As they made their way through the greenhouse, they noticed all the faes nervously stepped aside as Robin casually walked along humming a small tune. The two nocturnal faes couldn't help but feel confused over how unusual Robin was as they entered a large grassy clearing surrounded with tables of fruits and refreshments. On one side, there was a beautifully decorated table and next to that was some seats that were well cleaned and prepared. On the other end, there was a number of tables full of food and refreshments arranged in a buffet manner. It was an extravagant party!
"Woah!" Lilia looked around in surprise, "This is actually a lot bigger than I expected. And these fruits looks like they are from the east."
Robin nodded, "Well, that's because the culture the princess's origin is from the far east. Still, she designed and prepare everything to cater to the needs and culture of the kingdom."
"So the princess is actually from the far east, then is it all right to ask how she got to Shaftlands? She told us that she was adopted from the Shaftlands." Lilia questioned curiously as Malleus began looking around with excitement in his eyes.
"Sure. It's not really a surprise. You see, the princess was blessed with some pretty good memories ever since she was an infant and it turns out that her original family came from a very old traditional eastern culture. However, something terrible happened and she lost her immediate family to some very bad humans. They left her to perish in Shaftlands' wilderness but she was lucky to have been found by human travelers. Well, that's as far as we understood. For the princess's safety, the king had us look into the matter of who tried to end the life of an infant, but nothing came up. Since she was able to use magic, she has always said that she plans to leave the kingdom and take care of the trouble herself. However... Well, love can be harsh."
"I heard that the princess is dearly loved by the queen despite being human. It has left me confused why." Lilia muttered, "Does she really intend to make her the next ruler?"
Robin laughed, "If she could, she would."
"If she could?" Lilia looked to him in confusion, "But, if she's given the princess the middle name, then this is similar to naming her crown princess, wouldn't it?"
Robin smiled, "True. Oh, this will be a lot of fun!"
As Robin continued his enthusiastic rant about them and answering Lilia's questions with zeal, the others continued to grow more and more uncomfortable. Malleus was busy walking around as well when he felt someone bump into him! He turned and saw no one before looking down and found that it was a nature fairy. Surprised, he opened his mouth, "Oh... A small fairy?"
"Huh?"
The fairy looked up in confusion upon hearing the address before it froze in horror, "Th-Those horns...! A dragon fae?! B-but that means! Briar Valley's royal family?!"
"Indeed. I am of the Draconia family." Malleus nodded in confusion before picking up the fairy, "You should be careful when flying around. I seem to recall fairy wings being fragile. Um..."
Looking around, he had realized that he could not find Lilia much to his surprise, "Huh? Did I get separated from Lilia?"
As the on looking diurnal faes turned away their gaze in terror, the small fairy bravely spoke up, "U-Um... Are you... lost-! I-I mean, did you get separated from someone?"
"Hm... It appears that I have." Malleus responded calmly, "Have you seen my retainer?"
"W-Well..." The fairy shuddered nervously, "I... can't really tell who is your retainer when there's so many fairies here, sir. Oh wait! There's suppose to be only two members left of the dragon fae clan. Are you perhaps the grand child of the dragon fae clan?"
"That's correct."
"Then, that makes things a lot easier!" The fairy smiled as his eyes sparkled seemingly too distracted with his moment of ingenuity to remember his fear, "I can't help you find your retainer, but my best guess is that he would check your seat before going to look for you! Since you are the kingdom's special guest, we've prepared designated seats for you! Here, I'll show you!"
"Oh? All right."
As the fairy led Malleus away, the other fairies looked on in shock upon seeing the nocturnal fae so cooperative with a small fairy. As others looked on in relief, a few covered their expressions with hand-held accessories.
"Oh, right!" The fairy smiled nervously, "I am Comet Leafgourd! I am the announcer of this year's fairy gala."
"I am Malleus Draconia." Malleus replied with a smile as he recalled that incident on the first day and back in the camp, "It's rare to find fairies willing to speak with me. You may speak with me casually."
"Wow! Thanks! About it being rare. Well, it was mainly due to the fact that we don't do well around mana that can't be controlled properly. I've heard from elders who've seen you years ago that it was actually dangerous for us to be around the castle due to the large amount of mana the dragon fae clan surrounds themselves with." Comet replied, "According to the princess, we are actually more sensitive to any changes in the mana. So, if there's too much offense magic, we could get into big trouble or worse. This was something we've recently discovered ourselves. Many of us know about the Draconia family. Even though you only remained in Briar Valley, you are actually very well known. Very few don't know about the Draconia family in this world."
"I've known that my name is known by many people, but, to think you also know that I've always been in Briar Valley." Malleus noted in surprise.
"We don't enter the castle, but those who have learnt about you rarely knew that you hardly ever left the castle or that you have attended any social gathering. We also didn't know about it till the queen told us that this would be your first social gathering. We were told the nocturnal fae queen would be here too, but then something seemed to have come up and we couldn't make it happen. We can't enter the castle, but some of us do hope the queen is well. My elders always recalled heroic tales of how the nocturnal faes helped us many years ago during wars. Not many of us really have the guts to talk with a fae as powerful as the dragon clan though. Many of us aren't as strong as the royal family."
As they made it to their seats, Malleus spotted Lilia there and walked over.
"Oh! You're back!" Lilia smiled, "And I see you've also made a friend. Good, good!"
"A friend?" Malleus looked surprised before he smiled wide, "Yes, it would seem I have made a friend."
As the fairy enthusiastically greeted the nocturnal faes, Malleus turned to Lilia curiously, "You've finished your talk with Sir Puck?"
"Ah..." Lilia sighed, "He certainly likes to talk strange things. It is very unusual. I can't tell his intentions at all."
"Ah, Sir Puck..." Comet shuddered, "I don't know much about him."
"What sort of fae is he?" Malleus questioned curiously, "I've never seen a fae of his kind."
Comet shook his head, "Sir Puck is a special fairy similar to his majesty, but it is not to the point that he is on the same level as our king. Nobody knows what he does or of his background in the castle. All I know is that, if you provoke him or do bad things, you can always count that he would be around to catch those who do bad things, regardless of their reasons. Nobody dares mess with him."
"Really." Lilia muttered in surprise, "I had no idea there was such a fairy till now."
Comet nodded as he politely sat on Malleus's shoulder, "Everyone in the castle seems to be rather special. So we really weren't surprised when we learnt that the princess is special as a fairy princess and a human. It's pretty much general knowledge in our kingdom. In fact, I recall that the princess was so powerful, she beat up fairy trafficking intruders three separate times when she was growing up. However, because she was so powerful, she had also caused the castle to collapse three separate times too."
"What?!"
"W-Well, at least, only half the castle collapsed the third time around!" He added quickly!
"Hoh...." Malleus smirked, "Looks like even she has something like that. Thank you very much for sharing the information with us. With this, I can get a better picture of the fairy society."
Seeing this, Lilia grew rather nervous as he muttered, "From the sound of it, she is too similar to Mellanore…"
"Huh? Mother?" Malleus looked to him in confusion, "She's similar to mother? How?"
Suddenly, a fairy rushed over to them as it whispered to Comet hurriedly. With a surprised look, Comet turned with them with a bright smile as he got up and gave a bow before smiling wide, "It looks like the performance is about to start now! I need to get going! Please enjoy the show!"
With that the fairy flew away as Malleus smiled and waved. The trumpets soon sounded as Comet began his announcement, "The King and Queen, Oberon the fifty-second and Tatiana the Fifth, has arrived! All hail his majesty and her majesty, our wise king and benevolent queen!"
Shocked, the fairies all lowered their head as the queen appeared in her large form and stood before all with a tiara as the king followed with her arm around his.
Finally deciding to play along, Malleus followed suit out of respect as the King spoke up, "Raise your heads, our dear citizens."
As they do so, soft murmurs began to drift as Malleus listened quietly in confusion. Since when was the king here?
"The king is here as well?"
"I thought he was too busy to come! But, thank the gods he is here!"
"Yeah. Even the princess is here as well. With this, I feel like I can rest easy."
Surprise, Malleus kept to himself as he watched on, wondering if he should play along or not.
After the couple took their seats behind the fancy table, the king turned to Malleus and said calmly, "We are thrilled that the Prince of Briar Valley has joined us in this year's festivities. You have our gratitude for accepting our invitation for the celebration! If memory serves us correct, your name is Malleus of the Draconia family?"
"That's correct." Malleus responded calmly.
The king nodded, "This calm demeanor… The queen has told us tales of you. To see you today, I see it is no exaggeration of your proweress. The fairy kingdom warmly welcomes the prince and hopes you thoroughly enjoy today's celebration."
Malleus smiled as he could barely hide his excitement, "Likewise, I should be thanking you for inviting me. I look forward to today's celebration."
"Then, let us begin!" The king smiled as he turned to his wife.
The queen released her grip and stepped forward with a proud and wide smile as she began, "Today is the last day of the fairy gala and also the day our beloved daughter, Princess Peony Aine Xue, shall prepare a spectacular show for us! Let us forget our worries in this moment of respite and celebrate the coming of spring to our hearts content!"
With that, the fairies applauded as excitement was palpable in the air. Seeing this, the two nocturnal faes became ever more curious. Finally, they could hear soft footsteps on the grass as they turned around and their eyes widen in disbelief.