"Dame Bethany! I'm glad you visited! Come, join with us!"

Barging in during the hour where the Imperial couple savored their tea together made me feel ruthless. Whatever I've already done.

"Greeting to the Suns of Daria."

In this world, a curtsy was a must.

The Empress pointed at the seat next to her.

There was a welcoming spirit in the air I did not understand.

"Were you here because you'll tell us about your pregnancy? I am here to protect your reputation."

I smiled at how close the Empress and the Duchess were. Oh, yeah, they were siblings after all.

I shook my head and cleared my throat.

"Your Imperial Majesty, this woman believes in the purity before marriage. Also, I went here to ask for your Imperial Highness's permission."

"You'll ask permission to marry our nephew? Oh, I admire your braveness. As the rulers of this Empire, we will impose the rules."

I choked cause the moment the Emperor said those words, my mouth was busy chewing the macaroons the Empress shoved in my mouth.

Why do they keep on associating me with that bastard?

"I'm sorry if you misunderstood, Your Majesty. The sole reason I asked for an audience is I need your permission about retrieving one of our Empire's gems.

The Emperor's facial muscles stiffened. A fly could freely enter its open mouth.

"You know where the third stolen gem where?"

"I didn't know exactly where in the Kingdom of Tozia it was, Your Majesty."

"Tozia?"

The cup transformed into a jigsaw puzzle when he crushed it using his hands.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I talked to Prince Liam. Even he didn't know the treasure, were there."

"How did you know one of our gems is in Tozia?" the Empress asked.

While the servants cleaned the Emperor's mess, what I gave them was an illogical explanation. However, if a pinch of emotional manipulation would make the world turn round.

"Please, Your Majesty, I want to test if my dream was real or not. Don't worry, I already talked about Prince Liam and, he agreed."

In the end, a successful transaction pushed through. There were conditions, though. An expert and knights from would accompany us.

"Wow, Prince Leo was right! Tozia was the hidden gem of the South!"

Ella's face stuck in the carriage's window. Alpine mountain and the green meadows reminded me of the iconic 1960s musical movie. How I wish my mom was with me now.

"Welcome to Tozia, my lovely ladies!"

Prince Liam volunteered to be our tour guide. Thankfully, there's Prince Leo. If not, Liam would be like a rat who partied once the owner of the house left.

"Wow, I've never seen a colorful Kingdom before!"

"There must be a celebration in here."

"Yes. Dame Bethany, we are celebrating Tozia's founding anniversary for 3 weeks."

These siblings were on the other side of the spectrum. If Liam's energy would blast you, the other required energy transplant from his brother.

"Was it fine to stay here?" I asked Leo before they opened the door to the castle.

"Of course, you were our important guests. We won't let you stay in the hotel."

"Welcome to our lovely home!"

First, we greeted the King and Queen and presented our gifts since they would let us stay in their castle. We had pots of aerial plants found only in Daria because she was a botanist having an Earth Element. Also, we enclosed the limited edition copies of Miuerella's novel in a locked chest. The King received a chest box filled with scrolls of parchment paper. He loved to sniff this kind of material.

We spent the entire day walking around downtown, stuffing our stomachs with mouth-watering delicacies like turkey's leg, waffles, tornado potatoes, and most of all, boba tea!

"Hey, I didn't inform you, we have a Costume Party tomorrow!"

"It's not mandatory to wear a costume, right?"

"No, but I prefer if you'll do!"

"Well, I prefer if you'll let us have a peaceful stay."

Why am I surrounded by people who were experts in draining my energy and sanity?

We requested if we could take a nap since the trip wasn't smooth.

It was this same room and hospital gown again. Beside my bed was Ms. Heart peeling an apple.

"Hi, My Dear Employee, since you were already in the middle of the story arc, expect this kind of meeting from time to time."

"Miss Heart, I'd been meaning to ask a question. Why do characters sometimes didn't act like what I read in the novel?"

"I have no answer to such a question. Instead of exerting effort around things, you can't control, why not accomplish the task? Your siblings survived the operation. They on their way to recovery."

There was only one thing that sprang into my mind. Hugging those two.

"Thank You, Ms. Heart."

She opened the window. The thick foggy cloud entered the room.

Once more, I'm back to the game world.

The gradient of sunset colors glazed the sky. I had to discuss the reason I went here.

Three knocks on his office's door were the ticket to a private conversation with him.

"Hi! You're here to get your second prize?!"

He asked his secretary to give him the key to a storage room where he kept his collection.

With just a snap of his fingers, two bookshelves behind me flipped and revealed the hidden door. They were not just any other keys. It was a music box. Corresponding numbers of steps were black-and-white tiles. One wrong move and the laser would cut any parts of your body.

Sparkles surrounded every corner of the room. It made my eyeballs dropped.

"Now, tell me the jewel you were looking for."

I gave him the descriptions based on what I saw in the GUI.

He sat on the floor of golden coins and shook his head.

"Can I give you other jewels? I'll give these to you."

"Why can't I have it? Have you given our Empire's precious artifact to someone?"

He held my hand back to his office.

Based on his explanation, the jewel was the youngest princess's favorite toy.

"I have a way to retrieve your jewel."

He discussed his plan on how the owner would volunteer to give the jewel to us.

"Fine. I did not want to startle a child. Let's start the act now. Tell me what to do."

"For now, you had to gain her trust. "

I nodded, then asked him where the princess was. He snatched my arm. Droplets of sweat were visible on his face.

"Watch how I handle her. I would accept your training once it was over."

He didn't utter a single word while we walked towards the princess's room.

I even asked Ella to join. Why not? Both experienced the caged way of life. For sure, they'll connect on a spiritual level.

"Hi! I'm Bethany!"
"I'm Ella!"

We found an adorable girl with wavy brown hair and round squishy cheeks. She was talking to her stuffed animals in the corner of a spacious room.