The following day, Erica was confronted by the king after Alfred took it upon himself to explain the situation.
As punishment, Erica was grounded, ordered not to leave her room until further notice.
How did she go ahead with her plan? Apparently, she had used her ability to make the two soldiers fall in love with her and then asked them to dispose of Zani.
Mischievous, especially for a child her age.
According to what Sylus heard, she didn't really fight against it at first.
All she asked was that she stay in Sylus's room rather than hers.
Martin refused, and this led to Erica crying her eyes out as she was escorted to her room.
One less problem for Sylus to worry about.
The only reason he wasn't also punished for leaving the castle was that Alfred covered for him.
Besides, he couldn't afford to get grounded.
It was only a few days before the week ran out, and Sylus was nowhere near ready to start building the car.
Alfred offered to plead on Sylus's behalf to get the deadline extended.
Regardless of how impressive Sylus was, he was still a child.
A child who had just murdered a man.
Pride filled Martin's being when he heard it, and he didn't think of the emotional toll his child might have carried.
To him, an Astrodial should never give up on their responsibility, no matter the events that played out.
Hence why both Alfred and Elizabeth were unable to do anything about it.
Not that Sylus was planning on backing out anyway.
He wasn't at all bothered about the life he took.
The criminal deserved it, and he would do it to the next ten people who tried to harm anyone he cared about.
His mission continues.
Crrrr!
The door to the barn opened up.
There, at the entrance, were Sylus, Zani, and a male soldier.
The soldier was one of the head guards, securing the safety of the palace.
Since Sylus needed a place and materials to start, he had Alfred set him up with someone who could lend him assistance.
"This place is quite massive. Are you sure no one else is using it?" asked Sylus as he took slow steps inside.
"Yes, Your Highness. This place was meant to keep our backup weapons for training, but we ended up not using them due to a few circumstances."
Sylus hummed, "Is it because it's far away from the castle?"
The soldier hesitated a bit.
He couldn't help but wonder how a kid could be thinking like an adult. It was weird. Then again, the Astrodial family was known for having extraordinary people in their bloodline.
"Yes, Your Highness," he replied.
Sylus now stopped, standing right in the center of the barn.
It was truly spacious.
And thanks to the multiple windows, ventilation was not something he needed to worry about.
'This place will do just fine.'
Now walking back, he handed the soldier a paper.
"Here, this contains everything I need before today ends. Do you think it's possible to get them?"
Opening the paper to read what was written inside, the soldier's concern became even more visible.
Magic brown sheets, used for making runes.
Planks and wood.
Magic stone.
Tires, gears, and many other things were written on the list.
For starters, why would a kid want something like this?
The soldier replied,
"Yes, Your Highness, I believe I can get them to you today."
Sylus clapped his hands.
"Awesome. Please be sure to get the bed materials only."
"I will keep that in mind. I shall leave now."
The soldier exited the barn.
'Ah, what a handsome man; I'm sure he gets all the ladies. Tsk.'
He then sat on the ground, his gaze shifting to Zani.
She was standing at the entrance of the barn, holding the model car in her hands.
"Prince, are you planning on building this?" she asked, looking at the car model.
"Well, yeah, I don't exactly have a choice. If I don't do this, Father is going to send you to jail."
"I don't want to go to jail."
"I don't want you to go either; that is why I am building this monstrosity."
Zani now moved closer, placing the model on the ground before kneeling down.
"Can I help you?"
Sylus stared at her for a while.
Since the incident that happened with the criminal, he had noticed a few changes.
Zani seemed to be bolder and more outspoken. Maybe he was overthinking it.
"I mean, I already intended on asking you for help, so—"
Even before he finished what he wanted to say, Zani was already smiling.
Adorable.
They both spoke with each other for a while, eating, napping, and even playing games.
It took quite a long time, at least until the sun was down.
To their surprise, the soldier finally returned with all the supplies Sylus had requested.
Riding into the barn, the soldier was shocked to see Sylus and Zani asleep on the ground and cuddling each other.
With a smile on his face, he returned the two kids back to the castle for a good rest.
…
The following day, Sylus was back at the barn with Zani.
Parked inside the barn was all the equipment Sylus needed to successfully build the magical car.
'This is going to be stressful,' he whispered with a faint smile.
Luckily, he had the soldier there with him to do all the heavy lifting.
He had already instructed the soldier to put several parts of the car together, mostly the outer frame of what the car was going to look like.
That single task was going to take a whole day to complete, and that was perfectly fine with Sylus.
While the soldier was doing that, Sylus was busy crafting the runes he was going to use for the car.
Only after he was done with this would he move to the engine.
In short, there was a lot of work to be done.