Ocean dropped the message about his findings at Ortbon to Aelfric before he returned to Ryujin mansion.

But since he wasn’t in his usual Ocean form but in his Rheanor’s disguise, Roan who was the first in the office early in the morning got shocked.

"Wha-What the- Why is an elf here?" He gasped.

Rheanor/Ocean placed his finger over his earstud reverting back to his Ocean’s form and Roan’s jaw dropped.

"Since when do you have a disguise of an elf?" Roan asked and Ocean shurgged.

"And where did you go?" Roan asked and Ocean looked at the letter that he had left before leaving in Roan’s hand.

"Didn’t you read?" Ocean asked removing his mask before running his hands through his face and hair.

Roan glanced at the letter and then sighed, "It just says that you are away for an emergency and will be back till the Trial, that’s it. How should I know where you went?"

Ocean hummed before answering , "I went to Ortbon. There was a little problem."

Roan grew a little concerned, "What kind of a problem?"

"Nothing that couldn’t be solved quickly. But the situation there is escalating fast." Ocean said and started removing his coat, Roan stepped ahead and helped him.

"What exactly happened?" Roan asked as he placed the coat on the stand.

"One of the spy Dwarves was possessed by a foolish demon."

Roan whipped his head to look at Ocean who said that with a tone that it wasn’t just a matter of someone’s life or death but something trivial.

"What?" Roan asked.

Ocean hummed, "It was a dumb demon who gave me information including his own name on a little provocation so, it was pretty easy."

Roan watched as Ocean undid the cufflinks of his sleeves before he started folding the sleeves up to his elbow revealing the smooth, being pale arms.

"I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess." Roan muttered.

"Tell Enora to prepare breakfast, are the Princes up yet?"

"Not yet, it’s 5 in the morning, Master." Roan reminded him.

"You’re up and at work." Ocean pointed out.

Roan rolled his eyes, "That’s because I want to finish whatever’s left so that I could go and watch today’s Trial."

Ocean hummed, "What a sincere aid I have."

He then turned to Roan reaching out and patted his head making Roan narrow his eyes.

"Stop treating me like a kid," he grumbled but didn’t try to push away Ocean’s hand.

Ocean chuckled watching him, ruffling his red hair to mess them a little before he headed towards the door.

"Hey, your mask." Roan reminded and Ocean groaned.

"Let it be." He said waving his hand dismissively.

Ocean left his office in measured steps, walking down the quiet corridor toward his room. The early dawn still clung to the mansion, and most of the household slept. He could feel the fatigue in his bones — a lingering ache from the night spent confronting the dwarven crisis, followed by the abrupt return home.

He had neither rested nor eaten.

His mana reserves were steady, but his body reminded him sharply that it was still human enough to tire.

The hallway was dim, lit only by spaced lanterns. Ocean opened his door, stepped inside, and immediately rang the bell pull beside the wardrobe. The maids arrived within moments, bowing when they saw him.

"Prepare the bath," he instructed quietly.

They moved quickly, filling the wide marble tub with steaming water, scattering a few calming herbs at the surface. When they finished, Ocean dismissed them with a nod.

As soon as the door clicked shut, he placed a hand on his earstud.

A pulse of mana flowed outward.

His form shifted — shoulders narrowing, height softening, hair flowing longer and lighter. Reina stood in Ocean’s place, the room filling with her gentler but sharper presence.

She loosened the ties of her robe and let it fall, stepping toward the bath. The steam curled around her as she lowered herself into the water, the heat enveloping her like a warm sigh.

Reina sank in slowly, letting the warmth rise along her skin, easing the tension locked in her shoulders. The ache in her muscles — the strain of teleportations, mana exertion, and lack of rest — began to unwind.

A quiet breath left her lips as she slumped back against the smooth lip of the white marble tub. The water lapped gently against her collarbones, carrying the faint scent of the herbs the maids had added.

Her hair loosened from its braid and floated around her, spreading across the water like strands of pale silk. A few wet locks clung to her shoulders, framing the sharp line of her jaw in softer curves.

The silence was deep and comforting.

The kind of silence only early morning offered.

Reina closed her eyes briefly, letting her mind drift — not fully resting, not yet, but allowing the tension to drain from her body.

After a long night of demons, dwarves, and unexpected intrusions, the warmth of the bath grounded her more than she expected. For the first time since her return, she let herself exhale without restraint.

After the relaxing bath, Reina wiped herself dry and slipped on a black shirt and deep gray slacks before taking a seat on the armchair before the chess game.

She started placing the pieces accordingly, and crossed her arms at her chest leaning back in her seat when she was done.

There was a Warlock or as per the terms Dominus at the Edrisyl island and he was responsible for the growing enmity between the Pureblood Elves and the Dark Elves. It was a smart move to not be inside Elvenland as it would be extremely tricky to avoid Yggdrasil which could sense their presence and send the alarm bells ringing all over the island.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head back for a minute and ended up dozing off.

Reina woke when she felt a warm, soft hand touch her shoulder.

"Master." Enora’s gentle voice called and Reina opened her eyes rubbing them slightly.

"Good morning, Master." She greeted him with a smile and Reina stifled a yawn.

"Morning, Enora. What time is it? Reina asked, her voice a little thick from the drowsiness.

"It’s seven o’clock, Master. The Princes and Young Master are already awoken, the breakfast is also prepared." She informed her and Reina nodded rising to her feet stretching her arms above her head listening to the satisfying pops.

"You must take some rest after today’s Trial, Master. It’s not good to be pushing yourself like this." Enora said and Reina chuckled.

"I’m fine, Enora. Besides, I need to go see Sol today, I’ve been pushing that for a while now."

Reina then touched her earstud and the mana shimmered around her before her form shifted back to Ocean’s.

Enora helped Ocean into a vest and combed his hair to tie it back in a ponytail before placing his mana devices on him and finally a blue mask to cover his half face.

After Ocean was ready, the two walked out of his room and made their way to the dining hall.

The two Princes along with Kai waited for Ocean at the dining table.

"Good morning, Your Highnesses." Ocean spoke sounding cordial.

"Good morning, Marquis Ocean." Eric and Carlos spoke. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Ocean nodded with a smile before walking to his chair at the head of the table.

"Good morning, Father." Kai beamed and Ocean patted his head as he passed by him.

"Morning, Kai."

The breakfast was served and the men ate quietly, the only sound the echoed throughout the large hall was the sound of the soft clink of the silver cutlery on procelain.

Ocean observed both Eric and Carlos as they are, Eric was vibrant and calm, Carlos looked troubled but he had it hidden quite well.

Ocean didn’t say anything to them and today’s Trial was a one-on-one duel. Eric and Carlos were going to fight and it might just end up quickly and there wasn’t any need of jury since the victor would be the one that would be standing in the end.

Ocean couldn’t help but feel like something was going to happen today, he had noticed the lie that Katherine had told him. The witch or her minion had met Katherine the other day and there was no way that Katherine wouldn’t take a chance to make sure that her son would somehow win.

There was still time for the Trial so, Ocean had the two Princes gather at the interior training ground of his mansion along with their guards Drac and Hopkins.

Carlos seemed wary as he stood beside Eric.

Ocean arrived there making his way towards the two. He observed both of them before putting on an impassive expression.

"Your Highnesses, as you know today is the combat Trial." Ocean started.

"And after what happened at the previous Trial I think we should have a brief training before the actual duel." Ocean suggested.

Carlos’s eyes widened and Eric nodded, "I’m fine with it."

"I-I’m not." Carlos stammered making all the eyes turn to him.

"Are you sure? I will spar with you two personally and give you some pointers which would help you, I know it’s last minute but I don’t want to repeat what happened the other day." Ocean said and Carlos glanced at Eric and then at Hopkins.

The Trial required him to personally fight and there was no way that he could defeat Eric after watching how much the people and knights praised his strength and valor. Eric could beat him in a few seconds and even if he trained for years it would be for naught.

"I’ll suggest for Your Highness to take this training." Hopkins told Carlos.

"I won’t fight back," Ocean added, "I won’t even carry any weapon."

Carlos was tempted to snort as he knew even without any weapon this man was capable of killing anyone.

"It’ll be an honor to spar with you, Marquis." Eric beamed like an excited child and Carlos gritted his teeth, wanting to not deal with this but also feeling like he should give it a try and see what he could gain.

"All right." He grumbled and Ocean nodded.

"So, first spar shall be between me and Prince Carlos." Ocean announced making Carlos’s eyes go wide and face pale.

"What? Why am I the first?"

"Prince Eric could do well, even without any last minute training, Your Highness, it’s you I am worried about." Ocean spoke.

Carlos clenched his jaw, he wanted to retort but Ocean’s tone wasn’t mocking and he knew he was useless so, if this training could make any difference he wanted to do it. If there wasn’t a victory then at least he wanted to save his face by not looking completely pathetic before the people.

"All right," he gave in and Ocean stepped back.

"Let’s start then."