The night passed on in a flash after Fae and Claude walked back to the encampment, finding Yulia asleep while their newly acquired metallic companion volunteered to help the guards in their watch for the night, unsurprisingly Avalynn still hadn't shown up, but just like an adventurous feline, she'd show up tomorrow morning Fae assumed

All the group gathered on the next morning as they prepared for their travel to Rose, Lucia thanked them yet again for being of help and Ser Knight for also volunteering for so many things

And so they went, Fae, Yulia, Claude, Avalynn and now accompanied by Ser Knight, they all walked on the road that would lead them to the capital of Flora, Fae was so close to finally accomplishing her Adrift Oath, and just that thought brought much gladness to her heart

"Ah, so that's why we're going to the capital" Avalynn replied to Fae explaining what she had in mind

"Yeah, after that we will discuss about our divine matters" Fae answered with a tone of sarcasm at the end of her sentence that prompted her Devil friend to chuckle warmly

"I like the sound of that"

Fae then could notice Claude in the back speaking to Ser Knight surprisingly, making her slow her pace while Avalynn was distracted

"Hey, what are you talking about?" She inquired, Claude with raised eyebrows looked at Fae

"Oh, I was just telling him about the current state of affairs" She said, pointing at an ever-so-small insignia barely visible on the Knight's chest plate

"This is the insignia of the Royal Guard of Aralia" Claude explained as they all walked together

"So I'm sure that Ser Knight here doesn't know about what happened to our former kingdom" She added on as she gathered his full attention

"Basically, the nation got split into two after a coup d'etat lead by General Sofia" She continued on while nobody could discern what the knight was thinking at those words

"It was so quick and executed in such an efficient manner all throughout the kingdom that King Kasper was obligated to negotiate with his former right-hand" Ser Knight was told

"It all ended in 24 days, in mere 24 days and the king was figuratively cornered, and the nation, split into two" Claude added

"She sounds like a capable General, especially on how she turned a country against itself" Fae spoke up, Claude looked at her with a small smile and nodded to those words

"That she really is, I served under her for most of my time as a knight so I can safely testify to that" Claude explained

"But well, with your request for an audience, Fae, I'm sure you can judge her character yourself" Fae shrugged alongside a quite exhausted shrug

"That is if she agrees to said request" She replied to Claude, who chuckled

"Don't worry about that Fae, you're in for a surprise" With those words, Claude increased her pace as that left a quite confused Fae

"Hey, don't you dare go away!" Though Fae chased after her soon, leaving Ser Knight with his own thoughts and the name of that General resonating within his mind

What Claude said yesterday was true, it only took the group a couple of hours until they could see the farmlands surrounding Rose and the giant walls of stone that embraced the capital with its firm protection

The wooden gates were huge and just passing by under the arch of stone took Fae's breath away, for a capital, it really did its best to live up to it, the busy townspeople passed by her and carried on to their daily lives, throwing glances at the knight of the group but apart from that no guards asked questions with Claude by their side

The group split up, Avalynn and Yulia went on to get two rooms reserved for the group at an inn while Fae, Claude and Ser knight took on to walk towards the royal palace

"I would ask you why you want to come with us but it ain't like you can speak anyway" Fae said to Ser Knight accompanying them, giving him a shrug and narrowed eyes while Claude snickered

"Ah, there we are" Claude gestured with an open hand at the royal palace that was at the end of a long flight of stairs

"Wow" Fae had to shelter her eyes from the sun as she looked up, it was a giant piece of architecture decorated with banners that were three stories or so tall, guards were everywhere while citizens seemed to be quite fond of the scenery as they walked at the outskirts of said palace

It didn't take much talking to the guards for Claude to be allowed access to the palace alongside Fae and their metal companion, they passed many servants and maids, walking within the guarded hallways until they reached a courtyard of sorts that Fae admired quite closely, plants of different species tall and small, with leaves of multiple colors and soothing fragrances, whoever took care of this fancy garden must've loved their work, Fae thought

"Look who descended from the heavens above" Those words prompted the trio to stop talking as they looked to their right, a single woman was seated on a bench made out of carefully carved stone, holding what seemed like a book on her lap

Fae would gladly be swallowed by the earth itself just to not talk to the woman that she locked eyes with, but she had to

The silver-haired lady got up from her bench to put her book under her arm as she walked towards Fae and the two by each of her sides

"Your mere presence is a blessing to me, angel" Yuri made it quite sure to articulate the last word in her sentence as slowly as one could, an action that prompted Fae to frown

"I did what you asked me to do" She replied to the red-eyed woman while her arms crossed

"Oh I know, and the queen is waiting impatiently to hear of your exploits, please do feel free to follow me " Yuri added

It was less of an invitation and more of a choice disguised as an order, Fae sighed and walked behind the silver-haired woman, followed closely by her two other companions

"So how does a divine being like yourself like the palace?" Yuri told Fae who was behind her, the group now walking back into yet another luxuriously decorated hallway

Fae sighed

"Is it necessary for me to answer that?" She did not like the woman in front of her one bit, she'd rather stay silent for the duration of the walk

"Whoah" Yuri faked being surprise with a quite obvious tone as she turned to look over her shoulder

"I'm so hurt" She added on with a saddened expression as she slowed down her pace to let Fae catch up with her, Fae did not enjoy that

"And here I thought angels were gentle beings" The silver haired lady added on, Fae looked aside and chose to not talk further on, just a bit more she kept telling herself, a bit more and she'd never have to deal with this woman again, she just hoped that the queen wasn't alike of Yuri

"Alas, I guess I need to use my noble privilege to force an answer out of you" She said it with a tone that sounded as if she didn't want to resort to this method, but as Fae looked at her and found that smirk she hated on her face, she realized that she thoroughly enjoyed having that privilege

"So, angel, do you find the royal palace to be of your liking?" She asked of Fae, who looked at her for a silent second before smiling widely

"Yes, very much so" She said forcefully

"I like it as much as I like you, my lady" That forced tone was bathed so much in sarcasm that it couldn't but bring Yuri to a warm laughter hidden by the back of her hand, a laughter that made Ser Knight behind the two to gaze at her with gentle eyes despite his terrifying appearance

"Although, the garden is nice and calming, quite the opposite of a certain somebody" Fae continued, crossing her arms as she walked, Yuri looked at her with a raised eyebrow

"Oh really now?" She asked of Fae who then looked back at her

"I guess? I don't know how to explain it" She shrugged

"Whoever takes care of it gotta have put all their heart into it" Fae told Yuri, prompting the noble lady to grin

"I'll be sure to pass what you said to them" She then replied to Fae who then looked away as she didn't want to lengthen the conversation with Yuri more than it was needed

It didn't take more than a dozen seconds for them to reach huge yet ever so elegantly crafted doors

"So" Yuri stood by between the door and Fae and her other two companions

"Are all of you ready to meet her?" She asked of them with a hand on her waist, Fae crossed her arms while Claude chuckled as she looked away, the knight that was behind the two however, nodded sharply

"Alright then, don't be weird" She then continued on, snickering to herself as she opened the doors that led to the throne room

As Fae and the other two entered behind her, they could see that the throne room was confusedly enough, empty of anybody

Fae looked around yet she had found no trace of any royalty or of any royal guards

"Is she late or something?" She asked Yuri, who kept on walking towards the throne, followed by Fae, Claude, And Ser Knight

As Yuri climbed the two steps that led to the throne, she turned around and sat down with a smirk on her face, crossing her legs and looking right at Fae with her red menacing eyes

"You wanted an audience, here you have it" Yuri spoke, leaving Fae in a confused state, more so as she saw Claude and her knightly friend kneel down

"I'm sure you're ever so delighted to finally meet the Queen of Flora, right Angel?" Yuri smirked widely as she rested her elbow on her armchair and her cheek on her hand, leaving Fae to widen her eyes

"You lied to me" She spoke to the Queen, who chuckled

"Fae, please" She said with gentle eyes

"My name is Sofia Yuri DeSilver" She told Fae

"I never lied to anything, I just wanted to see how much of an unordinary person you are" Sofia explained

"And you really are quite the mystery, I'm sure you have an abundance of secrets hidden, hm?" She smiled widely at the quite irritated Fae who could only cross her arms tightly

"But where are your manners little angel, will you not kneel down to the queen herself?" She said with narrowed eyes and a sharp smirk

"I kneel to no god or king, let alone a queen like you" Fae exclaimed quite clearly, a gesture that made Sofia lose her smirk, leaving her with a quite disapproving frown as she gazed at Fae deep into her brown eyes for a couple of seconds

And then the Queen laughed warmly

"I'm glad to see you being as thorny as I remember" She then got up from her throne

"Claude and you knight over there, please, as you were" With those words she walked towards the group, she spoke much less like royalty and ever much like an officer

"I have to give you my thanks Claude for keeping my identity a secret from Fae" Sofia then said, leaving Claude to chuckle nervously as she looked away from Fae's freezing gaze

"The surprise was ever so worth it" She only stopped when she faced Fae

"But aren't we missing a person, where is Yuna?" She smirked and gave Fae a slight tilt of her head

And as those words were said, Yuna appeared by Fae's side in an instant, leaving Sofia to widen her smirk as she looked at the specter

"Yuna Naginata" The Queen muttered, a tone bordering admiration

"It is quite an honor to meet you" She told Yuna, who looked at her with an intimidating blue gaze

"It would be a pleasure to say the same if you have not brought so much trouble towards Fae" She replied, crossing her arms tightly as she looked at the laughing Queen

"Please, don't forget that it was because of me that the angel's freedom was restored" She retorted to then cross her arms herself as she looked away with a quite angry look

"Hmph, people never remember the good things I do" The sight of the Queen herself pouting gave Fae quite the exhausted sigh

"Maybe because you don't do a lot of good things" Sofia faked a gasp at those words

"My my, your audacity knows no bounds" She told Fae who slowly shook her head

"But anyway, please do tell me all about what happened in that dungeon, I am all ears" Sofia then listened to all of what Fae narrated, all of the things that occurred within the dungeon and how Fae took care of the gem

"Hm" Sofia rubbed her chin

"And this is the same knight that you fought?" She gestured at Ser Knight with an open hand as she looked at him right in his glowing green eyes

"Though I still have yet to understand why is he all friendly now" Sofia added, looking back at Fae

"You can't possibly think that a monster like this can all of a sudden not be a danger to human life" She told Fae, those words prompting Ser Knight to look down on the ground with much sorrow in his uncanny eyes

"This 'monster' that you are talking about" Fae responded with much sarcasm when uttering that word

"Is a person that died, no matter how you look at it he is still a human, even if by soul" She said with furrowed eyebrows, prompting Sofia to grow her smirk quite quickly

"Words fitting of an angel like yourself" She told Fae with narrowed eyes and a sly gaze

"She is being serious, Queen Sofia" Yuna interjected

"I have suffered from the same fate until Fae freed me, just like she has freed him" She then rested a hand on her chest with quite the serious look given to Sofia

"You wouldn't think I'm also a monster, would you?" She asked of her, Sofia sighed

"I understand your point" She then looked at Ser Knight with her red eyes and tightly crossed arms, a couple of seconds passed in silence before Sofia then looked at Fae

"I will look more into this, I have never heard of souls getting caught passed death and becoming oblivious of reality to defend the core of a dungeon" She spoke up, looking away in deep thought

"I hope you will not be a threat to my kingdom" She told Ser Knight, who quickly shook his head

"I'll be keeping an eye on you" She crossed her arms and addressed the mysterious knight, her red eyes then drifted towards Fae

"That goes for you too" Though her previous frown was quickly replaced by a smirk

"I'm sure an Angel like yourself wouldn't mind helping my kingdom once more"

Fae frowned and put a hand on her waist

"We'll see about that" She told Sofia, only prompting her to give Fae a sharper gaze and a wider smirk

"What are your plans now anyway?" She asked of Fae

"Don't know really" The latter shrugged

"So you'll be staying in the capital I presume?" Sofia inquired further

"Until further notice, I guess yeah" Fae then received a quite troublesome smile

"Alright, that's all I wanted to know, you're free to go now, duty calls for me" Sofia raised her shoulders slightly in a shrug

"One more thing" Fae muttered as she went on to open her backpack

"This is for you" She then handed Sofia the one scroll that Fae kept on her for what felt like an eternity

Sofia eyed the scroll for a silent second before she grabbed it, and as she did that, Fae felt like a boulder of weight was removed from her shoulders

"Is that all?" Sofia asked, Fae nodded

"Alright, I'll read it as soon as possible, may we meet again, Angel" Sofia gave Fae a smile that Fae returned

"May we not" And then she turned around while Sofia snickered to herself, she looked down at the scroll and realized it was a scroll with emblems that the knights under her kingdom used, for Fae to possess something like this intrigued the woman quite deeply, although she was even more curious about the actual contents of the scroll

Rubbing her chin, she hummed to herself in thought

"My queen..." A voice suddenly echoed within the throne, leaving Fae to turn around once more and look at a quite surprised Sofia gazing unto Ser Knight who looked at her with gentle eyes albeit his appearance

"Are you..." His tone was chilling, and each word felt as if it took all his strength to let out

"Happy?" But even then, he finished what he wanted to say

"Happy?" She repeated the question he has given her, and just to confirm what he wanted to ask the nameless knight nodded

"Of course I am" Sofia grinned

"Every day is a happy day for me" She continued, the once speechless knight stared at her for a silent second before he turned around and walked away, passing by the stunned Fae before he walked out of the throne room, both Fae and Claude followed him immediately, leaving Sofia to her lonesome as she looked at the doors closing away, she looked down at the ground and wondered

It felt like his voice was always with her, nesting itself near her heart, yet so far away from her mind, she had no idea why it was so familiar

The trio left the royal palace and stopped right once they left

"Why did you not talk until now?" Fae asked of the knight who was looking down at the ground

"I do not know" He answered her, Fae crossed her arms and looked at him

"What is your name then?" The knight finally looked at the woman that he was linked to, he looked at her deep into her brown eyes before he answered

"Thaddeus" With each word he spoke, it seemed as if it was easier for him

"Well, Thaddeus" Fae said as she handed him her hand

"It is nice to meet you" He looked at her for a silent second before he ever so gently shook that hand of hers

"It is nice to meet you too young lady"