"Where is Francis? Is he okay?" Ronaldo asked the attendant, who was helping him remove the vines.
"Don't worry, he is just sleeping because he was training, waiting for you to wake up," the queen said.
"How long did it take me to recover?"
"More than a week since you came here."
"Wait, what? More than a week?" Ronaldo was shocked.
"Yes, since you were so difficult to heal."
Ronaldo started to panic a little. "My grandfather might be worrying about me. I didn't inform him."
"Don't worry, Ronaldo. Francis informed them already that you would be having training here."
"Oh, phew… Thank you so much for healing me, Queen Dorothea," Ronaldo said.
"It is my duty to help everyone who is in need of my aid."
They walked to eat, and they passed by Francis's healing room. "Are you sure he is sleeping? Why are his eyes wide open in shock, and he has so many bruises?" Ronaldo asked.
"It's normal. That's the effect of extensive training to protect someone."
They sat at a round table, the queen at the center and her three loyal ladies beside her. "Allow me to introduce the four great Amazons: Beth," the queen said.
"Hello!" Beth greeted.
"Elle," the queen continued.
"Nice to meet you!" Elle said.
"And Danya," the queen said. Danya just smiled. "And Ivana is not here at this moment." Ivana was also in the healing room.
"Hello, everyone," Ronaldo greeted them.
A diwano served them food. "Is this… is this a flower?" Ronaldo asked.
"Yes. This turnip is good for your health; it can help your body heal faster," the queen said.
Ronaldo looked at the meals; they were all flower-shaped and came with a tea made of jasmine.
They ate, and suddenly Francis joined them, having woken up instantly after some healing. "You're awake!" He hugged Ronaldo, and Ronaldo hugged him back.
"Yes, I am. What happened to you?"
Francis looked at Queen Dorothea, and so did Ronaldo. "Oh, we had some intense training with one of Queen Dorothea's loyal ladies, and then we all went out. But I'm fine, hehe," Francis said.
"That's great, come join us," Ronaldo said, and they were all eating when a woman in warrior's armor, a guard of the forest, reported, "Pardon my intrusion, Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, but my queen, there are two soldiers lost in our forest."
"Oh, don't bother. Let them be," Queen Dorothea said.
"My queen, they have the banner of the House of Labraunth," the guard said. She looked at Francis and bowed, and Queen Dorothea stopped drinking her tea.
"What? It's rare that they send a soldier from the house unless it's urgent… No! I'm going back to the kingdom!" Francis yelled.
Dorothea's aura flared, which made Francis calm down a little. "Sit!" she commanded. "If something happened to your mother and your family, it's impossible. Your mother is even more powerful than me, so sit! You, guide them here at this instant!"
"Yes, my queen," the guard lady bowed and left, traversing the forest using vines.
"My queen, thank you for your hospitality and for treating us, but I am too worried about my grandfather. It must be time for us to go back," Ronaldo said.
"Yes, it is, but let's wait for the messenger from the Labraunth soldiers. It's not wise to storm into the kingdom if you don't know what's happening and you don't have a plan, darling," Queen Dorothea eloquently said.
"You're right," Ronaldo said, looking at Francis.
"Your Majesty, they have arrived," the guard woman informed them.
"Shall we?" Elle said and paved the way for the queen to go out first, followed by Francis, Ronaldo, and the others.
At the hallway outside the room, they met with the Labraunth visitors. "Speak your intention. You are in the presence of Queen Dorothea, the guardian of this root forest," Danya said.
The two messenger soldiers bowed. "Lord Francis, how are you!"
"I'm fine. What happened, and why are you here?" Francis asked.
"Lady Antoinette ordered us to find you and seek shelter in the Sunshine Kingdom."
Ivana laughed. "Don't you know where you are?" The soldiers were shocked.
"Uhm, welcome to the great root forest of the Sunshine Kingdom!" Beth said calmly.
"Oh, so you are the queen?" they bowed again.
"I've already told them," Danya said.
Queen Dorothea interfered. "Enough with this! Now, speak, why are you here!"
"The Kingdom of Creyd will enter a war against the Cardinal Drakon Zephyrus, the guardian of the Cardinal Tree. They have acquired the allegiance of two other great kingdoms on this continent: the Kingdom of Amerisia and the Kingdom of Nadia. The soldiers of the three kingdoms have long departed their posts; we have been circling this forest to find you, Lord Francis. They have probably reached the place of the Drakon."
"What!" Ronaldo yelled. "We need to stop them!"
"What happened to my father and mother? This can't be happening without their support!" Francis asked.
"Lord Alfred was imprisoned. When Lady Antoinette knew about this, she cast huge roots over the kingdom, and leaves jutted out, creating massive destruction. She even reduced the Creydian army with the help of some loyal Labraunth soldiers, but your mother eventually lost, not because she ran out of raw power, but because the other noble houses rebelled against the House of Labraunth and sided with the king. They used their main weapons to overwhelm Lady Antoinette."
"What happened to my mother!" Francis's aura flared immensely, and the growing of the flowers stopped.
"Lady Antoinette was imprisoned by the Chain user. Her state is not good. I am sorry, my lord, we were not able to protect Lady Antoinette."
Francis vanished.
"Francis!" Ronaldo said. Francis traveled back to their house, and so did Ronaldo.
"I'm sorry, I'm going now!"
"Prepare for the war!" Queen Dorothea said, and all of them prepared.
"Yoww, this is gonna be fun," Ivana said.
"How is your body, Ivana?" Danya asked.
"I'm great. Nothing to worry about," she replied while secretly holding her shoulder in pain.
At the Kingdom of Creyd, the flag was hoisted upside down, signifying that it was in a state of war. The atmosphere was grim, and smoky clouds darkened the sky. Along the road at the entrance of the kingdom's palace, huge roots were crumbling, with soldiers' bodies hanging from a tree with spikes. Ronaldo appeared and walked through it.
"What happened here!" he said. He rushed to go to their shop. As he ran inside the outer ring of the palace, he saw roots that had swallowed the houses, and the walls of the middle ring were covered with roots with red leaves. Moss covered all the walls of the palace. Creydians were not harmed; it was only the soldiers who were lying on the road, especially on the outside field of the kingdom's vicinity, where trees had overgrown their bodies. He reached their shop.
"Grandfather!" he slammed the door open.
"Sir!" Mig said while they were all cleaning the debris from the floor.
"Where's father?" Ronaldo asked.
"I'm here, my son," Old Migo replied while sipping tea.
"How are you?" Ronaldo asked.
"I'm fine. These four men are really reliable."
Ronaldo looked at them.
"Lady Antoinette of the House of Labraunth went berserk. That's what happened here when you and your friends were away. She tried to stop the looming war, and yet she couldn't even protect herself from those traitor nobles," Old Migo said.
Ronaldo checked everything. "Hey, you, help Grandpa. Make sure he will not go out. Grandpa, I'm going to find Francis."
He ran outside and went to the Labraunth palace. In the distance, he saw chains flying in the sky and swords clanging. He ran toward the fight.
When Francis returned to their palace, he saw it was destroyed and their soldiers were lying on the ground. He called, "Mother!"
Then, a chain suddenly rushed toward him from the dark and dusty air. He dodged it. Fredo, the Chain user of the noble family Auswell—a man in his 20s, with a normal body, gray hair, and black eyes—appeared.
"Heh-heh-heh, very well. You managed to dodge my chains," Fredo said.
"Where is my family?" Francis asked, angry and yelling.
"She's sleeping. Don't worry; she will be resting in peace soon if she does unnecessary things. By now, maybe she's…"
Francis appeared in front of him with his longest sword, attempting to slash Fredo's head. Fredo avoided it by raising his hands and gripping Francis's longest sword with his chains.
"Wuhahaha, there's nothing you can do now. Just wait and relax, my friend. Your family will be gone anytime soon from this kingdom. You and your forefathers have been a real annoyance to other nobility, and now, taste your defeat and die! Chain Magic, Thorn Chain!"
Numerous chains attacked Francis, forcing him to jump out onto the destroyed garden of his family.
"Hahahaha, surrender now!" Fredo said, and he continuously attacked Francis.
"Chain Magic, Red Snake!" Fredo's chains turned red, mimicking a snake, and launched an attack on Francis.
"Chrono Fence!" Francis used it to defend himself, creating a body of a clock to act as a shield.
"Chrono Blade!" The shield disappeared, and he slashed the chain snake. The chains broke, creating an open space for him to attack Fredo.