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E P I S O D E
39

______☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎______

"The Eslen Kingdom has a lot of resources, be it from making weapons, and magic scrolls. Elvens and Dwarfs resided there - therefore, they are ahead of inventions."

A large blue hologram appeared and showed the continent of the Kingdom of Eslen, located in the east that was surrounded by mostly thick and covered forest - hiding them away from the conflict of other kingdoms.

"And most of all, Eslen is known for being an independent country. It may not be easy asking them for help since they are known to be cowards." Mizuki smirked as a thought flashed in her mind.

"But they would submit later on if they find out that the core is in danger - what would they do if they know of this matter? Of course, they would volunteer to help." She turned to the silent, Oozora Akari - listening closely to everything Mizuki is saying.

She gently patted Oozora's shoulder with a knowing smile on her face, "They are cowards, so don't hesitate to blackmail them using the state of the core. Okay?"

Akari shivered, 'The Queen is so scary!'

"Yes, your Majesty." Nonetheless, she answered back and could only do what the queen told her to. After all, the queen has a lot of experience regarding these topics, and Akari is still learning.

Mizuki walked again, "Anyways, we need Eslen for the safety of the people. Our goal is to secure the citizens first using their artifacts. Upgrading our resources for the upcoming war, and support from them."

"I understand." Akari bowed her head, and soon stopped infront of a new huge hologram colored in green.

"Is this, the Kingdom of Alastair?" Akari said with uncertainty as she observed the barren land on the hologram, replaying some of the poor places of the kingdom and the kingdom itself.

Mizuki nodded, "Yes. What you are seeing right now is the current state of Alastair Kingdom."

"But, aren't this kingdom known for being the source of mana-" as she said what's in her mind, Akari suddenly realised what's happening.

"They are the first country that is affected by the core because they are the source of mana..." Akari muttered, sadness and pity swirling around in her chest. Mizuki closed her eyes as she smiled.

"Don't worry, after this war everything will turn back to normal." Although the queen reassured Akari of the lives of the people, Akari still felt really sad that the citizens are suffering because they couldn't do a better job at protecting the core. It felt like it's all her fault.

Mizuki noticed Akari's empathy towards the Kingdom of Alastair, however she chose not to be gentle with Akari. In the near future, these princesses would be ruling over different kingdoms, and some would be even sent in a long, dangerous missions. Akari needs to learn how to toughen her heart in these kind of situations.

"Oozora, i need you to stay strong. Don't be swayed by your emotions again, I chose you because I am aware of your abilities as a leader. Do not disappoint me."

Akari flinched at the hard tone of Mizuki, she bowed her head in shame - inhaling and exhaling to easen the tension in her chest.

She looked up again, this time with a more strong expression. "I won't disappoint you, your Majesty."

"Good. Now, about the Kingdom of Alastair. "

"Although the land became barren, the kingdom stores the mana under the water - it's on their watch. Because of the damage from the core, the flow of mana became unbalanced. We need to have a talk with them to sustain the life of both lands."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by they store it under the water? Won't the mana be blocked if they hide it there?" Akari asked, the confusion visible on her pretty face.

Mizuki chuckled at this, "It's because they didn't know that. That's why we need to join hands with them, we have the upper hand in this matter; since we have more information about mana and how to use it wisely."

Akari nodded, understanding what the queen meant.

"The last Kingdom would be very difficult." Mizuki stopped, "The Yurah Kingdom."

"As far as I know, they had a bad history with us." Akari warily asked.

"That's right. But, we need them the most right now. The Kingdom of Yurah has very skilled knights and wizards, and our Kingdom's strength is the princesses. We can't do anything on our own, you know that right?"

"Yes, I know that."

Mizuki sighed, "To be honest, I'm not even sure if they will agree to help us. However, I know you can do it Oozora."

Akari smiled in gratitude, the queen's trust warming up her chest.

The world is under their small shoulders, standing strong for a long time and they have grown weaker. They have helped the world sustain the peace that it deserves, now they are in a weakened state, they can't do anything on their own.

These little shoulders of the princesses have grown as dependable and brave, they didn't even thought of seeking for help from the other Kingdom thinking that they can do it all by themselves.

Turns out that they are wrong, as what the queen had said; they cannot do it all by themselves. They need a hand. Standing alone at the top is pretty lonely as well.

Mizuki's eyes glistened as she remembered her journey as a princess as well, now that she is the queen - she planned on guiding them to become strong alongside people they could trust.

"We're done with the kingdom. Now let's proceed to the princesses' missions." Mizuki swiped through the air, making air ripples - a wave of cold, snow flakes floated around the closed space. Lighting the black nothingness in the color of blue and purple glowing dusts.

"Woah." Akari gaped as her eyes widened in fascination, her cheeks flushing in pink; amazed by the beauty of the colors.

Mizuki chuckled, she's always amused Akari's reactions since from the very beginning. It's simply adorable.

"There are some places in this kingdom that are hidden from the naked eyes," the glowing dusts formed into a beautiful shape of a swan in the color of a rainbow crystal.

"Give this to Shirogane and tell her to go to the north, at the town of Iglis. There's a place called Helden Lake that she must go to and place this in the middle of the lake." Mizuki handed the beautiful crystal to Akari, which she grabbed with great care.

"And that place is, is where she'll attempt to make a ripple through the connection of two dimensions - right?" Akari made sure.

Mizuki smiled, "Not really, I assigned both Shirogane and Suisei to this mission so they could make this a success. Shirogane's job here is to open the gates that's connecting to the other dimension - Suisei would be the one to make a ripple."

Akari tilted head in confusion, "But, isn't opening the gates would be the ripple though?"

"Opening the gates would only lead to a string of countless of other dimensions mixed around the space, the job of making a ripple would connect us to where the other princesses are because their mana connects us here. Therefore, it would make it even easier to make a portal."

"The ripple would open a portal towards the other dimension every crescent moon, so always be ready when that time comes. We will send Otome to rescue the other princesses."

"By then, Sumire should be able to break the curse before it gets eaten by it."

Akari knew that the queen is amazing, but witnessing it beforehand how outstanding the queen really is left her flustered in both admiration and gratitude. She planned it all so perfectly like she's reading a book nonchalantly.

"You're so amazing as always, your Majesty!" Akari gushed inside her head, still maintaining her respectable self.

Mizuki merely chuckled and waved her hand, "Thank you for the praise, Oozora." The glowing dust disappeared.

"I'll be counting on you to relay the orders, Oozora. Also, we should hold a meeting after Shirogane and Suisei's mission is over."

"I understand, your Majesty."

After the discussion between the Queen and Oozora Akari, the princess didn't waste anytime to have a meeting with the princesses and flawlessly relayed the orders of Mizuki to the other princesses, it all went smoothly.

And another day went by in a busy schedule. Today, Lily and Suisei departed for the mission - both dressed casually, the carriage guarded by multiple knights following on horses.

The carriage is surprisingly quiet, Lily didn't really know how the Diamond Princess behaved and how she even lived - she's a complete mystery. And Lily cannot help but to get curious as to why she's hiding in the shadows.

Lily unknowingly stared intently at Suisei whose quietly gazing out of the window. But the princess herself had felt the prickling stares from Lily, and mentally sweatdropped.

"Is there something you want to ask me, Shirogane-sama?" Suisei asked in a soft voice, her long eyelashes casting down, her lips arching up softly, creating an image of a delicate crystal beauty.

Lily was awestrucked for a second from how beautiful Suisei is, and didn't get to speak for the first few seconds.

She stuttered, "How come you never showed your face until now?"

Suisei shrugged and a chuckle came after, "I just don't like being in the spotlight, is all."

Lily understood completely what the princess meant by that, so she nodded her head with a smile. She felt like they would get along pretty well.

The carriage became quiet again, but it's more of a serene and calm atmosphere - and they both enjoyed of the silence throughout the ride.

When they got to the town of Iglis, they were welcomed with warm smiles from the townsfolk - surprising the two princesses that just got out of the carriage.

Although it makes them happy of their warm welcome, they came to the town for a mission. The two simply smiled in gratitude and greeted every single one of them before they walked to the forest where the Helden Lake is located.

It took them almost a couple of hours from the twists and turns that had them get lost at some point, the forest had trees that's thick and big and the vines are almost as tall as them. It was a big obstacle just from searching for the lake that the queen had mentioned about.

Oozora did tell them that the said lake were not visible to the naked eye, so how would they gonna know if it is indeed the lake they are searching for?

Furthermore, Lily's body is not built to a heavy exercise and her staminas' could only amount into a bottle of water and the water's only mid-halfway from being full.

Gasping for air, she landed on her butt in tiredness. The sun is starting to set by now and they still haven't found the lake.

The sound of a thump from Lily's fall made Suisei stop and look behind her. There she saw Lily's tired figure slumping on the ground, covered in sweats and muds.

"Are you good? I didn't know you don't have that much stamina, I'm such a fool for not noticing it earlier." Suisei sighed and blamed herself, walking towards Lily - she gently helped her stand up to lay her by the tree for support.

"Its not your," Lily breathes a deep one, "...fault, it's my problem."

Lily closed her eyes to rest her dry eyes.

"Stay there, I'll go fetch some water in the nearby river." Suisei walked away from Lily before she could bother to protest.

Minutes later, Suisei came back with two bottles of water, and realized that Lily's had gone to dream land.

She smiled at the peacefully sleeping Lily, sitting beside her - she tapped her shoulders.

"Shirogane-sama, here's your water." Lily squirmed beside her, muttering a thank you, dazedly taking the bottle from Suisei's hand before gulping it down.

Lily sighed in relief, some of her strength is back now. "Thank you for this, Shinjou-sama."

"It's not a problem." Suisei smiled sweetly, helping Lily stand up back to her feet. Although she's a little bit woggly. she became stable a few seconds later.

Now they are back to searching for the invisible lake, but the sun is out.

𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍

[ ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ]
2163

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚌 𝙾𝚗𝚎
𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍~ 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎!
𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍.

𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚒 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜, 𝚍𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚂𝚘 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚘𝚜 𝚎𝚝𝚌, 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎.

𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛!

𝚙𝚜. 𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚔𝚘~! 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.