Lotus had thought long and hard before after encountering the heir of the Valley of Thorns. However, it was clear that his soul and appearance resemble Mo Li too much to have been just a coincidence.
Quietly, she picked up Chili from his perch waking him from his slumber, and whispered, "Chili, go back to mother and tell her that there is someone I wish to invite to the gala this spring. However, this person is the heir to the Valley of Thorns. I understand that mother does not think well of him, but there's something I wish to confirm personally with my own eyes. Let her know specifically that it has to do with my past, so I have no other intentions for inviting him aside from this, and even just attending one day is enough. As I don't want to trouble mother as she also has to care for all the fairies, I will take on the responsibility of watching over the guests. She must also be tired by the end of the last day from all the dancing. I just don't want mother to feel more unease should she choose to accept my request. After all, dark faes and fairies do not get along well. As a human, I can do something to help soothe things over at the banquet."
After she was done saying this, she breathed a small sigh and casted a spell to keep Chili warm against the cold.
"Master wishes to invite the heir?" Xiao Li looks to her nervously.
Lotus nodded with a frown, "There's so much resemblance aside from the gender's structure. I can't help but wonder... If the Draconia bloodline has Mo Li's blood running through their veins..."
"What would master do if he find that they do?" Ying Hui questioned her curiously, "Will master see them again?"
"Not outside of school nor while he has to take on the role as the prince. However, just knowing that her descendants are safe and well is more than enough for me. If not, it would be difficult for me to sit aside and not do anything."
"You'll use your position to help him in the future?"
Lotus shook her head, "My position belongs with the fairy kingdom and is gifted to me by dad and mom. They naturally dislike those from the Valley of Thorns. As long as I don't involve them with people from that country, it'll be fine. Besides, it would pain me if I also do something that they strongly dislike. Seeing them sad... is something I dislike doing the most. However, I need to return soon. If not, I also don't want to see them perish."
Xiao Li sighed, "The longer the time that passes, the larger the portal becomes."
"And, with it, the stronger the enemies that are allowed in will be." Ying Hui glared out the window as she said this before turning to Lotus with a bright smile, "But, don't worry! We will stay with Little Xue and protect you!"
"Mh." Lotus said with a soft smile, "I believe in everyone..."
"Anyway," Ying Hui opened her mouth and giggled, "since that Malleus guy looks so much like Mo Li, she must've been a beauty for him to look this decent..."
"You idiot!" Xiao Li cried out when he heard his sister's reckless words.
"Decent..." Lotus looked to Ying Hui in surprise before she laughed aloud, "Hahaha! That's true... Heh! Mo Li grew to be such a beauty and thoughtful lady. It'd be of great concern if her descendants didn't inherit this from her. However, seeing from how it is, I don't believe I have to worry."
"Eh?"
Lotus smiled, "Like I said, my parents were not on good terms with people from the Valley of Thorns and most dark faes, but she once seen her majesty from afar and found her 'begrudgingly' beautiful during her prime that it angered her a little. Aqua told me that father didn't dare to look or it would make mother jealous regardless if he likes her beauty or not."
"Once again," Xiao Li sighed in relief, "Master's father is a smart man. The last thing anyone would want to do is anger their wife..."
"Yes." Lotus nodded with a soft smile, "I see that really hasn't changed regardless of the time or world. However, neither mother nor the queen are such ruthless people. Both are also logical in their own right as well. If things do come to conflict, the worst that would happen is a few hundred years of grudge. Neither would want to cause chaos or violence anyway. In this era of peace, the lives of others aren't something to be looked down upon anymore. This is the peace that many people of the past strived to attain for the future. If our world was this peace, perhaps there wouldn't be so many wars as there were celebrations... Greed and desires can taint anyone's heart or enlighten it. However, all of these misfortunes and blessings have thrown the world into a state of chaos for millions of years. To meet Mo Li was one of the few blessings given to me, but for others to make her leave was my misfortune..."
Seeing her depressed silence again, Xiao Li grabbed his sister back into the ring after noticing that Lotus was in a daze again looking out the window.
"Brother, master said that others made this Mo Li leave. Seeing as she so attached to this sworn sister of hers, she couldn't have let things slide if others harmed Mo Li..." Ying Hui said with a look of confusion.
"What do you know?!" He scolded her with a heavy sigh, "Did you forget what master told us before? In her previous life, she certainly was an empress, but she didn't earn that role nor did she snatched it for herself. She was born into the role and decided for it by the heavens. She had no say in what she could and could not do. It all depended on the heavens. So, in short, imagine the heavens being far worse than that tomato guy's mom. Not to mention, she was watched every single day and night so insanely strict."
"Brother, you don't mean!" She gasped in horror.
Xiao Li grimaced and nodded his head solemnly, "My bet that the heavens forbid her from acting in defense for her sworn sister."
"That's horrible! But, why would they choose to do that?" Ying Hui said in bewilderment, "Don't tell me... It's because her sister isn't of our world! But, not even this world rejected Lotus, how could the heavens in our world reject her sister!"
"I don't know." Xiao Li shook his head and frowned, "I guess we'll have to wait and see if she would be willing to answer us later on."
For now, both were too hesitant in fear of making their master even more depressed. Maybe the next barbeque would cheer her up a little more, or...
.....
That night, Lotus found herself back in her soul realm once more. She had returned to the spot she had been resting in and got up to find that the pain had gone for the time being. After checking her condition, she surmised that it would be all right for her to leave and she decided to hike back up to the peak where she came across a familiar scent.
Following the scent, she stumbled across an unbelievable surprise!
"Ah, looks like you're finally here."
Before her, Trey was barbequing some fowls by the campfire as Little Jun looked on curiously with drool over his mouth.
"Hey~! Took you a while, huh?" Cater called out to her as he arrived with an armful of fire sticks.
"Peony."
She looked back and found Riddle standing there with an armful of mushrooms as he looked to her nervously, "Can you take a look at some of these mushrooms?"
Lotus looked to him in surprise when he said this. Confused, she walked over to him and picked out a mushroom from the pile, "It's not going to work. This pile."
"Oh?"
She showed him the yellow mushroom and continued, "This one is poisonous. If you hadn't been prepared with gloves, there would've been rashes on your hands."
"But, you touched it..." Riddle looked to her in confusion.
"My bloodline is strong in me. Most poisons in the world can't hurt me." she explained patiently, "This peak is filled with a large variety of mushrooms. Some are poisonous and more deadly than the others. However, it is not as bad as the other peaks... You know there's more edible things to eat than mushrooms on this peak. These mushrooms have come in contact with this mushroom, so we can't risk eating them. Not to mention, some of them are also inedible."
"Can you show me how to forage them?"
Seeing him strangely earnest, she nodded her head and guided him back into the forest. After entering the forest, she taught Riddle the foreign mushrooms and fungi. Having walked around for a while, they returned to find Trey and Cater struggling with a depressed looking Little Jun.
"What has happened now?" Riddle looked at them a little disgruntled that their talk was interrupted by the scene.