I was staring at an empty space trying to comprehend what Viex just said. King Ferius has my sister? What a joke.
But even though all I wanted to do was deny it, the traces of hair on the ground and Viex’s words were all the proof I needed.
I saw a card written in blood. My stomach swirled at the sight.
‘Surrender yourself and the chalice.’ It says. I don’t even need to look for the name of the sender to know who it is.
I wanted to puke. I remember all the pain in my body when I felt the repercussion of Viex healing someone. Was it Stella that Viex was trying to heal to end up in this state?
I looked at Viex’s sleeping form. He was phasing in and out of my sight. His body was still unstable.
“Ready my horse. I’ll be heading out.” I said and got up. My eyes stinging for some reason as I started to head back in to change my attire.
Ace suddenly blocked my path. “What and where do you think you’re going?” He demanded.
“Ferius has my sister.” I said. “What do you think I am supposed to do?”
“Your sister?” Ace looked taken aback by the news. “But isn’t your sister back in your world?”
“Not anymore. Now move aside. I need to get the chalice.” I started to move past him when he pushed me. I didn’t even look at him or even curse him for stopping me, which was weird. “Don’t try to stop me.”
Ace grabbed the card I was still holding. I heard him curse. “You’re just going to surrender yourself?”
This time, I did look at him. “She’s my sister.” I repeated. “I don’t think I need to explain anything to you anymore. You of all people should know how it feels to have your sister taken from you.”
“At least I had a plan.” He says. “Do you?” His brows furrowed as he asked me that question.
“I’ll think about it when I get there.” I answered and tried to walk past him again, but Ace block my path once more. This time, I gritted my teeth and did glare at him. “I am grateful to you for helping Viex, so please stop trying to make me curse you for stopping me to help my sister.”
“Curse me all you want. I am not moving unless you swear that you won’t surrender yourself. There’s got to be a better way.”
“The better way is for you to get the f*ck out of my way!” I shouldered my way past him but he just moved to the side, grabbed my shoulders, and then threw me back in front of him again.
“Pathetic.” He says. “And you expect to face the rogue king like that? You’re a lost cause.”
I glared at him as I almost tripped. Thankfully, Viex was still secured in my arms. “I could have dropped him! What’s wrong with you?”
“What wrong with you?!” He threw my question back at me. “Ferius asked you to surrender yourself and you’re being cooperative? What happened to your stubbornness and the fact that you always do the opposite of what we always tell you to do?”
I got up on my feet. “Again,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s my sister!” I walked towards him. “What more explanation do you want me to say?”
“The fact that if you surrender yourself, you’ll doom this realm. King Ferius will surely have his chimera back.”
“Why should I care!?” I screamed. “This is not my world. This isn’t Stella’s world either! But look, she’s here, she’s being tortured because of the fact that this world exists!” Viex woke up at that time. His tails brushed my cheeks and it was only then that I noticed that I was crying. “If I wasn’t brought here then none of this would have happened. Destroy this realm! I do not care. Nothing good ever comes to me because of it!”
I was looking at the ground as I finished. We were silent for a moment before I realized my mistake. I looked up at him apologetically. “I’m...sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I was just...I was just fueled by my emotions that-” I was cut off when Ace pulled me into a hug.
“I understand. You’re too angry and worried about your sister. You don’t have to say anything more.” He says. And that’s when I broke down crying. I cried for Stella, I cried for Viex, and I cried out of guilt at the fact that I just cursed this world that I have come to love.
When I seemed to have calmed down a bit, Ace escorted me back to my room and instructed my maids to help me clean up. Once I was fully cleaned, I changed into my pajamas. I just sat on my bed with Viex sleeping on my lap.
I don’t know what to do. The anxiety that Stella’s in this realm is driving me mad.
It wasn’t long until I heard a knock and the princes and my aunt suddenly came barging in. All of them, except for Ace, were still wearing their formal attires.
Ace was the one who told them most parts of it. I just added a few needed details on why I was certain that it was Stella. Viex also woke up at that time and told us news that even got me baffled.
“She’s a what?” I whispered.
‘She’s a winter fairy. The same race as that late queen.’ Viex confirmed and I translated it to the others. They were shocked as well, especially my aunt.
“What have I done?” She whispered. “Rose, I am sorry. This all happened because I-”
“Stop it.” I cut her off. “I don’t want to hear any more of that. All I need now is to save my sister back with me. Safe.” Even though I said that, a part of me still blames her for this. I tried to push that thought back because it wasn’t right. The queen is still my family whether I like it or not.
‘Princess…’ Viex winced and it looked like he wanted to say more.
“Go to sleep, Viex. I need you fully healed to help me get her back.” I ordered him and used a bit of command. Viex had no choice but to comply.
“What do you mean help? Rose, are you thinking that you would be coming to save your sister?” Nate asked.
“Of course!”
“Rose, think about how dangerous it would be.” Ren finally spoke after being quiet for a while. “You’ll be walking on thin ice. Ferius is the one man that you should avoid.”
I was about to argue when we heard screams outside and then a loud thud just outside of my balcony. ‘Master!’ There was a scratch on my balcony door that caught all of our attention. Ren, who was the closest to the door, opened it. Custard immediately ran inside, hopped on the bed. He dropped a small leather bag on my bed and I have to grimace at the drools covering it.
Meanwhile, Ren seemed confused as he looked from Custard and then at the balcony. “But...this is the third floor. How did…” Ren trailed off as he investigated the mysterious appearance of Custard.
Custard came beside Viex’s sleeping form and repeatedly hit his head with his paw. ‘Wake up! Wake up! I got your pouch. Look! Look!’ I immediately took Custard and placed him on my lap. “Custard, don’t wake Viex. He is resting.” I scolded him.
Custard’s ears suddenly dropped and he whined. ‘Sorry. I just thought that Viex would be happy if he sees that I got his bag back.’
I tried scratching his ear and heard him wince. “What’s wrong with you?”
‘Monkeys bullied me. But I’m alright!’ Then, when Custard saw my face, he stopped wagging his tail. ‘Master, did you cry? Who made you cry?’ He asked.
It must have been my imagination but I think I saw a hint of red in Custard’s eyes just now.
“What’s inside the bag?” Ace asked as he eyed the small bag filled with Custard’s drool.
‘I don’t know.’ Custard tried to answer him. ‘But it must be important that Viex told me to find it.’
I didn’t bother to translate for them. Instead, I took the bag and ignored the sticky drools as I opened it. Inside, I found a letter addressed to me.
‘Princess Rosalie,
My name is Leo, a servant of Tereau. I have been taking care of your sister for a while now. I would assume that before you read this letter, your spirit would have already told you of her situation in her cell.
For now, she’s safe. But I don’t know for how long, to be honest. I want her out of this place as soon as possible. It is not safe and it will only be a matter of time until I will be caught trying to help her.
Behind this letter, I have drawn a map. It will lead you to a secret passage. But before you enter, I would like you to ask your spirit to call for me so I can assist you. The passage is like a labyrinth especially if you don’t have a guide. I don’t doubt that you can see him, but getting past the guards might be a little tricky.
Hoping to hear news from your side.’
See him? See who?
After reading the letter, I turned it over and my face fell. The drawing seemed too complicated, but I do appreciate the effort that this Leo guy has put together. Even though I still have doubts, I guess I should trust this guy. After all, he got to convince Viex to deliver this message for him.
It just means that Viex has acknowledged him as a good guy.
“What is it? What does it say?” Nate asked. When I looked up, all of them were looking at me curiously.
A small smile appeared on my lips. “A small ray of hope.”
**********[KINGDOM OF TEREAU]***********
Stella has been tinkering with her powers for a while. Since they already found out about her magic, there was no reason for her to hide it any longer.
She has gotten used to controlling her magic all on her own. It was just a simple theory of hers. She would simply picture out air molecules in front of her, compressed them to the desired shape, and then solidify it.
She was able to come up with it when she began to see arrays of small blue dots floating all around her when she’s using them. She has come to the conclusion that those small dots are connected with her nature of magic.
Ice.
Stella stretched out her hands and summoned her magic. Ice began to form at the top of her fingers like claws, just as she wanted them to. She smiled and hurled the spikes to the walls. All five of them struck the stone blocks of her cell. She then dispersed the molecules, turning the ice into the cold air that settled on the ground. She guessed that it was true what her teacher said about cold air always settles at the bottom.
It was easy as long as she gets the concept. What’s more is that the more she uses her magic, the more that she grew immune to the cold.
She also has a recent discovery. Every night, when the temperature drops, she could see bits of the same element of magic floating all around her - cold freezing air. She can only guess that the reason behind is it was similar to her nature in magic. She was only testing her theory, but when she tried controlling them, the natural cold mana bent to her will easily.
Now she was really liking this.
If she can finally master her powers, she could escape this prison.