"Benjamin, you will visit the seven great kingdoms of Elyndor," Renard started again, his tone firm and final as he kept his calculating blue eyes locked on the young man, "Do not worry about freedom and all of that. You are free to move around as you like whenever you wish.

"But please, understand that you have become quite the prize in everyone’s eyes and must not be hoarded by any single kingdom or person. It would be better if you chose no one in fact.

"You joining one side makes the others feel deeply threatened, as your growth continues to be unusually rapid and unpredictable.

"So joining all kingdoms equally, or joining none at all, remains the best approach to maintaining peace and harmony across Elyndor. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying," Benjamin answered, locking his still-droopy blue eyes directly with Renard’s bright ones across the wide oval table, his head still propped on his hand while his elbow rested firmly on the glowing vine-inlaid surface. "But I feel something off in the way you keep referring to me... Renard, you think I’m stupid, don’t you?"

"Oh dear," Renard giggled lightly, waving one hand in a casual, dismissive gesture as his shoulders shook with soft amusement, though his posture stayed perfectly composed in his seat. "I never thought of that for even a single moment, Benjamin. I KNOW you are dumb!"

"..."

Then a dark, smoky essence began to leak slowly off both men’s bodies at the same time.

Thick tendrils of shadowy energy coiling lazily around their forms like living mist, swirling upward from their shoulders and chests while they calmly watched each other without blinking, the air between them growing heavier and charged.

"Renard! Please, stop this right now!" Elara exclaimed suddenly, her voice cracking with open worry as her face etched deeply with concern.

Her arms unfolded as she half-rose from her seat and gestured sharply with one hand toward the Amazon guards stationed at the wide entrance of the hall to leave.

"H... He is still only recently awakened. He is normally much more... Please, calm down before this escalates!"

Surprisingly, Mótsognir added his deep voice in support of Elara, his thick fingers quietly running through his bushy reddish-brown beard as he leaned forward slightly in his chair, his pot belly pressing against the table’s edge.

"Listen to her, Lazarus!" he said, his tone low and urgent. "A kid’s a kid. And you’re being far too pushy right no— Ah!"

At that exact moment, Elara, Sakura, Titania, and everyone else who knew both Benjamin and Renard closely began to panic openly.

Their bodies tensed sharply in their seats — shoulders rising and eyes widening — as visible fear flashed across their faces.

Why?

Because Benjamin and Renard... simply disappeared.

One heartbeat they were still seated there, dark smoke coiling around them...

But the next heartbeat both chairs stood empty.

There was no sound or flash, there was no ripple in the air — they were simply gone, as if reality itself had folded them away without warning.

Elara was nearing the brink of tears, her frame trembling slightly as she gripped the edge of the oval table hard enough to make the wood creak faintly, her voice rising with desperation.

"Wh-when last was Renard this enraged?" She whispered, before turning to the blonde woman, "Seraphina, please stop him before anything irreversible happens!"

Sakura joined the plea immediately, her sharp amber eyes wide with rare vulnerability as she set her kiseru pipe down with a soft clink, leaning forward so her pink hair fell across one shoulder.

"S-Seraphina-sama! I beg you, Benjamin is but innocent and still green in so many ways! Renard sh-should not—"

THOOOM-CRACK!!

A loud, deafening thunder resounded through the entire Whispering Wild, the sound rolling like massive boulders crashing together as the day, which had been nearing noon with soft golden light filtering through the living canopy, suddenly dampened into near-evening gloom.

Thick clouds of heavy grey rolled in rapidly overhead, swallowing the sunlight and casting the grand hall into deep shadows.

The living ironwood trunks seemed to groan softly, their glowing veins dimming as the temperature dropped noticeably and a cold wind began to howl outside the arched entrances.

It was a storm.

Lotus, Isabelle, and Vaelora all wore deeply worried expressions on their faces, their bodies shifting uncomfortably where they stood.

Lotus’s straight posture breaking into a slight hunch, Isabelle’s green crystal eyes darting around nervously, and Vaelora’s flowing white gown rustling as she clutched the golden clip at her waist, all three wondering silently what in the world was unfolding beyond the hall.

Vibrations followed quickly, rumbling up through the floor and into the massive table, causing the chairs to tremble lightly and the vine inlays to flicker erratically, as the full roaring storm continued to erupt outside.

Fierce winds whipped through the trees of Verdant Spire, rattling the living canopy overhead and sending scattered leaves and petals swirling into the hall through the open arches.

Rain began to lash against the outer bark walls in heavy sheets, the sound mixing with continuous thunder that shook the ancient structure.

All of this chaos lasted no longer than around two short minutes before...

Silence came.

Though the day remained dark and heavy with grey clouds, and the wind still howled mournfully through the Whispering Wild, the violent roaring and vibrations inside the hall abruptly ceased.

The glowing veins on the table slowly steadied their pulse once more, casting faint emerald light across the stunned faces of the leaders.

Everyone began turning their necks slowly, eyes scanning the empty spaces where Renard and Benjamin had been, heads tilting, shoulders tense, breaths held as they searched for any sign of what had just happened.

"Alright, alright!" A familiar voice cut through the heavy quiet suddenly — Renard’s voice, sounding slightly winded but still carrying that light, casual tone.

Somehow, Renard and Benjamin were back in their exact seats, as if they had never left at all.

Like the world itself had been the one to step away for a moment and then return them neatly into place.

The dark smoky essence had vanished completely from around their forms.

"Y-Your majesty?!" Izra yelped at the sight before her, her long silver braid swinging as she stepped half a pace forward from behind Renard.

Her dark eyes widened sharply while her fiery Amazon posture faltered for the first time.

Renard now had a fresh, clean cut intersecting his left eye, a thin line of blood trickling slowly down his cheek, and another deeper cut visible across his throat, the edges still faintly smoking.

His blonde hair was slightly disheveled, and his usual relaxed shoulders carried a new tension.

Benjamin, who was now fully awake with his droopy eyes clear and alert, had his adventurer’s tunic burned and hanging in charred tatters around his torso, exposing patches of unmarked skin beneath.

He exhaled slowly, and a thin trail of dark smoke curled out from between his lips, drifting upward before dissipating.

His brown hair stood spiky and wild, as if struck directly by lightning, crackling faintly with residual energy.

"Okay, people," Renard had a pouty expression on his face now, his lips pushed out in mild annoyance as the wound on his throat and the cut near his eye slowly began to close and heal before everyone’s eyes, the skin knitting together smoothly while the blood faded away.

He continued; "I have discussed the matter SERIOUSLY with Benjamin, and he has agreed to visit the kingdoms... but only when he feels like it, and not like some forced obligation. Happy now?"

Benjamin glanced sideways at the human king and gave a small, casual nod.

His spiky hair was still settling as he leaned back slightly in his chair, the remnants of his tunic shifting with the movement.

He replied Renard; "We didn’t actually have to fight about it first, haha. You’re too stubborn, Renard."

"I’m telling you, you disrespectful brat, call me King Renard!!" Renard shot back, his pout deepening as he pointed one finger across the table.

"What? We’re like the same age in appearance," Benjamin shrugged his shoulders lightly, the motion causing more of his burned tunic to flake away, his voice carrying easy confidence. "Don’t be so cocky. Okay, call me Lord Benjamin too."