"Peony... Peony?"
Peony woke up to the familiar voice in her mind and found herself face with the worry reflecting from the fluttering golden eyes of her beautiful gold fairy mother. Seeing her child open her eyes, she sighed in relief, "Thank god you are awake, my child. Now, come to mother."
Confused with a slight sense of weariness, Peony sluggishly reached out to her mother, "Mh... Mommy? Where am I?"
"Hmph, where are you, indeed!" The queen huffed in disappointment as she scolded her, "Now, come here, young lady!"
Her strict voice instinctively made Peony flinch as she loosened her grip and reached out to hug her mother hoping it would be enough to calm her. It was only then that she realized how small she was as she was carried quietly in her mother's slender arms.
Her mother sighed in relief and turned to the person before them with an apologetic expression on her face, "Apologies. Our little princess has brought trouble to the elderlies."
Turns out, it was her old master. From the looks of it, she had returned to the memories of her childhood as it was during the time when she had just won her first match against Sebek's grandfather.
"Finally, my neck..." The old general sighed rubbing his neck achingly before he raised a hand, "It's all right. According to our discussion, a loss is a loss. This old man declared forfeit and agree to take the princess in as my pupil. I will share the result with her majesty."
"It would seem our two lands will continue with many more future meetings from now on." Her father noted bitterly, "Indeed, times have changed..."
The old general nodded, "It has. Our era of peace has finally shown fruit. With your kingdom cooperating with our kingdom, her majesty will be thrilled. With her knowledge, she has already predicted my loss and is eager to meet with the royal family and the new princess in the near future."
The old general grumbled, "If not for her majesty's prediction, I would continue to last for another year!"
"He's boasting about himself and their queen again after all that?" Maisey whispered in amazement at the man's shamelessness.
"It only goes to show the queen is as fortunate as us. We both have excellent vassals, people, and descendants." The King muttered with a sigh as he turned away, "As much as I'd rather not share the similarities. But, the queen has predicted the princess's victory?"
The old general folded his arms with a sigh as he leaned back against the sofa, "That's correct. She must've already come to conclusion of the princess's talent and potential when we uncovered her history in the orphanage. According to her majesty, the princess seems well-versed in the arts of martial arts from the eastern continent. However, the question is how did she learned how to perform martial arts and at such a young age as well. Her talent does not match with the other children around her age by far. There is a huge gap between them in regards to skill. Her thinking is also much better than the children who usually thinks that strength is the way to go in a duel. From the start, the princess used speed to fight against me. She has a lot of potential... However..."
He glanced over to her with a sigh, "She is unable to accurately measure her own abilities to compare against those around her."
"Oh?" The king looked back to him curious by this, "Please explain."
"Drawing from our duel earlier, the princess seems to have taken my history or my build into consideration before going at me decisively with attacks towards my nerve points. Some fairies who aren't close to the races outside may not know this, but these nerve points are essential to our daily tasks and operations. How we breathe or feel depends on these points. Since many years ago, there have been healers that have developed methods to heal the body by manipulating these nerve points. One wrong move is fatal to the body. However, the princess showed great knowledge and expertise as she attacked me with the intention to immobilize my movement. In the end, she actually managed to immobilize my legs during the duel."
"So, that's why you couldn't move after the duel!" Maisey cried out in shock upon hearing this.
The general nodded, "I've fought against one such person in the past. No matter how powerful my attack was, he succeeded in paralyzing my left arm in a duel between sword and fists. If not for the fact that he had sustained damage from my blade, the duel would not have ended in a draw. Thankfully, I've learned how to release myself from those binds from that warrior, so I was able to release myself after the duel... after a while. Her strikes were filled with intent and careful precision. I can understand why her majesty believes that the princess is indeed talented, but she could've easily clung to my neck from the very beginning instead of going out of her way to immobilize me first. Looking at the situation, I can see that the princess speak in a manner that underestimates others. However, the truth is far from that. In truth, she actually overestimates others and thinks of ways to affirm her victory while also completing her goals. In the end, she succeeded in restraining me, didn't she? However, if asked to take me down, she would be unable to do that on her own... yet. Perhaps give her a few years and she may even surpass me. If not taking our majesty and the prince's, he's a powerful force to be reckoned with. Are you certain you don't want the crown her?"
The king shook his head and sighed, "Even if I want to crown her, she will not agree. You are correct with her knowledge being vast. As her parents, we naturally noticed her strange development, especially for my wife who have been trying to raise her as according to how a human mother would raise their young. She was the first to notice and brought it to my attention. Peony is naturally gifted in magic, martial arts, and knowledge. She has also begun to voluntarily step in our place to negotiate with the other faes and fairies and is very successful with her talk. However, all she asked was to not be given the crown even if we are willing to give her the title of princess."
The old general sighed, "So clever. She clearly outshines the second son of Afterglow Savannah who has already earned the reputation as the smartest child of his generation."
Second son? Afternoon Savannah? Isn't that Leona? Huh, so people think that she may even be better than him at this age? Was he that naive at this age? How shocking...
"However, it is known that the child is not the brightest." The Queen interjected worriedly, "With such rumors flying around according to my people from there, I fear that his childhood may not be as smooth sailing as he is constantly compared to the eldest sibling in terms of social interactions. It would pain us if something similar occurs for this little one."
Not seeing the exasperated look of the king, the old general nodded, "Hence, the queen wants to meet with your majesties herself. She is worried that someone with such a bright future as the princess could be influenced by those around her. So, she wants to see the child with her own eyes."
Hearing this, Peony, who had pretended to be more interested in her translator bell, remembered how she was sneering inside her heart with a huff during that time. Worried? She can think of one good reason why she would be worried about her. Because she overestimated her opponent, she showed too much of her abilities. Now, the queen is worried that she may be a potential threat rather than being in danger of ending up antisocial.
However, it was also because of this that she knew it could also bring potential problems to her new home if she isn't more careful in the future. Thinking back, she is always suspicious of others for the first few days in a new environment. Although she knew it was not the best trait to have, it was still the safest option. It was after that meeting that the queen gave her full approval to allow the general to tutor the princess. In Peony's eyes, the queen only has a handful of extremely talented and loyal generals. One was extremely talented, yet retired and tasked to teach the crown prince. The second was Sebek's grandfather. Brash and hot headed, yet firm and fiercely loyal to the royal family and his own, even after retirement. If not for her situation, the queen would not have had the chance to bring out one of her many trump cards to aid her and gain her support.
As a foreign and adopted princess, she have little power over others. However, that does not mean she held no power at all. With her hardwork, she have gained the respect and obedience of multiple fairies around her. Few of which she befriended over time. Outside of the kingdom, she held great medical knowledge to aid her till her strength was developed enough to start crafting artifacts. She could not care what happened to her. However, she can not say the same to those who raised her with love.
When the queen finally met with her, they did not talk much. However, when she made the official decision to let Sebek's family become her god family, much of that changed as she began to seldom visit the castle with her master. It was only after discovering the black roses there that she decided to visit the castle more often with her master and her teacher. Since then, she and the queen often talked about gardening for a very long time and the queen had often expressed desires to gift one to her. A wish she continually declined humbly.
Seeing the scene before her once more and lost in her thoughts, she can not help but remember her little sister again. The kind little girl who was always so outgoing and eager to love and be loved yet also eager to grow stronger and protect others.
They were too similar...
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself staring at a face of surprise and curiosity before her in what looked to be a forest of Briar Valley. It was a child with large horns and green eyes. Seeing the face and the black hair, Peony grew more and more confused. It reminded her of one person but she never recalled ever seeing photos of him when he was a child, much less a portrait. Is it really him? And, why is he here?
The two opened their mouths in unison, "Who are you?"