“It’s easy to want to marry you off but even after satisfying your conditions, you still do not want to marry the ladies I have presented to you. Could it be you’re really a sister-loving pervert?”
“........please don’t mindlessly say things like that”
“I’m just joking. Could it be that….you’re afraid?”
“I’m terrified”
“I wasn’t serious”
“I know but I won’t lie to you. I’ve observed the marriages of high society and I’m terrified. I know I have the privilege of a choice but one wrong move and I could fall into a chasm of corruption and hatred like your husband and father. Because you were born a
“You look a little exhausted, your grace. Are you sure you still want to attend?”“I spent the night writing up invitations. I cannot miss the tea party I organized myself. I will take my time to rest before the banquet”“But your grace, even makeup cannot cover those thick circles”“Try your best, Dana. I believe in you”“Your grace!”Natalia chuckled, letting the maid do her job. Once she was done, she stood to leave the room, faltering because she felt light headed. She hadn’t closed her eyes since the night before, afraid that her husband might suddenly decide to fulfill his marital duties. She used that time to write up invitations for the tea party and plan it for late afternoon. “Your grace! Please sit down for a bit! I beg you!”“Alright”The tea party was to be held in the Queen's garden after Natalia obtained permission quite quickly. The servants moved fast, organizing somewhere for the noble ladies that were to attend. The weather was bright and it was the perfect day for
“Oh my, this place looks so lively”All the talking came to a screeching halt as soon as the regal voice was heard. “We greet her majesty the Queen” the ladies curtseyed immediately. “Please rise. I just came to see how the tea party hosted by the Grand Duchess was going. You have outdone yourself once again, Natalia”“It’s all thanks to your majesty. I am grateful you granted us permission to use your garden. It’s a lovely day. Please join us, your majesty”“I’m grateful for your invitation but I have much to do. I’ll send you a gift later so please, enjoy the tea party”“Thank you for stopping by, your majesty” The queen soon left with her entourage and the ladies chatted with more excitement. The foreign princesses in particular were impressed by the favor the Queen showed to the Grand Duchess but they also found it peculiar how the Queen ignored both the third princess and the Saintess Candidate. The tea party carried on for a while like that until it finally ended. Once the la
“Countess Quartz, you made it just in time. I was starting to get worried”“How can I disappoint your grace? The merchandise was just a little hard to transport through the teleportation circle since it’s so fragile. Are you sure you wish to gift this to her majesty?”“I haven’t changed my mind. I’m sure her majesty would like my gift”“And what gift would that be?”“I greet his grace, the Grand Duke” Countess Quartz curtseyed. His red eyes bore down on them both and neither of them dared to meet his gaze. “I purchased a gift from Countess Quartz for her majesty”“And you are?” his gaze shifted to the Countess. “I’m the branch manager of the Merchant Association in Traisen, your grace”“So, you spent the funds of the castle without my knowledge?”“How could I commit such a blunder, your grace? I spent my own funds to purchase her majesty a gift as I have always done”The Grand Duke took his time to remember that she belonged to the wealthiest family in the kingdom and she owned a bu
The next person to present their gift was Adelie. She came as a representative of the Temple of Ducroft, presenting a holy artifact excavated from the ruins of the very first temple of Ducroft. The Queen was pleased with the gift but the people of high nobility knew she wouldn’t keep the gift. It had to be returned to the temple because it was a holy artifact. Presenting it was a symbol of the good relationship between the royals and the temple. After a while, Alana came to present her gift. She was surprisingly escorted by Lord Orland who focused the attention of everyone on her. Lord Orland was another unmarried high noble who was overshadowed by Sebastian. Not only was he handsome, but he was also related to the future crown princess. It made no sense for him to be escorted by the irrelevant third princess but it was happening right before their eyes. The only one amused by this was Natalia. In her past life, this never happened. Rather, the one who escorted the third princess to
{In as much as Madaline and I are not direct enemies, you still have to be careful around her. It looks like she has contracted someone powerful} “I would try as much as possible to avoid a direct confrontation. There’s nothing I would benefit from that. The first thing to do is avoid contact with Adelie” {She is quite dangerous. Dealing with Angels is hard, even for fae like us} Alana couldn’t fantom just how Adelie got herself involved with angels. She did have fairy blood but that was enough for the angels to throw her away. Just how did she get the power of the angels? It didn’t make any sense. “Your highness, I have come to escort you to the gift-giving banquet” “......Lord Orland?” She opened the door, staring at the one person she never expected to be there. There was a part of her that expected it to be Fredrich but she was just as surprised to see the young lord standing outside her door. There wasn’t a single servant in the entire back palace so the impression he would
“So, what are you going to do when the celebration ends?”“Truthfully, I’m not sure. Life goes on, I guess”“Natalia, do you want me to ask for a divorce in exchange for our support?”“Hmm, that might not necessarily work. He would want to hold me as a hostage to ensure your continued support. You know what you should do; Appoint someone to take over your work in your stead while you go to your future wife’s kingdom under the guise of courting her and establish a trade route there. They need it now more than ever so you need to become an asset there. When the time comes, we can leave here without regrets”“That’s a wonderful idea that comes with a terribly short duration”“I’m sure you can do it, Bastian”“Did you know his majesty spoke about an extermination campaign? It’s been a long time since we have done something like that so he wishes to make it a big affair. Most of the nobles would be coming to your territory and I’m sure the royal family would stay in the Castle on the Edge.
“Your holiness, why have you delayed your official appointment? The celebration ended a week ago and soon, everyone would be busy preparing for the Extermination Campaign”“I haven’t received a sign yet. We need to wait for more, ArchBishop”“But your holiness, this is the first time in 200 years that a saintess has been chosen. It’s important for the church of Ducroft to appoint a Saintess so we can establish ourselves as a powerful entity in the kingdom. We will soon be swept up into the noble faction because of their donations!”“If we rush the appointment, they won’t need a prophecy to tell them our intention. We have to make people believe staunchly in the power of the church. We need to reinforce ourselves as the standard. People now think of the church as an afterthought but with the foundation I have laid down, it won’t be long until they give their all to Ducroft”“I understand your plan, your holiness but everyone is impatient”“It’s your job to address their concerns. I wil
The journey back home was more peaceful than Natalia expected. She fully braced for his attacks but they didn’t even ride the same carriage. He disappeared, just like their wedding, leaving her time for herself. Since she had fully resolved the cases, Corren handed over the household duties to her. Since it was something that she had done in her last life, it didn’t take time for her to get accustomed to it. Aside that, she sent a message to Amaika to accompany Sebastian to Polivia and a letter to Sebastian to allow Amaika to come along. In both lives, the two really never got along so she hoped they would be civil on this very important trip. They were following the princess back so they would hopefully be civil. The letters were sent in a safe manner that couldn’t be intercepted by anyone, burning them with magic. The Adamantine family had several ways of sending secret messages. Some of them were old, simple and complex while the rest were recently devised to make up for the mist
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