Ball of Nothing

Sadly, the foolish king didn't die. In fact, he proved that the potion was a genuine thing. Nobody knew how King Darius would look like if he slimmed down but when he finally did, the maids of the palace were swinging over the good looking unknown man.

The chancellor hated to say it but King Darius was actually quite the looker when he slimmed down. Pity, the slimming potion's effect did not last forever. It wore off after a day.

Reluctantly, the chancellor called for the two envoys to come back to the palace after the drafted the agreement.

Truen looked through the agreement twice and found nothing wrong with it. He signed it and Zero followed him to sign the agreement. The doctor was expecting the agreement parchment to burn up in flames like a magic contract but instead, the chancellor made a copy of the contract and passed them their copy with King Darius' signature and the chancellor's signature beside it as the witness.

"We will start looking for Flintstock after we settle your sister into the palace and get acquainted with the princess. It will take us at least a month to get to where Flintstock is hiding so I advise that you pack whatever you need to pack. Flintstock is a stubborn person who is difficult to please so depending on how fast it takes for you to convince him, the journey might take longer."

Truen smiled and thanked the chancellor who excused himself and told the royal butler to take the siblings on a palace tour. Zero learnt that the four princes were out on diplomatic missions so only the princess remained behind in the castle with her father and the ministers.

"What kind of person is Princess Dorothy like?" Zero asked the butler who smiled warmly.

"The princess is a very kind child. She doesn't know about what is happening to the citizens as she diets to become King Vivian's ideal lover. We tried to discourage her but she is simply too stubborn. The King was at his wit's end watching her starve herself so he made the stupid policy without the chancellor knowing and passed the law that all citizens residing in the capital should follow the same diet as moral support. I think he mostly wants to see if it was possible for dwarves to meet the beauty standards of a fae when he passed the law but since it was decided by the king, none of what we servants think is important."

Truen and Zero were shown their rooms for the rest of their stay until they had to leave and Zero admitted it was a lovely room. Still, he felt a little insecure sleeping without Truen now that they were travelling together. For Truen to have to separate from him so soon made Zero reluctant.

"Sorry, butler. Is it possible to share a room with my brother?" Zero asked and the butler blinked.

He felt slightly awkward at the request. "Miss... don't you think you're a little too old to be sharing a room with your brother?"

Zero gave Truen puppy eyes and the archer sighed. "My sister is still young. We're elves and even though she looks mature, she's still a child. We've never really been apart for long so I think she wants to spend the next few days with me before I have to leave to find Dorgon. I promise we won't trouble you too much for anything else."

With a fond smile and a sigh, the old butler agreed. Zero gave Truen a victorious grin and Truen frowned, bopping Zero lightly on the head before they explored the rest of the huge garden.

Zero had never been a tutor before. He was only a student and constantly gained help from other people. The idea of becoming somebody else's teacher made him nervous and excited at the same time so much that he lost appetite during dinner.

Zero's lack of appetite made Truen alarmed at once. The wood elf once believed that even if the world ended, Zero's love for food will still remain unchanged. Seeing Zero appear so listless with the plates of food in front of him made Truen extra concerned. Thankfully, they were dining alone so Truen could find out the reason for Zero's distress before it got worse.

"What's wrong?"

Zero pouted and tuned to Truen with pitiful eyes. "What if she doesn't like me? Truen, I've never been a teacher before. I don't know how to teach."

The wood elf sighed. "Then why did you suggest the idea of becoming a tutor in the first place? You should have rejected it or thought of something else."

Zero made a face. "I thought it would be easy if I had an excuse to remain in the palace to correct Princess Dorothy's way of thinking. I couldn't say that I wanted to stay here as a healer or a doctor because she's technically not ill, at least not to the eyes of normal people. The illness lies in the mind and medicine isn't advanced enough in Rocket Mountain for anyone to understand me. I only said I'll transform her into a great beauty but I didn't say how. That monocle dwarf decided my methods on his own and I didn't know what I was signing until I signed it!"

Truen gaped. "Why did you sign it without reading?"

Zero pulled at his hair. "I thought you read through everything to ensure it was correct before I signed it!"

Groaning, the archer placed his hands on Zero's shoulder and looked him in the eye seriously. "Next time, always read before signing anything. You're lucky this isn't a magic contract. No matter how much you trust me, you should always trust yourself more."

Zero swallowed. "I've learnt my lesson... Truen I was wrong! Can you help me ask the king and the chancellor to revoke the agreement? I want to change the terms to a counsellor and not a tutor. I don't know how to teach!"

Truen pat Zero on the head with a smile. "Don't worry, Zero. They're not that much different. As long as you get the result you need, everything you do is justifiable. Just tell the chancellor and king that this is a method from the nomadic wood elves if they question it. Remember, the only thing that matters is results. If you cannot transform her into a great beauty, we're going to be criminals for deceiving the king."

Zero wanted to cry. Truen was of no help at all. However, his friend was right. As long as he achieved the results, the methods didn't matter. Princess Dorothy could bear the harshest kind of destructive dieting methods, what else wouldn't she do to become a great beauty?