Having organized the paperworks and sorted the new format, Peony put away the last papers as she sent the remaining one out. She had just finished when she suddenly raised her head in surprise.
"Peony?" Axel looked up to her in confusion.
Peony hesitated much to the boys confusion when her master spoke up, "Peony, what's wrong?"
She shook her head, "It's nothing to be alarmed about… However, this mana… She's here…"
"She?" Rollo raised a brow in confusion.
The old man's eyes widen in disbelief, "Oh dear! She will require an escort!"
"Master should go to bed early." Peony stated calmly as she patted his shoulder calmly.
"But, the tea…"
"I'll prepare the tea." Rollo spoke up calmly.
"Rollo, you take master back to his room. Axel, you prepare the table with Zhang Li."
Rollo was confused, but he understood the assignment and did as she said. As he left the room with the master, Peony opened the window and donned a red hood cape. Looking into the distance, she disappeared in a blink of an eye!
She appeared in the dark town square where adults were getting ready to close for the day and return home. In the dark corner, she met with the woman who was busy looking around curiously and with hesitation. She smiled and whispered, "Greetings. If you wish shall we had to one of the local bakeries which are still open?"
The woman turned to her and scoffed, "Child of man, can't you see that all the stores have closed."
"There is one. It's a hole in the wall, which basically means the shop is not faced to the public eyes but it's local foods are quite tasty." She gave a dry smile, "In all honesty, I've failed to predict your arrival and require time to set up tea. So, if you're willing, it would save me from this embarrassment."
The woman laughed aloud and nodded her head, "Very well."
They arrived at the empty bakery and entered the store. The baker carefully catered to them with a calm smile on his face. Amused, the woman wore a curious smile, "It's a first a child of man is not intimidated by our sudden arrival. We've seen many who fainted out of fear the moment we show up unannounced."
The baker wore a small smile and an awkward chuckle, "W-Well… Ever since the headmage appeared, we've catered to a number of surprising customers, your majesty. To be honest, this is our first time catering to a ruling royalty… So, please excuse us if we caused any offense."
"Interesting… I suppose this is where we order." The woman hummed as she stared at the menu, "This is a lot of choices… I assume you receive numerous customers catering to different palette and so many different breads available… What should I choose… Peony?"
"Well, I often find myself snacking on the croissants in this city. Why not a croissant sandwich? The cheese in this region are made differently from the usual cow's milk. I recall Malleus had enjoyed the taste of a meat and cheese sandwich here. Unfortunately, we don't have the stomachs for a variety plate of sandwiches."
"Hm… I-If I may, I have an idea?" The baker replied.
In just a few minutes, the baker placed a charcuterie board of a variety of meats, cheese and bread onto their table. The queen hummed in amusement as she muttered, "If you can't bring out a complete dish, make it into a charcuterie board for the tourists to try each one… Not bad."
"Now we may try each one. This is a wonderful idea." Peony praised the baker.
The baker bowed his head and returned to the back.
As she offered a small stack of assortment to the queen as she noted curiously, "I had wondered what Malleus had during his trip here. But it seems he had not told me enough of his trip. Perhaps dawdling and fussing over what to write again?"
Peony nodded her head, "When I return, I'll be sure to retrieve the materials for you… granny. From what little I've seen, I surmise he's either unsure how many pages is not too much or lost track of time studying gargoyles. My dormleader often find him looking closely at the gargoyles of our dorm each night. They'd often chat for a while."
"Ah, I've heard you mention this topic." She smirked, "A child of man from another world with no magic was so bold as to give my grandchild an adorable nickname. It's a shame I was not told of something so adorable."
"I wonder if he's considering it a personal amusement." Peony hummed, "I recall he was quite pleased to find someone who has never heard of him. If so, I can see why he'd want the opportunity to play this little prank. Either way, my dormleader and his familiar was said to have been so confused upon learning his identity that they were stunned in silence. Yet, he was allowed to continue to use the nickname probably out of pity for playing the prank on him."
"Oh? What is the human like?" She raised a brow curiously.
"Very human normal. After receiving permission, he continues to treat Malleus as an equal but also chooses not to overstep his boundary as a common man and individual. Quite interesting as others in school seem to be too intimidated to even approach him as soon as they recognized him. Only a small handful even dares to walk up to him. Perhaps, due to this, Malleus finds this much more fun. He's even asked me to follow along after I made a joke about it." Peony huffed regretfully, "perhaps the reason they get along well is due to them both being tough. Perhaps her majesty could ask him about it when he returns? I'm certainly it would be much more interesting hearing it from him instead."
"It would be a problem if my grandchild struggles to speak with his own grandmother." She shook her head, "He will be of age one day, but he's still acting like a child."
"I doubt that will last soon." She wore a dry smile, "That said, it seems his retainers are still being overprotective of him. He's fortunate to have attentive retainers."
"His retainers? Ah, you mean those kids…" she hummed, "I believe they were Baur's grandchild and Lilia's child… It was as though it were yesterday when his daughter stunned the entire council by taking a human as her spouse and bore their child. Now he's training under Lilia…"
"Hm? Um? I see her majesty has been really busy… Actually, Baul's daughter bore three children. According to the old man, the two elder children had no interest in the sword. His third grandchild held great interest. So he trained under Lilia and became the Prince's personal retainer." Peony corrected softly, "… I wonder if there will be a fourth child at this rate…"
"I see. The years have gone by really fast." She hummed worriedly.
"Her majesty always works hard for Briar Valley and the prince. Everyone in the castle can see that. I hope you can relax during your time here in Fleur City." Peony hummed worriedly, "It's no longer the festival holidays, but the culture here is quite interesting. Will her majesty be staying after the meeting? I can prepare a room for you right away."
"That won't be necessary…" She hummed.
She nodded. They continued to chat for a bit, and talk about the delicacies of the city and their history without question behind the Queen's intention.
…..
"The Queen of Briar Valley?!" Rollo's eyes widen in shock upon hearing this as he walked through the halls.
"Mn." Trill nodded his head with a troubled look, "She is the sole ruler of Briar Valley and the third strongest magician in the world. However, she is only here today to speak with Peony."
"What could she want?" Rollo hesitated.
"Confirmation." Trill sighed.
"Pardon me?"
"Do you remember you will be studying overbroad for a few days at Night Raven College?" Trill pointed out, "We may have kept the truth hidden, however the same cannot be said for the other countries. Since the incident, other officials have kept a close eye on Fleur City. Likewise, the other countries are keeping a close eye on Pyroxene and the princess. Her decision to send two culprits of the incident to Night Raven college has been taken as a positive and negative view. Everyone has started to try causing trouble with the princess. Nothing she cannot handle, however, the decision has concerned the queen of Briar Valley. After all, her only grandchild and descendant was targeted and for the subject of magic. Hence, she deemed it necessary to personally come to see the princess."
Her only descendant?
"Her daughter, the former princess, lost her life in the conflict between humans and faes. Just as the human faction lost their Prince. Prior to the ascension of their last Queen, their late Prince had no abilities to rule their growing kingdom. However, intimidated by faes and misinformation, he looked down on the faes. When the faes offered a meeting of peace, they took the life of the envoy and launched an ambush. His goals had been to take the late princess's staff in hopes of curing his ailing father and her child, who was only just an egg, for power."
"Her child… I presume that was Malleus Draconia." He hummed.
Trill nodded, "During that time, he had not witnessed the death of his mother and father, Yet, war had kept the queen busy in a fit of rage. The war only ended when both sides wrote a treaty due to the blood shed on the two ends being too much. The faes as well had struggled to understand humans and their princess had often looked down on them but not so much as to harm them. It only got worse after the envoy, which had been her partner, perished without a trace during the attack. The old culture of faes had been intimidation. So it was difficult for them to understand how that could negatively impact relations with humans."
"If things were so chaotic, how could they have the current relation now?" Rollo muttered in confusion.
"It was the prince's caretaker, the late princess's right hand general, who left his land in hopes of finding information on how to hatch their prince who had become orphaned and started rejecting magic from his grandmother."
"He rejected magic?"
"Dragon eggs require magic from their parents to grow and hatch. However, they also acquire parental love and quality time. Though the queen had tried her best, the prince didn't bond deeply with her. Thus it began rejecting most of the magic from his guardian."
"However, he is here with us now."
"He is. The caretaker traveled the world to find answers to saving their prince. Things continued to turn grim and he stopped taking magic entirely one day. When the caretaker was summoned back, he gave most of his own magic and lifespan. This saved the prince who the Queen realized must've had a strong connection with him due to his close friendship to his parents."
"Such a person must've been hailed a hero for saving their prince then."
Trill shook his head, "Sadly, that's not what happened."
"What do you mean?" Rollo's eyes widen in disbelief.
"The caretaker was a bat fae which were looked down upon by others. Instead of praises, he was shunned under the premise of tainting their prince with his magic. Only the Queen supported him during those times and made him the caretaker of the child."
"A power struggle." Rollo noted in bewilderment.