With that, Peony escorts the group of humans away as Robin follows closely behind. As they walked away from the center of the gala, Jack noticed a familiar scent in the air and turned to the princess hesitantly but couldn't say a word. Instead, Silver was the first to speak as he opened his mouth, "I greatly appreciate the Princess for giving us a chance to explain ourselves."
Peony shook his head and sighed, "If you want to thank anyone, you should go thank your liege."
"Huh? Malleus Draconia?" Ortho looked to her in surprise upon hearing this.
"But, I thought that the two faes don't get along." Ace responded in confusion.
"Not entirely." Peony shook her head, "From hundreds of years ago, his grandmother and her royal soldiers helped protect my people during a time when humans hunted fairies and destroyed the environment for their own personal greed and ignorance. So, even if the fairies now do not like to be around most nocturnal faes, they are still grateful for the protection they received from the nocturnal faes. My mother, especially, as she and my father were there during those times. After that, Briar Valley's queen aided my mother and father with my adoption process and the scandal that had occurred during the process."
"Scandal?" Jack looked to her in confusion.
Hearing this, Silver was surprised as it dawned upon him, "Ah, that's right! I can't believe I've forgotten about this!"
"What is it?" Ace looked startled by his sudden outburst.
Silver bowed to her nervously as he opened his mouth, "I recall that our liege was met with you once before, but, my apologies for not recognizing you sooner!"
Peony sighed, "Please stand up. Your liege will throw another tantrum and I'll get scolded by her majesty if they hear their retainer lowered his head to another royal family. In fact, it would be better if I make it a thing, shall we? With Sir Robin here as my witness, I give Malleus's retainers permission not to bow their head in front of me."
"What? But, that would be improper-"
"Wasn't stealing the queen's staff improper as well?" Peony huffed in dismay, "Then, consider this punishment for stealing my mother's treasured belongings. As for the others, I expect you all to perform better than today when my mother invites you to a fairy gala. It was very easy for me to see that this was done over a few days of intense training. Though I am impressed by your dedication toward this mission..."
"Eh?"
Robin laughed, "Did you really think that the queen and princess were not aware of this plan?"
"WHAT?!"
They looked to her in disbelief till Ace spoke up in shock, "Ah, that's right! You have Lotus on your side, don't you?"
Peony giggled, "That's right. He is always informing how life at school was, so I thought we'd get to talk again during this event. Who knew that my people would make a mistake by becoming so enamored with the magic stone? So, I agreed to the plan and informed my mother what had happened. Of course, none of us knew that you would be so bold as to get your actual hands on the staff as you had with the tiara."
"Of course, we had hoped that this would be a one time occurrence, but, due to the situation, we agreed to let things slide this time. I hope that this sort of strategy does not occur a second time, yes?" She said playfully as a chill went down everyone's spine, "But, if you do... There is this saying in the eastern continent, I seem to recall... What was it again? Ah, right. The walls have ears..."
Hearing this, Ace noted in confusion, "What?"
Jack, who was already annoyed grimaced, "She means she has her eyes everywhere."
"What?!" Ace shivered in horror upon hearing this.
"Did you really think that the fairies are all either nice or scary?" Peony shook her head in dismay, "If that were to happen, I can already list a few that would have decided to take full advantage of us over the time. There's a thing in this world called no good deeds goes unpunished. If we had just confessed our mistake, that would make our opponents all the more easier to take advantage of my people, after all. And, considering that we even let this theft slide, we will be in each other's debt for a while. DO. NOT. DO. THIS. AGAIN."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
The boys snapped up in an instant upon feeling her overbearing pressure. Ace wiped away a bead of sweat as she backed up. She sighed as she grumbled to her retainer, "Geez, am I too soft on them? Maybe I've started rubbing off from mother's kindness a little too much. Ugh..."
"That's true. Normally, they'd be captured and imprisoned by now like the rest of the fairy trafficking humans we caught before." Robin mused with a smirk, "Though if you don't mind this vassal's opinion, I think you should have really punished them for according to the severity of their crimes."
"If I did that, it would ruin even the neutrality father and mother built up over the hundreds of years, wouldn't it? It's really a miracle we were able to open our gates to other races in just a span of a few hundreds of years. You know how I would be saddened to see my mother cry."
"Oh, but you should really listen to your heart, princess." Robin smirked, "As long as you say the word, I can even hang them by their feet."
"That's if I say the word." Peony shook her head, "Instead of targetting those humans, I have a better target that needs immediate punishment..."
Robin paused for a bit before nodding his head with a mysterious, yet devilish smirk as he nodded, "Understood..."
With that, he leapt to the glass ceiling and vanished. Peony turned her head to see the other guys flinch in horror as she raised a brow, "Wow, you guys really are a bunch of wimps... Give it a break. My retainer won't give you any grief as long as you don't cause chaos, like you did today. In fact, I'm all the more worried that he decided to let you guys off instead of pushing forward your actual punishment. If that were to happen, you would be dead where you are standing right now."
"Hey! Don't say it like it's the most obvious thing in the world!" Ace screamed in horror upon hearing this.
"Isn't it?" Peony frowned, "It was luck that you got the queen with us in this plan and speaking up for you. Otherwise, we'd have brought up this problem with your home country right about now. After all, if we let this slide too often, there would be chaos in foreign relations by this point."
Hearing this, Silver's eyes widen in shock, "I get it now... Fairies are light faes who are honest with their feelings. However, if they feel sentimental over the wrong human, they could get stabbed in the back or worse. Thus, there has to be order. I had always thought that the fairy king was the one who brings order to the fairy kingdom, but it looks like the real order is actually the princess, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Peony sighed, "Well, you are thinking properly, but you over thought things. I guess I can reward you with the answer. The real order is definitely the fairy king. Even her majesty is just as capable of being the real order. On the other hand, Robin has always been trusted with this task by my father ever since the time before my father was crowned. However, the fairy king and queen is just one couple who cannot be in more than two places at the same time."
"So, you became the third person. Someone who is not of royal blood nor bound by duties, but can provide the exact same order as the king and queen!" Ortho gasped in shock upon hearing this, "I see now. So, it's no wonder the queen gifted you the name Aine. They must have really wanted you to be the next ruler by ensuring you with the name."
Dismayed, Peony shook her head as she heard this, "Unfortunately, that is a separate case."
"Huh?"
As Peony explained the matter, everyone was shocked.
"WHAT?! YOU'RE LEAVING?!"
"Of course." Peony huffed, "Even though I am adopted, my biological side is in such a mess that they continue to threaten my current life. Naturally, I'll have to return and tidy things up there. Hence, why I sent my retainer away just now. For you humans, spring is very important for you. But, my biological family's side is where Lotus comes from. They could care less if spring arrives or if a new ice age takes over the world. Naturally, I need to get that sorted out. Till then, I've asked father to leave things in Robin's hands while I'm gone. So, do your best and not create chaos with my people during the time I'm away."
"What?"
As the others quivered at the memory of that horrifying retainer, Silver spoke up, "I'm surprised that you are leaving. Does your people know about this?"
"They have for a while now, but it would be a short while in our terms."
"In your terms?"
Peony raised a brow, "Did Malleus not tell you this? It seems he really kept his promise. Well, my biological lineage is different from regular humans. My practice of magic allows me to live for many years similar to that of a fae as long as I have retained my magic and practice diligently to improve my magic. Normally, I would have lived secluded from other humans because it would cause problems creating relationships with other people, but it was quite a pleasant surprise that this became my life instead. Still, even though I am fortunate, I won't be able to relax until the problems from my biological family stops trying to interfere with my new family. The magic there is extremely complex so I cannot say for sure when it will be that I might return, but, until then, I put my faith in Robin. After all, he has always carried out his duties properly before."
"I see. My liege would be saddened to hear of this." Silver responded hesitantly.
"I can see that." Peony sighed, "After all, he is still a toddler in dragon age. Even her majesty rarely manages to get the time to spend with him."
"I'm surprised you know of the nocturnal fae's queen that well." Ortho noted in surprise.
"I am familiar with her. Briar Valley is very fortunate to have her as their ruler. With her around, Malleus has a good role model to look towards for help as a dragon fae and the next ruler. It's no wonder both are this lonely." Peony shook her head and sighed bitterly, "You may not know of this, but its better for you to understand that the council is not what they all seem. If not for the queen and the phantom general's strength, the prince really could have been robbed of his childhood the moment he entered it. In exchange for that, the queen could not spend as much time as she would have liked with her grandson. Things are only better now thanks to the grandfather of the Zigvolt family. Had he not retired and become an advisor, change would not have occurred in time. Your father is a very important figure in many people's life, Silver. As Malleus's retainer, it would be better to make you aware of what you three have and what more everyone you love wishes for you to have than those who do not. Even if those people can not express their love for you and how important you are to them, do not let others manipulate how you should feel. The last the queen would want is for her beloved grandchild to misunderstand her actions if it ever does cause your liege any grief. Even if a parent has ten million children, they should feel that each one is just as important to them as the other siblings and the pain it would feel should they lose even one of them."
"I understand what you wish to say." Silver nodded as he soon recalled something.
She smiled, "Good. From here, you should know where the exit is. You should hurry now before I change my mind."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"