Luke had no way of explaining the Harrowing in too much detail. All he could really do was emphasize how dangerous it was.
When something had no proof behind it, even if he explained it clearly, other people might not believe him anyway.
After all, in the entire history of Demacia since the kingdom had been founded, it had never experienced anything like the Harrowing.
And if he explained it too clearly, it would inevitably lead back to the Sentinels of Light.
The fact that he had managed to get two extra units added this time already showed that the old woman was giving him plenty of face.
After leaving the palace and getting back into the carriage, Luke went straight home.
When the girls saw that he had once again gone out only briefly before returning, they all looked at him curiously.
They were wondering what exactly he had gone out to do those two times.
"I may be heading out in a little while," Luke said, looking at the girls in the courtyard. "This time it's a long trip."
Then he added, "Vayne, Quinn, and Frey, get your things ready. We're leaving soon."
The three of them nodded in acknowledgment.
Fiora frowned slightly. "Where are you going?"
Luke replied, "To the coast. Probably for seven to ten days."
At that moment, Lux—who had been sleeping soundly in the chair—began to stir, as though she had caught part of the conversation.
She woke, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and said without even thinking, "I'm going too."
Luke looked at her drowsy face and laughed. "You should just go back to sleep."
"Sleep for what?"
Lux was quickly waking up now. She looked over and huffed, "You're going out to have fun without me again, aren't you?"
Luke looked at her, thought for a second, then smiled. "Sure. Go pack up and get ready."
"Really? Wait for me!"
Lux's face lit up. She got up in a flash, jumped on her bicycle, and was just about to race home to pack.
Then, after only one push on the pedal, she slammed on the brakes.
Her expression turned serious, as if she had suddenly realized something important.
"What if my mom won't let me go?"
The moment that thought hit her, Lux immediately changed her plan and turned to Luke. "Actually, I don't think I really need to pack anything. Let's just leave right now."
From the look of her, she was clearly planning to leave first and explain later.
Once she got out of the capital, even ten horses would not be enough to catch her.
Then a voice drifted in from outside the courtyard.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Lux's little face froze.
She turned toward the gate.
Tianna was walking in slowly with her hands clasped behind her back, her calm eyes falling directly on Lux.
Lux shrank her neck and answered stiffly, "I want to go see the ocean."
"The ocean doesn't want to see you."
Tianna gave her a look and said irritably, "If I hadn't come by just now, were you planning to run off with this brat without a word?"
Luke added from the side, "Auntie, this one really isn't on me."
"Be quiet."
Tianna shot him a glare, then turned back to Lux, whose eyes were already darting around guiltily. In a stern voice, she said, "Until your studies are complete, you are not going anywhere."
Lux still had a little courage left when facing her aunt. "But—"
"There is no but."
Tianna cut her off seriously, a faint smile on her face. "Keep arguing with me, and the next person who comes over won't be nearly as easy to talk to."
Lux immediately thought of the tiger waiting back at home and lost all her spirit at once, slumping back into the chair like a wilted flower.
So much for going out this time.
Damn it.
Seeing how miserable the girl looked, Tianna explained the situation to the others as well.
"This boy is going out to handle something important this time. I assigned a mission to him and your brother, and they're heading to the coast. So stop thinking about tagging along."
Then Tianna looked at Luke. "Why are you still standing here? Go pack."
"On it."
Luke answered immediately and hurried off to pack his things.
Meanwhile, Quinn, Vayne, and Frey headed for the personal guard camp to notify them.
The personal guard corps would be coming too.
At that point, Fiora, Kahina, and Sona also understood why Luke was leaving on a long trip.
Kahina, like Lux, had not yet finished her studies, so there was an eighty percent chance she would not be allowed to go.
Fiora had briefly considered going along, but after a moment she gave up on the idea and sighed inwardly.
National Day on the eleventh was coming soon, and a great many relatives had already arrived from High Silvermere. As the daughter of the head of House Laurent, she could not leave.
Only Sona's eyes flickered at that moment.
She had already made her decision.
After a while, Luke finished packing.
Before leaving, he shoved a candy apple into Miss Crownguard's mouth and then reached out to pat her on the head.
All the while, he silently chanted in his heart:
Steal your luck, steal your luck, steal your luck...
Little blonde, watch over me. Please let me check in to something good on this trip.
At times like this, he honestly felt Lux was more reliable than any goddess.
"I'm off, then."
After absorbing a generous wave of luck, Luke climbed into the carriage and lifted the curtain to say goodbye.
Fiora looked at him with her cool eyes, and a flicker of concern flashed through them. "Be careful."
"Mhm."
Luke smiled.
"See you, Your Highness."
Kahina waved reluctantly, clearly unwilling to see him go.
Lux still had the candy apple in her mouth and muttered something in a tone that was impossible to make out while waving too.
But in the next second, she hurriedly swallowed the bite in her mouth and stared straight at Luke.
"Will you be back... before my birthday?"
Luke smiled. "If I'm not, then happy birthday in advance."
Truthfully, he did not know how long this trip would last.
The goal was to hold the border waters until the Harrowing faded.
But Lucian had not said in the letter exactly when the Harrowing would arrive.
That meant even he could only estimate the rough time, not pinpoint a specific day.
At that moment, Lux once again had the urge to go with him, but when she remembered Tianna standing behind her, she thought for a moment and then said:
"Then I'll lend you some of my good luck. Come back early."
Hearing that, and seeing her flawless little face, Luke suddenly felt a little guilty.
"Sorry, Miss Crownguard. I shouldn't have told Aunt Augatha that you ranked third from the bottom."
Lux: "?"
Are you even human?
You're really going to screw me over one last time before leaving?
Watching her expression turn darker by the second, Luke let the carriage curtain fall and ordered Yurna, "Let's go."
With a crack, the carriage slowly began to move.
It had barely gone a few steps when Luke suddenly thought of something.
Where was Sona?
It felt like he had not seen her since earlier.
Then, at the road ahead, Yurna's voice came from outside.
"Your Highness, it's Miss Sona."
As soon as the words fell, someone climbed into the carriage.
The curtain in front lifted, and the first thing that entered his sight was a cascade of sea-blue hair, followed by Sona's pure, breathtakingly beautiful face.
She stepped into the carriage with her etwahl in her arms and sat down inside, with absolutely no sign of getting back out. She clearly was not here just to say goodbye.
For some reason, there had always been a faint sense of mental connection between Luke and Sona.
So at that moment, even though Sona did not speak and he could not hear her thoughts—
Luke already understood what she meant.
The truth was, Luke himself did not even know what kind of danger the Harrowing might bring this time.
But now that he understood Sona's feelings, he rested a hand on her etwahl and asked with a smile, "No need to tell your parents?"
"I already had Kahina pass the message on to them."
Sona looked at him with smiling eyes.
"Fair enough."
Luke shifted his position, rested his head on Sona's lap, and instantly felt his whole body relax at the luxury of such a perfect pillow.
Then he closed his eyes, preparing to take a nap.
Sona lowered her head, her sea-blue eyes resting softly on his face. She smiled gently and did not disturb him.
Luke did not rest for long, perhaps only half an hour.
The carriage came to a stop at the city gates.
From there on, they would switch to horses.
Their destination this time was a coastal town near the border waters, so the fastest way to get there would be by ship.
About five hours south of the capital ran a broad river called the Silverglint River.
This river flowed in from the Conqueror's Sea and reached almost every corner of Demacia. To Demacians, it was practically a mother river.
It was also an important trade route, linking many different parts of the kingdom.
At the same time, whenever war broke out in the borderlands, the Silverglint River served as a vital route for moving troops.
Using the waterways often saved a great deal of time when traveling to faraway places that could be reached by river.
When he arrived at the gates, Luke first met up with Garen, the Dauntless soldiers, and his personal guards.
At a glance, after a month apart, the overall presence of the personal guards had clearly changed.
Over the last month, Luke had trained them in physical conditioning, spirit energy, swordsmanship, movement techniques, and close combat.
At the same time, he had prepared medicinal herbs for them to soak in when bathing.
For many of the personal guards, that month had been both painful and rewarding.
The pain came from the fact that the training methods Luke had introduced consumed an absurd amount of stamina.
In the past, their training had consisted of the usual things—long-distance running, squat jumps, weight-bearing drills, lifting, and sparring with each other until they had exhausted their strength.
But the exercises Luke gave them drained specific muscle groups far faster than normal training ever had.
And with added weights on top of that, every single day left them thoroughly spent.
Then at night, they would throw themselves into that medicinal bath.
The relief was unforgettable.
Still, the gains they had made over that month were very real. That alone was enough for the personal guards to understand that Luke had put a great deal of thought into all of this.
Not wanting to disappoint him, every one of them had trained as hard as they could.
And now, after a full month, they had already adapted to those methods.
As for this mission—traveling together with Luke—they were visibly excited.
The Dauntless Vanguard soldiers, meanwhile, were somewhat surprised to learn that His Highness the prince would be accompanying them to the border waters, but they accepted it easily enough.
At that moment, Garen studied Luke's three hundred personal guards.
With only one glance, he could already tell that this personal guard unit had an extremely solid, steady presence.
It did not seem any weaker than King Jarvan IV's own personal guard force.
It looked like His Highness had trained them quite well.
"Move out!"
After withdrawing his gaze, Garen gave the order.
The force set out in great numbers, riding forward in orderly formation.
Roughly five hours later, around five in the afternoon, they arrived at a town called Kashe.
The town sat south of the capital, right beside the Silverglint River.
It was a harbor town, and the people there all made their living building ships.
Demacia possessed quite respectable shipbuilding techniques.
At the harbor, seven Dauntless-class ships were already waiting.
Standing at the docks, Luke looked over the seven large vessels before him.
Each Dauntless-class ship was thirty-seven meters long and twelve meters wide, with room for seventy to ninety people.
These ships were built for battle, mainly for fighting off pirates from the coasts of Shurima. Their hulls were hard enough to withstand repeated collisions.
Generally, they were used to ram the enemy.
Above this class, there were even larger transport ships and passenger vessels.
Here, Luke unexpectedly ran into someone he knew.
A beautiful young woman rode up on horseback, a shield strapped to her back, clad in bright silver-white armor, with a long black braid hanging behind her.
She stopped beside Luke, swung down from the saddle, and greeted him with a bright smile.
"Your Highness, it's been a while."
"Cithria. It has."
Luke looked at her, a little surprised.
"Cithria!"
Quinn stepped forward and greeted her with a warm hug.
Cithria smiled brightly. "It's been too long."
After they let go, she also exchanged greetings with Vayne and Frey.
Then she turned to Sona and bowed politely. "Miss Sona, hello."
Sona nodded to her.
The two of them already knew each other.
Back then, before Cithria became part of the Dauntless Vanguard reserves, she had met Quinn, then gotten to know Sona and Kahina as well.
"So you're the reserve officer the old Marshal sent over?"
Luke looked at Cithria as he spoke.
"Mhm."
Cithria nodded. "I was assigned to Kashe, and then suddenly received orders from the capital. I never expected to run into Your Highness here."
Luke smiled. "Must be fate, then."
"I think so too."
Cithria returned the smile, and it was a very pretty one.
For some reason, seeing His Highness again made her a little happy.
As they talked, everyone boarded the ships.
Before long, the sails were raised, the hull gave a slight shudder, and the Dauntless ships began moving steadily toward their destination.
Standing on deck, Luke looked over the broad river below and the direction they were heading in. The experience felt pretty good.
This was his first time ever riding a ship, and from the looks of it, he did not get seasick.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
The seven ships sailed nonstop across the water, twenty-four hours a day.
By late morning, Luke woke up in his cabin, rubbed his slightly stiff neck, and sat up.
The conditions aboard ship were even a bit worse than in a carriage. A carriage on a smooth road could stay relatively steady.
A ship floating on the sea rocked every so often with the motion of the waves, and it was much less stable.
Still, that had not stopped Luke from sleeping this late. Through the window, he could see that daylight was already fully out.
So he got up and went outside.
The warm, somewhat dazzling sunlight fell over him, making Luke stretch lazily.
"Good morning, Your Highness," one of the soldiers greeted when he saw him.
"Morning."
Luke answered, then looked around.
In the direction they were traveling, all he could see was a single line on the horizon and the endless sea. Sunlight spread across the water like a cloak of gold.
From time to time, flocks of birds crossed the sky, and a few seagulls landed on the ship, curiously observing the humans.
When he turned around, all he saw behind him was more endless ocean.
The other six ships sailed around them ahead, behind, and to either side, each at a slightly different position, with crowds of people visible on their decks.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
Cithria's voice rang out, bright and full of energy.
Luke turned and returned the greeting with a smile.
By now, Cithria was already used to the fact that His Highness woke up at this hour. She asked, "Have you had breakfast yet, Your Highness?"
"Not yet. I'm not really hungry. Maybe later."
Luke shook his head.
Conditions aboard ship naturally could not compare to home. Over the last two days, all they had eaten was large-batch mess food. Whatever the soldiers on his ship ate, he ate too.
There was nothing luxurious about it.
Because they had left in such a rush this time, he had not packed much, unlike the trip to Edessa, when he had plenty of time to prepare.
At most, he had only brought along some of the drinks he liked.
"You should still eat something. I'll go get it."
Cithria made the decision for him and ran back into the cabin before he could object.
The girl's enthusiasm was genuinely likable.
Luke smiled and walked toward the bow.
There he found Sona seated quietly, gazing into the distance. The sea and sunlight were reflected in her deep blue eyes, softening them further.
Luke approached and sat down cross-legged beside her. From there, he could feel the cool wind blowing against them as the ship cut across the sea.
The scenery out over the ocean ahead really was beautiful.
He rested a hand on her etwahl and asked casually, "What are you thinking about?"
Sona came back to herself, turned to look at Luke, and smiled faintly. Her thoughts drifted gently toward him.
I miss home.
At that moment, Luke knew the home Sona meant was not the capital.
"It's been a long time since I was last on a ship," she continued, her gaze returning to the sea. "The last time I sailed was the day I was taken from Ionia to Demacia."
That year, Noxus's invasion shattered the peace of her true homeland.
That year, in order to protect them, the adults at the monastery sent them aboard a ship bound for Demacia.
And from that day forward, she had never gone back.
Even now, Ionia was still in turmoil.
But Sona did not know when she would ever be able to return.
Or whether she would get the chance at all.
Sensing the girl's quiet worry for her homeland, Luke thought for a moment before saying, "Ionia will make it through."
This war of invasion had already lasted many years.
At the beginning, everyone had thought it would be a war with an obvious outcome.
A land without a single unified nation, against a massive empire with overwhelming military power.
By all logic, those two should never have been on the same level.
At first, it had indeed looked that way. Noxus's invasion had been fierce and efficient, its armies pressing in from every side until it seemed as though Ionia would soon fall.
But under that pressure, some of the Ionian people had begun to resist.
And somehow, that resistance had endured all the way until now.
So many years had passed, and yet that land still did not belong to Noxus. In fact, the territories the empire had seized seemed to be slipping from its grip little by little.
Even in the long history of that war-driven empire of conquerors, that seemed to be a rare thing indeed.
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