Upon our arrival, Leo passed out. I suspect that it has something to do with the effects of crossing worlds for the first time. Leo has been taken to another room where a doctor and a few royal guards, along with Javi, are tasked with watching over him.
Meanwhile, I am back in the study room with my sister and Ace in order to quickly brief them on the situation—that Kellar tried to separate his soul in half, but the spell was incomplete, which is now resulting in him weakening. I explained to them why I brought Leo and his importance to saving Kellar. I also did not miss out on telling them about my encounter with Chace back in the human realm.
My brother-in-law is pretty calm while listening, but I could not say the same for my sister. Looking at her now, it makes me glad that I managed to free Chace in the human realm.
“Those fairies! Do they think that they can do whatever they want?! Did they honestly think that we would not wage war against them!?” Rose yells and brings out a few curses, making me glad that her children aren’t here to hear it.
There are times when I often wonder whether the words that come out of my sister’s mouth are jokes or if she’s being serious. Nonetheless, I am afraid that she might actually go to war for me.
I turn to Ace for help. “Do something about your wife.” Unfortunately for me, despite Ace being the more rational of the two, he is extremely a simp when it comes to my sister.
“Dear, whatever you do, I will wholeheartedly support you. Do you want me to control the forest and bury their kingdom to the ground as if it never existed?” It concerns me how calmly he says it.
“Is it possible?” My sister sounds intrigued and impressed with the idea when she looks at her husband.
Ace smirks. “Of course. Who is it that you think you married?” He arrogantly says as if committing genocide is a completely normal thing.
“If this is marriage, then I don’t want it.” I can’t help but say while watching them plan on burying the entire fairy kingdom. “And in case you guys have forgotten, I have fairy bloodline too, so you guys planning on destroying the faerie kingdom is a little disturbing to me.”
“Alright.” My sister nods understandingly. “We’ll talk about it when you are not around.”
“That’s not what I—Urgh.” I give up. I might as well not dive into the matter and focus on something more pressing. “Anyway, I told you about the urgency of why I brought Leo. Sister, do you think that I can ask for your help in bringing Leo to the enchanted forest?”
Rose looks worried. She slouches on the couch and crosses her hands while her forehead wrinkles as she thinks about my request. “Stella, I don’t even know why you are asking. Our knights are at your disposal if you need them. The question is, how many do you wish to take?”
“None.”
“What? Didn’t you say that you wanted my help?”
Ace crosses his arms, seemingly the only one who understands what I want. “She wants to borrow one of your familiars.” Then, looking at me, he adds with a raised brow, “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. I don’t think that the nymph will take kindly to too many visitors even if it means protecting me.” I’m kind of glad that Ace figured it out first and took the chance to explain it to my sister. It saves me more time to voice out my request.
Rose looks like she is having a headache with the conversation. “Fine.” She sighs. “I’ll inform Custard, and you can set off tomorrow.”
“That would take time!” My voice suddenly rises. “Sister, right now, Kellar is passed out and fighting for his life!”
Rose seems to snap at my outburst; she gets up from her sitting position and glowers down at me. “If you keep moving any more than you did today, you’re the one who is going to pass out!” She scolds me, which she rarely does unless I am being stubborn. “You may think that I am being inconsiderate regarding Kellar’s health, but trust me, I am worried for him as well. But if his wellbeing is at the expense of my sister, I would always choose you, Stella.” My sister’s eyes begin to soften as soon as she finishes speaking.
“Well,” Ace sighs, breaking the heavy silence that follows. “I don’t think that you can even travel tonight even if we permit you. Kellar’s other soul is still resting.” He starts to point out. “Besides, even if he wakes up now, I doubt that he will be able to travel. For one, I highly doubt that he passed out simply from crossing.”
Rose’s face starts to turn pale, and if I could see my reflection right now, I feel like I would have looked the same.
“Ace, are you saying—” My sister turns to her husband. Her hand presses close to her chest while she waits for his response.
Ace can only nod as he brings up the bad news. “I did not want to bring this up, but Kellar’s other soul might feel the strain of the separation the moment he crossed borders.” When Ace takes note of our horrified expression, he seems regretful for bringing up the news. “In any case, I don’t think that it would be wise to travel while he is still passed out. If something goes wrong, it would be best if he were here to be treated immediately, and we could also observe his health. If you ask me, we should let him rest tonight so his body can recover a bit. And it’s not just him, you should be resting as well.”
I hate how logical he can be at times—there’s not even a space for me to argue.
“I don’t like it.” I say.
“Just for tonight, Stella. If anything happens or if your friend wakes up, you have my word that I will inform you as soon as possible.” Ace promises. As a very proud individual, I’m sure that he is going to keep his promise.
Even though I don’t want to admit it, I am pretty tired myself. This day has brought out a lot of adventure for me, enough that even while I am worried about Kellar, I feel like I could drop to the floor and enter dreamland in just a few seconds.
“Alright.” I can’t say anything at the moment other than to agree. They’re right. And since these two have been through so many similar situations, or maybe worse, I should leave this to them for now. “If Leo wakes up, let me know even when I am sleeping.”
I saw the two of them nod before I finally left the room feeling tired and physically drained. I almost feel a little relieved that they even managed to convince me.
The moment I arrived in my room and fell asleep on my bed, I was so relaxed, thinking that everything was fine. Little did I know that it was just going to get worse after that.