Otherworldly Companions: Every Handsome Man is Extraordinary

Early in the morning, the palace sent a griffin carriage to pick them up.

The empire showed the utmost respect and care to the young lords who returned to the capital in their first year of marriage. The lords who scattered from the capital to various parts of the empire were like dandelion seeds, children who drifted from the center to the branches, and also the sparks that carried the spirit of the empire to the periphery.

Each lord will be greeted by a carriage equipped with two silver royal griffins, and will also be accompanied by a royal palace guide, giving each lord the utmost respect.

The silver royal griffin is exclusive to the royal court of the Ocean Empire. Normally, only members of the royal family are qualified to ride it, and the guides generally only serve at royal ceremonies or large banquets.

Jiang Yu and Fan Qingyin boarded the griffin carriage. After a period of running, the griffin took off smoothly. Since Oulbo was not far from the palace, Jiang Yu and Fan Qingyin soon saw the palace walls of the royal city.

The capital city of the Ocean Empire is built in a pure maritime architectural style, similar to the blue and white color scheme and shape of the Mediterranean style, but more complex and magnificent.

This world loves to use small, common things as part of its aesthetic style, and they admire maximalism more than minimalism.

We generally think that royal palaces might use grand and majestic imagery and symbols like dragons, phoenixes, and stars to express architectural aesthetics, while using seashells, starfish, and seaweed to decorate the exterior of castles would seem a bit stingy.

But this place is different. The roof of the palace is covered with blue crystal tiles carved with seashells, seaweed, and even fish. From a distance, it's not even clear what's on them; all you can see are the undulating grooves on the roof shimmering in the sunlight.

The palace used many natural but rare sounding conch shells, which were inlaid or hung under the eaves, producing melodious music with every gust of wind.

The ocean is the world's best musician, composing different melodies for each seashell, but when they play together, they merge to form a completely new and grander melody.

Therefore, the exquisite castle you see is far more breathtaking and soul-cleansing than you can imagine.

The palace, of course, has gates. Except for distinguished guests riding silver royal griffins and a small number of members of the royal family who can fly directly over the high palace walls and enter the palace city from above the gates, all other guests and carriages, including dragon eagles, must land and enter through the main gate on land.

Jiang Yu and his group flew directly over several palaces and landed in a spacious courtyard. Carriages landed one after another in the courtyard, and occasionally, they would greet familiar lords with smiles before dispersing. Because the order of audience with the king was different, everyone was first arranged in a waiting room to await their summons. An official would then come to guide them.

The empire's arrangements were extremely meticulous. Apart from the previous partner selection conference, this was the second time Jiang Yu had directly experienced the complete and systematic nature of the empire's order.

Although women are scarce in this world, the number of lords appointed to fiefdoms upon reaching adulthood in the royal capital each year is not small. For this return to the royal capital for their annual reports, the empire first arranged the return times for all lords in batches based on a complete list. Then, a second round of allocation was completed at Orber Castle, and the specific times for the lords' audiences were also scheduled.

The entire process was meticulously organized, appearing perfectly orderly on the surface, but the effort, manpower, and resources invested behind the scenes were immeasurable. Admittedly, the Empire had accumulated experience and gradually perfected its system through successive rounds of performance review activities, but such a high degree of precision and accuracy in personnel arrangement was still astonishing.

For this trip to the palace to report on their duties, Jiang Yu and Fan Qingyin traveled light, bringing almost nothing except the documents and reports required for the report and their usual necessities. Firstly, the accompanying guide would check their belongings, as there were strict rules for entering the palace; anything not permitted was strictly forbidden. Secondly, the report only lasted one morning, and they could leave the palace and return to the Jiang family home by noon.

Therefore, almost all the luggage had already been sent back to the Jiang family in advance.

Jiang Yu's official dress was uniformly distributed by the empire, symbolizing abundant resources. The light sea blue color of the dress, full of vitality, extended from her waist to her ankles. Unlike the narrow dress for coming-of-age ceremonies, the dress of a woman who had successfully married and returned to the capital was like a flower bud blossoming into a full bloom, so the hem of the dress was much wider.

It looks a bit like an enlarged version of a lily of the valley flower turned upside down. Although the same color covers the entire piece, it looks very expensive because of the cut and fabric.

The upper body features a moon-white, tight-fitting, high-necked, long-sleeved design. Compared to the minimalist skirt, the upper body design is much more elaborate, with pleats piled up at the neckline adorned with small pearls, exquisite lace pressed around the chest, and three-dimensional flower entwining shapes created with extremely fine craftsmanship from the shoulders to the upper arms.

Each lord also has a sash fixed to his chest and shoulders, which flows down behind him from his shoulders and extends further back after reaching the ground, somewhat resembling two long rabbit ears, adding a touch of playfulness to the solemn design.

The sashes fastened to the front of their bodies bore the family crest and symbols of their territory. For example, Jiang Yu's chest featured a trident surrounded by waves and a Holmpur flower entwined with pearls.

"Xiaoyu, are you nervous?" After entering the lounge, Fan Qingyin noticed that Jiang Yu was somewhat restless.

She sat in the chair, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. When she stood in front of the French windows, she would unconsciously rub her toes against the ground, causing her skirt to sway.

“A little. Qingyin, I haven’t met many members of the royal family, let alone emperors.” Jiang Yu didn’t hide anything, and there was nothing shameful about asking her husband for help. “I heard that Qingyin participated in the Divine Prayer Ceremony of the Holy Mountain when she was very young. Does Qingyin often come into contact with the royal family of the Aurora Empire? Are they very arrogant or aggressive? Would an emperor punish or kill someone without batting an eye?”

"Qingyin, can you tell me about it?"

Looking at his wife, who was clearly anxious, Fan Qingyin thought of her unusual childhood experiences and strange reactions. He felt a pang of heartache, but he knew that hasty comfort would only make Xiaoyu more flustered. So he chose to tell her the story in a gentle, narrative style.

“I first entered the Holy Mountain when I was eight years old. At that time, one of my father’s pet birds was sick. I happened to pass by that room and subconsciously imitated the way adults prayed for blessings. I performed a simple divine prayer for the bird and obtained the divine glory that was enough to cure it. So my father reported it to the Pope and the Emperor.”

"So the adults sent me deep into the holy mountain to test my divine power and talent, and that's where I met the saintess."