Chapter 4: The Kingdom of Ishelon and the Kingdom of Tissuria

The people from Ishelon and Tissuria were seasoned warriors, and the other kingdoms and empires in the continent were aware that they would not be able to match the abilities of the said warriors. Lucky for them, neither Ishelon nor Tissuria was interested to take over other kingdoms and empires. When the Great War broke out, Ishelon and Tissuria were able to defend their territory. The other kingdoms and empires came to know that they still needed to spend more years in training to defeat either Ishelon or Tissuria.

When the great war of Maecaea erupted, the people of the Kingdom of Tissuria busied themselves in defending their empire against the other kingdoms and empires. Tissuria knew that Ishelon was not interested in the war and was only defending their kingdom against anyone who wanted to invade them. The people of Tissuria and Ishelon set aside their petty quarrels and concentrated on more pressing matters. When the other kingdoms and empires decided to stop attacking Tissuria and Ishelon, the two kingdoms resumed their petty disputes.

Occasionally, a battle would erupt between the two kingdoms. Each time a reign was passed to the next generation of monarchs, the officials always suggested a peace treaty. None was successful, and so the occasional battle did not cease. Both kingdoms did not intend to make their people suffer, but the occurrences of fighting between empires were difficult to suppress.

Citizens of either kingdom were mostly hot-blooded, and a simple dispute could easily turn into something big. The people who only wished to live in peace could do nothing to stop the warring parties. Those who attempted to stop the disputes always ended up getting injured. In the end, everyone decided that it would be best to stay away and just mind their own business. The innocents suffered silently.

To end the people's sufferings, the current king of Ishelon and the king of Tissuria were keen on signing the peace treaty between their two kingdoms. King Jarod of Ishelon and King Tarendino of Tissuria had agreed to a political marriage and hoped that the offspring would be able to bring the much-awaited peace throughout the kingdom – that what was everyone thought.

Both kings received an intelligence report that a group of unscrupulous officials in Tissuria was already making preparations to attack Ishelon and overturn King Jarod's reign. They were planning to put the blame on King Tarendino and ignite the ire of the people of Ishelon. However, they could never do it on their own. They had another group helping them. That group was Ishelon's very own officials.

The original plan was to marry off Princess Jemilla of Ishelon to Vaughn, the Crown Prince of Tissuria. This plan disrupted Vaughn's arrangement for his future wife. He had been preparing for his big day for a long time now, and Princess Jemilla was not the bride that he had in mind.

The intelligence report was bad news, but not to Vaughn. It gave him an opportunity to reason out with his father regarding changing the bride to Zenia Anisen. King Tarendino knew Ovid Anisen's achievement and Zander's name was also well-known in their kingdom. In fact, two of King Tarendino's daughters wanted to marry Zander Anisen.

"How is everything? Were they able to change my bride yet?" Vaughn asked his top retainer Redivo for the changes that he suggested to his father.

"King Jarod already told the Anisens about the plan, but," Redivo hesitated for a bit.

"But what? Don't tell me it's not going smoothly." Anger could be detected from the tone of Vaughn's voice.

Redivo knew that Vaughn had been planning everything for a long time. Vaughn had prepared his seamless plan, which had been drafted carefully, to trap the unscrupulous officials. Zenia was a bonus that he had been planning to get from the very beginning. If no one suggested the political marriage between him and Princess Jemilla, he would ask Zenia's hand in marriage as his reward for capturing the enemy within their kingdom.

Vaughn was already aware that a certain group was planning to create a huge dispute between Ishelon and Tissuria. He just needed to secure more evidence before presenting the criminals to the whole of Tissuria. He was quite surprised that his father was able to receive such a report.

"The replacement bride was reluctant to take on the role," Redivo explained without hiding anything.

Vaughn smirked. He knew that Zenia would likely refuse the marriage. He also knew that she might even try everything, together with her brother Zekiah, to escape the marriage.

"I'll be more surprised if she agreed easily. Zenzen never changed a bit. Even if she has grown up and turned into a fascinating woman, she's still mischievous as ever."

"Should we continue monitoring the movements of the siblings, my Lord?"

"Yes, that's already a given. A prey like that is not easy to capture and keep. The best way to do it is to remain low key. Don't let them know that they are being closely guarded."

Vaughn left the room and headed to the direction of the garden where he kept his collection of different herbs and flowers. In the deepest part of the garden stood a majestic greenhouse that was the home of a rare, exquisite flower.

Vaughn opened the door of the greenhouse and trod the path leading to his rare collection. He personally cultivated that flower for years and he named it Zenia.

He touched the flower gently as if he was touching the delicate face of his lover.

"We will meet again soon Zenia. It's time to put you to your rightful place."