Emperor's Reckoning

Back in Deo, inside the garden of the Nostria Kingdom.

Her silver hair fluttered with royalty as she laid her back on the back of the chair. Her red pupils darted from the hot tea permeating with bubbling heat to the blue sky above. The calm wind made the tree danced its branches as the voice of nature entered her earlobes.

"Aren't you going to drink your tea, miss?"

Her personal maid was standing right beside her with her hands clasped. Her short purple hair was being held by the headband made for her occupation. From the outside, she looked like an ordinary housekeeper but Lyon knew how she was an integral part of the kingdom.

The silver-haired woman put her finger inside the lobe of the cup of tea before gently raising it up. Her nose slightly twitched against the serene smell and her cheeks turned a red hue due to the heat. Her lips puckered up as she blew an air toward the hot tea before placing them on the edge of the opening. The brown liquid was glistening and sparkling as if the gods had poured their effort into it.

She gulped the very first sip before putting it back on the table. She let out a sigh before her personal maid asked, "Is the tea not to your liking?"

"That's not it Fei," answered Sylviana.

Fei smiled before she took a watering can nearby and approached the rack of flowers with bountiful colors. She gracefully poured the water on them as they trickled with it. Their colors gleamed with the help of the sunlight and the reflection from the dew.

"Miss, are you worried about someone?" teased Fei.

Her question made her jumped before she quickly denied it, "N-n-no way that's happening! I'm not th-thinking about him at all!"

Fei chuckled at her childish antics before she replied, "Who is 'him' I wonder..."

"Ah!" Sylviana's head instantly turned as red as a tomato before steam coming out of it. She crossed her arms before she sat facing away from her.

"But it all happened so fast isn't it?" asked Fei as she kept pouring water out from the watering can.

Sylviana let her shoulders down before Fei continued.

"He just came out of nowhere from the sky and appeared right in front of you naked," the maid chuckled.

Sylviana's mouth twitched, "Please don't go into so much detail, I still want to bully him from that act."

The moment she said 'accident' she remembered a certain episode inside the bathroom that made her clench her fist. (That shameless bastard!) thought Sylviana as she unknowingly rubbed her butt. She felt as if that slap kept permeating some pain after all this time.

"However, look at Nostria now," asked Fei as she was tending the garden.

Sylviana hummed as she understood what Fei meant. She could see the smiles of the people and the joy of peace that they shared through their faces. The market was bustling with merchants from different regions of Deo and Nostria's treasury only grow in numbers. Not to mention the kingdom that used to be Heaven's Dawn.

"Clemora and Biane sure have it tough huh, dealing with such a large kingdom," muttered Sylviana.

"Not really," said Fei as she clipped a branch from a bonsai tree before she continued, "The people over there are cooperative enough with the new system and they just oversee the matter and leave the huge labor to the rest. But still, Lyon knew a lot of people huh?"

*clank

The sound of a glass meeting a marble was heard as Sylviana furrowed her eyebrows. She commented, "A lot of women to be exact! Honestly, someone should have him on a leash!"

Fei chuckled, "Maybe that's true, that he knows a lot of women, but he knew some of the males too."

"Ho? Like who?" asked Sylviana sarcastically.

"Jugen, you know, Karina's little brother," answered Fei as she clipped another branch.

"Anddddd....?"

"And...." Fei paused her clipping, "And...uh... the headmaster of Nostria Academy remember? You know, that.. uh... guy."

Sylviana squinted her eyes. She couldn't believe Fei didn't remember the headmaster of the Nostria Academy's name. Her lips turned a grin as she realized this was the one chance to one-up her, "His name is... uh.... uh...."

Black lines soon covered her face as disappointment was inevitable.

"Well anyway, his presence is now etched to the heart of the people huh. His ridiculous feats cannot be denied with the absolute proof that one's eyes can see," muttered Fei.

Sylviana couldn't help but agree to her statement. There was no denying that everyone in Deo knew who was the strongest person here. Keep on blowing people's minds with his impossible tricks the young man had opened his wings.

"But, I wonder where he is right now? he had gone missing since The Crown tournament. Leaving nothing but blood in his room where he was last seen."

Sylviana waved her hand in denial, "There is no way anyone could have killed him, if anyone can, I can bet my ass that it's a woman."

"Language!" reprimanded Fei before she pulled one of her ears.

"Ow, ow, ow, okay okay stop it! You're going to rip it off!"

Fei let go of Sylviana's ear which was now beaming red before the latter immediately rubbed it as if the most precious thing in the world.

"Oh right, the reward from winning the competition had been sent to the academy, aren't you going to take a look?" asked Fei.

"Hmm, the problem is, I'm too lazy to move right now, hahaha! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" shrieked Sylviana in pain as Fei pulled the other ear.

"There is no need for me to come anyway, Luna has it all under control," said Sylviana as she rubbed both of her ears.

Fei crossed her arms as she said, "Luna, that girl... is not a girl anymore."

"What are you saying? She becomes a monster?"

Fei shook her head, "You might be older than her, but she is now more mature than you."

"What?! How so?" asked Sylviana.

Fei rolled her eyes at her queen.

---------------------

In the outskirts of Phantera Kingdom.

A woman was coming back home from a long journey riding a horse. Her long purple hair was tied as it fluttered against the wind. A little wolf was seen hanging on her back with his eyes closed as the tree in the forest danced away their branches at her arrival. The galloping horse soon finds its way against a paving way. Running between the statues of a tiger the woman's presence was soon being seen by the pair of soldiers guarding the gate.

Noticed the woman that was riding the horse, the pair gave her a salute as she entered the kingdom. Disregarding the onlookers that looked at her with awe, she made her way toward the castle's gate before galloping her way inside.

"Was that? Was that princess Luna?" asked one of the onlookers.

"No doubt about it, there is only one beauty that could mesmerize me, that's our princess!" answered another.

Luna could hear the chattering of her people from inside the castle with a smile. She got off the horse before the little wolf that was still a cub climbed up on top of her forehead and closed his eyes once again.

She looked at the garden in front of her before she took a big breathe in. The smell hit the right composition in her brain that cured her homesickness in a flash. She let out a smile before she headed to the throne room inside the palace.

Luna entered the room as the two guards at the sides immediately tightened their chest. She nodded before she saw her mother and her father was conversing happily on the throne. Standing right in front of them, she bowed, "Father, mother I'm—"

"Luna!!!"

Leyna immediately leaped from her throne before she embraced her daughter. Her hug was tight and full of motherly love that Luna could only embrace back. "Oh, I miss you soo much! I heard that you and your team won the competition, I'm really proud."

"Welcome home, Luna," but the words of her father were unheard as Leyna pressed Luna's cheeks.

"Hmm?" Leyna hummed as she looked at her daughter's eyes. She noticed that her hair was tied and her demeanor had changed to more mature than before.

Her lips turned a grin as she raised her eyebrows twice against her daughter to the latter's confusion. She grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the throne room before entering her own.

"Luna, you... you have done IT haven't you?"

"Eh? Done what?"

"Stop pretending, a woman instinct is immaculate, especially if it's concerning her own daughter."

"Eh?..." Luna's cheeks turned a red hue before she meekly nodded.

"Owh, my little girl has finally matured," said Leyna as she picked her daughter's cheek before she continued, "Must be that boy, Lyon right?"

She meekly nodded once again.

Leyna clapped her hands, "Very good, very good. Now, where is he? I didn't see him with you."

Luna's eyes turned gloomy but a glimmer of hope could be seen hidden under her gaze, "He is currently missing."

Leyna's heartbeat skipped before she went agape, "What?!"