“It’s very…elaborate.”“What a nice word to describe big. You do not like it?”“No! I think it looks really nice.”“Okay. Let’s go in before I exhaust all the sophisticated words you can use.” She led him into the castle, giving him a tour herself while Amaika followed behind. It made the servants very curious, especially after she commanded Antonia to open the room she asked to be kept closed. “Do you think that is the master?”“Who knows? He’s a werecreature. I can’t even tell if he’s a he. Maybe a werecreature the Duchess decides to sponsor? Even the one behind him is dressed better. I think I’ve seen him around the palace.” The servants were unaware that all three that were being talked about could hear everything they were saying though they weren’t close to them. Amaika looked very proud, not minding that they were assumed to be a man. Natalia continued giving the tour, ending it in her office. Whilst inside, Antonia brought them snacks delivered from the palace. When she was
As the conference neared, people started making their way to the North Pawal Island. The Island was a neutral zone that was in the control of the indiginous Pawal people who weren’t generally welcoming to strangers. They maintained the same type of situation as Polivia but people tended to leave them alone because of the treaty. The delegation from the Empire were the first to arrive, taking up a considerable portion of the island. They struggled with the kingdom of Ducroft to share that portion and Polivia arrived third. The Kingdom of Berinda and the smaller nations began to arrive in droves until all the leaders were present. Eventually, everyone got a place to stay and the meeting was set to begin the next day. Polivia got the furthest end of the island away from the other bigger nations. “It’s a wonderful day to have tea, is it not, your Majesty?”“Only you would think of having tea in this kind of situation. It’s quite unnerving to have a meeting like this that’s the first of
The day they would reunite drew closer. Natalia tried to hide her anxiety the way she knew best, by pretending the problem did not exist. Even as the leaders converged in the middle of the Island, where a place had already been set up for them, she still calmly pretended all was well. It almost came apart when she set eyes on Fredrich once more. He looked different yet he was familiar. She had seen him like this before, when he became king. This life, she didn’t give herself the opportunity to see him crowned and she thought it was right that she didn’t. Seeing him as a king was seeing him further as an enemy. Life only become more miserable when he became king and began to act unhinged towards her. Fredrich thought his eyes would pop out of his skull when he saw her calmly standing behind the Queen of Polivia. Others, who had heard the Queen of Polivia was dead, were nothing more than shocked to see her still alive and well. The only one who looked so amused to see her was the Crow
Fredrich returned to his tent, feeling discombobulated. The comprehension of the fact that his wife who he saw die was still alive and gone because of his clear neglect was rocky. He couldn’t settle on what he was feeling. Now, she had become someone he couldn’t touch or claim. By law, they were divorced and had nothing to do with each other anymore. “Your majesty, what happened? Why do you look so distraught? Did they demand too much? Do we have to go to war?”“No, it’s…nothing. I just need to rest,” he answered, taking her hands away from his body. He had never treated Alana like that. It made her feel strange but she didn’t push it. She knew exactly how his temper was like. Instead, she went on to meet the one person that went with him, his personal aide, Wilbur. Alana prided herself on having a good relationship with his servants so she was able to get information very easily.“What happened in the meeting?”“Oh, it was very chaotic, your highness. I saw Lady Natalia with my own
She thought he would reject her or act shocked enough for it to pass. But he took the lead, kissing her just as passionately. He pulled away first, staring deep into her eyes while his chest heaved, slightly out of rhythm with hers."I…have to go," he said under his breath. She didn't reply but he left anyway, turning into a wolf to travel faster. Reagan's gaze was on his back the entire time but he didn't move. Fredrich was the first to explode. "NATALIA!""What are you being so loud for? I apologize for interrupting the meeting like that but you asked me to show you how important he was. He's the last thread of my sanity. So, if anything happens to him, rest assured, all of you will feel my pain" she said, her gaze predominantly on Reagan. "In the end, a woman is still a woman. I thought the illustrious Flower of Ducroft would be a virtuous woman but you're as crass and loose as a vixen," Arken loosely commented. "You must feel like the virtuous one, Crown prince Arken. Don't thi
That Alana wasn’t there to welcome him again after he brushed her off the first time angered him. He immediately went to look for her and found that she wasn’t in her tent. He pulled aside a maid and asked where she was. Finally, he knew where she was and walked to find her. She was standing on the shore, staring at the sun sinking in the horizon and he felt his anger slowly slip away. She turned to look at him and smiled. “Your majesty, isn’t it beautiful?” “...it is.” He stood behind her, putting his arms around her shoulders. They stood there, watching the sunset while he was trying to remember why he was angry in the first place. It wasn’t Alana’s fault. It was Natalia’s. “Alana, we keep…no secrets from each other, right?” “Your majesty, there are some secrets of mine you wouldn’t want to know.” “Such as your infertility, right?” The smile on Alana’s face dropped. She turned to look at him, fear slowly filling her heart. She, of all people, knew how scary he could be. “I
As the meeting progressed, they began to note Natalia’s continued absence was a good thing. If she needed to intervene, she would be called. During this time, she decided to gather more mana with Madaline. Instead of using a circle this time, they used a more complex formation Natalia had to draw once more with blood. As she was a transcendental, it wasn’t exactly hard but it wasn’t a piece of cake. Her body had become hardened as a mortal shell so it would take a hard blow that would normally shatter a mountain to break through her skin. But she had one handy object to do the trick, Marvis’s teeth. “Your relationship is frankly disgusting and creepy.”“Madaline, if there’s any other way, you are welcome to try.”Madaline rolled her eyes and continued swinging her leg, watching Natalia drain her blood. He was no longer needed so Marvis relegated himself to sniffing Madaline. She ignored him the entire time and he just lay at her feet when he was done. The flaps of the tent parted an
"In the absence of any more objections and suggestions, we can call this meeting to a close. The treaty of the three continents will come into effect from this moment on. I want to thank everyone who came and I really hope that no one will suggest starting a war anytime soon," Natalia said after she finished signing the treaty. The other leaders left, leaving only Natalia and Fredrich standing there with no audience. She raised his eyebrows, wondering what he was going to say this time. "You can come back to Ducroft.""Pardon?""We're already divorced and your family is a ducal family now. You can return to Ducroft. You'll have the freedom you crave and the respect of the members of high society.""I am already a Duchess in my own right and I am respected by the highest authority in Polivia. Tell me why I should return to Ducroft, your majesty.""It couldn't be easy to be a Duchess in another kingdom. Ducroft is your home. You can always return home.""Ducroft stopped being my home
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