"Shhhh!!" He gestured at Carpet, who had been hiding in the corner all this time and had quickly emerged to listen in on what was going on on the other side of the room.
On the other side of the door, as soon as Aladdin opened his mouth to speak, Jasmine clasped her hand against his mouth, "Shut up!" Then, she pulled him to the bed.
Jasmine threw him on the bed and lay down on it as well, wrapping her arms around him.
"Don't say a word. Don't move. We'll talk about this later. For now, let's go to sleep," Jasmine said softly.
Aladdin nodded. He turned on the bed to face her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Yeah, let's get some rest," he said.
They both drifted off to sleep.
***
The following days continued as planned.
Aladdin and Jasmine oversaw their wedding preparations. His relationship with Jasmine remained the same, neither stalling nor improving. It was neither a bad thing nor a good thing, considering what had happened on that night, which had become one of the most memorable events in their lives.
It's been three weeks since then.
Since Jasmine didn't attempt to bring up such a conversation, Aladdin didn't do so either.
Aladdin continued to return to the Empire of Ababwa to train and learn about being an Emperor and ruling his empire. Since everything he needed to manage his empire was already present, and with his magical abilities, he was able to learn everything that Rakim taught him with ease.
He was able to improve his Dune Valley Teleportation, expanding it to not only teleport himself but also those around him. He could create a magical imprint that could be used like a tracker on an individual to teleport them to another location or teleport to them.
He had also leaned deeper into the Exotic Five Elemental Control to be able to control the elements and create additional effects, such as magma from earth and fire.
He had also learned a new spell called 'King Hands,' created to be able to levitate or control things freely without touching them by wrapping one's magical energy around them. The heavier the item, and the further it was, the more magical energy was required.
After mastering the spell, he upgraded it from being able to only levitate two things at once to as many as he wanted, as long as he had the magical energy to control them.
Another was 'Free Hand Transmutation.' Due to the perilous environment of the Seven Deserts, getting the necessary catalyst required for transmutation was incredibly difficult, unless one was willing to risk their lives for treasures they were not guaranteed to possess while venturing through dangerous caverns, like the Cave of Wonders, sealed temples, or other hidden magical lands.
So this spell was designed to be able to transmute substances into another without the use of a catalyst. However, the spell wasn't entirely true to its purpose, because when casting the spell for transmutation, neatly purified fine grains of sand were needed to act as a catalyst.
But for other magicians or sorcerers in the Seven Deserts, this was still a perfect transmutation spell.
The higher the level of transmutation, the more abundant the purified fine grains of sand needed to be, and the more costly the magical energy required. It also had a six-line incarnation across three pages, along with a two-layer complex connecting diagram.
However, this limitation didn't apply to Aladdin. The instant he mastered the spell, he could cast it chantless, without needing the fine grains of sand. He turned metals and straw into gold, and sand into rock, fire into water and in reverse.
Pairing it with his Exotic Five Elemental Control, Aladdin created a peerless transmutation elemental control called 'Peerless Exotic Elemental Control'.
It could catch the enemy in surprise attacks, as the spell could switch from one form to another the moment the attack struck. It didn't make his previous spells meaningless, as the transmutation still required a tremendous amount of magical energy from him.
The spell held the same chants as the last one, but with additional connecting diagrams to help transmute the elements, using one's own magical energy or through the use of fine grains of sand.
Despite the tremendous improvements, Aladdin's mind was not entirely focused on his training. His thoughts still aimlessly drifted back to that night.
There was no way he could take his mind off it and pretend as though nothing had transpired, most especially the song he had shared with Jasmine, which seemed to convey their most innermost desires to each other.
He didn't think that he had it in him to become quite a singer, since he had memorised most of the previous songs from the original animated movie.
Aladdin shook the matter off his mind and focused on the matter before him. He was currently seated in a wide, exquisite, decorated room with several maps of the Seven Deserts laid out on the magnificent table before him.
This was the Emperor's office, used to handle issues regarding the empire and engage in political affairs with others within and outside the empire.
Aladdin had spent the following days mapping out the areas where he last remembered the grand treasures from the Aladdin series were stored.
After mapping out the last area, Aladdin folded the maps and handed them to Rakim.
"Take this to our most skilled soldiers to retrieve the treasures from within these magically sealed areas. Let them memorise the instructions carefully, because it will increase their chances of survival by 99 per cent. The other 1 per cent is if they are incapable of completing such tasks due to their own incompetence."
He handed over another scroll containing the instructions on how to get in, retrieve the items, and get out safely as well.
Rakim collected the maps and scrolls and bowed respectfully. "I assure you the task will be completed and none of what is listed will be missing."
He slowly raised his eyes and asked, "I'm sorry to ask, Your Highness, but what is so special about these treasures that couldn't be found in the Imperial Vault? If you're looking for certain magical items, you should look into the Imperial Magic Court's vault. I'm certain that you might find one or two items that catch your eye."
"I've heard legends about them back when I was still in Agrabah and wanted to see what they look like for myself," Aladdin responded. "I'll take a look at the Imperial Magic Court's vault later."
He had already taken a look at the records of the items stored in the Imperial Vaults, and while it dwarfed that of the Kingdom of Agrabah, containing magical items that were even beyond his wildest dreams, and making him understand that he truly had everything needed to effectively rule the Empire of Ababwa and live as an emperor, at this point, he was only collecting them because he wanted to hold the original series' magical items in his hands.
He had developed some sort of collector's instinct.
Rakim nodded.
It had been over 1,000 years since the Empire was cursed, so there must have been many legends that had arisen during that time that even he wasn't aware of.
"What is it?" Aladdin asked, noticing that Rakim was hesitating to speak.
"During the past three weeks, our spies have been performing a sweeping search across the empire and the Seven Deserts to look for traces of any of the Witches of the Sand. Thanks to the gateway to the Kingdom of Agrabah, we managed to gain some information from certain criminals that the group known as the Witches of the Sand have declined, becoming nothing more than a thing of legend."
"And if any remnants of them still exist, then they might not pose much of a threat to the empire. Once we recover our strength, it should be possible for us to completely eradicate them from the face of the earth."
"…But before then, I've been wondering when we will reintegrate our forces back into the Seven Deserts. It's only a matter of time before travelling merchants, treasure hunters, and other nations doing business in the surrounding regions see what's happening and spread rumours. This might attract other groups or individuals who are looking to cause trouble."
Rakim explained, "You're going to inherit the throne on the day of your marriage with Princess Jasmine, so we should also take the opportunity to send invitations to the neighbouring nations, controlling the narrative ourselves. We'll arrange our soldiers and magicians across Agrabah to ensure nothing unexpected arises."
"This way, we'll be able to show our deep relationship with Agrabah, slowly reintegrate our forces back into the Seven Deserts, and filter out unnecessary troubles that may arise in the future."
"That's a good idea. Take care of the matter as you've planned. I'll inform Jasmine and the Sultan about this and hear what they think, then we may proceed," Aladdin replied.
//////
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