Transmigrated as a Ghost

With Recha gone, Marcus and Mrazivý were once again left alone.

Of course, they both knew that they still had something else to deal with since Aria was certainly waiting for them.

"What are we going to do about your great grandmother?" Marcus asked Mrazivý, with a nervous expression.

He had no idea how or when Aria found him out, but what she might do was unclear, and Marcus was not sure what she could do.

She was far stronger than him, and if he got caught off guard or if she had an attack that could hit him even while ethereal, it would be the end.

Luckily Mrazivý responded favorably and said, "I think it should be fine. While I am a bit angry that she was following us around, she had plenty of opportunities to attack you if her plan was to dispose of you. For now, we should go and talk to her, and see what she wants. But if she does start attacking you, I will get in her way while escape."

Nodding his head Marcus agreed to Mrazivý's suggestion. While under normal circumstances he would never leave her against a dangerous opponent, he knew that Aria would not kill her.

With their plan made, they began walking back the way they came, and exited back into the musical crystal room where Aria was waiting for them.

"I suppose we should not beat around the bush, now that I have been found out. Marcus, Irene, or whatever you are, what is your intention."

At this point Aria, was nearly certain that Marcus meant no harm to the kingdom.

So far all he had done was help them even if it was only to his benefit, but Aria had also watched the way he had fought hard to keep Mrazivý safe, and it would be hard to fake the level of care he had shown for her.

Nevertheless, she needed to hear his answer for peace of mind, since if he could ever become a threat, putting him down early before he became more powerful was the prudent move.

Yet Marcus resolutely responded saying, "I intend to enjoy my life and see what this world has to offer. I do not seek any sort of dominion; I simply want myself and those I care about to be happy."

After saying that Marcus looked at Aria, with and expression as if saying, "Your move."

However, Aria's reaction was not what he had expected as she began to laugh.

'To think his answer would be some similar to yours, Grandfather Boreas. I wonder if that is just how everyone from a different world is.'

Seeing Marcus' determined and truthful response, the last bit of hostility that Aria had towards him disappeared, and the tension in the room practically vanished.

"Very well I believe you. From now on you can count on my support." Aria said, her friendly grandmother demeanor back.

Still seeing the way that Aria, had suddenly changed her bearing shocked him a bit. One second she was radiating hostility, and the next she was smiling like nothing had happened.

At this point though Marcus figured that this was the best outcome he could get, since Aria seemed to still look at him favorably.

"Great grandmother, if you know about Marcus', what about the king, have you told him as well." Mrazivý asked wanting to know how far up Marcus' secret had climbed.

Nodding her head Aria confirmed Mrazivý's suspicion and said, "Yes your father was with me when I found out. I must admit that even I was fooled, but it was Gwyneira who saw through their disguise and informed me, Darius, and the king and queen about Marcus."

Wincing, Marcus felt like he had done a poor job keeping his secret hidden, seeing as how the upper echelon of the kingdom now knew about him.

Luckily though, since no move had been taken against him, and Aria, had been keeping a watch on him, it seemed that the kingdom did not intend to kill him.

"Now seeing as how you have learned that we found you out, I might as well move up the timetable. I was going to request your presence for a meeting to discuss your relationship with the kingdom after the tournament, but since you already know, it might as well be as soon as possible. After your next match I will arrange a meeting for you with the king, so that the two of you can make your cases."

Aria then gave them both a knowing wink, and Marcus and Mrazivý realized she had heard their private conversation about breaking off Mrazivý's engagement.

"Great grandmother, I would ask that you please never eavesdrop on me again. We were discussing a personal matter just between the two of us. I understand that you may have been worried about my safety, but I can take care of myself."

Mrazivý was quite miffed by Aria's actions, and while she could understand them, she still could not condone them.

As a princess, to begin with she had very few moments that were truly private and knowing that one of her most personal moments had been listened in on made her feel frustrated.

"I get it, I will not listen in on you without your permission."

However, Aria then looked at Marcus and said, "But that means that you are the one that is going to need to look out for her."

"Of course, I would never let anything happen to Mraz." Marcus said with determination.

The two of them had grown much closer on their trip around the crystal caverns, and Marcus knew at this point that he was willing to risk his life for Mrazivý.

And naturally the same went for her. Mrazivý had come to understand just how much Marcus cared about her, and her own feelings towards him were growing by the day.

"Well, now that we have had our little discussion we can talk more later. I need to get back and prepare a few things, and I am sure that you would want to be ready for your next match. So let us meet again after that."

Aria, then began to shimmer before disappearing heading back to the capital first to inform a few people about these new developments, and to make some necessary arrangements.

"I guess we should head back ourselves." Marcus said to Mrazivý with a slightly sad smile.

He had really enjoyed their trip but the midway through interruption kind of brought the whole experience down.

And they had to leave since otherwise he would not have time to get ready for his next match in the tournament.

Thus, the two of them made the long journey out of the crystal caverns tracing back the way they came.

Soon, they made it back to the deep ravine that was miles deep and began the accent back to the surface.

Luckily, they were able to go a bit faster this time since they did not need to worry about looking for anything and just went straight up until they hit the surface.

'Ah it is good to be out. As much as all of the crystals were a sight to behold, being able to see the sky above is somewhat comforting.'

Having made it back out of the ravine Marcus looked up and appreciated the wide-open space before him.

"Mraz I will go ahead and transform and fly us back to the capi-."

Yet as Marcus was turning around but before he could finish his sentence, Mrazivý wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

It was only for a moment before she backed off her face fully red from embarrassment and said "Thank you for taking me here. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed our time together."

"Yeah, it really was fun, until we got interrupted. So how about we come back again some other time and we can really explore the depths of this place." 

After that the two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Marcus once again transformed into a caladrius and began the flight back to the capital.