"By the way, have you seen Dash?", Diana suddenly whispered to Danna.
"I know you are worried about Dash but that proudful turtle doesn't want to be seen injured so rest assured, he is probably recovering his serious wounds somewhere. Let's give Dash time for himself since he had done so much trying to protect us from the wave attack. He had probably exhausted himself and is sleeping soundly at the palace." Danna calmly replied while Diana nodded in agreement.
Despite the cover provided by Diana's whale, Donna's dolphin and Danna's giant Jellyfish, the wave-like attack of the water realm creatures was enough to drown them with their mad attacks.
If it wasn't for Dash's sudden help, the three princesses could have been killed together with Elric when the citizens were under Aghus's control to form a relentless zombified wave attack against them.
For that, they could not help but be grateful at Dash's extraordinary bravery that led to their survival.
Everyone whom the small ball of light passed thru only means that they were not qualified to hold the power of the lordship.
It didn't take long when finally, the little ball of light arrived before the three little princesses.
Dianna, Donna, and Danna whose names were based on their late mother, Denna, had their hearts beating wildly to these moments of truth. Their eyes reflected the small wisp before him with anticipation and nervousness.
With the three of them as the last remaining princess with the royal bloodline based on their radiant-crimson scales and tails, everyone is almost sure that the next lordship would be passed on to anyone of three princesses.
Slowly, the little ball approached the girls and swiftly dived into their bodies to confirm their physical constitutions, spiritual and mental aptitude and, their overall power.
The first princess to be tested was the youngest of the three - Diana.
Before their very eyes, the playful little ball of light dived straight into Diana's stomach and the latter immediately felt an overwhelming warm surging into her body and her mind. Her life memories flashed in her vision while her body exuded an overwhelming aura. Tears slowly flowed out of her eyes as she kneeled in pain.
Gasp~
"Could it be? The youngest of the three?"
"Princess Diana is the new Lord?"
"Wow! I never expected that!"
The crowd exploded in utter surprise while watching Diana struggling in pain as the Holy Providence stayed inside her body.
"Aaaahk~ " suddenly, Diana cried in pain as she was not able to take it anymore. She did not expect that the test was that hard since everyone whom the ball of light passed through did not suffer any terrible pain during their turn.
However, when it was her turn, the test suddenly changed and painful memories of losing her parents and overwhelming scorching feeling assaulted her from the inside like rock-sized molten hot lava was placed right inside her intestine.
It was a pain too unbearable for a young little princess like her but she decided to fight it and braced herself.
Her two sisters right away held their youngest sibling in warm care trying to comfort Diana but the pain was just too unbearable and she continued to clench her hands and bite her lips in utter agony.
As much as they wanted to help their sister, the best thing they can do right now is to hold her and send it healing spell to soothe her miserable state.
Donna, the middle child who also happens to be the most protective of the three could not bare seeing Diana in utter pain and continued to hug her in comfort while Danna remained calm and chanted a healing spell to alleviate Diana's struggle.
Considering that this is a test that could dictate the future of the water realm; and as a daughter of the late Lord Mahar, Diana must resist the pain and accept the power to recover their lost heritage.
Surprisingly, the ball of light stayed at Diana's body for more than five seconds before it suddenly left her, leaving an unconscious little princess behind.
Diana has failed the test and the seemingly proud ball of light continued to wobble gracefully toward's Donna who happens to be holding Diana.
Without giving her time to react, the Holy Providence entered Donna's body via her forehead and it didn't take long for the latter to scream in another agonizing tone.
It was probably because of their advance mental and physical constitution inherited from their parents that the three beautiful princesses were being taken seriously by the Holy Providence.
Among everyone present, no one could even push Aghus back except the three princesses despite not being experts in fighting themselves. Even without proper training, just their mere strength and natural magical talents alone were enough to challenge the best of the warriors in the water realm.
In other words, each of the princesses was possessing power capable of taking on hundreds of elite water realm warrior alone despite their soft skin, elegant demeanor and, slender looking bodies.
It was worth to note that Diana was able to throw Aghus a good distance with her tail swipe despite the disparity in their positions and power. The other was a lord with the divine providence, while Diana was just a princess fully dependent on her physical strength as a royal blooded mermaid.
This is all thanks to their naturally inherited gift from their parents symbolized by the colors of their scales.
As much as Elric wanted to help, he knew very well that there was nothing he can do since this is a test of their capacity and that they took this test with their own will.