[Clover's P.O.V]
Clover was currently in a bad mood as a voice telepathically explained to her about the children's disappearance.
"What do you mean they're gone?" Clover asked.
"Apologies, master..." said the voice. "After informing you of the chase, I went back to check on the children and saw a hooded figure suddenly grabbing them before vanishing. There's a good chance that this person is a magic-user."
Clover clicked her tongue.
"Tch, this is not your average kidnapper..." Clover thought. "What happened to the thugs that were chasing after the children?"
"One of them was captured by the Blue Plates but the other two are still on the run," the voice answered.
"This hooded bastard might be related to them, follow them for now," said Clover. "They're our only lead for now."
"Understood," said the voice.
As the voice in her head faded away, she slammed her fist against the wall.
"If there's even a single wound on the children..." she murmured.
A nearby guard heard Clover slamming her fist against the wall and rushed to her location.
"Great General?" a royal guard asked.
"It's nothing. I was just in a bad mood..." said Clover. "Just carry on with what you were doing."
"Understood," said the royal guard.
After the royal guard disappeared from Clover's sight, she walked away with eyes full of anger. Just then, she felt a strange sensation outside where the ancient garden was located.
"Someone just used magic nearby!" Clover thought.
She quickly rushed down the hallway and ran past a few guards and maids. Once she reached the gardens, she witnessed an unexpected scene.
"What the..."
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[Moments earlier...]
In an abandoned part of the city, the hooded woman who covered Dunha's and Lily's mouth teleported in front of an old inn that's been partially burnt down.
"Where are we?" Dunha wondered.
Her mind went blank when the hooded woman teleported her and Lily away from the plaza. Fortunately, it was only temporary as her mind returned to normal after a few seconds. She then calmly looked around her surroundings and did not see a single living soul in sight which was an unusual sight for a city with a population of 2 million.
"Hold on... This isn't right," the woman murmured. "Well, at least there's no one here..."
At the same time, Lily bit the woman's hand.
"Ow!"
The woman quickly let go of Lily who proceeded to turn around and hiss at her.
"Now, now... Calm down, Lily," said the woman as she looked at her bitten hand. "Ow... I think you drew blood."
She then quickly released Dunha as well before sitting down on a small wooden crate. Dunha quickly took a few steps away from the woman before observing her surroundings again.
"This place is a complete ghost town..." Dunha thought.
While Dunha was trying to figure out where they were, Lily glared at the woman.
"Where are we?!" Lily shouted.
"We're near the castle," the woman answered.
She proceeded to stretch out her arm just as a small dark hole appeared next to her. The woman then put her hand in the hole and pulled out a small purple bottle.
This surprised Dunha and Lily.
"What was that?" Lily asked.
"Did you just use dimensional storage magic?" Dunha asked.
"Who knows?" the woman answered as she drank from the purple bottle.
Dimensional storage magic was a rare power that can be used by very few people. To Dunha's knowledge, there are only 6 known people in the kingdom that could use such rare magic and one of them is someone related to her.
After a few seconds of thinking, Dunha's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Auntie?!" she shouted.
The woman grinned under her hood before removing it to reveal the face of a beautiful woman with dark blond hair and blue eyes.
"Correct," she smiled. "I'm surprised that you remember me. Fufu."
Dunha began to smile with joy.
"I can't believe it!" she thought. "But then again, since I went back in time, it would make sense that auntie would be alive just like my parents."
In her first life, her aunt died at some point during one of her travels to the Reddy Kingdom. Dunha was saddened by her aunt's death but she knows that it was her father who was devastated the most.
"Auntie~!" Dunha happily shouted.
She began to run towards her aunt which briefly surprised Lily. She then jumped on her aunt who caught her and got up from her seat.
"None of that matters for now," Dunha thought. "They're all problems for another time."
"Haha. It's good to see you too," the aunt said.
She then looked at Lily who suddenly showed her fangs and hissed.
"It's okay, Lily! She's nice!" said Dunha with a smile.
Dunha then whispered in her aunt's ear.
"She doesn't like being touched by anyone who she hates or doesn't know," she whispered.
"Ah..." the aunt whispered back. "In that case..."
The aunt stretched her arm once more and pulled out a small paper bag. She then slowly approached Lily who slowly walked back.
"Stay back!" Lily shouted.
"It's okay, I'm friendly," the aunt smiled.
She then opened the bag and pulled out a piece of cotton candy and threw it into Lily's mouth when she hissed once more.
"!" (Lily)
Lily's eyes suddenly opened wide in astonishment. Her glare disappeared and was replaced with a smile.
"Dunha! I think you're right! She's nice!" Lily said happily. "Can I have some more?"
The aunt began to chuckle while Dunha simply shook her head with a smile.
"Here," the aunt said. "Dunha, do you want some too?"
"It's okay," said Dunha. "I just want to go back home and talk there."
She then glanced at the empty street.
"This is not a good place to talk," she added.
"Hahaha, I guess you're right... This is not exactly a fun place for children," the aunt said. "Especially if you know what happened here..." she whispered.
"Hm?" (Dunha)
"Nothing. I said nothing..."
The aunt then approached Lily who nearly finished half of the bag. She then gently placed Dunha onto the ground.
"Stay close to me," the aunt said.
Without saying a word, the two children grabbed onto the aunt's pants as she began to chant something.
"Dehinc, ut alibi..." the aunt whispered.
Dunha's mind went blank again and when it returned, she found herself in the middle of the gardens with her aunt and Lily.
"It never ceases to amaze me with how convenient teleportation magic is... Too bad I don't have any mana..." Dunha thought. "It would've come in handy."
The aunt began to look around the garden before taking a deep breath.
"Ha... I miss this smell," the aunt said. "It's good to be back home~!"
While the aunt enjoyed the scene and the smell of the garden, Lily was pouting as she finished the last of the cotton candy.
"Aw..." said Lily as she looked into the empty bag.
"Don't pout," said Dunha as she patted her head. "We can ask the servants to bring some more later."
"Ok~," Lily said delightfully.
"Ah... So cute..." Dunha thought as she happily patted Lily's head. "!"
Although she was enjoying herself, she quickly stopped when she realized her aunt staring at her. Her aunt was smirking.
"Haha, anyways... Why is the garden so empty?" the aunt asked. "There should be at least a few gardeners here... Did something happened here recently?"
"No... I don't think so... The only thing that happened recently was me and Lily sneaking out of the castle without any guards," Dunha answered jokingly.
The aunt let out a small chuckle. She then glanced behind her when she heard the sounds of grass crunching. It was Clover Ashlyn.
When Lily turned around and saw her mother she immediately dropped the paper bag and ran towards her.
"Mama~!" Lily shouted happily.
Clover slowly crouched in front of her daughter and picked her up before flicking her forehead.
"Owie!" Lily whimpered.
"You little troublemaker... Why did you sneak out of the castle?" Clover asked. "Do you realize how much trouble you just caused to many people?"
Tears began to form in Lily's eyes.
"I don't know why... *Sniff* I was in bed but when I woke up *Sniff* I was outside... That's when Dunha showed up and..." Lily sniffled.
Just as Lily was about to cry Clover embraced her and began to stroke her hair.
"Shh... It's okay... Mama's sorry for flicking your forehead..." Clover said softly. "I was just so worried..." she began to pat Lily's back.
She then gave Dunha's aunt an annoyed look.
"Let's go inside first before we talk," said Clover.
"I can agree with that," the aunt smiled.
"!" (Dunha)
She then picked up Dunha and began to carry her into the castle in her arms.
"It's okay! I can walk fine on my own!" said Dunha. "You can put me down!"
"There's no need to be shy," the aunt laughed. "Now stop moving too much, it'll be bad if you fall."
As they entered the castle, they run into several servants who were shocked to see Dunha's aunt and immediately bowed their heads in front of her.
"Your grace," the servants bowed.
The aunt simply waved her hands to signal them to continue with their work.
"I suppose that my sudden appearance is shocking to them..." the aunt commented as she watched the maids quickly walk away.
"You think?" Clover snickered as shook her head. "I wonder how Henry's going to react when he sees you."
Clover then noticed someone approaching them.
"Well, speak of the devil," Clover smirked.
In front of them were Henry and Seo-Yeon who both had surprised expressions.
"Ann?" said Henry.
"It's been a while... Henry," Ann smiled.
At the same time, Seo-Yeon saw Dunha in Ann's arms.
"Mama..." said Dunha.
"Dunha!" Seo-Yeon shouted.
She was about rush towards Ann before Henry gently grabbed her shoulder.
"Don't rush, my love," said Henry. "You might hurt yourself and the baby."
"I'll walk over there instead," said Ann.
She then slowly walked towards Seo-Yeon with Dunha.
"Careful... Careful..." Seo-Yeon murmured.
Ann slowly put Dunha into Seo-Yeon's arm. As soon as Dunha was put into her arms, she began to hug her daughter as she stroke her hair.
"Dunha Star, what were you thinking?" Seo-Yeon asked. "Why did you and Lily sneak out without any guards? You almost scared your poor mother half to death!"
"Ow..." Dunha murmured.
Before Dunha could explain herself, she suddenly felt minor pain in her arm when her mother hugged her.
"Dunha? Sweetie, are you okay? Does your arm hurt?" Seo-Yeon asked.
Before Dunha could respond, her mother lifted up her sleeves and found a large bruise swelling in her arm which shocked everyone.
"What happened?!" she asked.
Seo-Yeon gently placed her hand on her daughter's right arm.
"!" (Dunha)
Her hand began to glow, much to Dunha's surprise.
"Mother's a magic-user?!" Dunha thought.
The pain in Dunha's arm slowly began to disappear and once her mother's hand stopped glowing, the bruise was nowhere to be seen.
"This should prevent the swelling from getting worse," said Seo-Yeon. "Who did this to you?!" she asked.
"Seo-Yeon, slow down," said Clover. "She got that bruise when some knave grabbed her near an alleyway by the marketplace," she explained.
"I'm assuming you know this through one of your familiars?" Henry asked.
Clover nodded.
"Ha..." Henry sighed before turning his head to some nearby maids. "You there, could you take the children to Dunha's room?"
"Of course, your Majesty," said the maids.
Two maids quickly gave their dusters to the other maids and approached Clover and Seo-Yeon.
"Be careful and try not to make too much noise," said Clover as she handed Lily over to the maid. "She just fell asleep," she added.
This surprised Dunha.
"What? She fell asleep at a time like this?" Dunha thought.
She then remembered something important.
"Oh... I almost forgot..." she thought. "Lily always feels drowsy whenever she eats something sweet or has a full stomach... I remember that she just ate cotton candy."
She then watched Lily fast asleep in the maid's arms and chuckled.
"For some reason, I want to pinch her cheeks..." Dunha thought. "Fufufu... Probably not a good idea..."
Just then, Seo-Yeon gently handed her over to another maid.
"Sweetie, mama will come to you and Lily with your papa later after we finish talking with your auntie," said Seo-Yeon. "Let's talk more later, ok?"
"Ok~" Dunha replied.
Seo-Yeon then kissed Dunha on the forehead before waving at her as the two maids holding the children walked away with a few guards following behind them.
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After watching the maids disappear from view, Seo-Yeon's sweet smile vanished and was replaced with a cold glare as she turned back around.
"What happened at the marketplace?" Seo-Yeon asked.
"I think we should talk about this somewhere where we can sit," said Ann. "I have a feeling that we're going to be talking for a long time."
"Agreed," said Henry. "It's not good for the baby if you stand around for too long, my love."
This surprised Ann.
"Wait... Your pregnant?" she asked.
"Yes, but we can talk about that later," said Seo-Yeon. "We got something more important to discuss now."
"Of course," Ann smiled.
"Let's go to the conference room," said Clover. "No one with a magic item will be able to eavesdrop on us there."
"Aye," said Henry.
As they all walked down the hallway with several guards following behind them, Henry glanced at Ann which she noticed.
"Hm?" (Ann)
"3 years, Ann..." Henry smirked. "Haha... Where the hell have you been?"
"Oh, I've been traveling here and there," said Ann. "I'm confident that the children will be thrilled when they hear the stories of my adventures," she laughed.
"Would it have hurt for you to send us a letter at least once while you were traveling?" Henry asked.
Ann let out a dry laugh.
"I did... But circumstances and bad luck prevented you from getting those letters..." Ann chuckled awkwardly.
"What do you mean?" Seo-Yeon asked.
"Every time I write a letter and try to send it to you, the messengers who took the letters constantly ran into accidents and lost them..." said Ann. "The first messenger got killed by bandits who ambushed him while the second messenger perished when the ship he was on got shipwrecked. The third messenger apparently got killed by a flock of rabid pigeons."
The last sentence amused Clover.
"Pfft, what?" she asked. "The hell is with the last part?"
"I think the last part was a jest," Ann chuckled. "But anyway, with the messenger guild continuously failing to deliver my letter and also refusing to give me a refund, I decided to return to the capital instead."
"Well, I'm glad you did," said Henry.
"Aye. It's good to see you again, Ann," said Seo-Yeon.
"I'm happy to see you too, my brother's most beloved wife," Ann said jokingly. "Now let's go to the room. We have some important things to discuss."
(To Be Continued...)
2021/08/19