Twelve years later, in the backyard of the house, "CLACK!" Leon struck Lucia with a wooden staff, shaped like a spear, which Lucia immediately parried with an enormous, sword-shaped piece of wood. Both smiled. Leon had grown into a handsome and muscular young man, while Lucia had become a beautiful, long-haired girl. Suddenly, "CRACK!" Livia separated the two using her twin wooden axes, smiling. Her face was beautiful and similar to Lucia's, but her body looked curvier than Lucia's.
"CLACK." "CLACK."
The three of them fought simultaneously, attacking and defending against each other. There were no teams and no defined opponents, but they laughed as if they were having fun. Eluisa, who was now an adult, watched from the window, slightly stunned because the trio's fighting was extraordinary, creating wind waves with every impact.
She smiled, watching her three younger siblings' development. Helen, who now looked older than before, watched them with her arms crossed over her chest. She also looked tense watching them, even though she didn't move when hit by the wind waves.
Suddenly, "BOOM!" A handsome man with a thin beard and long hair tied back in a ponytail, who looked to be about 31 years old, landed in the middle of the three. He immediately spun, using his sword, and the three of them instantly parried him with their respective weapons but were pushed backward.
"Big Brother Lot Har!" Leon, Lucia, and Livia shouted.
"Hello, I'm home," Lot Har replied, smiling at the three of them.
Seeing Lot Har standing between Leon, Lucia, and Livia, who had lowered their weapons, Eluisa immediately opened the door and ran. "HUG!" She instantly jumped into Lot Har's arms, and they kissed.
"You're home, my husband," Eluisa said, smiling.
"I'm home. Sorry I was gone so long," Lot Har replied, smiling.
"Ahem,"
Eluisa and Lot Har turned to see Leon, Lucia, and Livia staring at them and turning their faces away. Lot Har immediately let go of Eluisa and walked toward the three of them. He immediately hugged all three of them tightly at once.
"Whoaaah," Leon, Lucia, and Livia exclaimed.
"I missed you too," Lot Har replied cheerfully.
"Yeah, yeah… let go," Leon said.
"Ugh… I can't breathe," Lucia added.
Livia didn't say anything, but it was clear from her face that she was being squeezed and suffering. After that, they all went back inside the house. Helen immediately bowed to welcome Lot Har, who returned the bow to Helen. They all sat at the dining table.
Lot Har immediately recounted his journey on the mainland as a mercenary defending the Mirriad territory in the large southern region called Seriyan, which was feuding with the Toreno territory in the same large region over a border dispute.
Lot Har turned to look at Eluisa, who was quietly looking down at the table with a sad face. Lot Har immediately held Eluisa's hand on the table.
"I briefly went to the Nortom territory and met your uncle. I didn't tell him you were here, don't worry," Lot Har said.
"Yes, thank you," Eluisa replied.
"The conditions on the Libelia continent are truly chaotic. Center Vanadias, where the capital of the Vanadias Empire is located, doesn't care about what's happening in the four other major regions. They are all fighting among themselves. And then I heard rumors there," Lot Har said seriously.
"What rumors?" Eluisa asked.
"The Hellion undead forces are starting to be seen beyond the northern wall. Although no one can confirm the truth, House Rochele, which occupies the Arlington territory where the wall is located and acts as the wall's guardian, hasn't provided clear information to the imperial authorities," Lot Har answered.
Hearing Lot Har's words, "BANG!" Leon, Lucia, and Livia suddenly stood up, their faces instantly pale. Of course, Lot Har, Eluisa, and Helen immediately turned to look at the three with confused faces.
"What's wrong?" Lot Har asked, turning to look at them.
"N-nothing," Leon said, sitting back down.
"Yeah, that's right. Nothing," Lucia added, also sitting back down.
"D-don't worry about it. It's nothing," Livia added, sitting back down and waving her hand dismissively.
"Alright then, let me continue," Lot Har said.
Lot Har then said there was one more rumor spreading among the noble regional leaders and the great regional lords: Emperor Barington Vanadias was suspected to be seriously ill because, for the past year and a half, he had never appeared in public. This caused continuous power struggles, as every regional ruler wanted to replace Emperor Barington, who had no descendants, to lead all of Estoria.
"Hmm, so that's the situation there," Helen said thoughtfully.
"Coupled with the movement of the Hellion in the north, the world has truly become chaotic. A major war between territories could happen at any time," Lot Har replied.
"Do you have to leave again as a mercenary leader, dear?" Eluisa asked.
"No, for the time being, I've refused offers from those nobles. The reason is that the situation there is uncertain, and it's best for us on the dark continent not to interfere for our own good… although there are wars between tribes here, it's not as bad as in Libelia," Lot Har answered.
"But if a major war breaks out, and if the Hellion forces manage to break through to the central continent, won't we here also be in danger?" Eluisa said.
"Yes. Besides the uncertain conditions, I also refused because I want to build a defense on the dark continent. I want to unite the tribes here to join together," Lot Har said.
"Alright, I understand. I will support you," Eluisa said, squeezing Lot Har's hand.
"Thank you, my wife. Now I want to go out briefly to meet the new village chief and tribal leader, Kal Thor, and report everything. I also want to invite him to cooperate in recruiting other tribes," Lot Har replied.
"Alright. Should I come along?" Eluisa asked.
"If you can, you should come," Lot Har answered.
"Good. Let's go, my husband," Eluisa said, standing up.
"I will escort you. (Turning to look at Leon, Lucia, and Livia) Please guard the house," Helen said, standing up.
"Yes," Leon, Lucia, and Livia replied in unison.
Then Lot Har, Eluisa, and Helen left. After closing the door, the three returned to sitting at the dining table.
"Okay, I don't care about the territorial disputes, but if the Hellion are moving and the territories are still fighting among themselves, that's serious," Livia said.
"True. They don't know how terrifying the Hellion are. Even we, with our individual kingdoms, had trouble pushing them back," Leon replied.
"That's right. It was also our fault for fighting each other when we were queens and a king 1,000 years ago," Lucia murmured, looking down.
"Hey, don't include me in that. You betrayed me and worked with Anabelle… ah, sorry, Livia," Leon replied.
"Enough, enough. The events of 1,000 years ago were a mistake made by the three of us. Don't think about it anymore. The important thing is, what do we do now?" Livia asked.
"I wanted to live a peaceful and quiet life in this lifetime," Leon answered.
"Same here. These last 18 years have been truly happy," Lucia replied.
"But the truth is, the Hellion are moving again… even though we locked them up in the northern mountains before. As long as they are moving, we can't live peacefully and quietly because of our past mistakes," Livia said.
The three fell silent. The atmosphere in the house became quiet. The three looked down at the table. They regretted leading their kingdoms to fight each other after locking the Hellion in the northern mountains. While they were lost in thought, suddenly, "KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK!" The door of their house was knocked on. Leon, Lucia, and Livia looked at each other.
"Did they come back already?" Leon asked.
"Even if they came back, they wouldn't knock, right?" Lucia answered.
"Who could it be?" Livia asked.
The knocking sound was heard again. Then the three stood up and walked to the door. Leon opened the door. The three of them were shocked to see a beautiful young blonde girl wearing all-white nun's attire, complete with her loosely covered veil, standing behind the door. Behind her, a female knight wearing full armor and clearly from the empire was visible. Both girls looked worn out and injured.
The girl dressed all in white nun's clothes was stunned to see Leon, Lucia, and Livia in front of her. Her eyes seemed to be scrutinizing the faces of the three. After looking at the three, her lips trembled, and her eyes widened. Then she immediately knelt on one knee in front of the three, followed by the female knight behind her.
"Greetings, Your Majesties, the King and Queens," she said.
"Huh?" Leon, Lucia, and Livia were immediately shocked because they were indeed a King and Queens, but 1,000 years ago.