Chapter 360: Fairy Palace
Chapter 360: Fairy Palace
'This green palace is surprisingly bigger than I thought. I thought I needed to crouch down to get in. But... Why do fairies need a place this big even though they are only twelve centimeters tall on average?' Elena spoke in her mind while examining the surroundings with advanced perception.
Even though that fairy palace was big for fairies, Elena only needed one moderate jump, and her head would hit the hallway ceiling. For that reason, she only walked through the air using magic so close to the floor.
Even Vanessa had no other choice but to transform her body into an even smaller one, not a cat. Vanessa became a winged white tiger, one-fifth the size of her largest body size.
'Hehe, who knows.' Elysia chose not to comment at all. She only scanned 200 meters for the surroundings and found the five highest authorities in Fairy Continent. 'Ah, the Fairy Empresses and Emperors are in the hall on the third floor, the third room after the stairs. Shall we go straight there, Sister Elena?'
'Of course, Ely. Our objective has been achieved here, after all. Now, it's time to take care of the main event, fufu...' Elena confirmed, then turned her head to Rhea. 'Aria, now please do as we planned. Whether the fairies will acknowledge you as their Goddess or not, and how will they respond... I became a little enthusiastic.'
'En. My identity is that of an ordinary fairy who will reveal the truth that I am a Goddess. Sigh... Now, I doubt those fairy sovereigns can recognize me as their Goddess.' Rhea didn't have much expectation from fairies. She, Elena, and Nell were only here to give direction and enlightenment to the fairies after all.
Even though she was no longer seen as the Goddess of the fairies, Fairy Race needed some guidance to deal with accursed monsters.
'Helen, please follow our plan. You and Ane will come as Goddess too later. So, we will refer to each other only by our title.' Rhea reminded as she looked at her little sister.
'En, I understand, big sister.' Nell nodded in understanding.
Then, Rhea exited Elysia's invisible magic and slowly flew away. She deliberately did this so that the imperial guards could notice her.
"Wow, we entered the palace casually and openly, but no one noticed us. Uhh? Why did the Goddess of Nature fly ahead of us? Does she have a need?" Celes whispered softly and floated near the Goddess of Light.
"Let's watch this event with peace. Also, don't fly more than a meter from me, or you will come out of invisibility." Elena kindly answered.
"Okay." Celes obeyed. But, she kept flying here and there within a meter's scope with the Goddess of Light as the pivot point.
A few seconds after Rhea got out of the blanket of invisible magic, several imperial knights noticed her presence. They immediately confronted Rhea because they could not allow foreign fairies to roam the palace unattended.
"Halt!" One of the imperial knights exclaimed sternly. When the lady stopped, he continued. "Who are you, and where did you come from? Why are you flying around the palace unattended?"
"I am a fairy named Aria. I think the rest is unnecessary because my presence has been awaited by Empress Yralissa Quifiel. It will be helpful if you tell her about my arrival." Rhea grasped her hand in a polite yet elegant manner. She also smiled faintly to express her attitude.
"Aria? Do you know anything about her?"
"Does Her Majesty have a guest named Aria?"
"Why isn't anyone escorting her? The summit was over about three or four hours ago, right?"
"Forget that. In the last three days, there have been too many high authorities visiting the palace. It would be better if we confirmed this with Her Majesty."
"Very well, you go to Her Majesty to report the arrival of a guest named Ms. Aria. We will escort her."
The imperial guards turned to each other with clueless expressions. They briefly conferred and came up with a solution. Then, an imperial guard excused himself and flew up to the top floor.
"Your arrival is being notified directly to Her Majesty Empress Yralissa Quifiel. Please wait here for a moment until further notice, Ms. Aria." One of the imperial guards informed the guest to wait.
Meanwhile, Rhea didn't have any objection either. She remained in her position without moving and just closed her eyes while waiting.
As for the imperial knights who were in charge of escorting her, they couldn't help but wait in silence as well. If they were, to be honest, the appearance of this guest was exquisite and gorgeous, including her translucent wings and dress. No one would doubt if this fairy was an aristocrat. So, why did this guest introduce herself only by name?
At that moment, an imperial knight had just arrived before the majestic gate of the assembly hall on the third floor. He knocked on the gate three times.
"Who is there?"
The charismatic voice of a familiar sovereign rang in the imperial knight's ears.
Although Empress Yralissa spoke softly, it was conveyed to the imperial knight behind the gate, thanks to her magic.
"I'm Elm from the Blueplum Team. This humble knight requests a meeting with Her Majesty Yralissa Quifiel." The imperial knight announced his intention with respect.
"Very well, you can come in."
After that, the gate suddenly opened a little. Elm entered the hall through a gap sufficient for the one fairy with no delay. Then, he knelt before the sovereigns.
"Very well, Elm... Tell me the reason for your arrival." Yralissa stared at the imperial knight from behind the round table.
"Report, a lady with long mint green hair and wings of the same color has just entered the palace out of nowhere unattended and without any escort. She is Ms. Aria, and she said that Her Majesty is already waiting for her arrival." Elm explained the guest's arrival succinctly.
"Hmm?" Yralissa became puzzled. She was sure that she had no appointments with anyone today.
However, the guest who was expecting to meet her was Aria. For some reason, that name was oddly familiar to her. But, a memory fragment from the distant past suddenly flashed through her mind.
"Bring the guest here." Yralissa gave the order, and the imperial knight immediately excused himself to carry it out.
As the hall calmed down again, the other four sovereigns glanced at Yralissa.
"Who is Aria? Could it be the Goddess of Light?"
"Based on the characteristic features described by the imperial knight just now, it doesn't match the Goddess of Light at all."
"Yes, the Goddess of Light has golden characteristics, not mint green."
"Umm, is Aria your friend, Empress Yralissa? Maybe, you should meet her in a more private place because it would be uncomfortable for her to be in our presence too."
The three Fairy Emperors questioned that along with their assumptions. One other Empress simply gave a piece of kind suggestion. But, the four of them fell silent for a moment because Yralissa had a clueless expression. They waited for Yralissa to speak.
"Wait, I do have a friend named Aria, but that was way back. About a thousand years ago, when I was a student. I don't know what happened to her after graduation, but I think this guest isn't the Aria I have in my mind. Maybe, someone else. So, I want to check it out in person." Yralissa clarified the matter thoughtfully.
Hearing that, the other sovereign could only wait for the presence of this lady named Aria. To appear out of nowhere and already inside the palace under the strict supervision of the imperial knights was no ordinary achievement.
They wanted to know the purpose of Aria's arrival, whom they thought was a mysterious fairy instead of a Goddess.
"Apologies for the long wait. You have got permission from Her Majesty, Ms. Aria. Allow us to escort you to the meeting place." Elm returned to his team. He respectfully invited the guest of honor.
"Sure, show me the way." Rhea opened her palm to point toward the front.
After receiving the gesture, two imperial knights immediately escorted the honored guest of the Empress to the assembly hall on the third floor.
"Her Majesty Empress Yralissa Quifiel is waiting for your presence behind this gate. We will only escort you until here, Ms. Aria." Elm said respectfully, then knocked on the gate.
When the gate opened, and the distinguished guest entered, he and his fellow knight left the vicinity to return to their duties.
Meanwhile, Rhea just stepped in casually and stood before the five fairy sovereigns with a relaxed expression. She looked at the five sovereigns of the Fairy Continent, and she received stares from them in return.
As she expected. Even after she used her form as a Goddess who always guided the Fairy Race in the ancient era, these sovereigns didn't know who she was.
Even the fairies with the highest authority could not recognize her. So, historical records in all the fairy royal families also did not reach as far back as the history of one hundred thousand years ago.
Similar to Human Race and Devil Race, but worse. History lost due to age or other factors with no hint nor clue to the truth.
Even so, she could only tolerate it because she also couldn't do anything either. Now, back to Elena's little plan.
"Good afternoon. It is truly a coincidence and a pleasure for me to be in the presence of the five sovereigns of the fairies. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Aria." Rhea introduced herself gracefully and politely.
"Let's cut off the pleasantries and get to our main point. Ms. Aria, can you tell me the purpose of your arrival? Why do you want to meet me? You even said that I was waiting for your arrival." Yralissa immediately drew the conversation to the main topic.