the empire. There, people truly seemed to want the good of the duchy; no wonder the local knights were so steadfast in protecting this land.
"Lady Henrietta, two people have arrived in the duchy unexpectedly — something that may put us in danger! After all, one of them is a wanted princess, and the other is a declared enemy of the Empire!", he said, making the hall immediately erupt in whispers, with questions about who he was talking about.
"A lost princess and an enemy of the Empire? Who are these people? Where are they? And how did they enter Toussaint? With how many men?", she asked at once, since if he hadn't brought those people, then they must have had a very strong guard.
"No, milady… there are no guards with them. Just the two… and a horse foal with a strange horn on its head," said the knight, shrinking a little as a few laughs immediately rose around him — people mocking him and the other knights for not being able to handle two people, and also the absurd description of a foal with a horn.
Anna also grimaced. "Tell me who these people are." She had no patience for nonsense and did not appreciate the knight seeming hesitant, as if afraid to speak the names.
"Madara Uchiha and Cirilla… the princess of Cintra. They entered the duchy. They were at an inn not far from the city, having a meal, while claiming they were only sightseeing."
The moment he finished, the entire hall fell deathly silent. All the laughter, mockery, questions, and intrigue vanished, replaced by a heavy stillness. Many there swallowed hard at hearing that, and the sound of their throats echoed across the hall.
How could they not know who those two were? There were soldiers from Toussaint who had been sent to the war in the North years ago; obviously, since they were part of the Empire, they had to do their part, and many knights had lost their lives in that chaotic war. The men of Toussaint had entered through southern Sodden at the time, not through Cintra, due to the kingdom's position being further east. They engaged directly in the conflict known as the war of Sodden's Hills.
When they heard news about the end of the war, everyone was terrified upon hearing that a monster had summoned a blue giant that wiped out the entire army with a single movement and cut two mountains. The whole world trembled at the name Uchiha Madara, who hadn't even turned fifteen at the time, and made all who held power fear the boy — from the southernmost tip of the continent to the dragon mountains.
Then he disappeared. All the kings feared the future as that boy grew; some saw him as a potential ally, while others considered him a threat — even seeking ways to eliminate him. But no one heard about him for years, until strange reports began to surface in Kaedwen: massacres of non-humans, an entire forest wiped out, dragons appearing — all in the same northern kingdom.
And then, even more striking events: on a gigantic scale that made the entire continent turn its eyes to Skellige, came the official declaration of a royal marriage between Madara Uchiha — who had left Cintra along with his position as duke — and Cirilla, the princess of that same kingdom.
A marriage had obviously alarmed the entire continent, and Anna had heard of it. It was quite a worrying piece of gossip within her small court, as it meddled with the politics of the Empire itself. Now, Cintra still had a member of the royal family alive, married to another noble who had belonged to Cintra and was a duke — a position second only to the royal family, and one normally used when the royal family could not link itself to other royal families from other kingdoms. In such cases, kings married their sons and daughters to their dukes.
An example of this is that Anna Henrietta also held such a status; she was a duchess who inherited the position directly from her parents because they had no male children, besides Anna and a sister who had died long ago.
Anna Henrietta could even become an empress of Nilfgaard if Emperor Emhyr negotiated a marriage with her, and no noble of Nilfgaard at court could directly oppose the decision — though they might voice complaints, and the duchy of Toussaint could be viewed unfavorably, since Anna did not take much part in the Empire's court to the south.
In any case, Anna seemed stunned, speechless for a moment.
"They are here…", Anna murmured, bringing her hand to her lips and biting them, thoughtful. Even her ladies-in-waiting shrank back in a corner, waiting to see what the duchess would do.
"I thought they were in Skellige, according to the latest news. For them to get here so quickly…" she said at last, breaking the silence.
"My lady, if they are here, our position is compromised along with the Empire's. It would not be wise to make them our enemies, but it also wouldn't be wise to hide this information. We must inform the emperor," said Damien De La Tour, the commander of the troops, in a serious tone. Anna nodded.
"That is true. Send a message directly to the Empire. Tell them that Toussaint has received… unexpected guests," she said, hesitating and sighing at the end.
Certainly, his very presence was already a great problem — being caught between a monster capable of destroying an entire army and the very Empire to which the duchy served. Anna knew how Nilfgaard hated Madara Uchiha and how they would do anything to get their hands on the princess of Cintra, especially before she and her new husband produced any child who could continue Cintra's royal bloodline, creating a legitimate heir and successor. After all, they were married.
"I heard they flew on a dragon after the wedding in Skellige. He might very well have come here with a dragon," whispered one of the ladies-in-waiting, in a tone that was both humorous and deadly, while the others looked horrified.
"That's true… I thought it was romantic when I heard it, but now the idea of having a dragon flying over Toussaint… that's horrible! Lady Henrietta, we have to do something!" murmured another of her companions as Anna stared at her.
"Any sighting of a dragon must be reported immediately. And also search for where they are. Tell me any of their activities. I want to know exactly what they are doing here. We cannot be their enemies, but we also cannot allow them to bring trouble!" said Anna, a little nervous, as her men began to move and the court erupted in concern and gossip.
The idea of seeing the legendary warrior with monstrous power — capable of destroying armies — was something everyone wanted to witness, but only from a safe distance. At the same time, just his name brought fear and panic. No man or knight wanted to face Madara Uchiha, because their abilities were nothing compared to fighting the giant blue creature that some survivors from the duchy who returned from the war had described to everyone — the horror of facing such a monster capable of cutting mountains like a god. They said he could fight thousands of men even before summoning the giant.
He was the first to charge into the battlefield and faced about one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers alone in a single battleground; legends say he was a killing machine, using a strange type of magic that could burn and cut enemies — magic that not even mages could replicate.
They said he was so fast he could make a vampire look like a turtle and that even surrounded, he remained a merciless killing machine without anyone managing to hit him even once. With such a reputation, Anna Henrietta didn't believe there could be any soldier or knight in Toussaint able to stand before the legendary Uchiha without trembling while holding a sword.
There were also rumors about his feats in Skellige: he faced giants, defeated the ancient legend called the Wild Hunt, and massacred its specters; he fought monsters all across the island. He was unbeatable, and there was no Skellige warrior capable of rivaling him.
Besides that, she had also heard comments about the princess who, strangely, was extremely powerful with the sword, along with her ethereal beauty that made even Anna feel like a peasant — or at least that was what some malicious and exaggerated remarks spread among the other nobles.
And hearing that the two were there, she also thought about the rumors that the couple was incredibly united, ventured together into danger, faced monsters, and that Ciri also possessed extraordinary magical powers.
Anna Henrietta only hoped that their visit would not cause a great problem for the duchy.
----
Back at the lake ruins, there were no secrets once they entered. The corridors simply had no traps or obstacles.
They found all the research documents of the Toussaint mage called Professor Moreau, who had tried to reverse his own son's mutation. Ciri was surprised when Madara explained that, with that, witchers could use the mutagen to become even more powerful.
"I see… so you're going to bring Vesemir here?" Ciri asked as soon as she heard Madara's explanation, picking up some of the books and documents left behind by the mage who had dedicated part of his life to the research.
Madara, who had been reading, closed the book and looked at Ciri. "Why not take everything directly to Kaer Morhen? I'll go there after Temeria. Vesemir should make good use of this, combined with the amount of mutagens I've managed to collect over time from the monsters we killed... He might even run experiments. If it worked in the game, it should work here too," Madara said, while Ciri believed her husband's words and remembered she hadn't seen that part in the game Madara had shown her. She hadn't gotten that far. But the fact that Madara had found that place already knowing what he would do there, without them ever having been there before, already proved a lot.
"I see… well, that sounds great. And I certainly don't want to spend the rest of the day inside a laboratory. We could keep exploring this wonderful place… and even have sex in some parts of this duchy…" she said with a silly smile.
"Of course," Madara replied with a smile as well, beginning to store the book away. He opened a few storage scrolls and placed everything from that laboratory inside the paper with fūinjutsu — all the research books and documents, flasks, even the chairs and the machines in the place. He would leave everything for Vesemir to decide what to do; after all, none of that was useful to Madara and Ciri, who were not mutants.
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