The return journey was not much eventful except for a few events.
Due to my ambiguous behaviour related to Anais, Alice was a little sour towards her. But, after Anais and I explained the situation briefly to her, Alice accepted it and directed her anger to the emperor of the Vangan Empire.
Then, one night, when Alice was resting, with me and Anais driving the carriage, Anais revealed her past to me. Even during our explanation to Alice, she was vague and never went into much detail. And after the night incident in the duke's palace, that was the first time we talked face to face. But the revelations were quite shocking.
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Anais's father was a veteran assassin under the previous emperor. In one of his earlier missions, he saved the then-young princess who became enamoured with him. For his outstanding accomplishments and due to the princess's wish, they were married together. And Anais was the product of their love.
She was taught the skills of arts such as painting and sculpture by her mother and the skills of an assassin, mainly espionage, by her father. One day, her father adopted a young boy from the streets. Her father discovered that his talent for assassination and espionage was very high. And thus, that boy was taught together with Anais by him.
Although not by blood, he was like a younger brother to Anais. They trained and played together happily for many years till they became ten. The two used to support their father in his espionage missions, and the boy's talent was found to be far more proficient than her father's.
Especially with him being a child, it was easy to reduce the guard of the target and hide during the espionage missions. But being very talented is always a sin. The current emperor got news of his talent and high achievements and wanted to make him an assassin under his control, replacing her father, who had become old.
Her old father rejected the proposal to make his son an assassin. The emperor became unhappy, and he was killed on charges of treason against the emperor. The whole family was killed along with her mother, who was the blood-sister of the emperor, leaving only the two children behind.
The guards told them that only the strongest of them could remain alive and made the two fight each other for their lives. The boy attacked her first, to Anais's dismay. But when she tried to defend, she found that the boy had impaled himself on her dagger, leading to his death.
Thus, with her brother's sacrifice, she was the only person alive in the whole family. The emperor then made a 'Soul Lock' over Anais that compelled her to follow all his orders.
The strength of the soul lock was weak, so she could overpower it after exceeding the cultivation level of the emperor. But till then, she had to persevere and carry out the assassinations for the emperor.
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Her face was melancholic, but there were no tears as she had already shed them for a long time. I didn't try to console her using words but just held her hands, which were clenched in fists. She gradually loosened her fingers and regarded me with a bright smile.
"I don't know how you did it, but you severed the chains that held for so long. And I am grateful for that. For now, I will return to the Beast Hall, and using my connections will secretly help in the rebellion. After I have completed my preparations, I will leave the hall and join you in your future endeavours."
Her eyes, which were shining with newfound hope and happiness, dispersed the previous gloomy atmosphere. With her heart lightened by sharing her past, we spent the remaining night chatting about various topics, from her artistic skills to poisonous herbs.
In Stilpan, Anais separated from us and gave us the 'Snow Rekins' carriage for our further travels. With the many weeks spent with the beasts under her guidance, we siblings had formed a good bond with them, allowing us to make them follow our instructions obediently.
After Anais's departure, Alice and I could openly display our affection for each other. We knew many wouldn't look fondly at our relationship, and our friends could be one of them. So, we decided to acknowledge our special bond in front of them only with a big supporter of ours.
And as our mother was the one who brought us into the world, who would be a better candidate than her?
So now, within our own little moving love nest, we spent the next few weeks exploring each other. We had become quite proficient in our kisses and caressing, such that we knew each and every weak spot on the other's body.
Our long trip of 4 months ended with Alice and I returning to our home. Our trip was a success as we had obtained the 'Tetraspine Plants' that could help cure mother of her damaged meridians. And we were pretty excited about getting praise from her.
When we reached the residence, our mother and maids were already at the entrance. We jumped down from the carriage and ran towards our mother. Although we hadn't missed her much on our journey, but seeing her at the entrance waiting for us made us feel happy. We rushed to her and hugged her.
She smilingly patted and stroked our hair. With my growth spurt, I had grown as tall as mother and could only put my head on her shoulder. Whereas my sister buried her head in mother's bosom. Seeing her indulging in the warmth of mother's chest, I felt slightly jealous of her and cursed myself for getting taller.
"Now, now. You two go clean yourselves up and get ready for a sumptuous meal tonight. I am going to prepare your favourite dishes today."
Our eyes sparkled in excitement at her words. After we grew up and stopped drinking her milk, whenever we ate a meal together as a family, mother would be the one to cook the dishes. And even after having tasted various kinds of foods from many different places, we could never find any food more delicious than hers.
With the incentive of mother's cooking, Alice and I went to our respective rooms to clean ourselves and freshen up from the fatigue of the journey.
That night, we had an otherworldly dinner filled with many delicious dishes. Many types of meats were present, obtained from the beasts I had never heard of. There were herbs used as spices and food ingredients. That was truly a luxurious dinner.
After the dinner, we went with mother to her room and narrated our experiences. We included everything from meeting Anais, the sinkhole, and the prince to the schemes of empire and such.
Our mother explained that there was a Spirit Beast that was at the peak of Star Formation, sleeping at the bottom of the sinkhole. And it was supposed to be a test for our progress in cultivation that was kept unharmed by her. Her words once again verified the strength of my mother as well as the maids, and we siblings smiled bitterly at our current strength.
Among all our narration, we didn't mention the progress in the relationship between me and Alice. Even if we wanted to say that and get her support, we didn't have that much courage to confess. So we decided to postpone it for a later date.
After having recounted our experiences in the past few months, it was time to breach the most crucial topic.
I looked at Alice and, seeing her nod, pulled out the many Tetraspine Plants from my storage ring and presented them to mother. I looked at her firmly, my previous smiling expression gone and spoke.
"Mother. Alice and I knew about your injuries. And the Luna gramps also had similar injuries, which were treated by this herb. The herb could heal your meridians completely, but you will not be able to cultivate properly for many decades."
I explained to her about the effects of the herb on the meridian and that no other herb on this planet can cure the side effects. I was ready to explain more and persuade her to use the herb, but my mother interrupted and took the herbs from me.
She smiled and started patting my and Alice's heads.
"You need not say anything anymore. As you two have decided to help me and even found a solution for my injuries, I am pleased. I am proud of you."
After getting her praise, we were excited and happy. As we got older, our mother rarely praised us. It would not be a hyperbole to state that her praises were more valuable than thousands of origin stones to us.
She further explained that she would take the herb to heal her meridians. And there are many more herbs in other Stellar Systems, so we could find a suitable herb for her further treatment. But for that, we had to reach the cultivation realm above the Star Formation before being able to leave the current Stellar System.
"But first, you both have to reach the peak of the River Consolidation Realm. And after the formation of your first star, I will teach you the suitable cultivation technique for further development. Till then, your training will become more strenuous, and you will not have time to play around. So, rest for a couple of days before starting the training."
The excitement I felt after hearing the words 'cultivation technique' died down when mother mentioned training. Her voice had changed from her motherly and warm tone to that of a regal sovereign who demanded complete obedience.
Both Alice and I gulped in nervousness with the various hellish scenarios of our future training playing in our heads.
With our mother's permission, Alice and I rested for the next couple of days. We played around, sparred together a little and spent time cozying up with mother in hopes that she would make the upcoming training a little more lenient.