The Martial Unity

When Rui woke up, he was unable to recall.

He was unable to recall where he was.

What he was doing.

How he had arrived.

For a moment, he simply blanked out, staring at the white ceiling that greeted him the moment he woke up.

And then it all came back in a flood.

He had returned to the Kandrian Empire.

He had successfully returned home with the Divine Doctor and had delivered him before the slumbering Emperor of Harmony.

He had completed his long-awaited goal.

For a moment, he felt like he was still sleeping.

Dreaming.

It was surreal.

Far too surreal.

Yet, it soon settled once he became more aware.

His attention turned to the place he was in.

An extravagant and ostentatious bedroom clad with precious metals and stones that could be nowhere else except in the Royal Palace.

Several maids and butlers bowed to him the moment he sat in his bed.

"Greetings, Your Highness." The head maid greeted him with a deeply revering tone.

He frowned. "How long has it been since I was asleep?"

"It's been about eight hours, Your Highness."

He narrowed his eyes.

Even though he had gone to sleep very shortly after he stopped the utility of his Martial Mind, he still essentially slept a good night's worth of sleep.

Of course, he had also accumulated a lot of normal mental and physical fatigue and exhaustion from traveling to the Kandrian Empire as fast as possible during the final stretch, which probably significantly inflated the amount of rest that he needed to recuperate.

Thankfully, it had been enough.

"Your Highness, you have received a Royal missive addressed to you."

The maid and butlers knelt on one knee as a scroll bearing the royal seal was presented to Rui by the head maid.

It was indeed addressed to Rui.

The sender was not mentioned, which most likely meant it was from Sage Sayfeel. His father had probably set up a system through which Sage Sayfeel could exercise authority without ever being exposed.

It would explain how he was able to exercise authority over a national treasure such as the Topaz of Time to be used to find the Divine Doctor.

He unfurled the scroll, reading the message.

[With the royal authority bestowed unto the missive by the royal seal, Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria has been summoned to the royal room of the royal medical wing of the Vargard Royal Palace.]

He immediately got up, heading to the designated location in a hurry.

After all, it was the place where his father was being treated.

As he strode through the Royal Palace, he couldn't help but worry.

His paranoia surged against his will.

What if the Divine Doctor had failed?

What if he had been lying about his ability to heal the Eternal Dream Disease?

What if he hadn't been lying but made a mistake and screwed up the process?

His heart pounded against his ribcage, threatening to break out until he arrived at several Martial Master royal guards guarding the royal medical wing.

They shook.

They shook as their eyes widened.

For a moment, they had become paralyzed.

"…Your Highness…?" Pure and unadulterated shock emerged from them as they witnessed a Martial Master where there was supposed to be a Martial Senior.

They didn't understand.

They didn't understand how such a thing could happen.

Yet, Rui had no intention of explaining himself.

It wasn't important at the moment.

"Authorization." He showed them the scroll, walking past them without so much as missing a beat.

Layer after layer of intense security in place specifically to protect the Emperor erupted with shock and bewilderment when they detected a Master-level aura from the Final Prince.

Yet, Rui paid them no mind.

His attention was fixed on one and only one thing.

STEP

He arrived at the massive gates that opened to the royal ICU at the core of the medical wing specifically designed for his father.

CLACK

The door opened, and Rui's senses surged, eager and anxious to see what had become of his father.

The difference was almost dizzying.

Where there was once a decrepit old man who awaited death was a vibrant and vigorous man with glowing skin and golden hair.

His flesh had rejuvenated tremendously, returning to what it looked like in his prime. His hair resembled strands of the sunlight, almost luminous in how golden they were. His expression was peaceful and serene.

Harmonious as befitting him.

For the first time in a long time, the Emperor of Harmony truly rested.

"Haha…Hahaha…" A weak laugh escaped Rui as he beheld the miracle that he had persevered through countless tribulations to achieve.

He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It was difficult to parse.

Difficult to truly fathom the state of reality as it was.

Yet, as of this moment, he lived in a world where the Emperor of Harmony lived.

A world where the Emperor of Harmony had finally been healed of an illness that once meant certain death.

A world where Rui would not need to ascend the throne.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Sage Sayfeel's voice broke him out of his reverie.

His voice was saturated with gratitude and joy.

He bowed deeply. "Thank you. I, Sage Sayfeel, will never forget this for as long as I live. Never before have I been this grateful to have been proven wrong. I thank the universe for being aligned in a way that caused me to accept the hope that you had delivered to me."

Rui closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Raise your head, Your Sagehood; it is unbecoming of someone of your stature and being to bow before a Martial Master."

"I beg to differ, Your Highness," Sage Sayfeel denied Rui's words with a smile on his face. "I'm sure the emperor will agree with me when he wakes up in a few days, according to the Divine Doctor. While getting rid of the physical symptoms after the surgery was a trivial accomplishment, the mental symptoms could not be hastened. This is good, after all…"

His tone grew more serious.

The air grew tense.

It tingled under the severity of the Martial Sage.

"…We have many, many things to talk about."

-