HEAVEN REALM
In his bedchamber, Richard brought out a big painting from one of his hidden drawers and opened it, suspending it in the air so he could look at it. The painting turns out to be a portrait of Sarah which he painted when she still worked as his maid, he stared at it and a tear dropped from his left eye "I'm sorry Sarah, the only way to keep you and our son's safe was to keep you and one of our sons away" he said to himself "my life has been different without you, I rule the realm and do my duties subconsciously and our son Dylan doesn't help at all" he said to Sarah's portrait, his face already wet with tears, he then walked to a table which was placed in front of his bed and poured himself a drink then went back to stand before the portrait.
"I remember when I'd sneak you into my bedchamber and we'll have a nice time together, chatting, playing, cuddling and so on" he said still crying holding the wine cup which was made of gold in his hand "Dylan really misses his mother, he misses you but he doesn't show it because of his pride, he believes you're dead but would be glad to find out you're alive and well and you love him so much" he added. "It's almost their hundredth birthday and the hundredth anniversary of our separation as well as the hundredth anniversary of your being a wonderful mother" Richard said and sniffed back a tear "a toast to you, Riley, Dylan and me, a toast to happiness" he said raising his cup in front of Sarah's portrait then emptied the entire cup before refilling it and emptying it in one gulp again.
After a while of drinking while staring at Sarah's portrait, Richard got drunk and fell on his bed before falling into a deep slumber.
...…
Stephanie was about to get to her inn when she felt a very familiar scent and intimidating aura behind her "pretty boy crown prince, I'm sure that must be him. Riley's aura is dangerous but not intimidating and his scent is different" she said to herself and turned back to look at the direction the scent was coming from. She turned back and saw Dylan walking majestically and arrogantly towards the inn in his blue robe and black boot, he looked so full of pride, Stephanie thought of hiding but she knew he had already seen her and she couldn't go invisible because he was stronger and would simply break her simple spell, making her visible again.
"Well, well, well, what is our beautiful demon princess doing in the mortal realm?" Dylan said as he approached Stephanie "I should be asking you the same, shouldn't the heavenly crown prince perform his duties from the heaven realm?" she asked him "I and performing my duties by coming to check the situation in the mortal realm" he said with his signature arrogant tone, flashing a seductive smile "what about you, what are you doing here?" he asked "I'm here to look around the mortal realm" she replied him "is anything wrong with that?" she asked raising a brow "no, not at all" he replied and threw his hands up. Stephanie scoffed and went into the inn.
Stephanie lay on her bed and smiled congratulating herself on successfully carrying out part of her plan, now she just had to wait till the next morning for the two kingdoms to be at war, then she can carry out the rest of her plan and kill the Heavenly Emperor alongside that pretty boy son of his. "Father would finally be able to get over brother's death once I finish off those two" she said to herself and remembered Riley 'that handsome man seems nice, I wonder what's his relation to Prince Dylan; they're too identical not to be brothers and to think that they both wear half of the other one's pendant' she thought and shook her head to send the thought away, she wanted o focus on her mission no matter what.
...…
Sarah was standing by the small lake in their garden, smiling to herself while thinking about her son when Riley appeared "Riley dear, are you okay" she asked him worried because he didn't eat anything when he left and he left in a confused state "I'm okay mother, in fact, I'm better" he replied smiling "are you sure?" "Do I look like I'm not okay mother?" "No, you look happy actually" she said noticing he was actually smiling which he rarely does "did anything happen" she asked him and his smile widened "I was with Maya and we spent some time together" "oh, that explains it. Did you tell her how you feel?" "not yet mother, it's too early" he replied "I would like to take things slow so we can get to know each other well" he added "that's a great idea, I left your food in your bedchamber" Sarah said "thanks mother" he thanked her smiling and pecked her on the cheek before going to his bedchamber.
"Your majesty, our son has finally decided to live his life like every other man, he has now fallen in love" Sarah said to herself the moment Riley was out of sight "he now has something else to think about other than going to the mortal realm and help the morals win wars that doesn't concern him" she added. "I hope Dylan is doing just as great as Riley is doing, I hope he also has a woman in his life and he is happy" Sarah said sniffing back the tears that were threatening to fall "I hope he doesn't hate his mother for abandoning him and that he'll forgive me if we ever meet" she went on soliloquizing "I love you Dylan, so very much" she said and fell to the ground the burst into silent tears "I love you so much" she said amidst tears and quietly lay by the lake for a while before going into the lake and transforming into her true form; a swan.
...…..
Riley sat on his bed the moment he entered his chamber then opened his right palm and the petal of Maya's true body appeared on it, floating and he smiled widely "I love you Maya" he said to himself and blew a kiss to the petal before closing his palm and holding it close to his chest "I promise to always be there for you and always protect you" he said to himself then went to take a cool bath before having the meal his mother prepared for him.
After having a little rest, Riley thought wandered back to the man from earlier who looked exactly like him and wore the other half of his pendant 'mother said my father gave this to me and he's the only one who could ever possess it' he thought 'but if that's the case, why does that man have the other half and has the same face and voice as me?' he asked himself 'maybe mother would have an answer to this, I would ask her later' he concluded in his mind and lay back on his bed to reminisce about his short outing with Maya.
...…..
FLOWER REALM
"Your highness, I'm back and I have revitalized my energy" Maya said bowing the moment she appeared in Princess Elena's bedchamber "that's good to hear" Elena answered softly "I would like to have some freshly backed biscuits, and I want you both to make them" Elena added "yes your highness, we would go right away" Ava said and they both bowed and left for the kitchen.
In the kitchen
Ava noticed that something was weird about Maya and couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore so she decided to question her friend, "Maya, you don't look like you've completely revitalized your energy" Ava said looking deeply at her friend "you didn't complete you revitalization process did you?" Ava asked "promise you wouldn't tell anyone" Maya said with a pleading look while Ava searched for the flour with which they would make the biscuits "what did you do Maya, or should I ask where did you go" Ava asked stunned by Maya's response "first promise then I'll tell you" Maya said still playfully "I promise, now start talking" Ava said and Maya narrated her encounter from earlier to Ava leaving no stone unturned.
"So you're saying, you saw another man who looks exactly like this Riley and has the same voice and pendant as him, but they don't know each other?" Ava asked confused while placing the biscuit dough which were shaped like flowers in the cauldron they used for baking "of course, they've never met before" Maya replied "though they have so many physical similarities, Riley is nicer and calmer than the other one and he is fun to play with" she added smiling like a little child and Ava hit her head with her index finger "what?" her silly friend asked her "you'd get yourself in trouble one day, you're lucky her highness couldn't tell that your revitalization process was incomplete" Ava said to her pouting friend "at least you wouldn't tell on me, or would you" Maya asked "sigh…, no I wouldn't" Ava replied and Maya grinned widely causing Ava to shake her head in disbelief while removing the baked biscuits from the cauldron and placed them on a tray before taking it to their princess.