HEAVEN REALM
_next morning_
Sarah got out of the spacious queen sized bed she had gotten used to in the past two days and had her bath before heading out of her chambers to kiss both her sons good morning, so they could get out of bed; a habit they adopted the very day she started living in the palace. She had barely left her chambers when she saw Richard walking towards her direction "good morning your majesty, I mean Richard" she said still hating the man for insisting on her calling him by name, how could she do that, it was an impossible task.
"Good morning Sarah, I hope you had a lovely night" Richard asked her "yes I did, I hope you did the same" she asked with a calm smile "of course, I did" he said and took her hand in his then he kissed the back of it "do you mind joining me for breakfast?" he asked her in a charming manner, "I would have loved to but, I was on my way to wake Riley and Dylan" she refused his proposal politely and he waved his hands to dismiss what she said "those two are grown ups, they can get out of bed themselves" he told her "kindly honor this gentleman by joining him for breakfast" he added bowing and held out his hand for her to take.
"Okay" she said giving in to his charm because he was just too charming too resist, before taking his hand, and then he stood straight and led her straight to the dining hall.
...…
DEMON REALM
Stephanie sat on her bed after having breakfast with her father; she shook her head when she realized her obsession for Riley as well as her craving to see him has increased by the day "could I have fallen in love with Riley?" she asked herself and shook her head again to dismiss the thought before sighing deeply. She closed her eyes to regain her composure then opened them again before deciding to try summoning him again.
She shut her eyes tightly with full concentration and imagined an image of him in her mind, after the image formed, she said something to the image in her mind "come to me Riley" she said and waited for a short while until she felt like her summon was starting to be successful.
...…..
HEAVEN REALM
Dylan stirred a bit on his bed, wondering why Sarah hadn't come to kiss him yet and he shut his eyes opened in frustration "could father had stopped her from coming" he asked himself "that man has really started getting on my nerves, he really wants to snatch mother away from me" he said leaving the bed and headed to the room where his bath was already prepared by a maid, "good morning, your highness" the maid said to him the moment he entered the room and he nodded in response. He undressed himself and entered the bathtub before ordering the maid to bathe him.
After his bath, Dylan headed straight to the dining hall in the emperor's chambers to check if Sarah was with Richard, he got to the door of the hall and the standby guard opened the doors for him. "Good morning mother, I knew I was right when you didn't come to my bedchamber this morning" he said to Sarah when he entered the hall and went to sit on the empty chair beside her, before signaling a maid to serve him, completely ignoring Richard "I'm sorry son, your father insisted on me joining him" Sarah replied and kissed his cheek.
"I understand mother, how was your night?" he asked her "it was great" she replied and noticed Richard glaring at their son "son, you haven't greeted your father" she said facing her son who just simply waved his hand to dismiss what she said "it's okay mother, he stopped you from coming to me, so I wouldn't be greeting him" he said and Sarah looked at Richard who banged the table angrily "what gives you the right to come here and disturb my breakfast" he said angrily "Richard, please calm down" Sarah said "then tell him to leave" he replied and she looked at her son apologetically "I'm sorry son, but you have to excuse us" she said to Dylan who glared back at Richard before standing up.
"I'm only leaving because of you, it seems you're still in love with him" Dylan said with a smile and kissed her cheek before glaring at Richard one last time then left the hall.
....
Riley was still peacefully sleeping when he felt like someone was trying to summon him and he shot his eyes opened, he tried to figure what kind of power the person summoning him possessed and he figured it to dark magic from the demon realm "could Stephanie be summoning me now" he asked himself rubbing his eyes then went to have his bath.
After getting fully dressed, Riley decided to respond to her summon since he had promised her. He called for Justin and ordered him to standby in front of Maya's door so when she wakes, he can tell her to wait for Riley. After giving the order, he teleported to where the power came from.
Riley reappeared in a bedchamber and guessed it to be a man's room judging from the warrior like decorations and dark aura that lingered in it, he turned around to find Stephanie sitting on her bed, smiling at him. The moment he turned, the latter ran to him and enveloped him in a tight hug "thanks for coming, Riley" she said smiling broadly against his chest. "You're welcome, but please let go of me" he said and tried pushing her away gently, clearly irritated by the hold of a woman who wasn't Maya or his mother.
Stephanie disengaged from him and looked him in the eye "would you like to play chess and drink coffee first, or would you rather we spar in swordsmanship" she said to him "I prefer sparring first" he replied her and she led him to the training ground where they both changed from their royal attires into comfortable fighting attires.
.....
Ava arrived in Elena's bedchamber with eyes wet with tears and the latter noticed that and looked at her concerned "what's wrong Ava, and where's Maya" Elena asked and Ava started sobbing "your highness, Maya, she…she" she said amidst tears and Elena stood up to meet her and shook her by the shoulders "what happened to Maya?" she asked with panic evident in her voice, but Ava kept on sobbing "answer me Ava, what happened to Maya" she said loudly with fear "she withered away last night and she's never coming back, because her particles already dissipated" Ava said and started sobbing even louder.
Elena left her shoulders and staggered a few steps back looking confused "what do you mean withered away" she asked Ava "she's gone, your highness" the latter replied and she fell on the floor in a sitting position then burst out crying, "no, no, she can't be gone, you're lying" she cried loudly, scattering the floor with her hands. 'You're lucky the princess believes me Maya, or I swear I would have told her the truth' Ava thought in her mind with relief "your highness, please get up" she said to Elena and helped her up before sitting her on the bed.
In a few moments, Elena stopped crying and looked at Ava "I'm so sorry Ava; I know this must be so hard for you. You've been with Maya for so long and now, she's gone" Elena said with a pitiful tone and sniffed "I think it would be better if you started living in the palace with me, that way you wouldn't feel so lonely" she added, "thank you your highness, but I prefer staying at our cottage" Ava replied politely "I insist, Ava" the princess said and Ava had no other choice than to comply. "Alright your highness, but I hope you would permit me whenever I want to visit the cottage" she said to Elena "of course, I would" the latter replied with a dry smile.
"We have to go inform her majesty" Ava said and Elena sniffed back tears one more time then nodded, Ava bathed her and also dressed her and they left to the Queen's chambers after Elena had her morning meal.