[N/A: I want to make it clear that Alayna is not a main character. She is in a way for this arc but in each new volume there will be a new person who will appear, destined to impact Freya's life and the others (for good or bad). We will then follow that person in the same way. This volume is a bit of an introduction to the princess but this pattern will be repeated].
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-- POV General --
Three days had passed since the telepathic conversation with the family, and three days had also passed since the adventurers' meeting in front of the Zalhythe guild. Freya was about to start construction, Gaya was going through two forests, and Alayna was finally getting ready to leave.
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-- POV Alayna --
I had been staying at an inn for three days waiting to join the adventuring group. Sarah, who had become the leader, had given us time to prepare our things before we left. Some wanted to buy new weapons, others to restore their stocks or simply to rest. As for me, I didn't have much to do, so I locked myself up and waited for the day of the second meeting, which was now an hour away.
Three days ago, when we had gotten to know each other better, I had not been able to remember even one name. That day, I had been far too busy watching Sarah's eyes, who stared at me the whole time without blinking.
*I must have been imagining things...yeah right ! Haha~!*
As I repeated this sentence in my head for the hundredth time, I was walking in circles in my small, cramped room, quite different from the room I had grown up in. I felt strange but I didn't know if it was excitement, fear of the unknown, joy or my instinct. Maybe a little bit of everything or none of it. My brain was heating up, my heart rate was racing, my breathing was getting faster and faster and my eyesight was flickering as I sat on the bed with my medallion in hand.
*Still feeling dizzy...*
Since I was young, over the years I had developed a bodily reaction to all my phases of intense stress. I never talked about it because I always managed to calm myself down, but it wasn't always easy.
*Don't stress, everything will be fine !*
The time of the appointment was approaching so I hurriedly put on my shoes, my cape and my bag before leaving again in the direction of the guild. We had to leave today for the city of Yarlford which would be our first and last stop before the Dark Forest. It would take us 1 month to reach it and once there we planned to rest for 3 days before leaving for the forest. If my calculations were correct, the adventurers would be there in about 1 month and a few days. I wanted to find a way to get away before I had to go to the forest but I still didn't see any opportunities. Maybe during the trip I could take advantage of it and sneak out at night.
*For the moment I have to get out of here already*.
I had arrived in front of the guild where everyone was already waiting for me, ready to leave. There were two horses each pulling a cart that would be used to move us and store the food commonly bought to last us 1 month.
"Oh Luna you're here !"
When I arrived Sarah was already rushing at me as usual for some reason.
"He...hello Sarah."
The leader was dressed today in a cloth jumpsuit, simple and green to remind the color of her eyes. The same sword was around her waist but this time she also had chest armor and what appeared to be steel gloves.
"Good ! Everyone is ready and everyone is here ! Everyone get in the back of the vehicles, my group and I will take the reins for the first day."
The time of departure had finally arrived. A smile unconsciously appeared on my face as my fists clenched to contain my excitement and apprehension. Once the gates of the capital were passed, I would no longer be the princess. I would give up the title that had made me so unhappy to start a new life.
*I will finally discover the outside world...*
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-- POV Gaya--
We had been walking for three days, almost day and night to avoid running into adventurers. Our group was moving faster than I thought, everyone was looking forward to settling down permanently with lots of other people. From what I understood, this was the first time that so many half-humans and other races had gathered in an organized way.
I had talked to Yorr, Elyon, the half-rabbit Lia, and the half-cat Triss, who kept asking me questions about Freya. I had explained to them in advance the organization that had been set up for the moment and the positions available. Yorr and Elyon wanted to join the army, while Lia and Triss were aiming for the management section because they wanted to run as secretaries for Freya.
Once I gave them a piece of information, they would pass it on to the other 98 so that everyone would be aware of the Kingdom's progress which was handy.
Despite the excitement, our bodies were tired and anxious to get some rest knowing that we would not have to walk again later. Freya, Shiro and me, we had all been talking with Kira for three days now, so none of us were shy or embarrassed anymore. So I was also very eager to see them again. That said, I was still a little nervous because I hadn't told the she-wolf about my little injury for fear that she would get upset. The cut I had received had bled but had almost closed despite my slower healing due to being away from my wife. It was still visible but would soon disappear.
Despite this, a smile was on my face as we were soon to arrive.
"We will arrive in an hour, just a little more courage !"
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That's it ! The camp was in sight, placed in the middle of a large expanse of grass and land. We had already seen the sea for several days but this vision was quite different. In front of us was a scene out of a dream. There were half-humans everywhere, working with smiles on their faces, all together as one community. The wind was cool and pleasant in this plain where there were no trees to block it and the sun was shining in the sky.
The construction of the houses had begun and seemed to go on easily and rather quickly. Everything was well organized and as we walked along with our eyes fixed on this place, Persea and Ynir the two guardian commanders of Freya were walking towards me.
"Gaya-sama, we are delighted to see you safe and sound with new people. Please join her Highness in your tent, we will take care of the others who can meet the Empress later."
I was glad I didn't have to deal with them as the head manager. For now they were just going to be fed and we would see what happened next.
"Okay, thank you very much !"
So I headed to the tent that was the largest of all and slightly away from the others. As I walked in, I could see Freya sitting in a beautiful chair with her legs crossed and a drink in her hand. The she-wolf seemed to be waiting for me as she must have sensed my aura since my arrival in the plain. She was dressed this time in white pants and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top that she had not tucked into her pants. This woman was stunning, incredible, beautiful.
"Honey I...am back."
As I said these words, she moved forward to hug me before taking my face in one hand to kiss me but suddenly she stopped short. Her thumb was touching my small wound while I could see Freya slowly backing away.
"Freya...it's nothing, just a little scratch of nothing !"
She didn't say anything as the glass she was still holding exploded. Her hair began to fly gently as the air cooled and a quiet but powerful voice came out of her mouth to say only one word.
"WHO"
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-- POV Freya --
Gaya had just arrived and I was really happy to see her again, but I didn't know that she had been injured. Her cheek had a scar on it from the first day she left. The dragoness must have done this to herself while fighting the five adventurers she had told me about.
At the moment, my anger was gradually building up, but several things were bothering me. First, Gaya had not told me anything. Secondly, she had been hurt and thirdly, even though it was nothing, I couldn't help being angry. My wife was in front of me and had been hurt while I wasn't there, by humans who probably wanted to do horrible things to her...it was too much.
"WHO"
Who had done this to her and why ? Images I didn't want to see flashed by as all the worst case scenarios played out in my head. I was angry at myself, at her and at them. In this dangerous world, if Gaya could have been injured even slightly, it proved that she had been in danger at some point.
[Calm down onee-san ! Breathe, she's fine ! I know you are imagining a lot of things and that's why a simple injury makes you angry but please, calm down ! This feeling is new to you, you're worried and it's normal but learn to control it !].
As I slowly came to my senses, I could see that around me the table, the chairs were overturned and Gaya looking at me with worried eyes.
"Excuse me, I still have a hard time dealing with seeing people hurt and even more so when it comes to you."
The dragoness smiled gently at me as she shook her head.
"No, I'm the one who's sorry I should have told you before, precisely because I know how you are. Forgive me."
I kissed her softly on the lips in response as her hands grabbed my neck to intensify our kiss. I had missed my wife terribly and it seemed the feeling was mutual. As we parted with a smile on our faces, a little girl accompanied by a soldier came running towards us.
"Mom you're home ! Welcome home !"
It was Shiro returning from her afternoon with Kate. Our daughter laughed as she hugged Gaya who stroked her head while telling her she was happy to be back. So the little incident was quickly forgotten, but not for me. As I put the room back together, our little moon settled down on her bed to play and the dragoness sat down on a chair to ask me a question.
"So tell me, how's the planning and building going ?"
During our conversations, I hadn't talked to her too much about this topic because it was far too complicated for her to understand without a visual plan. With my knowledge of the modern world, I had decided to build a city with a modern look. While picking up the plans scattered on the floor, I began to explain to her.
"With the two architects, we worked extensively on the kind of house I thought was ideal. We also saw the layout of the streets, their widths and other important points."
For the design of the houses, we finally agreed on stone and brick houses that we could paint afterwards. They would have a maximum of one floor and would sometimes be glued together, sometimes separated to create roads. The streets would all be paved and large enough to not feel crowded. I wanted to add a huge public square filled with shops, parks and why not even a pond.
The fields would be made outside the city, behind a small river to the south that joined the sea and that we would use to supply the Kingdom with water.
"We've already started the houses but not the floors. Not until everyone is housed, then we'll see if it's worth building one. For example, if the person in question wants to open a business downstairs and live on the first floor. Anyway that's another thing again."
Gaya was still looking at the plans with great attention as I continued.
"I have already made a list of buildings that we absolutely need in addition to the houses. There is, a school, a barracks for the soldiers near a training ground, a blacksmith shop, an orphanage, a hospital and a central kitchen, which will be transformed once everyone is housed and able to cook at home directly."
The businesses for the moment were not up to date, we had not even decided on our currency, business management and all that went with it. As I finished speaking, I could see my wife look up from all those plans before looking at me with glowing eyes.
"This is beautiful...this city and this Kingdom are going to be absolutely gorgeous !"
I was happy to hear her say that, as a smirk appeared on my face.
*And you haven't seen the plans for our future home yet.*
The work had begun and the machine was set in motion. Soon we would all be able to live here and expand our Kingdom, but we had a lot of work ahead of us.
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FULL STATUS
Name : Freya
Age : 0 years / Mentally : 25 years
Sex : Female
Course : Ice Demon Wolf of chaos - Adult
Race : Major Demon
Titles : Blessed by Titania, Goddess of endless Chaos and eternal frozen Hell.
Dragon tamer
Ruthless slayer
Level : 32/70
Exp needed for next level: 22 100 / 33 000
HP : 90 000 / 90 000 MP : 45 000 / 45 000
Strength : 390
Defense : 386
Agility : 400
Stamina : 403
Speed : 392
Intelligence : 390
Charisma : 410 (imperial she-wolf)
Attribute points to allocate : 0
Married to: Gaya
Daughter : Shiro
Kingdom (menu)
Subordinates : 385
Humans killed : 148
Elements: Ice / Chaos
Skills (all):
Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)
- Bite of hell (Lvl 5)
- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)
- Fighting techniques (lvl max)
- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)
- Demonic aura of the empress (lvl 5)
Defense - Ice demon wall (lvl 5)
- Demonic cloak (lvl 5)
Pain Resistance (lvl 3)
Attack/Defense - Domain of the Ice Empress "frozen wrath" (lvl 1) - (under condition)
Others - Humanoid form
- Ice creation (Lvl 4)
- Storage of chaos (Lvl 3)
- Devouring chaos (Lvl 4)
- Analysis
- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique
- Telepathy
Passives - Commander (lvl max)
- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]