"So, it was all just one terrible scheme?" Kalim scowled, "How awful... Then, the parents never found out in the end?"
"Well, the king died when the riot and bandits tried to infiltrate the palace. Then, there was the queen who died from grief and pressure the day the princess returned." Lotus huffed.
Ren sighed, "Please don't beat around the bush, Lotus. Otherwise, most common folk will fail to understand your story. It's like this, Kalim-senpai. The ones who infiltrated the palace was both peasants and bandits, remember? However, those bandits were people the princess ordered to disguise as bandits and do as she tells them to do. So, all the princess had to do was use the disguised bandits to return home in their normal outfits and spread rumors of how bad the bandit problem has become and the decisions the emperor made to house arrest the general and ground the princess was poor decisions, especially when both have been helping with the bandit problem since a long time ago. Naturally, they would think the emperor had gone senile or insane and rebel. However, the moment those doors are opened and the people were barely able to enter, the bandits just needs an opening to injure the emperor enough to poison him, especially if all they needed to do was apply poison to their weapon just like six hundred years ago in Rose Queendom."
With Ren's easy to understand words, Kalim quickly soaked it up and his eyes widen in surprise before he scowled, "Then, that would make the death of her mother even more suspicious!"
"Though the empress was considered powerful in the past, she was not as powerful as the other queen or her husband and daughter." Lotus explained, "However, making her mother's death seem like death from grief and pressure would be no easy feat for her who was grounded unless she had help."
"The young general." Ren frowned.
Lotus nodded, "The young general offered to help the princess and coaxed her to his side since the banquet. Although they were separated, she has her bandits and he shouldn't be any different. After all, homing pigeons were rare back then, but not extinct. During the days the empress was growing ill, the princess continued to receive supplies from the young general. Finally... You know the answer."
"From the deaths of all her relatives, unrest with foreign kingdoms and favor of her people." Ren frowned, "Everything was orchestrated in such a bloody manner."
"Such a horrible tale." Kalim sighed in disappointment with a yawn, "I hope no children would have to do what this princess did. She was so malicious. I can't believe she got away with it in the end."
"Naturally, she got away with it in the end." Lotus frowned, "If you haven't forgotten, she did receive the blessings of the heavens back then. During the days she committed all those acts, the weather had never been a hindrance to her at all nor was there a natural disaster or epidemic. No matter how powerful she was, she did not have the ability to manipulate these factors. No matter what she did, heaven did not retract their blessings at all."
"That's terrifying!" Kalim shuddered, "Wait! Could this be why the emperor put the general into house arrest and grounded his daughter?"
"That's right." Lotus nodded curious to his sudden enlightenment, "The topic being discussed was very likely about the recent events of the human kingdom. Even if the emperor had no reason to punish the two, the representative is different. He is so powerful that nothing escapes his gaze or knowledge. However, this is why he also doesn't want the human kingdom to run amok. Because the only ones able to overpower him is the combined forces of the rulers of all five kingdom."
"So a balance of power." Ren nodded in deep thoughts, "If the human kingdom is on the loose than the other kingdoms would be at risk of losing control too. Once that happens, it would be complete anarchy. The five kingdoms may start to rebel against him. However, now that the new empress and emperor has taken the throne, history afterwards may not be so pleasant."
Lotus nodded, "Luckily, the other empresses were much stronger than her, so they managed to keep their kingdom in check. However, what happened after remains a mystery and the involvement of the fairy of thorns stopped a few decades later."
"If it was the time when the fairy of thorns that we know lived as a child, then…" Ren muttered, "This tale would have to be dated back thousands or millions of years ago. I'm surprised that there was such a record."
"I was surprised when I learned how strangely similar the thorn fairy you heard of was to the one shared by the elders. According to them, she was actually a very bright and active child. She disliked learning from books and would rather seek knowledge outside making her sisters worry constantly whenever she suddenly disappeared. Aside from that, records of the plant fae kingdom once mentioned how close she was to the empress when she was very young. She would always get into mischief as well and the empress did not have the heart to scold her harshly unlike her sisters. It may not be wrong to say she was a spoiled child when she was younger, but she quickly mellowed out and became much more calmer. Yet, she still continues to suddenly vanish suddenly causing the empress to worry. The empress did send her an academy for all races though. Nobody knew what she did there, but, apparently, that was where her title began in the history of my heritage. After that, she just disappeared all together."
"That's amazing!!!" Kalim exclaimed much to her annoyance, "Say, if there's records about her back then, is there anything about her as a child?"
"As a child?" Lotus hummed in deep thoughts, "Well, everyone does have their awkward moments as children. So, if there was one… Well…"
Lotus hesitated before she opened her mouth, "I remember reading a journal once written by the peony empress. It was in old language from Briar valley… That day an auspicious event was about to happen. It was the marriage between the empress of the beast kingdom and the emperor of the beast kingdom. Humans, faes, artifact spirits similar to the dark mirror and underworld folks were all invited. Everyone was cheery and excited for they get to see the emperor and his new empress of the beast kingdom up close in person. The empress was a loong fae from the under waters of the east oceans and every creatures in that ocean obeys her words no different to a decree. A very stern but motherly individual. She had both power and wealth but not fame. Back then, everyone had heard she was the eldest sworn sister of the group of powerful women that consisted the peony empress, but nobody knew who the other women were aside from the empress of the underworld who was still just a fiancé of the underworld's ruler. That day, everyone was cheerful, all but the peony empress and the thorn fairy who was still just a child back then."
"Eh? But I thought they would be thrilled about the wedding too." Kalim questioned in confusion.
"Well, they would be happy too, but they did not like the fact that another individual would be taking away their sister from them." Lotus answered, "They were happy knowing their eldest sister was happy but not for the fact that she was about to be taken away. Aside from that, apparently they do not get along with the emperor at that time as well and knowing he was the one she was marrying only made it worse. They were just people that don't like each other. Not to mention, they often competed for her attention. It was a very childlike thing, but they were similar to children back then, especially when one of them was still a child fae. Yet, no matter how much they tried to talk her sister out of moving away, both knew it was impossible for those smitten couple. But the child fae was determined to stop the man from taking their sister. She was so passionate about stopping him that even the peony empress got swept up in her plans."
"What did she do?" Ren questioned curiously.
Lotus chuckled, "Nothing much. She just wanted the loong emperor to fall off his horse during the procession and sprain his ankle."
"What?!"
"So the thorn fairy told the peony empress of their plans and turned the two of them into small kittens. Together they snuck into their sister's wagon and hide under the seats. The travel from the east to the north was suppose to take a week and they were on their final trip. However just as they were about to reach the capital of the beast kingdom, the peony fairy questioned her sister curiously, "Sister, how do you plan to scare the horse in this form?" "
"And what did she say?" Ren questioned.
"The thorn fairy laughed, "Do not worry sister. We will simply return into our original form, sneak into the bushes and toss a pebble on the bad man's horse." However, after reaching for the potion, the thorn fairy cried out in surprise. She had forgotten to create a potion to resolve her spell." Lotus sighed, "Confused the peony empress questioned why not turn themselves back with magic? After much hesitation, the thorn fairy agreed. However, not having complete control over her magic, they either changed into every other tiny creatures that was not their original form or they nearly got electrocuted and burnt alive from her magic. Just as she was about to give up to turn into her small dragon form, their sister caught them from all the ruckus they caused while being under her seat. Seeing them, their sister did not require an explanation from a pair of black and white kittens. She was so furious that her scales reappeared across her face! Having not seen their sister so upset, the two tried to make a run for it in the forest only to get caught face to face before a fox. Their sister rescued her pitiful two sisters and brought them back to the wagon where she helped the young child make the potion then proceeding to lecture the two of them before her servants and family members. After the wedding, the two was them was made to kneel outside of the office while writing scrolls on the topic of etiquette for a week straight. Nobody was allowed anywhere near the office for a week!"
"That's scary…" Ren shuddered.
Lotus shook her head, "Well, according to the journal, they still got food and water and their sister stood outside with them with an umbrella against the sun for hours. The most surprising thing was that her husband later joined them halfway through copying the books."
"Her husband too?" Ren looked to her in bewilderment.
Lotus nodded with a scowl, "The peony empress also noted how much the guy smelled of the forest surrounding the capital…"
"What does that mean?"
"I believe it was no coincidence that there was a fox chasing after the two when they were fleeing." Lotus sneered.
"Huh?! So her husband…"
"Very likely got impatient and came to see his wife secretly only to find an opportunity to poke fun at his obstacles." Lotus finished, "The beast empress probably did not liked that very much so she punished him too after the wedding night. So he spent the first half of the honey moon outside copying books. As much as she didn't like how they did something so stupid, she hated others messing with what is hers, even if those people were hers too.. Besides, she was also a very promising alchemist and physician too. That being said, I'm leaving for the lake now."