"Greetings, Princess Aunt." Alexander greeted. Princess Raya turned to him and replied, "It's good to see you all grown up, Alex."
"It's nice seeing you again, Raya." Isabelle smiled at her. Princess Raya turned to her and nodded, "Same as well, Isabelle."
"Come inside." Princess Raya waved her hand to the cottage and walked. The three nodded and followed her.
When they entered the cottage, they saw the simpleness inside. There were only sofas, a bed, table, and some chairs inside the small cottage."Have you been well?" Matthias asked when they were seated.
Princess Raya was silent as she placed three tea cups and picked up a pot and poured tea in them. When she finished pouring for all of them, was when she answered him, "I have been well. I have been living here for the past four years peacefully and without bother. You can be assured of that."
"That's good." Matthias nodded with relief, "We're leaving, Princess Raya, and we're here to say goodbye."
"!!" Princess Raya widened her eyes. "Really? That's expected, I guess." She replied after calming herself.
"You are already the most powerful being here. A world beyond this world waits for you. You can go in peace." She added with a smile.
Matthias looked at her for a while and nodded. He stood up and turned to Isabelle and Alexander, "Let's leave." He said.
The two nodded and stood up. They bid their farewell to the Princess and left the cottage and flew to the circle above the sky.
Matthias did a circular motion with his right hand, and in the circle, a magic circle with intricate runes and patterns engraved itself, opening a circular portal above and entering it, finally leaving the realm of Aqiartha and returning to the Immortal Territories.
Below, Princess Raya was silent while looking at the three entering the portal. When they had fully left the realm, she then called out, "You can come out now."
The tree above rustled as two figures landed from it. If Matthias was here, he would be shocked to see Guin, still alive and is beautiful as ever. Beside her, a 161cm handsome kid with a sword strapped on his waist stood with a sharp aura of the sword.
"He's left." Guin said. Princess Raya turned to her and said, "Guin, go and follow them out. Ray here has an unmatchable potential. Aqiartha is but a small destination for the two of you." She advised Guin.
"But, how about you?" Guin turned to her. Princess Raya smiled and replied, "Don't worry about me, Guin. Your old woman is still strong enough to take care of you and my grandson. You don't have to worry about my ability to stay alive."
Guin inhaled and nodded, "Okay, Mother." She replied.
"Goodbye, Grandmother." Ray walked forward and hugged Princess Raya tight. "I'll miss you two." Princess Raya replied as she tapped his back.
She broke the hug and let the two fly to the portal before it closes. Princess Raya looked at them, not knowing if she was smiling or sobbing.
Arriving in the Immortal Territories, the three materialized in front of the well. Matthias looked around and breathed in the air and smiled.
He turned to Isabelle and his son and said, "Let's go straight to the Imperial City."
Isabelle then questioned him, "I haven't had the chance to ask you this but, are you the Qin Emperor?"
Matthias looked at her eye to eye and nodded, "Yes, and you will be its Empress." He answered.
Hearing the phrase "You will be its Empress", Isabelle blushed and hit his shoulders, "You still have to face my brother about that."
Noticing that she didn't refuse, Matthias smiled widely and whistled loudly.
After a while, galloping stomps of a huge creature sounded out in the forest and arrived in front of them, shocking Isabelle and especially Alexander. "What is this?" He asked with amazement.
"Aackk!" A bird that had the body of a lion stopped in front of them and screeched on top of its lungs. Matthias smiled and walked to it, "Hello, Typhoon! It's been a long time!" He said while ruffling its head. Typhoon, the Draconic Griffin, tilted its head in confusion but still let him ruffle its feathers.
"Is this a griffin?" Isabelle asked. Matthias nodded and shook his head, confusing Isabelle, "What do you mean by that?"
"It's a griffin, but not an ordinary one as it has a bloodline of a dragon in its veins." Matthias answered, shocking the two of them. Matthias then hopped on it and called to them, "Hop on!"
After some thoughts, Isabelle and Alexander mounted the griffin. Isabelle then said to Matthias, "Let's first go to Midas. It's been decades, and maybe Gail is already extremely worried and mad at me."
Thinking for a while, Matthias then nodded, "Sure, that's no problem." He then tapped the body of Typhoon with his feet, "Fly, Typhoon!" He commanded.
"Squawk!" Typhoon screeched and ran. It then spread its wings wide and flapped it strongly, launching to the skies towards the nearby city of Midas, where Gail was known to be staying.
They landed down the outskirts of the city, as a creature like Typhoon would cause a commotion inside the city. They unmounted Typhoon and said goodbye to it as it flew once again to the skies, returning to its staying place.
They entered the city, with Matthias reverting to his simple hanfu and Isabelle wearing her armor. As Alexander was just wearing a black and red hanfu, he didn't really need to change too much, but he was not allowed to talk because he doesn't know the language.
"I hope our identification cards are still working." Matthias prayed as he retrieved his card from his storage ring. Although it was old, it still looked pristine enough to be considered new.
When they arrived in front of the gates, they were stopped by two guards. "Are you mercenaries?" They nodded. "Show us your identification." The guard ordered. Matthias then gave his card to the guard. Isabelle also extended her hand, giving her card to the other guard.
The guard that got Matthias' card looked at him and laughed, "A newly registered mercenary, huh? Go inside." The guard said, shocking Matthias, "What?" He asked confusedly.
Suddenly, the other guard exclaimed as he looked at Isabelle's card, "The Belle?!"
"The Belle?!" The other guard exclaimed too.
Isabelle widened her eyes as she muttered, "I didn't know that I was still famous even after two decades."
"Hello! You can enter now!" The two guards bowed and let them enter the city. Although it was weird, as long as it was easy, they would still take it.
Isabelle looked around and gasped, "Twenty years has passed, and nothing even changed here?"
"Yeah. Odd." Matthias muttered suspiciously.
They then went in front of an inn. Isabelle gawked as she said, "Nothing also changed here! It was the same as when I left!"
They entered the inn and ascended to the fourth floor. They knocked at a door and it was opened by none other than Isabelle's beloved brother, Gail.
"You're back?" Gail said nonchalantly.
"Wow. Is this your reaction when I was gone for years?" Isabelle said with a hurt voice. She jokingly clutched her chest as if her heart was in pain.
Gail opened the door widely, letting her enter, and looked at her weirdly as he replied to her, "What do you mean years? You just literally told me that you'll be gone for a while less than an hour ago."
"Less than an hour ago?" Isabelle gasped as she entered the room. She turned around to Matthias and Alexander that walked in with her and repeated what she just said, but with an even more surprised voice, "Less than an hour ago?!"
"As I remember, from when I left this inn to the time that I entered the well, there was a forty-some minute gap. Did our twenty years stay there equate to only a few minutes?"
"No." Old Man Sanyi suddenly butted in their conversation inside his head. "What do you mean?" Matthias asked in his thoughts.
"No time has passed since you entered the realm and left it."
"How is that even possible?!" Matthias gasped with shock.
"I don't know. That's how it is." He could imagine the old man shrugging, which irritated Matthias even more. But, he still couldn't believe that no time had passed in those twenty years.
Gail then just noticed Matthias standing beside his sister and narrowed his eyes, "Why are you here?" He asked suspiciously.
"Is this Uncle Gail?" Suddenly, Alexander, who was silent behind them, asked the two of them a question.
Hearing him, Gail was angered and shouted, "Isabelle is my only sister and she isn't even married! I don't have a nephew nor niece!"
"He is your uncle, Alexander." Isabelle suddenly nodded, shocking the new Uncle. "What do you mean, Sister?!" He questioned Isabelle.
Knowing that Gail would bombard them with questions, she turned to close the door, locked it and explained everything in one go. While explaining, Matthias secretly cloaked the whole room with his energy to avoid anyone from hearing or eavesdropping them from the outside.
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