"Wait." Epel hesitated, "What do you mean by hiding her appearance?"
"Tch. He's not wrong." Leona growled, "Remember that woman who appeared during the first gala? Right in the end of our part?"
"That was her?!"
Malleus frowned in disdain, "The princess is very powerful in magic. We've met a couple of times during the period she has been on this island. However, due to her difficulties, she has disliked revealing herself to others. Like Kingscholar said, she is very annoying. If anything, just hearing her name is very irritating."
Hearing this, Lilia laughed aloud, "I see. So, you already met with the princess. Then, why not ask her to return the stone?"
Hearing this, Malleus grimaced, "I had. She won't be able to help us directly."
"Eh?!" Deuce stared at him in disbelief, "But, why not?!"
"According to her, the craft fairies discovered the magic stone inside the Magic Mirror. However, over time, they became mesmerized by the stone and saw it as nothing more than a pretty jewel. Apparently, even the queen doesn't realize its importance to this school. If it is revealed in public that the stone was stolen from humans, the fairies would all be upset, especially those from higher ranks." Malleus shook his head.
"And since the stone was used and shown before all the fairies..." Vil grimaced.
"Wait..." Leona scowled, "Then, how did were we able to take it back last time?"
Malleus frowned, "She refused to share me details about how she did it."
"You would think that someone being given some royal name would be able to make that decision for herself..." Leona huffed with a sneer.
"A royal name?" Malleus looked to Lilia in confusion.
"She had been bestowed the name, Aine, before all the fairies just now." Lilia explained briefly, "And, she made her first appearance before public."
"That appearance of her is false." Malleus explained after a quick glance at the pair of mother and daughter watching the gala.
"False?" Sebek looked to him in shock upon hearing this.
"Oh?" Lilia sneered, "What a daring human..."
Malleus nodded with an unhappy look, "The princess enjoys playing little tricks and it gets worse on those who have a grudge against her or messed with her in public. The worse the act is, the worse the tricks she thinks of. Due to this nature, she enjoys making her true appearance unknown to others in public and is a very calculating individual. Thus, she is able to blend in with the other fairies despite not being one herself."
"Then, has she revealed her true appearance to you?" Epel looked to Malleus expectingly, "You could even tell that this is not her true appearance after all."
Malleus hesitated, "Her true appearance... She did reveal herself before me once. However, I'm afraid that I cannot reveal it."
"Is Malleus actually scared of the princess?!" Deuce staggered in horror upon hearing this.
"Scared?" Malleus looked to Deuce rather stunned to hear this.
"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING!" Sebek hollered at Deuce angrily.
"Eeep!" Idia covered his head as he huddled on his seat in horror as the freshman shouted.
Suddenly, a loud laughter echoed in the room as Malleus's voice silenced the turmoil, "Fear, huh? Quite the opposite actually. In fact, her strength makes me eager for a friendly spar against her one day."
"Huh? A... A fight?!" Epel looked up in disbelief before excitedly continuing, "You mean, she is very strong too?!"
"Oh? That sounds very interesting." Lilia chuckled.
"Is she truly that powerful?" Crewel looked to Malleus with a frown.
Malleus nodded, "Hm... It was not a moment to be proud of, but we got into a childish spat a few weeks back during a weekend. She was there to greet me as per the request of the queen. I got angry over something trivial and I lost control of one of the bolts. She got upset and forced the clouds to disperse as the argument got worse. Then, she forcefully sent me back to school with magic."
"Was the argument really that bad?!" Lilia stared at him in shock upon hearing this, "Just what was the argument about?"
Malleus, looking rather annoyed at the thought of it, responded, "If chess should be played electronically or physically..."
"That's it?!?!"
Hearing this, Idia laughed, "LOL! To think even Diasomnia's dormleader and the princess of fairies can argue over something like this."
"I didn't think that the two of you would argue over something so trivial." Lilia chuckled, "Though I do understand the feeling. I would be mad too if someone said something along the lines of video games being bad or board games being boring."
"I don't think that's the point here…." Epel muttered in disbelief, "Unbelievable… Someone can disperse Malleus Draconia's magic… Um… If she's so strong, why can't she just return the stone to us?"
"All I can say is that she has her reasons. A really sly human…" Malleus grumbled in irritation, "According to the queen, she aided the fairy queen with the adoption process. It was a very delicate matter involving foreign and political affairs between the Fairy Kingdom and Shaftland. One so shocking that it even effected Royal Sword Academy and Night Raven College."
"A something that involved two of the top schools in the world?!" Epel was shocked upon hearing this.
"Why in the world…" Riddle grumbled in disbelief before shaking his head.
"And next up... Entry number 14! We've got a group of first-timers, here! Let's give it up for group 1A251B111C292A22!"
The announcement of the name caught them off guard as they looked to the screen in surprise.
"What sort of name is that?" Riddle noted in surprise.
…..
"Hello, all you fair folk out there!" Ace announced as he walked onto the colorful reinforced glass stage nearly slipping up as he did so before recovering, "We've got something real special for you today: a miraculous illusion that you'll only ever see right here! Allow us to show you a magical world... without using magic!"
"Huh? An illusion? I thought this was a fashion show. What are they going to do?"
As the fairies stared at him in confusion, Acr continued, "I'm giving you all a fair warning: don't even blink during this next part. You won't wanna miss one second of the miracle you're about to witness. Now, it's time for the show of the century!"
Once again, the lights and music begin as Ortho turned to the other two with a confident smile, "Silver. Jack Howl. Let's get moving!"
Together, the group walks onto the stage as the queen whispered to Peony, "Aren't they…"
"Hm…"
Surprised by the lack of response, the queen glanced at her daughter briefly in surprise as she noticed her daughter watching the three boys attentively similarly to a judge. Seeing this reaction from her, the queen felt a little more optimistic as she watched the boys carefully in deep thoughts, "Hm… aside from the one in the center, the other two don't seem more than a couple years older than her… Their physique is good and their dance, though just a distraction, shows a lot of dedication and passion. Hm… Their intentions aren't bad either… that also includes rhe previous batch of humans… The one in the center especially… However…"
Hearing this, Igni couldn't help but heave a small sigh. With just one glance on her daughter's expression, he thoughts soon returned into a matchmaking brainstorm session. Softly, he cleared his throat and whispered, "You majesty…"
"Oh!" The queen wore a dry smile as she nodded to him with a bright smile, "Thank you, Igni."
Peony watched quietly as she noticed their movements. For only a short few days, it wasn't bad…
However, it could still do some improvements.
Yet, she nodded quietly, "For not needing my aid, it is not so bad…"
They watched in awe as the three continued forward confidently. Their movements were smooth and posed well as the cheers of fairies grew louder. It was working! With a confident smile, Jack smiled wide, "Beautiful!"
"Flowery!" Silver grinned calmly as the two said in unison, "And now..."
They two parted ways for Ortho who muttered to himself with a bright smile, "Idia... Guys... I hope you're watching. This is my... Evolution!"
Suddenly, with a click, Ortho's snowy white outfit suddenly lit up in a bright flowery pink as it brightened the entire room with flower petals drifting down from the air. Seeing this, the queen gasped in awe as she smiled brightly. It was beautiful! She turned to share the beauty of the scene with Peony but was stunned in surprise. Under the rain of flower petals, Peony slowly raised a hand in wonder as a petal softly landed onto the palm of her hand. The scent of flowers soon drifted in the room.
"What just happened?" A fairy cried out in surprise, "The fairy in the middle, his outfit changed! And I didn't sense any magic at all!Is this the illusion? I've never seen anything like it!"
"Heh heh, I can see you're all surprised." Ortho chuckled with a wide smile as he flew into the air, "But I'm not done yet!"
"Wait, he didn't just change the color of his outfit..." A fairy paused in bewilderment, "I can smell flowers! It's just like spring! He's giving off the scent of spring itself!"
"White flowers that turn lilac pink and glow... Oh, I see. It's like when the snow thaws." Igni smiled warmly at the thought of this concept.
"The snow has melted! Spring is here!Woohoo!"
"An outfit enshrouded in light, as white as snow. Then the snow thaws and the flowers bloom... Everyone's beloved spring arrives. It's not just about eagerly waiting for the snow to melt. It's about showing what happens after." Orthk declared with a wide smile, "Blooming is how I think of evolution!This is the original inspiration I found after all my pondering."
Suddenly, birds entered the building as he danced in the air and joined in the festivity. Maisey gasped in awe upon this wonderous sight before them, "Wow, now there are little birds and butterflies fluttering about. It really feels like spring is here. Oh, how my heart soars!"
"Yes, let's all celebrate spring together!" A fairy flew into the air as the other followed joining in on the dance.
"It's nice of the birds and butterflies to join in as well." Silver remarked with a warm smile, "The audience is delighted. We're putting on a truly wonderful show. Fae, humans, humanoids... I can tell that even the animals, bugs, and plants are overjoyed at the coming of spring. What a wonderful spectacle. At this moment... Everyone at the Fairy Gala is unified as one!"