As Ren settled in for the night, he looked over and noticed Malleus still had not crawled into his sleeping bag. Instead, he was busy writing something down on his notepad much to Ren's surprise. Where did he pulled out a notebook from when they are all in their PE uniform?
"You're not going to sleep yet, Malleus?" Ren questioned curiously.
Malleus shook his head, "You can go ahead. I have something to do at the moment."
Ren hesitated as he recalled the teacher's instructions to have the light out in the next ten minutes, "Coach Vargas may patrol the area as we speak. Please be careful not to stay up too late."
"I know." Malleus muttered, "There's no need to remind me. I will go have a talk with the staff. The Science club is right next to us. If there is any problems, you may go find them."
"Understood, sir…" Ren sighed nervously, "Why does it sound like you're going to go missing again?"
"I am not a small infant anymore, Ren." Malleus warned him, "Stay with the other club members from the science club. I've heard from the Vice-dormleader of Pomefiore that you have gotten lost shortly after the second exercise began. I hope that will not happen a second time? Your lack of aura, that is."
"I'll do my best, sir." Ren responded nervously, "I was simply too nervous about the camping trip that I lost focus. It shall not happen a second time, sir."
"Good. Good night."
With that, Malleus patted his head and left the tent.
…..
After walking through the forest and examining the area along the way, Malleus finally caught onto a familiar trace of mana and smirked, "Found it."
Tracing the mana, he finally came to a field of flowers in an open clearing. The flowers bloomed beautifully under the moonlight as he muttered in disbelief, "These are-!"
"Moon orchids."
Malleus glanced back in surprise and saw what looked to be a large fairy with long brown hair with leaves and dark skin similar to that of wood. Yet, his feature was hardly as youthful as it was before compared to the other wood fairies he had seen prior. His lower tone held power and his pose shouldered heavy responsibilities and experience. This was very likely one of the political leaders of the fairy kingdom.
"Greetings, Lord Malleus. This one is the chief of the fairies of the woods of Dwarves' mine. You may call me Fern. It would seem that you have wandered to the dream valley. Do the flowers here caught your fancy?"
"Fancy?" Malleus hummed in hesitation before responding.
"Yes. The flowers of dream valley has little use, I'm afraid. The purpose of it here is only for the pleasure of the eyes. This is their natural habitat and they hardly bloom all at once. If you would like, you may take any one attached to the ground."
"I can?" Malleus looked to him in bewilderment.
The fairy nodded, "It is rare for the princess to bring friends home. Though the flowers of this valley is sacred, it seems to have wanted to be welcomed by you as gratitude for being close with her."
It finally dawned on Malleus as he turned to the fairy, "You understood the language of the flowers! It would seem the fairy kingdom has no lack of talents."
The language of flowers is an ancient linguistic allowing the person to communicate with the natural life around them. Regardless of the person's lineage or heritage, the language could not be passed down and could only pop out on occassions. For fairies who are tied to the natural mana of the world, this is no different despite their affinity with their natural environment. Even he had not met with such a person before in his life till now!
"You flatter me, milord. A rare talent, for certain. However, a talent can only be a true talent when polished and used wisely. This talent is neither polished nor could it be controlled. As such, it is only a trait for this one ever since it first emerged."
"A talent is still a talent. For my first time, I am impressed. Would it really be acceptable for me to simply take one of these flowers from the root?" Malleus hesitated in confusion, "Do not the fairies and our kind struggle with relations?"
"Nothing can be done if the flowers wills it." Fern explained shaking his head calmly.
"Then…" Malleus glanced around before noticing Peony slumbering amongst the field of orchid.
Seeing his hesitation, Fern followed his gaze and was shocked when he noticed it lay upon Peony's slumbering form! How dare he-!
He shook his head in dismay as he was relieved he told the prince that he could take any one flower from the root up.
"I shall take this one." Malleus picked up an orchid with the root and the dirt.
It was a small one with bright red blooms. A beautiful sight. However, when Fern laid his eyes on it, he scowled, but did not say anything.
Malleus turned to her not noticing the change in his appearance and asked, "Though I have chosen my flower, I'm not certain how to bring it back…"
"Ah, you are currently in a lesson on survival, correct? Unlike us, your kind requires a magic stone. Hm..." The chief hummed to himself, "Actually, the announcer of the gala has arrived a few days ago. If you would like, we can have him send it back to Night Raven College for you. He will need to give this to someone though."
"Ah, that announcer at the gala." Malleus nodded, "I recall that fairy... Since he will deliver it for me, it may be best that he sends it to one of my retainers of Diasomnia dorm."
"May I ask the lord what his name and appearance is so we may not make a mistake?"
"His name is Silver. As his name suggests, he has silver locks and blue eyes with light skin tone. Unlike the other faes, he is not a fae but raised by one so that would explain the unusual aura around him." Malleus explained, "He does have the tendency to fall asleep out of nowhere. Yet, to my knowledge, he is also well-liked by the animals. A trait I've noticed other humans do not usually have."
"That is an interesting child." Fern nodded, "Then, I shall have the announcer send it for me and preserve the flower until it touches the dirt."
"Very well. You have my gratitude." He says as he hand the orchid to him with his hands covered in dirt, "However, speaking of orchids, is this really the appropriate season for them? With so many during the environmental crisis?"
"Normally, the orchids would remain in full buds until it feels safe enough for them to bloom, for this reason, the have not bloom for over hundreds of years beginning from the war of species to the current crisis." Fern frowned and continued, "However, they say that they would bloom for the princess of their own will. Just due to their sheer excitement of her presence."
"They favor her?" Malleus noted with a stunned expression, "Something like this is unheard of. In legends, the only one capable of manipulating nature to this extent had been a fae regardless of the species. Never a human."
"It is very unusual. Perhaps, that is also why the royal family and Queen Malefencia believe she is the clue to the decline of plant life."
"Grandmother knows about this too?" Malleus pondered. Could bringing her to Night Raven College be a way to tell him something?
"She was the first to have brought this up when the royal family allowed her to venture into Briar Valley." Fern frowned, "Perhaps, she had known that her powers would start to garner the attention of others. Hence very few knew of her situation. When I heard that the royal family finally allowed her departure, the Queen of Briar Valley also became concerned and spoke with the royal family prior to her departure. Only the closest vessels were allowed to accompany the three of them."
Even his grandmother?! Just how important was this meeting? Also, why did his grandmother leave him out? Just what is her plans? Fern turned to him curiously, "Will the princess have to return immediately?"
"Not now." Malleus responded, "I have told the teachers I would speak privately with her about political matters and they let us be. That being said, I did not expect to really talk of political matters today. Unexpected, but it is still productive. It's my first seeing the strength of the fairy kingdom's territory first hand. A gala capable of putting the world at risk should it not be successful. Someone capable of speaking with natural plants. Then, the princess loved by life. When placed next to the already powerful king and queen, the power of influence is immense. Now I understand why the queen spoke highly of the fairy kingdom."
"The prince is too humble." Fern responded casually, "This part of the kingdom is but a place of relaxation and rehabilitation. Should the life in the palace become too tiring, they may come out here to rest. Out in the outskirts."
"The outskirts?" Malleus noted in surprise.
"The territory of the fairy kingdom is not similar to the other race. We have our territory in the natural environment. The forest is my domain while the lake is the domain of our neighboring water fairies. The mine become the natural home of the fire fairies who cannot live in the woods due to the danger they pose for others and for themselves. As such, we also have a territory on Sage's Island and Coral Sea. As long as there is natural environment, there is a chance for us to inhabit in."
"Then, Dwarf's mine…"
"We have been inhabiting this place since the original owner, the seven dwarves, inhabited the house now a resting spot for your teachers. That was hundreds of years before the first magic stone was found. During that time, my great grandfather saw the last dwarf off on his death bed when he was a new born fairy. According the word of mouth, that dwarf was a goofy and naive soul. Despite being able to say few words to being mute, he was the youngest of the seven and one of the one that inherited his brother's mining skills. A kind yet generous soul that sought nothing more but a pleasant smile on others faces. As they inhabited the mines, we inhabited the forest except for their shelter. We maintained such a life for years before the discovery of the magic stone."
Suddenly, a thought came to Malleus as he pondered, "Is there still any fairies that have concrete information of the princess who was given three gifts by the fairy?"
Hearing this, Fern was surprised as replied, "That tale? That was a very long time ago. It sounds like his highness is very into hearing legends and stories from long ago. However, there is very little record of that time now."
"I see. That is unfortunate." Malleus sighed in despair.
"However…"