The Princess And The Lord

For the first time, Arthea felt there was no limitation on what she could do, no restriction to stop her and she began to discover new techniques to harness her powers. While inside the oblivion realm, Zian invites him to take a peek at life in another world. Surprisingly, not all worlds have life, some worlds failed to develop and turned into a wasteland, some worlds were covered in ice while others became dry and barren deserts but there are also worlds filled with vile monsters that eat each other to survive.

According to Zian, these 'failed' worlds were simply abandoned by their creators and left like that for the Millennium without it being clear what they plan to do with the worlds, nevertheless, it was his job to make sure that all those worlds do not interfere with each other, therefore he prohibited to involve with the affairs in each other's world even though there was a situation he allows to make an exception as long his action didn't affect those world.

One day Zian brought Arthea to a world where trees, grass, and flowers flourish without ever withering for eternity, meanwhile, in the sky various large and small islands floated with clear waterfalls flowing between each island and fell to the land creating a massive crystal clear lake that surrounded by thousands of colorful flowers and shrubs.

Arthea was awe-struck as she was presented with mind-blowing sight but apart from nature, there are no creatures or other living things such as birds, fish, or any type of animal which make the place feel a bit empty.

Zian then explained that the God who built this place spent so much time creating this perfect paradise that he didn't want to create any other living beings for fear of destroying his painstaking efforts, as a result this place despite being so beautiful felt. cold and empty, But that's exactly what the Gods who made this world wanted it to be so what can humans say?

"Why did you bring me here?" Arthea asked.

"I need your help with this..." Zian pointed at a tiny white flower bud that looked very weak as if it was leaning against a small rock next to it.

Arthea knelt down in front of the little flower, "The flower looks in a coma state, it's not dead yet but...barely alive" Arthea found it odd that all the plants around her looked so lively and vibrant like it could grow limbs and run anytime soon, on the contrary, the little flower look weak like it could be blown away by a light wind.

"Long time ago my brother gave this flower to me, he asked me to return this flower to its original state as a celestial flower after the flower absorbed so much resentment and violent for a long time" Zian clicked his tongue in annoyance, at that time in order to fulfill his brother's wish he deliberately made an exception not to carry objects from one world to another for fear it will affecting the balance in that world.

He thought that by planting this flower in a world specifically made for nature it would be able to wash away the darkness from the flower however after hundreds of years he plant the flower here later on the flower seed managed to grow, however, the flower never bloomed like it refused to wake up.

'What an ungrateful creature'

However, after meeting Arthea, he could feel Arthea's abundance of light power more than anything he had ever encountered in his very long life, even his elder brother, who was also the first king of the world, did not have this much light power.

"Can you help with 'that'? I don't like to be someone who can't fulfill his promise" asked Zian.

Arthea wasn't sure she had never done it before but thinking it couldn't hurt to try she nodded, "Let me try first..."

Arthea took a deep breath and then placed her hand on the flower slowly she released her power as soon as purple light shone from her hands and then engulfed the flower with purple light not long after the flower petals slowly opened.

"Oh, it works!" Zian was surprised a bit.

The flower not only bloomed but also the branches and leaves looked stronger, Arthea then opened her eyes then blew her cheeks, with relief looking at the flower with satisfaction "I did it!" she said smiling brightly.

Arthea's smile looked more blinding than the sun and brighter than any moon and stars he had ever seen on all of those worlds suddenly his heart thumped,

"Yes, thank you," Zian turned his face away for some reason sometimes he found it difficult to be near her but it was much more difficult to be away from her, and he couldn't stop wondering what kind of feeling this is.

"You should really care about your brother because you tried to fulfill your promise even after he has gone." Arthea glances gently at him.

Zian rarely shows any interest in anything even though he is surrounded by so many wonders around him, only when he talks about his brother will he show a slightly melancholic emotion.

"Not really, I just hate having unfinished business," Zian shrugged nonchalantly. Zian wasn't lying because he really didn't understand what love between siblings was, let alone between two strangers like a brother and his wife, he found it hard to understand even now.

"Speaking of a brother…" Arthea patted her knee then got up from the ground, "I have to go home soon today is my brother's birthday!" she was showing a joyful grin as she could already imagine the fun on Cavio's birthday she and the whole village had prepared a surprise party for Cavio and she couldn't wait to see her older brother's stupid expression, at that time, Arthea was too immersed in her joy, she paid no attention to Zian's dark expression.

"You just came, why did you leave so soon?" he tried to hide his dissatisfaction alas his tone betrayed him.

Arthea frowned slightly, recently, she saw Zian complaining more and more every time she said he wanted to go back to her world but then again she knew the boy was too lonely in this world alone so she understood why he hated to see her leave, therefore most of the time Arthea ignored the boy's complaining and tried to be more understanding besides she owed the boy a lot.

"Don't be angry, I'll be back as soon as I can~" Arthea patted Zian's head lovingly.

Zian slapped Arthea's hand and grumbled, "I'm not a child, you know!" he pouted.

Arthea didn't mind his rude attitude as she was more or less used to the boy's unstable emotion, Arthea sighed, then give comforting smile, "I know...but I have to go now, I promise I'll be back as soon as possible." Arthea coaxed the boy but the boy still sulked.

Arthea felt helpless but she didn't have time to entertain the boy because she had a lot of things to do in her world and she didn't want to mess up his brother's first birthday party after her Sister-in-law died, Arthea pinched the boy's cheeks "Don't be angry okay~" Arthea plead but the boy snorts loudly.

Arthea sighed heavily then took a long step while waving his hand at Zian "See you later!" he said with a big smile and soon after her figure disappeared. Zian watched where Arthea disappeared for a long time, darkness gathering in his eyes and filling them.

He realized that because of his appearance Arthea treated him like a child no matter how many times he said he was not a child but she ignored his words and for some reason, he felt unhappy she didn't take him seriously other than that he knew the reason Arthea is here because she needs her help to save her brother.

Under different circumstances, he wasn't sure if she would still want to come here if she didn't need his help beside Arthea had a strong attachment to her world, especially to her older brother, no matter how well he treated her, she still always in a rush to return to her world.

Deep down he actually wanted her to himself, he want her only to laugh and cry just for him, he wanted her to lock her in his world that filled only him but unfortunately, she didn't want him as much as he did, cause every day she always talks about how good the people around her, how fun her daily life in that world and most of all how great her brother or how much she cares about him.

Didn't she realize he had treated her as good as his brother if not more, why didn't she notice he was much stronger and more powerful than his brother, does she think it was so great to be the first king, why did Arthea always choose that man before him?!

Waves of anger and frustration rose within him bit by bit the seeds of hatred, envy, and jealousy that were rooted in the depths of his heart developed into a malignant tumor that stained his heart and was further aggravated by his loneliness in this empty space.