The hug lasted for a while as Isabelle really poured all of her sadness into that hug. Realizing how long she was crying, instead of being annoyed, Matthias was even more mad at himself. They have been with each other for almost ten years. In those times, he imagined how sad the woman was for all those years.
He sighed and continued to hug her. She then later slept in his embrace, while he was careful by not waking her up. Alexander, that mischievous boy, suddenly barged in and squeezed himself into that embrace, waking Isabelle.
"Aish, Alex!" Matthias reprimanded. "O-Oh, sorry about sleeping, Matthias. I hadn't realized that I was already asleep." Isabelle pushed him and hot out of his embrace. Matthias then immediately grabbed her hand, surprising her. But she was even more surprised when Matthias suddenly pulled her to his embrace.
He lifted her up from the ground and carried her in his arms, making her timid. He placed her on the bed gently and laid on the bed with her.
"Join!" Alexander shouted like a kid and jumped on the bed also and snuggled in between them, garnering their chuckles. They then hugged each other, looking like a family.
Outside, Guin looked at the three and unconsciously crumpled her fists and left.
The next day, the sun was still out but Matthias and the others were already preparing to leave. Princess Yuna, Lauerio, Tarsus, Matthias, Isabelle, and Alex, who forced himself to go, prepared their horses and the items that they'll be carrying.
Matthias went to the room that was prepared for Guin and knocked, "Guin?" He called.
No one answered. Matthias continued to knock but Guin still hasn't answered. With worry, Matthias barged in and saw that no one was there.
Matthias' eyes widened open and looked around, "Guin?!" He called.
General Tuwa checked on him, "What happened?" She asked.
"Guin is gone!" Matthias worriedly answered.
"Gone?!" General Tuwa became solemn. She walked back and went to the Princess that was inside the Throne Room to report the matter.
"That woman is gone?!" When Princess Yuna heard it, she panickedly exclaimed. She turned to General Lanros, who was with them and ordered with heavy seriousness, "Find that woman. If she's still inside the Forest's perimeters, apprehend and guard her. If she isn't, maintain high security within and at the entrance of the forest. If she's here and doing things that are harmful to our cause, kill her."
"As you wish, Your Excellency." General Lanros nodded and left immediately.
The other people that were there with her who were bewildered with the matter, General Lauerio, Princess Raya, and General Tarsus, widened their eyes. "Your Excellency, is it really that necessary? Kill her? Isn't that cruel?" General Tarsus asked.
"Of course not." General Lauerio replied 'as a matter of fact'. "We do not know her real identity. What if she's from the enemy? Risking someone that is that hazardous inside Ganae would be the last thing we would want. Ganae is the last bastion of Aqiartha against the Tyrant. We must not risk anything that would result in its fall." He explained.
"General Lauerio is right." Princess Yuna seconded, "If our conjecture is correct and Guin really is a spy from the enemy, and she was allowed to roam the forest freely, it would be certain that they would achieve massive intel to freely use against us, and we would certainly lose once that happens."
Not having any other choice, Princess Raya and Tarsus sighed. Princess Raya then faced Tarsus and ordered, "Go find Tatec and tell him to join General Lanros in looking for her."
"Yes, Princess." Tarsus nodded and rushed out.
Matthias arrived inside the Throne Room and saw them. He also noticed the solemnity of the atmosphere and walked towards the Princesses. When he arrived, Princess Yuna just looked at him briefly and stayed silent.
"She's not inside Ganae anymore." He said. "I looked for her using my Spirit Sense, and her presence isn't inside Ganae or even beyond. She has left Ganae completely."
When he said that, the faces of the Princess and General Lauerio became even more grim. "Lauerio! Raise the security of the forest to the highest level! Tell them to be alert at all times! I'm leaving you here to lead them if ever Ichtir forces attack." She commanded with full urgency.
"Yes, Your Excellency!" General Lauerio nodded and walked out. Before leaving, he coldly glared at Matthias before leaving.
To cool off Princess Yuna, Matthias stayed silent for a while. After that, he asked her slowly, "Would we still continue the journey to Ciandor?"
"Of course!" Princess Yuna spat out angrily. "Do you think I can suspend such an important matter?"
She stood and stomped towards Matthias and pointed at him close to his face, "You just risked all of our ten years of effort to resist the Tyrant's reign just because of that woman you brought. You will come with me and I will leave everyone else here to protect the forest." She hissed.
Knowing that he really did something wrong, Matthias nodded with understanding and prepared to leave with the Princess.
Noticing the unrest around the palace, Isabelle went out from her room and asked one of the elven guards that were patrolling, "What's happening?"
"Missus Isabelle, the woman that your group had brought suddenly vanished. Princess Yuna raised the security of the forest to the highest level." The guard replied.
"What?!" She exclaimed. She rushed out of the room and entered the Throne Room.
"Isabelle!" Matthias saw her enter and exclaimed. Isabelle rushed to him and questioned, "What are you going to do? Now that she's gone, would you look for her?"
"If I could, I would." Matthias answered. Princess Yuna suddenly butted in on their conversation with indifference, "Before doing that, Matthias needs to come with me. All the people that were decided to come with us beforehand will be left here to protect the forest against any intruders if there ever are."
Isabelle gasped. Just because a woman vanished, the alert and restrictions were set down immediately to its highest! "What did she even do?" She sought out.
"She entered the forest and the palace. That's what she did." Princess Yuna answered. "That's it?" Isabelle gawked.
"Do you know the immensity of this matter, Isabelle?" Princess Yuna gritted her teeth, "We do not know her, and she managed to enter the forest and even the palace, for that matter!" She yelled.
"What if she has intel that could potentially destroy our defenses and could cause the Ichtir to slaughter everyone that we saved? Wouldn't the ten years that we spent training and developing be for naught? Of course I would do all that it takes to protect the efforts that we spent a decade on for everyone!"
"That's why I'm being like this, Isabelle. Could you please understand me? I just want everyone to be finally free!" Finally being able to vent her frustration, Princess Yuna suddenly cried out. All those years of leading the elves to become a powerful entity inside Aqiartha, even surpassing the old Hayle, forged her to be indifferent. As a ruler, she needs to be hardened enough to face any challenges that arise.
But still, she was once just a daughter of a king. She is soft inside. Not being able to release that softness made every emotion that she feels to be suppressed inside her. She didn't have the chance to vent all the pain inside her.
She led Ganae to prosperity, being treated by everyone as the Glorious Queen, but she suffered for it. Everyone thought that they knew their Princess, but they couldn't understand her sadness.
Isabelle was shocked by the sudden crying, but she still managed to go to Yuna and hug her. "Shh. There, there." She whispered while stroking the princess' back.
After a while, Isabelle broke the hug and looked at Princess Yuna, "Yuna, I want you to know that you have done a lot for Aqiartha. You are leading the war against a powerful tyrant even though you aren't even sure if we could fight back. Even though that is the case, you still continue to fight. That is a trait that a great leader should have. You have been through a lot, so you can just continue that." She smiled at the princess and ruffled her hair.
"T-Thank you, Isabelle." Princess Yuna awkwardly replied. She stood up and looked at Matthias, "Let's go. We still need to travel." She then rushed to leave the Throne Room to prepare.
"Thanks for that, Isabelle." Matthias smiled at her. Isabelle returned the smile, "Don't worry about that, Matthias. Princess Yuna also needed that, so I would've still done it even if she didn't pop off at you." She chuckled. Knowing that she wouldn't go together with them, Isabelle went back to their room to inform Alexander.
Matthias looked at her back and smiled. He then left the palace and waited for Princess Yuna outside.
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