“The journey will be hard. Can you make it?”“I can. I’m still recovering my magic but quarter is enough to teleport.”“I’m stil worried. You’re so tiny, you may fall apart.”“I am fine, Madaline. If you’re so worried, send a fairy with me, preferrably Cheese. I know she’ll love my hair.”“It still surprises me how much you know about my fairies. Cheese sleeps a lot and cannot control her strength when she activates it. Is that fine?”“Yes, it is. I can handle it.”Madaline summoned the fairy and it appeared in her hair almost immediately. Natalia chuckled while Madaline just watched, mildly surprised. She didn’t understand the fairy’s fascination with her hair but it wasn’t like it bothered her. The clothes Madaline gave her were comfortable, made from materials she was sure existed only in ancient times. Natalia snapped her fingers and teleported. She appeared in front of huge gates she saw the last time she visited the manor of the Hazel Family. She was stopped by the guards and o
Waking up, Natalia found that her small body didn’t have any more pain from moving around in the bed. She didn’t know what Madaline gave her but it made her able to sleep properly. What’s more, when she woke up, there were several servants waiting to attend to her needs. They also prepared a dress for her which was a little too big. However, it was new and so were the oversized shoes. “My lady, the Head Butler is just outside the door. Shall we let him in?” One of the maids who was attending to her asked. She swallowed the fruit in her mouth and replied to her. The door opened and the Head Butler walked in.“Good morning, Lady Natalia. I am so sorry for disturbing your breakfast. Dame Violet asked me to inform you that the knights have set out to pick your mother up. The Dame also said she has assigned these servants to take care of your daily needs and that if you wish for anything, they are authorized to come to her directly if necessary. If you have any requests for me as well, yo
Sebastian helped his mother walk to the front door. He used a little magic for assistance, smiling the entire way. Getting to the door, they could hear the enhanced voice of the messenger. Their jaws dropped, unsure if they heard what they actually heard. Vivia left Sebastian's hand and stumbled forward, trying to reach the gate. Before she collapsed, Sebastian held her, nodding at her. Together, they walked to the gate. "What do you mean by that?! We had a deal! She cannot just take them away!""These were the Dame's words. I am simply a messenger loyal to the Hazel family. Respectfully, my lord, we will like our young mistress back."While Vivia and Sebastian approached the gate, the scout troops of the Hazel family arrived. They were armed to the teeth, commanded by the Head Knight of the Hazel family. The man looked past the Marquis, smiling when he saw Vivia. "We have come to take you back home, my lady." Marquis Adamantine turned around and saw them, surprise in his eyes. Viv
“Don’t be rude, Natalia! What do you mean by that?”“Exactly what I said. What? Are you going to hit me like father did?”Sebastian’s anger slipped away. He didn’t realize he had already raised his hand and the others were looking at him with shock. He lowered his hand shamefully, walking out of the room. He had also forgotten it wasn’t his home and would get lost within a few minutes of walking. “Don’t worry about it, Vivia. I’ll send a servant to lead him,” Dame Violet said to reassure her daughter. A servant was immediately send to aid him and another to bring more food for the additional guest.“Since we’re here, won’t it cause trouble for the head knight and the troops?”“Ah, you’re right. I’ll send a messanger to tell them to come back home since you’re here. It’s not good to leave the Hazel Estate unprotected.”“If you need to send a letter quickly, I can help you send it now, grandmother,” Natalia suddenly said, placing her tea cup down. Vivia didn’t remember teaching her dau
“He’s less impressive than you make him out to be, Natalia.”“I don’t know what you were expecting from a child. I knew he was younger than me but who knew it was this much younger. I feel weird.”“Yes, he is a bit tinier than you. So, that’s the man you fell in love with? I see. I’ll make sure to raise him properly,” Madaline said with fire in her eyes. “There’s no need to go that far. He’ll grow up to be a splendid person if you leave him alone. Although, I wonder. If we didn’t save each other, would we have ended up together? I’m curious.”“I think, no matter what, a human’s nature is determined from the moment they are born. Regardless of circumstances, they will stay true to themselves. If he was a good person when he’s grown up, I’m sure he will grow up to be the same. So, no matter what, I think…” Madaline abruptly stopped, both of them watching Amaika approach. Since the werephoenixes never aged or died, it was the same as the one in Natalia’s memories. They knelt in front of
Alighting from the carriage, they followed Natalia on her tour of the place. The barony of Grayson wasn’t that interesting as regards landmark or anything worth of note. Disappointed, Natalia kept walking, trying to feel out Adelie. She was trying to confirm if she existed and two, if she still had memories of a past life. At a time like this, she had not yet contracted Madaline or even been picked up by the Grayson family. “I’ve never been to a place so unremarkable in my life,” Sebastian commented. Vivia agreed with him with a nod of her head. Natalia agreed it was boring but she needed to see Adelie with her own eyes. As they walked around the town, they caught the eyes of many, especially the begging children. If there was one thing that stood out in the Barony, it was that the number of begging children was exponentially large. Because of the war happening in close proximity to the Barony, it was likely that their parents had been conscripted as foot soldiers in the war. The Ba
“It’s here! It’s finally here! I’m free! I’m free!” Vivia yelled, screaming happily around Natalia’s room. They watched her dance around the room and smiled, as her happiness was contagious. Even though she was confused, Adelie watched quietly. When Vivia realized the children were watching her, she finally stopped and turned around, coughing to hide her embarrassment. “Ahem! This young lady has gone from being Lady Adamantine to Lady Hazel. To me, that is wonderful news. But to you children, it might be a little more difficult. So, whatever you choose to do, I will abide by your decision.”“We’ll stay with you mother. You have the power to choose our spouses and I’m sure you won’t make the wrong decisions concerning our lives.”“Of course, my dear daughter. As you are my adopted daughter, Adelie, you are my daughter as well. Whatever your decision is, mother will help you.”“Thank…you…” Adelie mumbled in reply. Being the adopted daughter of Vivia meant she had access to a private t
“How grand. They could spare some thoughts for the children on the street at least,” Adelie complained as she walked through the palace halls with the Hazel family. “They don’t even spare any thoughts for the ones under their own roof. Adults can be less thoughtless than one would expect.”“Then why are they being allowed to lead an entire kingdom?”“It’s because of bloodline. By the way, asking that question out loud is treason. You can lose your head for that.”Adelie kept her mouth shut and continued walking until they reached the room allocated for the Hazel family. Incidentally, they ran into the Grand Duchess and her son.“Your grace,” they all greeted and curtsied. She greeted them back with a short nod, her face on Vivia’s.“I heard about your divorce, Lady Vivia. It must have been distressing.” “It was but I’m glad that it’s over. Thank you for caring about me and my children, your grace.”The shy child that clutched his mother’s hand was not the Grand Duke Fredrich that Na
Upon hearing the cry of a baby, their hearts of multiple people became calm. The mother had been in labor for a total of two days, trying her hardest to push her babies out. The second followed the first closely and they were both taken out to be cleaned. The father of the child had been there the whole time, clasping her hand as tightly as she clasped his. He kissed her forehead and watched her until she fell asleep from exhaustion before going out of the room. "Is she well? Are the babies well?" He was bombarded with questions as soon as he came out. He nodded, smiling. Messangers were sent out immediately. The royal heirs of Polivia had been born. Natalia had always asked herself this question: What would a timeline without me look like?Since she was never born, her mother didn't have to go through the pain of bearing another child. Her relationship with Marquis Adamantine became better, she made the step to reconnect with her family and she went on to have a fruitful married l
They readied their weapons, holding their breaths. Fighting ascended gods was vastly different from fighting original gods. The weakest was Madaline, who was both lacking in the number of wings she had and an ascended god. Luckily, her barriers were the strongest in the world. “Wait. They’re just looking. It’s like they’re waiting for something or…someone.”They looked down at Nataroth and saw that giant white wings were sprouting from her back. She was growing larger by the second, soon dwarfing out the space. She stopped growing and focused her eyes on them.{My children. I…have returned}Marvis figured out the patterns and used the teleportation portal to get them to another room. It was relatively intact like the other rooms and it didn’t look like it was affected by the blast. But after seeing the coffin in the middle of the room, they soon realized why. Just as they were about to figure out their next move, Denitra fell into Marvis’s arms. They thought it was intentional until
Even in the spirit world, where nothing was solid, the ground began to shake. The coffins that surrounded Nataroth opened of their own accord and a thick miasma formed on top of it. The bodies in the coffins rose, slowly climbing out of the coffins. Maowry watched this all unfold with fear in their heart. “You can still stop this, Maowry. They are still vulnerable.” “Even if I can, why should I, Uriel?”“You’ll regret this!”“I am regretting this but I want to see how far this can go.”“MAOWRY!”They ignored her, looking at the bodies slowly coming closer to her. They walked like the undead, unstable and unstoppable. In a way, they were undead but with the large spell, not for long. They could recognize the magic being used and the obvious bending of world order. However, there was something they didn’t recognize, something that transcended both magic and world order. It was the reason why the spell was working in the first place and there was only one god that could use it; Natarot
The fights between the gods raged on. If they met on neutral grounds, Maowry versus Uriel wouldn’t be a one sided beat down. However, Maowry’s powers were fading because Thiton and Madaline kept shattering the ancient barriers of the spirit world. Madaline also had to repair those barriers immediately so Thiton was able to get some blows in. “Why won’t you just roll over and die?! You have always been a pain in my neck and you keep making aggravating decisions that bring us to this point every single time! What is wrong with you, Madaline?”“The way you speak Thiton, makes it obvious that you are obsessed with me. That’s worrisome. I cannot let a disgusting creature disguised as a god profess his love to me that loudly. Why don’t you just die?”“You’re delusional. Your attachment to Nataroth even though you’re an ascended god just like us shows how much of a hypocrite you are!”“Coming from the person who killed me?! That’s laughable. You, of all people, are claiming to care for the
“Lovely, isn’t it?” “I feel like you’re ignoring me. It is lovely. Is that made from purely cotton?” “Yes, it is. You love even lovlier in it, your highness. The wedding is soon, is it not? I cannot wait to be there.” “What about you? Why won’t we attend your wedding? Come on, Lady Natalia. You know you would look absolutely beautiful in a wedding dress.” “I hate wedding dresses.” “...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” “I’m not angry, Princess Temara. I know how much you care about me and I know how much you love my brother. Honestly, it worries me. Would you really slit your throat if he asked you to?” “...of course not.” “Your highness, you hesitated. Well, it doesn’t matter because he would never ask you to. Like I was saying, I understand why all of you are worried about me. Yes, I know you’re all behind that door. But I know what I’m doing. I’ve been doing it for a long, long time. But if you don’t all trust me to make the right decision, then is it really love?”
In Madaline’s palace, there was a direct portal down to earth. Sylph and the fairy sent to rescue her were ready to send her soul back but it was too damaged to travel whole. They had no other choice but to wait for Madaline or find an alternative. It was difficult to patch a soul and not just any god could do it. If they waited any longer, it would affect her chances of escaping significantly.“Shouldn’t Madaline have returned by now? What’s taking so long?!”Back at the platform, the gods were amazed. The fight was on a different level than the one they watched earlier. Two of the most powerful gods going head to head without fear. The first weapon they used, they had both broken them even though they were items not built to break. They were fighting solely with magic, causing all forms of natural disasters. The sky began to darken all around the world, alarming the mortals. Madaline's magic was focused on barriers. No matter what anyone did, you couldn't get past her barriers. Her
"Grandmother!" Natalia dashed into the mansion, heading to the living room first. She found the butler and he told her she was in the office. She could finally calm herself and walk into the office. "Grandmother, you really came.""You have a very nice office, Natalia. This old woman is jealous.""I can make the exact one for you. I'm just curious. Why are you here?""Sit, we need to talk.""I'm terrified. If this is about my marriage, you need to give me more time…""This is not about that. It's about your inheritance.""You came all the way here for that? You could've just asked me to come to you. It must be more than that.""Yes. Why did you bring a hostage and ask the plan to be sped up? You know how sensitive the whole thing is! You didn't even tell anyone else about it and now you want to hasten it out of nowhere! What happened?""The hostage is critical. I had to put her away so she wouldn't affect my plans. Two, there isn't much time left. Even after I went back in time two
“W-What do you mean the god of death and destruction?!”“Yes, what do I mean indeed?” she just smiled, looking at the body in the casket. He just stared back at her with his eyes open. "I was very lucky to find him, you know. Gods are not just objects you find on the side of the streets. I actually built this whole thing because of him but not for him. He belongs in another world so you have to be curious as to why he's here. He won't say anything though which is disappointing.""Are you insane?! That is the most dangerous of the original gods!""I doubt he is as dangerous as Nataroth. Anyway, now that I've shown you my treasure, let's take you to your room, shall we?"They left the room, the doors locking behind them as they left. The boy laying still in the casket rose to sit up and stared unblinkingly at the door. As they faced down the two royal heirs, a servant came running out from the mansion, handing a letter to Sebastian. He frowned and burnt the letter immediately. "You w
After dinner and settling her friends and hostage into her home, she could finally rest. She soaked herself in the tub, feeling the knots in her body loosen. There was also the fact that she was being massaged by little fairies that fluttered excitedly around her. She sighed with content. "Do you like it that much?""Hmm, it's nice. Did you miss me, Madaline?""You worried me but you really came back without a scratch. Berinda is Uriel's territory so I cannot intervene at will. I'm glad it went well.""No, I got attacked and that's why I have a hostage. Now that you say it, she's probably Uriel's Saintess.""You took another god's Saintess?! Since when did you start acting so recklessly?""It was not a reckless or juvenile decision. You know what my goal is. By the way, I have a question.""What is it?""If Adelie is Ducroft's Saintess and Denitra is Uriel's Saintess, does that mean I'm your Saintess?""No, it's not you. It's Marvis's mother." "How cruel. You could've reserved that