As all eyes laid upon her, Peony felt nervous, but she did not falter as she was greeted by the nearby fairies to whom she replied with a bright and confident smile. Seeing this, the others were surprised and in awe as the flowers in the room continued to bloom around her. Seeing this, Ortho muttered in confusion, "Just why is it that the flowers around the princess are blooming? Even those out of season are blooming yet closing... Is it magic?"
The fairy hummed with hesitation before opening his mouth, "Honestly, we are not completely certain either. In fact, we have heard that, due to the princess's soul being special, her mana is very compatible with the plants. Whenever the princess is around, they would often try to bloom for her and catch her attention, or they do so to announce her presence. They say that this was proven true when all of the elders of the royal family arrived and witnessed her presence being the only influence to the plants. Since then, many have called her the princess of flowers or the fairy of flowers."
"That's astonishing..." Silver muttered in awe.
Ace looked to his side and noticed Jack was staring quietly at the princess to which he snickered, "Jack... Don't tell me... You've fallen head over heels for her just now."
"Wha-?!" Jack blushed as he was taken aback by Ace's words and stammered, "A-As if! I wasn't think about that at all! Grr..."
"Woah!" Ace stepped back in surprise, "Calm down! Calm down! Geez... I was only joking... Anyway, it's really unusual for you to be so focused on another person. Anybody would be confused on why you become so quiet."
"It's nothing much... I just remembered Ruggie mentioning how the princess was so stunning when she appeared on the stage so suddenly, that he also nearly gotten distracted. Now, I think I know why..." Jack muttered finally after a long silence.
"Can anyone blame him? Even with a mask on, she is really stunning." Ace sighed, "Just give it up. We're way out of her league to even catch her attention."
"Grrr...." Jack glared at him, "I told you I wasn't think about that at all..."
"Jack, calm down." Silver quickly prodded Jack's arm secretly, "If we act out now, we will draw everyone's attention."
"Grr... Fine..." Jack sighed before looking around in confusion, "Huh? Where's Ortho?"
"I'm back!" Ortho returned with a bright smile, "I finished registering our group into the competition. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah..." Ace sighed, "So, did you hear about the princess getting her middle name?"
"Ah, I did. Aine, right? Searching... Search complete." Ortho stated as the last minute his voice changed into a more feminine and automated tone before turning back to his normal childish one, "Found it. Let's see... Aine... Oh wow! No wonder every fairies are surprised! Aine literally means 'Fairy Queen'! No wonder it's a big deal. Day fairies still retain some discrimination against humans. It is still rather interesting that they adopted a human, but not enough for them to see them as royalty if they were adopted by the royal family. There is a record of one who had been adopted by the fairy queen hundreds of years ago, but that person was only partly human and part fae. He left when he became a teen or, rather, his existence cause a huge ruckus that he was forced to leave to protect the queen who was his late biological mother's close friend and his guardian for a short time. This is the first time that one managed to stay this long with the fairies all the way into their late teens and the first in history to have received a middle name reserved for royalty. Doing this, it's probably ensured everyone that their human princess shall stay within the royal family register and her position. This is really amazing..."
"Eh?!" Ace staggered back in disbelief, "So, this is a huge deal!"
Not being able to understand much of Ortho's rambling, the fairy ignored it and pointed towards the gala stage, "If you're taking part in the show, you should head over there. This is an important yearly event, so they are very strict with the placement of their performers."
"Peony…"
Hearing her mother's voice, she looked back and saw the queen gesture her to come up to the seat placed right beneath her. She did not realize that a chair had been placed on the lower steps. She turned to her mother and bowed her head softly before making her way to the seat, "Thank you, your majesty…"
As soon as she took her seat, the queen opened her mouth, "Now, let us gather and enjoy the last gala for the coming of Spring!"
With that, the music started and the lights suddenly shown on top of the catwalk. It was then that the announcer flew out above the grand stage with a magic speaker as he stammered nervously, "W-With the great contributions of the royal family and the grace of their presence, let us begin the annual finale of the Spring Gala with Entry number one!"
As soon as he finished this, the room was filled with cheers as there was some soft whispers in the background, "Is it just me or is the announcer stammering?"
"Oh right. You weren't here for the first one. Apparently, the princess finally made a come back when a group of mysterious performers came out and put on a stunning show. It was especially stunning since the princess joined them out of the blue. However, he made a grave mistake and took it too far by calling her out as a joke."
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah… But it doesn't seem like the princess went after him… Except it's well-known that the chief of his hometown scolded him a lot."
"Ah, those chiefs must've been her supporters. I've heard that, to protect the princess from discrimination, the king brought in two of their strongest water and earth fairies to protect her."
"No way…"
"Yeah. Not only was she accepted, she was saved by them from a terrible scheme that would have ruined her reputation as a royal and a noble."
"Oh my! You mean chief Fern and chief Ripple? Those are one of the strongest fairies in society! To have them protect her… How dreamy…"
Hearing them say this, Peony quietly sat upon her small throne as her mother looked upon her daughter with a proud gaze and reminisced of her growth… again.
…..
Back in the classroom, Vil and the others who participated in the preparations for the performance stood around Idia's tablet in confusion as Leona grumbled, "Her again?"
Vil turned to him with a frown, "Ah, that's right. You've met her before, right?"
"Now that you said it…" Lilia looked to him curiously, "I am also curious about the human princess. It's certainly unbelievable that she has been bestowed a name of a royalty despite her origins and status."
"Is it really strange for her to be called Aine?" Riddle questioned in confusion.
Lilia nodded, "The name Aine is reserved specifically for well respected fairy queens in the royal family. It is, well was, basically impossible for an adopted human child to receive this name even while still a princess. From the sound of it, she is someone so enamored by the fairies that she has received the name from the royal family."
"Eeek!" Idia shrunk from intimidation upon hearing this, "So, you mean, she is someone very powerful?"
"Someone who can call spring regardless of the season is already considered a blessing by the fairies." Crewel muttered with a frown, "Kingscholar, what is your thoughts when you met with the princess in private?"
Leona grimaced with irritation as he heard this with a frown, "Annoying."
"R-Really?" Deuce muttered nervously.
"For a princess, she knows how to drive a good bargain. Whatever it was that she wanted, my brother and sister-in-law already approved of it." Leona scowled as he added, "On the day they heard of her request."
"Brother and sister-in-law?" Epel muttered in confusion.
"Ah! You mean the rulers of Afternoon Savannah!" Deuce gasped in disbelief.
"However, aren't matters between foreign countries considered to be very delicate issues?! How could it be authorized so easily?!" Sebek exclaimed in shock.
"I also recall hearing from Malleus about the princess as well." Lilia muttered in deep thoughts, "A while back, he was told by the queen of the fairy princess's existence. Apparently, the princess has ties with her as the queen was the one who aided the royal family of fairies with her adoption process. From what I heard, that was also some difficult political scandal that involved the higher-ups."
"That person is hiding her appearance."
They looked up in surprise as the door opened as the person mentioned by Lilia appeared. Lilia noted curiously upon seeing him, "Malleus? Are you interested in seeing how the gala will go as well?"