The next morning, Lucia sat alone in her study, staring at the gilded invitation in her hand, deeply at a loss.
The invitation was very simple in content. Radagon would host a banquet by Lake Leyndell at noon the following day for the Carian delegation, who had come from afar. It also emphasized that all the demigods were as close as brothers and sisters, and therefore asked Lucia to make time to attend.
What was complicated was the nature of the invitation. This was not like the previous official letters from the Hall of Eternity, issued jointly in the names of Marika and Radagon. It was a private letter from Radagon alone, and the seal at the end was his personal one. In other words, legally speaking, Queen Marika had not the slightest connection to this invitation. It could be understood entirely as Radagon's personal invitation.
As for Her Majesty the Queen, who ought to have been a central figure at the banquet, she had suddenly announced that morning that she would attend a memorial ceremony for the Eastern Expedition Legion in the town of Roderia. The ceremony would last three days. Before setting out, the Queen had specifically invited the Ancient Dragon priestess Lansseax, and had also brought along Godwyn's eldest legitimate son, Godrick, and his illegitimate son, Godfrey.
Everything had happened with astonishing suddenness. The Ancient Dragon Knight Lansseax had sent to inform Lucia of the news had not even reached Valeria Hall before the Queen's entourage had already left the inner city of Leyndell.
In the brief letter delivered by the Ancient Dragon Knight, Lansseax mentioned that the Queen's trip was probably intended to keep her away from tomorrow's lakeside banquet. She urged Lucia to be extra careful in all matters over the next couple of days,