Chapter 103 - 103. NEW YEAR
Magnus followed the Prince to what looked like a giant tent in the garden. There were men with guns standing at the entrance. They looked tall and intimidating. They tried to scare Magnus by staring daggers at him. But, while crossing them Magnus just did a "Humph..." and ignored them.
As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a lavish room. There were sofas, there was a coffee table and also a lot of showpieces. And the obsession with gold was off the charts there as everything in the room had gold attached to it to some extent. Then, Magnus noticed the diamond he just sold, laying on the coffee table, in a nice glass showcase.
The King surprisingly got up to greet him. Magnus was not expecting to be respected here as most adults just scoffed at the idea of putting a child at the same level.
"Welcome to Riyadh, Magnus. You can also call me Faisal. I don\'t have the breath to say long titles each time so forgive me, haha... I\'m old now." King Faisal frankly spoke.
Magnus kinda liked him if this was his real personality.
"Thank you for that VIP box. Had I known my secret wasn\'t a secret, I would have met you sooner." Magnus said, although he was just bullshitting. Why would he decide to meet a random old dude instead of spending time with family?
"As the King, it\'s my job to know things. But I understand your special circumstances. However, it\'s just a matter of time before you get officiated. Come, let\'s eat together." He invited Magnus to the sofa.
Magnus took the seat opposite him and asked, "Aren\'t you going to get this diamond carved?"
"Why would I? There\'s a different beauty in nature. This is an untainted, finest example of how beautiful nature can be." King Faisal said.
Magnus\' eye twitched and thought ~He sells oil and talks about nature... Am I hearing right?~
"I know that face, hah, we all must do what we must to take care of our people. If oil can give them a good life, then so be it." The king tried to clarify his stance.
"But if you bet on just oil, it\'s only a matter of time before you go back to being poor. There is a limited amount and the technology is improving at a very fast pace. Someday, electric cars will take the place of oil ones. It won\'t happen anytime soon, maybe not even the reign of the next few kings, but it is inevitable." Magnus said with a hint of warning.
"What else can we do in this jungle of sand? Food doesn\'t grow here, water is scarce... We have no other industry to rely on." King Faisal argued.
Magnus quickly answered, "You\'ve got so many Wizards under you. Use them to find a way to make your soil fertile. Find a good herbologist and make them develop a crop seed that can grow in this kind of atmosphere. The world doesn\'t care if it was developed by Wizards, all they care about is that it exists."
King Faisal nodded, "I have already done that. But, none of them could find a breakthrough."
"Then hire foreign Wizards. You have the money." Magnus said.
"Yes, that I do." The king did not speak about this topic anymore as revealing state secrets was nothing but foolishness.
Rather, he got up and took out a small orb from a chest. It was metallic and golden in colour. But it was certainly not made of gold.
"I wanted to show you this. Saudi Arabia is not a very old country, but it existed with various names throughout the history. My family is also very old, but in those days it was not as powerful.
"This orb shows an image, of Great Merlin and an ancestor of my family. Only a member of my family can see the image by touching it. I do not know why they met or why Merlin was here, but, this has been a family heirloom since then. It is proof that my family is not some upstarts. We have a profound history." The king exuberantly told him about it.
Magnus looked at the orb with interest, "Can I hold it?"
"Yes yes, if anyone other than my family, it must be you." King Faisal handed it to him.
Magnus looked at it from all sides. He didn\'t know how it worked, so he sent magic in it. And, unexpectedly, it showed a holographic image of two people shaking hands. One was a young Merlin and the other was most likely an ancestor of King Faisal.
But, this time, a text also appeared. It was in runic language. Magnus knew a little bit of it and the message was also written in simple characters.
"Hmm... It says, \'A new friend in the middle of a desert. And for the last time, I will not marry your five daughters.\' Haha... It seems your ancestor must have had an adventure with Merlin." Magnus laughingly said.
The King was a little bit shocked and laughed, " Haha... I had heard from old Wizards that Merlin was a funny man, now I experienced it. Man is dead but still making jokes."
"Yeah, he does that a lot," Magnus muttered.
Magnus then got up to leave, he\'d rather spend more time with his family than with this old man, "Well, It was a pleasure meeting with you. I will go back to my family now and spend the New Year with them. I also have a return flight tomorrow."
"Yes yes... Happy new year to you, Magnus." King wished him. He had done what he wanted, to leave an impression in the mind of Magnus. So that when he later becomes the king, he will at least remember him.
"You too, Faisal." Magnus left the tent after a goodbye.
Outside, he met Ragnar and Ted, who were acting vigilantly. They were making a plan to barge into the tent if Magnus did not come out soon. So when they saw him, they felt at ease.
"What happened there? Did they try to harm you?" Ted quickly asked him, not just as his lawyer but as an adult caring for a kid.
"Do you really think things would be so calm if they had tried to harm me? I would have burned down that tent with everyone in it. Don\'t worry, it was just the King wanting to meet me. It seems he has wizards under his command and knew about my other background." Magnus explained.
"That\'s a relief. I was worried you met someone our mums told us to stay away from." Ragnar jokingly said.
"Okay, let\'s try to find my parents, it\'s nearly 12 AM and I wish to be with them," Magnus decided and headed to look for Grace and Adam.
...
Grace and Adam were calmly sitting at a table, drinking some wine and just talking to each other.
*Sigh*
"I still can\'t understand how I was able to impress you back in high school," Adam said with a loving sigh as he stared into Grace\'s pretty blue eyes.
Grace chuckled and replied, "Come on, we both know why. I was a nerd back then, wore loose clothes and even had braces. It was strange that a boy was even interested in me."
"Hmm... strange, to me, you always looked like the prettiest girl in the school," Adam cheesily said.
"Hehe... I believe you. I remember how you had rejected that girl Bella. You were so cruel to her, calling the most wanted girl in the school ugly and stupid." Grace remembered while holding her laughter.
Adam crossed his arms, "She was really stupid though, I mean, she did fail her high school in the end. Meanwhile, you and I were the perfect couple, with the highest scores. Ah, so much has changed since then."
Grace rested back on her seat and looked at the starry sky, "Yes, so much. Joining the services, have Magnus, and now all that\'s been going on. It\'s so unreal. Can you believe it, our son has five hundred million dollars in his pocket? Never in my life did I expect this, and he\'s just 11. I guess he took the best of our genes and overpowered himself. He\'s so smart for his age that I sometimes feel I am not working hard enough. I need to work harder and complete my research papers, maybe with those patents, I can someday make my own hospital."
Adam shifted closer to her and held her hand in his, "I am absolutely certain that you can do it. Hell, I will say it now, that you will one day be the best cardiologist in the world."
"*Cough*... Actually, mummy will be a queen mother and the best cardiologist in the world." Magnus\' voice came from behind them and two arms wrapped around Grace\'s neck.
She smiled proudly, "Where were you? We tried to look for you three."
"Nothing, the king wanted to meet me. He knew that I\'d become the King of Britain someday, just some political stuff." Magnus did not hide from them.
"Oh, I hope he was kind to you," Adam said protectively.
"He was, it\'s better not to destroy face with the future king of Britain. Anyway, it\'s nearly New Year. There is going to be a big firework show. They will dim the lights for it. Let\'s all sit together and enjoy." Magnus said and dragged some chairs to the table.
All of them sat together. Magnus though looked at Ted, "I\'m sorry, you couldn\'t be with your wife today."
"It\'s fine, all the work I am doing is for our future, so I think she will forgive me." Ted shrugged, but deep inside he knew he was going to get his ears pulled.
Magnus though didn\'t want to treat his lawyer badly, so, he decided to reward him, "You did amazing this time, if you had not gotten the slot for the diamond we wouldn\'t be here. So, you should take the bonus from the company account. Ten Million dollars."
Ted... felt overwhelmed. He was already paid a very good salary and this was much more than anything he had seen before.
"Thank you," he muttered.
*BOOM*
"AH! Is it 12 AM already? HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE..." Magnus loudly spoke.
The fireworks in the sky started and the lights shined on their faces. Magnus though was thinking about what this new year will bring him.
~More attacks on me? More money? More strength? This year is going to be full of activity I guess...~ he thought.
At the same time, all had something going on in their heads. Ted was thinking about his family. "I hope I can keep Andromeda and Dora safe from her vengeful family."
Adam was thinking about his little family, "I hope we can stay happy like this forever."
Ragnar, though, had it worst. ~See this? I miss you, mummy. I hope you are happy in the heavens. I will see you after avenging you, I promise.~
He felt saddened, remembering the new year celebrations he used to have with his family when he was small. He silently shed some tears.
But, a mother is a mother, whether she be yours or someone else\'s, they can sense when you are sad. Ragnar suddenly felt a hand on his small shoulder. He slightly looked back, holding back his tears. And he saw Grace\'s calm and smiling face, silently encouraging him not to cry.
Grace had noticed Ragnar\'s back twitching, she knew he was silently holding his tears. She felt bad for him, she knew Magnus would be like this too if something were to happen to herself or Adam, So, she prayed this time. ~Just keep these little ones happy, I will fulfil my personal dreams on my own, they need the blessings more.~
All of them silently just stared at the lights in the sky, with thoughts in their heads changing with each new light.
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