[26] Spring Scenery Beside The Spring.
Pheona Scarlet closed her eyes and a drop of goldish-red blood fell on the sword from her lips. As soon as the red blood met the dark blood as if kerosene had sniffed fire, the whole sword got engulfed in blazing red!
"Siiiiiiiii!"
"Boooo!"
"Eeeee!"
Many frightening crying voices came from the dark blood but Pheona Scarlet saw nonchalantly as her red blood burned down the demon blood, eradicating the demon souls.
The sword became clean and the divine chains which were restraining the evil aura from spreading in the surroundings, crawled towards the handle and coiled around it, forming a crystal red phoenix.
Phanella Stipte sighed in pain when she saw the drop of Pheona's blood and took the sword from Pheona Scarlet. This time, she wasn't thrown off like earlier.
Even though she always feared that one day, she would cave to the ground of its sheer weight, she would still voluntarily take it from her lady whenever the other person would return after killing.
Pheona Scarlet spread her arms and motionlessly faced her bedroom. The other maids understood the signal and went ahead. With caution, they slowly took off the blood-stained armor off of her body one by one.
Soon, the red cloth underneath was revealed as well as the injured petite body. Phanella Stipte felt distressed when she saw the wounds on her lady. Not to say, they were contaminated by the foul aura of demon beasts. The stifling feeling under her chest resurfaced again.
Pheona Scarlet didn't seem to see her distressed eyes or feel the pain as she walked inside with unwavering steps. Phanella Stipte turned to the maids and spoke out with concern.
"Prepare the Phoenix Spring for the lady's bath. Also, don't let others find out what happened earlier."
"Yes." The maids replied simultaneously and retreated while keeping their eyes below. All of them left the East Wing, and the corridor became empty.
…
The night regained its eerie silence.
Phanella Stipte stood there until they left. She stepped inside, locked the door, and turned around.
The huge Deluna in the night sky illuminated the room with its white-silvery light.
Because Pheona Scarlet always liked the room to be illuminated by the natural light of it, Phanella didn't need to turn on the electronic lights.
Phanella Stipte stopped before a wall and placed the Divine Scarlet Sword on the sword wall.
Looking at the slightly glowing sword, her heart calmed down. The divine aura of it was more than enough to calm down any restless mind.
"Pane."
At that time, Pheona Scarlet called out her name coldly. Phanella woke up from her thoughts and turned around. She saw as her lady came out while wearing a white bath towel, many blackish bruises were visible on her skin.
Phanella Stipte experienced the stifling feeling for a second time.
"Lady, if you continue to use your blood essence without thinking twice, I fear…"
Phanella Stipte didn't finish the line as she sorrowfully stared at the other person.
Pheona Scarlet moved her eyes towards the window. She walked ahead and glanced at Deluna in the night sky as she leaned on the left frame of the window and went into a daze.
Panella Stipte was sad when she saw the lonely back of her lady. She recalled the hardships her lady had to go through every day and thought if only that man cared to spare a moment for her lady, she would not have become so lonely.
A certain 'lady' who was pictured as 'lonely' in Panella Stipte's eyes, was currently submerged in her thoughts about how to eradicate the mutated demon beasts' souls without wasting her precious blood essence the next time she would go out to slaughter.
"My lady, I have told them to prepare for the Phoenix Spring. Let's go there." To divert Pheona Scarlet's 'lonely painful thoughts', Phanella Stipte suggested as she walked towards a closet and took out a pink bathrobe.
"It's a new arrival in the clan and many young girls like this type. My lady, you will look very pretty!"
"..."
A crack appeared on Pheona Scarlet's stoic face when she saw the silk bathrobe. That kind of sexy bathrobe, she questioned the mentality of the younglings of her clan. Nonetheless, she wasn't in the mood to speak and let Phanella pick whatever she wanted her to wear.
Then, both of them walked towards the sword wall where the Divine Scarlet Sword was. Pheona tapped on a brick gently. A scanner revealed itself and scanned both Pheona Scarlet and Phanella Stipte.
[Lady Pheona, Miss Phanella, please wait a moment.]
A robotic voice spoke out, and then, the wall revealed a small round crack beneath the sword.
As soon as it was revealed, a transparent barrier encircled two miters around it.
In the next moment, both of them transformed into their spiritual form and passed through the crack at lightning speed.
A little phoenix, the size of an index finger was followed by a little cute mushroom. If Kayra was here, she would have gotten nose bleed by the sheer cuteness.
The little red bird had a white cloth wrapped around her main body while the mushroom had the tiny version of the pink bathrobe hanging by its ring.
As soon as they passed through, the wall returned to its normal shape.
…
Soon, they appeared in a forest that was under the Phoenix Clan's jurisdiction, far away from the Scarlet Castle.
Evergreen-Fall Forest.
Pheona Scarlet, the tiny phoenix, wriggled off the white cloth which transformed into its real shape and fell on the spring's edge. Then, she dived straight into the golden spring water.
The golden spring water swayed gently because of her movements. In the dead of the night, it looked as if a fiery phoenix was bathing in a pool of liquid gold.
Phanella Stipte also reverted into humanoid form and kneeled beside the spring's edge. She watched as the golden spring water lit up as soon as Pheona Scarlet went inside. Then, all the foul aura from Pheona's body vanished as well as the wound healed visible to the naked eye.
After a few minutes, Pheona Scarlet transformed into human form and rested her head on the bank of the spring, besides the kneeling Phanella Stipte.
Phanella didn't make any noise as she saw her lady resting with a calm face. She knew that Lady Pheona liked silence, so she didn't ask if she should massage her shoulder.
The other person had her eyes closed all the time. When an unknown amount of time passed, she opened her unfathomable golden orbs and spoke out coldly.
"Come out."
A leaf, which was floating into the air, suddenly transformed. An embarrassed young woman with a maid outfit slowly put her legs on the ground.
Pheona Scarlet squinted her eyes when she saw it was a maid from her father's wing. The maid bowed towards Pheona Scarlet with panic.
"La… lady Pheona, I apologize for disturbing your resting time." The maid whispered in a mild tone.
"It's fine. Why are you here?" Pheona inquired indifferently and glanced at the black boxes in the maid's arms.
When the maid straightened up, she saw Pheona's line of sight and replied, "Someone has sent gifts for you. My lady. It seems they sent it to the wrong wing."
"Oh?" Pheona responded indifferently.
When the maid saw Pheona Scarlet didn't give any instruction after hearing her and had no interest to check the contents, she added, "From Lord D'razure."
Only after hearing it did the indifferent lady lift her eyelashes and glance at Phanella.
Phanella Stipte stood up and immediately received the boxes from the maid's hands. The maid turned to Pheona Scarlet and said, "I shall leave now."
"Hmm." At Pheona's vague response the maids nodded at each other. The other person transformed into the leaf form and flew away at a rapid speed.
Then, Phanella Stipte kneeled with the boxes and glanced at Pheona, a little excitement visible on her face.
"My lady, It's been a decade since Lord D'razure has sent something for you. I knew the Lord did not forget you!"
Phanella Stipte murmured emotionally. Pheona cast her eyes below.
No one knew what she was thinking but a small smile bloomed on her lips. 'It took an entire decade to send sometimes? Gifts?'
At Pheona Scarlet's eye signal, Phanella Stipte opened the boxes. Then, she took out two bottles.
One had dark shiny red liquid while the other had many little white shiny balls from which sparks of fire were scattering now and then; the sparks passed through the glass bottle but Phanella didn't get burned.
In the dead of the night, these two small bottles looked particularly mesmerizing.
Pheona glanced and saw the name tags which were on the body of the bottles. But contrary to her calmness, Phanella became very excited.
"Fire Rhino Magic Balls, Holy Crane Divine Potion… these! My lady! These are so expensive! Even money can't get these easily!" Phanella Stipte's hand shook with excitement yet she saw her lady glanced at the bottles with a frown.
'Frown? Why are you frowning?' Phanella was taken aback.