“This entire manifestation of your past is a creation of the elemental emperor to cage you in here so they may absorb the mana. Your body acts as a conduit between the true ice core of the Ice Elemental King and the emperor, as only you may absorb it, Tasianna. As such… T-Tasianna, are you listening to me?”

  I stared in shock as Tasianna started to turn her head away from me, looking at the young fairy sleeping on her lap. She stroked the girl’s hair, smiling with the look of a mother as she… lost interest in me? I mean, sure, I just blabbered about everything that happened after Vifi escaped the elemental, so I was recalling a ton of information, but I did it in the best manner possible. Energetic with gusto, to the point that anybody, even a kid, would like to listen to me, yet… what was happening?

  “I apologize, my lady. Young fairies explode with energy and are unable to manage their stamina as they have fun, and we just came back from a game of tag between her and the other newly born fairies. She must be quite tired, eheh.” Tasianna’s face looked at peace. She was enjoying herself despite everything I just told her. No, she wasn’t paying attention at all, right?

  [“Mhmm, fairies still have to maintain themselves since they possess a body meant to imitate humanoids. That means plenty of food and water are required as nutrients to fuel the flow of mana, not to mention air to breathe. Too much stamina expenditure will flatten the mana flow in your body, and you would feel the same type of lethargy as if you had spent too much of your mana,”] the EEE randomly chose to dump information on a fairy’s biology despite the situation.

  “Hehe, you know quite a lot about us, Lord Earth,” Tasianna said, in such a casual tone that I felt more flabbergasted at her reaction than the EEE’s random trivia. Preaching to the choir, I already knew that after living with Tasianna for so long!

  [“Naturally. Your race’s existence was the reason why I wished to create my own patron race! Well, that and also the fact that I was quite intrigued in how the elves and humans even came to be, not to mention the fact that monsters can mate with humanoids. The [Elvenize]-type skills have been turned into skills in the Divine System, but back then, the monsters who could master the transformation were masters of mana!”] the EEE chortled. [“A young lesser elemental is quite a handful to take care of, but they are still… Ah. No, no. I should stop talking about the past.”]

  [“Water made your old memories resurface,”] [Providence’s Will] said.

  [“And they made you call us by the names we chose back then,”] the EEE rebuked. [“Light never was much for sass, so do not try it on me. You’d have better chances with Wind or Fire if they were still here.”]

  “It is a grand shame, yes,” Tasianna stated. “Being able to talk to you, Lord Earth, it is an honor after our last meeting. I fought you because you threatened too many people, but being able to speak with one of the elemental emperors over this beautiful garden was something I never would have imagined. Your presence alone allows the ground to flourish. If only Lord Wind would be here with us.”

  “That’s what I’m saying!” I grabbed the chance to bring this discussion back on order. “Tasianna, as I said, the Water Elemental Emperor fully absorbed the ego of the Wind Elemental Emperor. And they are now trying to do the same with all of us, especially with you! We need to get out of here before that happens!”

  “But… My lady, aren’t you fully capable of breaking through it yourself? You’ve already usurped this world twice, no?”

  I widened my eyes as I looked over to Hikari, seeing her frowning in disbelief. We both turned back to Tasianna, only to see that she was stroking this… imaginary fairy with a wide grin. I… My chest felt heavy for some reason. Something was gnawing on it, and it made me almost want to sigh to release this tension. I was starting to get livid.

  Gulping down on some spit, I took a step forward, casting a shadow on Tasianna. “I am intending to take you with me, Tasianna. Why are you posing a question that you know the answer to? You know me well.”

  “I do…” Tasianna’s smile vanished, but she didn’t raise her head, keeping it down as if to avoid my gaze. “But I don’t want to leave this world.”

  “D-didn’t you hear what I said?” I raised my voice. “You will be consumed! The elemental emperor is keeping you in this sweet dreamland so they can control you until they become a god! At that point, what would happen to you? We don’t know, but I already told you that the elemental accidentally, or maybe even intentionally, consumed their partner emperor’s personality and being. They absorbed the Wind Elemental Emperor’s power over the wind element and are now rampaging around on Frozen Nest. Our home is being—”

  “This is my home as well.”

  “This is a dreamland! A fake! A mockery of what you actually exp—”

  “Mhrrmm.” The young fairy girl grumbled awake, pouting like a young child who was just woken up from an after-lunch nap. “Tasianna…”

  “Shh, Princess Schuri!” Tasianna dropped any interest in me as she tried to calm the crying fairy.

  Annoyed that she was taking this so seriously, Hikari grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. As I turned around to look at her, Hikari shook her head and whispered, “She misses her past. Don’t act like this.”

  I was shocked into silence as I realized what was going on in Tasianna’s head. I remembered how often she spoke fondly about her time in the fairy village until Princess Schuri died.

  The rage that developed for not only the people who led to her death, tormented Tasianna to the point she redirected that anger towards the humans and herself. All of it led to a moment of catharsis when she finally confronted Reajaen, but that didn’t mean all that pain had vanished. Moving away from your past was easy to say after you had some time to grieve and mourn, but being confronted by it again would reopen those “healed” wounds.

  “Can I go back to my room?” Schuri said with the most… innocent tone ever. She wanted to go to sleep, like a kid begging her parents for a small nap.

  “Of course, my lady.” Tasianna looked up. “My lady, we must—”

  “Yes, of course.” I nodded. “Lead on.”

  Tasianna’s face brightened. “Thank you very much. Lady Hikari, you as well. Please, come. All, please! It’s been a long time coming, but I would love to show you around the village. It will be wondrous! Princess Schuri, here, let me introduce you to them.”

  Tasianna gave the still-sleepy Schuri a poetic introduction to all of us outside of [Providence’s Will], integrating parts of her experience with us into her flowery verses. It almost felt like I was listening to the words of a bard as she recounted her adventure with Aurora, although remaining humble and realistic, as she didn’t embellish anything.

  Sure, to protect the ears of a young child, she left the more gory and dark aspects of our story out, but everything she recounted happened. The good and the bad were presented. The recalling of our laughter and tears filled the idyllic village as the young fairy girl laughed, cried, and was struck with awe at us.

  Feeling slightly embarrassed, I decided to look around the village as I couldn’t feel the elemental emperor approaching us. As you would expect from a village made for people just large enough to sit on my shoulder, the giant trees outside made me feel like I was shrunk down to the size of a doll and was made to play house. Everything was so gigantic, but the village felt like any other small forest village, although it had this feeling of fantasy-like magic to it, with all the blossoming flowers, colorful decorations, and flying fairies.

  Even the fauna and flora felt out of this world. The birds flying over us were as large as giant eagles or griffons, causing my draconic instincts to act up with everything flying around. Insects like bees and grasshoppers were treated like mounts by the local fae, to the point that they were playing around with them as if they were pets. You could see some of them jousting with scarabs, imitating the knights of tales with how they armored themselves up in leaf armor, spouting corny speeches as if I were meeting those flattering, chivalric knights from Aureolis, again.

  Just like Tasianna described, this small village was constantly partying. Even if there wasn’t a festival, you could see plenty of them living the life of a carefree child as they drank, ate, sang, and listened to the many tales of courageous adventuring fairies. The whole setting felt so unreal to me that if I didn’t know this was Tasianna’s memories of her own home, I would have thought I was drawn into a world of an ideal fantasy settlement.

  Yet, from what I have seen from the Water Elemental Emperor’s memories, this was normal for the faefolk race. No matter what happened in the outside world, these fairies would live their simple lives. The pain of the past would not set a foot into this village’s territory, and I could understand why Tasianna hated her home after she exiled herself. It felt like mourning and feeling sad were forbidden with all these celebrations.

  “Tasi! Tasi! I want that, please! Please, please, I’m so thirsty!” And just like the rest, Schuri was not a stranger to all of this.

  “Of course, your grace,” Tasianna replied with a wide smile.

  Like a bolt, the little fairy girl zoomed at a nearby stand to get some fruity honey punch, while Tasianna followed along with a hop to help her buy some nectar candy and crystallized fruit drops.

  “Here!” The girl came running back to us, offering Hikari and me some of the punch, before zooming back to Tasianna to munch on the sweet candy.

  “Adorable…” Hikari mumbled, and I had to agree. If I wanted a quiet life, this truly was the place to be if I were the size of a fairy.

  Warm like during a summer camp and tranquil like a kid’s playground. All the singing and dancing by the fairies made me almost want to jump in and stay here, but unlike Tasianna, the four of us knew what was going on. Walking through the streets, none of these fairies even gave us a moment of their time. They dashed away, showing no interest as if we were invisible to them all. It didn’t make sense, of course, since every fairy had the curiosity of a child, and that meant every stranger would be surrounded by a crowd of inquisitive fairies.

  To everybody but Tasianna and Schuri, we didn’t exist. Or, maybe it was more accurate to say that everybody but those two actually existed in this world. Everybody else lived by a script to ensure this dreamland seemed real to Tasianna. Vifi, after all, had experienced the same with her memory version of her adoptive father.

  Most likely, in both cases, the “cognizant” dream person next to the victim of this dreamland was another real person. According to Vifi, it was just another lesser fae or elemental used by the elemental emperor to create their massive lie. One of the nymphs they befriended was turned into Vifi’s father, and I presumed the same was the case for Schuri.

  “Tasi! Tasi! Isn’t this yummy?” Schuri said as she stuffed her cheeks like a chipmunk.

  Tasianna giggled, stroking Schuri’s hair to fix the knots while drinking her punch. “Naturally, my lady. It is delicious like every day.”

  Tasianna…

  I could tell why Hikari was so adamant now. Tasianna really missed her past life. Even if she hated her ignorant, fairy-like demeanor in the past, it was clear to see that she wanted to return to those times. I’ve seen Tasianna happy about serving me delicious teas before, or how we would have fun on stage performing to everybody, but seeing her show that face of hers to somebody else—Arck, I almost wanted to charge in and interrupt her.

  Am I actually getting jealous of a young girl? What the hell is wrong with me?

  The fact that I had to rip Tasianna away from this dream made it even more painful. I had to do it since she was my friend, but even as a friend, did I have a right to stop my friend’s happiness, even if it was built upon a pile of lies? Of course, I should… but it made me feel guilty. I mean, to the faefolk acting as Schuri, wouldn’t it be like me ripping away their… big sister or mother?

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  ‘Cause that was the sorta relationship I was seeing in them.

  When we finally reached the wood-built palace of the fairy village, I couldn’t help but feel slightly amazed by it all. If I imagined an elven or fairy palace, it would either be a castle made from stone in such an immaculate manner that it would only be accurate to call it art, as it mixed with the beauty of nature, or something like a humongous sprawling citadel built upon the canopy and trunks of hundreds of trees.

  In this case, it was the latter.

  Naturally, since this was made for fairies, the “hundred of trees” was just one humongous one, easily separated by the many other trees inside the Saelariel forest by the blue veins pulsating through it. The inside was hollowed out, and there were plenty of holes made for the balconies, stairs, and also a wooden platform for outdoor activities. Despite all of this, simply touching the tree made me aware that it was fully alive and flourishing.

  The inside, on the other hand, was kept rather simple, although the general flair from the fairy village was noticeable with the decorations and furniture around. Fittingly, scaling and flying around on this giant tree almost made me feel like a kid playing in her treehouse. As a city girl, I never had one, of course, but I could feel the fun. Every step or wing beat allowed us to go higher, until the entire village came into view, making me whistle at how beautiful it all looked from up here as the sun shone through the canopy of the trees, causing the roofs to reflect the light to me.

  “Your home is breathtaking, Tasianna,” I said almost like a reflex.

  Tasianna grinned and nodded. “It warms my heart to hear that, my lady. Such a peace is easily viewable every day. No matter how exhausting the work might be, this view is stunning and being able to participate in the many events my fellow fairies created out of sheer boredom gave me the energy to strive to become the best maid I could be. Hehe, I spent more time in the libraries of the royal palace and my family’s mansion, but even a hermit like me would feel energized watching this sight over some tea and nectar biscuits as the sun dims. The afternoon orange is a gift to the eyes.”

  “You miss your home.”

  “I never thought I would, again.”

  “Do you want to return?”

  “I… No, but yes. No, though,” Tasianna’s steps slowed down. Schuri didn’t notice and zoomed forward as if she didn’t need to take a nap any longer. “I would love to meet my family, again. The Silverponds, I mean. It is hard to recreate the many treats and dishes I ate in my youth, since everything required a certain ingredient that you could only find at the foot of this beautiful tree, the royal palace is built in. They say this tree is directly connected to the mana flow of this world, extracting it from the depths of the world to release it through its leaves, my lady.”

  [“Sadly, all but an embellished story. This tree was transformed by the presence of the Iggdrasil family,”] the EEE commented. [“Lesser fae do not care for a leader, and we elementals naturally gathered around a greater as the elemental grew and evolved through the absorption of mana. Even we emperors were once simple lesser. The fairies, though, were born to imitate humanoids, and that meant they desired a leader, a ruler to guide the carefree. Wind imbued the Iggdrasil family with an abnormality that allowed them to pass their rule onto the generation like the elves. They were allowed to birth fairies, and their role only became even more important after Wind fell from heaven and Zephira took over.”]

  The EEE flew up, touching the mana paths of the tree. [“The tree was transformed by the Iggdrasil family when they settled their village in this area of Saelariel. The tree absorbed mana from the air through its leaves while its roots gathered the mana in the depths, all just to help this small village flourish. A natural mana barrier surrounds the village through this process, protecting every fairy from the outside world.”]

  “So it wasn’t a complete fabrication?” Hikari said, prompting the elemental to nod. “It sounds less romantic now that you say it, but it still has a very ‘world tree’ vibe to it like Earth’s Yggdrasyl myth.”

  [“It is more apt than you think. The tree has grown strong from when it was once a simple tree like any other. The mana it absorbs might protect this small village, but it nourishes the rest of the Saelariel forest now. Its roots span wide, and its mana-rich leaves are spread by birds and the wind, so the ground may absorb the decaying leaves’ mana elsewhere. A ‘world’ tree it might not be, the royal palace of the Iggdrasil family feeds the forest, making the flora here strong and possessing special properties the elves use for their armor, weapons, and other craft.”]

  “That does sound far more romantic than what the other fairies are say—”

  “Tasi!” Schuri shouted, interrupting Tasianna.

  “Right away!” she replied, turning back to us. “Let us hurry. She must be waiting in front of her room.”

  As such, we hurried without furthering our discussion. Once we entered Schuri’s bedroom, the young girl jumped around for a moment before collapsing on her bed in an almost comical manner. Crawling under her blanket, she waved her hands, prompting Tasianna to giggle as she approached the bed, holding her hands on her hips.

  “My lady?” Tasianna mumbled, causing the girl to shrink, hiding her face under her blanket. “Brush your teeth, please.”

  “I didn’t eat much today! I don’t need to clean them!” Schuri protested, but Tasianna only giggled. “Stop laughing—Uuhh… I—”

  Tasianna’s bubbly demeanor stopped as she Schuri a cold smile, causing the young girl to crawl out of her bed. If an adult wouldn’t be able to handle her icy glare, I didn’t believe a small girl would survive against Tasianna when she got mad. As such, Schuri rushed to her bathroom, giving us all a moment to speak.

  “Tas—” Yet, before I could say anything, Tasianna raised her hand and shook her head.

  “Lady Hestia, do you know how many days I’ve been in this world? Nay, you wouldn’t be able to guess it even if you tried.”

  “But you did? Did you count every day?”

  Tasianna giggled and nodded. “You know I do. Every day. Always a prayer in the morning before I perform my duties, before doing another one in the evening. I always spoke the Wind Mother’s and Goddess Plesia’s names to make sure that I wasn’t being controlled by the elemental emperor. I did feel weird since this dream world urged me to stay so much. Maybe I could have gained my freedom, but after 194 days, I realized that I wanted to stay here. Of my free will.”

  “… You can’t be serious.” I shook my head in disbelief, but with Tasianna remaining silent, I stomped forward, pleading, “Did you not listen? Your life is on the line here, Tasianna. You can’t stay here!”

  I tried to grab her arm, but my body jerked back as I felt a piercing pain in my hand. Hearing Hikari yelp, “Oh goodness,” made me groan as I noticed ice was forming around Tasianna’s body. It started to spread from where she stood, covering both the floor and walls with crystals. Both the EEE and [Providence’s Will] started hovering over my shoulder to avoid the cold, cooling the air.

  “My lady… aren’t you being a bit too selfish now?” Tasianna said with a pain-filled face. “Am I not allowed to strive for my own happiness?”

  “What do you mean by this? I’ve seen you happy! Are you saying you haven’t been happy once since you joined Saori and me?”

  “I did not say that—No, I loved every moment as a member of Aurora. Yet, I have to ask myself if being your maid or the king of the ice elementals is really all that I’m capable of. Will I always have to make my life’s goal to serve somebody else? Is this path really what makes me happy?” Tasianna turned around, frowning as we could hear Schuri brushing her teeth. “Which is when I realized that, yes, all I know in this life is to serve others.”

  Tasinna walked over to the dresser, picking up what looked like an embroidery, stitched to show the image of a young fairy girl and… a blue-haired fairy woman in a maid outfit.

  “I was born a fairy, but I was taken in by the Silverpoind to be taught to serve the royal family. I served as a simple maid until I was assigned to be Princess Schuri’s personal attendant. Once everything ended, all I could do when I saw you was wish to serve you, my lady. Surely, you too should remember how you couldn’t believe my words. It took you so long to be comfortable with me serving you as a maid, and it took so long for me to accept that I’ve only lived a stiff life. You and Miss Saori made me understand how sheltered I was, and how much I did not know about myself.” She placed the embroidery down. “Without Miss Saori, I would have never become so good at stitching. Without you, I would have never found the peace I needed to move on from all the pain. For that, I am eternally grateful to both of you!”

  Tasianna smiled as tears fell from her eyes. When they touched her cheeks, her face darkened. “Though I have to also thank the elemental emperor, for without them, I would have never realized how much my ambitions had died off. My lady, you know I’ve tried to branch off, right?”

  “What do you—” I stumbled on my words before I understood what she was trying to say, only for Hikari to continue for me.

  “You’ve taken on more leadership roles, trying to be more assertive. Though it was always because we pushed it on you,” Hikari said. “We sent you to Port Annencia where you had to fight on the frontlines in a war that didn’t involve you personally. You had no stakes in it, yet you still fought with Yorshka, Shay, and Beth. The Event Quest is also another example. You took up the role of a party leader of an allied expedition force, and you did it well.”

  Tasianna closed her eyes, nodding. “And I learned how to become a war leader through them, although I must admit that I still feel unsuited. Unconsciously, I began seeking more than to be a simple maid, my lady. It is more than being your shield and hands. I strove for something more. And I hated it. I kept it to myself, because my mind knew that I had lost the drive to level up after I forgave Reajaen. The catharsis gave me satisfaction, despite having chosen the right decision. So, what else am I striving for?”

  I turned silent as I couldn’t help her with such a decision. Ambitions came from the heart and mind. This undying loyalty to my idol career was imprinted in my soul after I died on Earth, and it kept me going until I actually became that idol. Unlike Tasianna, I still strove to perform throughout the world, so I kept on moving and becoming stronger as the threat on my life grew.

  Even more fortunate was the fact that I gained a new family in Aurora and my dragonkin clan. My gluttony kept me going as I wanted to protect my new friends and family, and during this time, my idol dream grew to incorporate what I had learned in this world, especially from Eshe, Master Kush, and Mom.

  I learned that an idol on Peolynca had to do more than sing and dance to make others smile.

  Even if I knew to take time for myself and my health, I never felt like I could rest for long. That restlessness was my ambition telling me to get my ass moving. Stress was the spice to keep me focused.

  So, what exactly would Tasianna be possibly striving for? Did I really have no answer to this? A friend with whom I had spent nearly three years of my life was asking me a question from the heart, and all I could think was that it just wasn’t my right to say. Such a poor excuse. I had no answer.

  “My lady, how can you say anything if I don’t have an idea myself?” Tasianna said. “I don’t know what else to do with my life but to follow you. Follow Aurora around. You became my home and family, but you also made me need you, because I can’t find another reason to exist. I cannot imagine a life without me not being your maid, Princess Hestia. It is just… is it because I want to be with you forever, or is it because I cannot imagine anything else? Trapped inside this world with no other distraction but to take care of Princess Schuri, I realized that, yes, I don’t desire anything else but that. Knowing this, it should make me happy but… it made me only feel more empty.”

  “Tasi! I’m done!” Schuri came rushing from the bathroom, prompting Tasianna’s face to widen into a fake smile as she tugged the young girl into bed. With a kiss on the forehead, Tasianna wished her good dreams as we left the room.

  “I don’t feel like leaving,” Tasianna said as the ice started to form around her again, only this time, it was aggressively pushing Hikari and me to the hallway and towards the exit. “I don’t feel like continuing our adventure, Princess Hestia. Even if I wanted to remain with you for longer, I can’t muster the strength. I thought… I thought I would be able to find something when I spoke with you, but nothing changed. It feels like my heart has frozen in place. I want to blame it on the emperor, but I can’t. I know this is my fault. For what else am I supposed to live for?”

  “You can live for us!” I shouted. “Just like how I can continue living even without my idol dream as long as I have all of you! I want to be selfish here, Tasianna! I want you by my side! Please! Please, just grab my hand so we can return to our lives.”

  “Then what?” Tasianna rebuked. “So I may return to being your maid? What else is there for me? To be the elemental king for the ice elementals, when I have no reason to be such a leader? Somebody has to accept the true ice core, my lady, and that means we have to find a fae who is willing to accept the burden of leading the ice elementals. If we are to defeat the Water and Wind Elemental Emperors, then the ice elementals would have no one to lead them. Everything is already so confusing for them, and their entire world has been turned upside down! I know how that feels! I can’t just reject such a responsibility if I took your hand.”

  “You not coming with us will lead to a similar result!” Hikari shouted. “The elemental is threatening to destroy Frozen Nest’s protective barrier. We have to take the elemental down, and that would leave the ice elementals leaderless as well, only this time, they won’t have a true ice core!”

  “… Princess Hikari, you too are being unfair.”

  The ice exploded, spreading icy mist so cold that we were forced out of the place, taking to the sky so we could keep talking to Tasianna. She walked in front of the doorway, looking up. Tears began to form on her face before they started to crystallize, turning solid as they dropped onto the floor, splintering apart. As the ice continued spreading around, her maid’s outfit started to change, turning pure white with crystalline patterns like the ice wardress she found during the Event Quest.

  “Can I not, for once in my life, choose to object against my duties as a maid and person?” Long daggers and swords made from ice formed behind her, floating around like her usual battle stance. Her frozen tears started to fall onto her hands, forming into a quartz-like rapier that wept just as much as she did now. “If there is a time for me to choose something new, then I wish to spend my last days with Princess Schuri. I want to… correct my failures. Give her—my memories—a chance to experience what she could have known if she hadn’t died.”

  … You know I can’t let you do that. I am not standing down as my friend suffers!

  “So that’s how it is, huh?” I shouted to the sky as I grabbed the air next to me, holding onto it as if it were a squishy ball. “You’ve broken her, huh? Tasianna! You know what your first mistake was in this plan? Choosing me as your mistress! I am gonna give you a reason to live, even if it breaks me!”

  “No, choosing you has never been a mistake, Hestia. I will cherish my memories with you until it all ends.”

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