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“Is this some kind of joke I’m too dumb to understand? Why would we ever hand that monster over to Albest?” Sometimes, Neah questioned Ashura’s wisdom. He was a smart man but he did make some very dumb decisions.

For example, the one he had made today. Why were they handing the monster over to Albest and providing them an unfair advantage?

Neah had rushed over to the royal palace as soon as was sure Howl would not die, only to find out Ashura’s plan. And to say the least, she was not impressed.

“This is insurance. Albest already has control of all the available nodes except Gerna’s and their own. They have the other candidate on their side as well. We cannot afford to go on a full-scale war with them” Ashura sounded regretful.

But Neah had grown up under the elder’s control. She could spot that he was regretful, but not about their current situation. There was something else eating the elder up.

She also knew that he would not tell her what it was.

“So, you are saying to make their powerful force even more powerful? Which side are you even on, Ashura?” Neah sounded bitter. She knew that the elder would not have suggested it if it was not for their one good.

But she still felt as if she was not trusted enough. Had she not proven herself to be capable of taking care of this problem for their kingdom.

“It is not about sides, but about principle. Both, we and the Albest kingdom, have the same goal - to revive our master and to see the upper realm fall. This will be the final cobblestone in our alliance” Ashura assured.

So now there was an alliance as well? Neah felt bitter to be kept in the dark for so long.

But she did understand why that had been the case. She was young and tended to act on her emotions.

She was not sure she would have taken it any better if the situation was not as dire as it had turned out to be.

“Alester is out there, guiding the beast toward the dimensional portal. You just need to make sure no citizens got caught in the exchange. We will head to Albest in a few days as well since it’s almost time for our master to come back” Ashura spoke.

He sounded so confident that Neah had no heart to stop him from speaking.

She still felt uncertain about his words but was relieved as well. As soon as this monster was out of Gerna, she could relax.

“And what about Shou? That beast has Howl’s younger brother with him” Neah questioned.

“He has? Well, the kid will go with him as well. We cannot afford to anger the beast any more than we already have” Ashura sounded calm when he spoke.

It was not right. Neah did not like his words or his tone. There was a lack of care when he spoke about Shou.

“We cannot let him take that kid. He’s a Gerna citizen-”

“-and will not be harmed. Neah, that kid is keeping the beast calm for now. Once we have the beast secured, the kid will be returned to us” Ahsura assured. Neah was bitter, but she backed down as well.

It was not like she could do anything else. From what she had observed, magic was a no-go against the beast and physical weapons did nothing as well. She was not even sure how Albest was going to keep it contained.

“Fine. As long as Shou remains unharmed, I do not care. I’ll make sure no citizen is harmed in that creature’s way” Neah did not sound as confident as before but she did decide to take her duty seriously.

The monster could be seen heading toward their way from a long distance. Alester could also be seen guiding the creature.

But it was the people Neah was worried about. Many of them had already been injured and showed the signs of magic exhaustion. She knew she did not have the time to sit back and chit-chat with Ashura any longer.

“Hurry up. Show this kingdom that you are the real royalty they can count on” Ashura’s words sounded flattering.

He had always been encouraging and his words had always been a source of power for Neah. She did not know how the other managed to do this, but he managed to motivate Neah in any situation.

She lept through the air, landing between the citizens.

“Everyone, head toward relief section one. The beast will pass through this area in a few minutes” her words carried over, amplified through magic and she could see people paying attention to her words.

Most chose to listen to her, and she helped out those who could not walk.

Neah could only watch helplessly as the beast passed through the town, not caring where he stepped on. The nearer he walked, the drainer Neah felt.

The symptoms of many of her rescued citizens showed magic exhaustion as well and Neah felt the dots connect inside her mind.

Most of the recent deaths had been attributed to this symptom. Neah had thought it to be a serial killer at first, but now she could see the truth.

This monster had been the reason so many of her people had died.

“Darn you Albest. I will make sure you pay for this” Neah was sure it was Albest's fault. Ever since that kingdom had decided to interfere with Gerna, weird things kept on happening.

First, Lady Silvya’s betrayal. Then her parent’s silence on this topic. And now Ashura’s involvement. Neah no longer knew what she believed in but she wanted answers.

And since she was not getting any from the people around her, it was time to find those who can really answer her. Neah had kept away from her parents long enough and she knew it was time to finally pay them a visit.

In her opinion, the royal couple had been a fool. They had kept away from the incoming demonic war, not wanting Gerna to be a part of it. But they did not understand that it could not be stopped once it had started.

And it was due to their negligence that Albest had such a head-start. Neah wanted, no, she needed to hear from the real reason they had kept quiet about all this.

She needed answers before she could make a decision.

And once she had them, she would finally face the future and make a decision. It felt like such a monumental step.

The princess and the whole kingdom watched as the beast stepped into the huge portal and was delivered out of Gerna. And with that, Gerna was safe once again.

…....................

"Your highness, we've secured the key. Should we pull the scout out of Gerna as well?" The impassive face of the Queen did not change.

It was impossible to tell if she felt joy or sadness at the news. Her impassiveness astonished the onlookers as well. But her court was used to her lack of response.

"If our messenger is done with Gerna, ask him to come back. We do not need to waste any more time there" the words were devoid of emotions. The queen was just a puppet after all.

The true nature of their queen was not hidden from the Albest court. But they had come to accept her with time. There was a trust formed because of familiarity as well as circumstances.

"Of course. We also confirmed that Lady Silvya is indeed dead. Should we go ahead and scrap her key as well?" The guard who had been reporting asked.

The queen narrowed her eyes but turned her head away from the onlooking party. She seemed to not have any opinion on this topic but the onlookers knew.

They knew what this meant for their queen.

"Retrieve the chains if you can. But I doubt we'll find them in Gerna. Silvya was a sly one. After all, she managed to ensral my brother" the Queen spoke. She did not sound angry.

But the court knew the queen was putting up and acting. She was furious when her brother had ignored her in favour of a Nobel.

The Queen had other plans to get her brother to marry. She had wanted him to marry into the upper realm and act as a spy. He had the power, as well the influence to be accepted.

But her brother had been too much of a fool. He had wanted to marry for love and had managed to escape to Gerna. It took almost 16 years for the queen to trigger another demonic war for a chance to get revenge on the upper realm.

After all, she had been cursed by them to live a doomed life. And not only her, but her subordinates had been subjected to that as well.

"Then, shall we look for the oracle? She's the only one capable of controlling the Queen" the guard questioned.

"There is no need to. The threads of fate are connected. The oracle will find her way to Albest sooner than we think. Meanwhile, we need to deal with the Gerna princess" the queen ordered.

The oracle was one problem. But princess Neah was a whole can of worms. And she also had a node's power in her veins.

How troublesome this thing was turning out to be.