CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER: 46, WANNABE PRINCESS

"Well, as Dreamer Dainsleif has presented, this Artifact would also be given to the one who achieves the first rank in tomorrow’s tournament. You all may leave now and prepare for tomorrow. Dismiss!" Emperor Ray announced and stood up to attend the next official activity.

The Blessed also walked back to their quarters, deciding to rest or plan their strategies for tomorrow’s tournament. The tournament was simply a one vs one spar among each other. So they all needed to rest and dissolve the weak long exhaustion from dungeon hunting.

The trio walked back to Hestia’s room, their faces pretty serious for a tournament they could win without any effort.

After entering Hestia’s room, they locked the door. They stood silently for a few moments before Hestia finally spoke, her voice icy cold that one would use for their enemy, "I’ll be taking the Crown. Any objection?" She asked with a glare at Penelope and Azaria.

Both of them flinched, the back of their neck feeling a chilling cold. They were not afraid of Hestia. They were scared of the methods she could use to intercept their own progress to win ’his’ heart back.

They had thought about fighting for the crown. Why? When they don’t that crown to be better and stronger? Simple, because Dainsleif might have worn that crown at least once, and that was enough.

But, while Penelope mainly focused on being controlled or used by Dainsleif and Azaria mainly focused on physical touch and sexual intimacy, Hestia was the one who had the most value on emotional gestures.

Just having that crown, that can be interpreted as a romantic gesture, even when Dainsleif never intended for it to be like that, was enough for Hestia to obsess over it.

They both shook their heads, signaling no objections. Hestia then again asked, "How is your progress going on? Any improvement noticeable?"

"Oh, I’ve been communicating with him daily for the past week. Since we know that he also came back, it was easy to understand what my attitude should be when interacting with him.

Our connection is enough that we can go through the plan. But we’ll take action on it after the tournament tomorrow. He’ll be exhausted and it would be easy to drug him while he lets his guards down."

Hestia and Penelope nodded, "Yes, I was also going to tell you the same thing. I want the crown no matter what, with his hands nonetheless. I don’t want to take chances that it might fail and make him more alert of us." Hestia said.

After saying goodbye, both of them left Hestia’s room, leaving her alone on her bed with her happy and disheartening thoughts.

She again locked the door, lying on the bed snuffling her head into the soft pillow. Her once childhood dream resurfaced into her mind once again, with not the previous kids, but the current versions of them.

Hestia’s lips curved into a smile unconsciously as she imagined Dainsleif putting the crown on her head with the same gaze filled with love and adoration that he showed them before.

Dain was wearing a luxurious and majestic looking emperor’s attire that fit perfectly on his well-proportioned body, his head having her dream silver crown that complemented his face and hair. His eyes only on her as he placed a matching crown exactly a counterpart to his own on her head.

Cheers echoed around them as they began to look down at the crowds of people, the citizens of their own empire, where she was the Empress and he was the Emperor.

But even then, the harrowing scene of his last breath on their previous life haunted her sweet moment. She couldn’t wake up for some reason, as if the painful memories didn’t want to let her go, but instead entangled her even more tightly.

The pain shot through her heart even as she lay, soundly asleep. Tear drops formed at her sleeping eyes, flowing through her cheeks and staining the pillow.

**

At midnight, Saintess Lily paced around her quarters in the Temple of War. Her heart raced as she waited for that unknown individual person to contact her again as scheduled a week ago.

Not to her surprise, the unknown voice from a week ago again whispered in her ears, "So, Finally decided to kick him out?"

Saintess Lily flinched a little and then nodded and asked, "So, how am I supposed to expel him out of the facility? He had just offered an S-rank Artifact to us, so it would be pretty hard to expel him."

The voice shrugged as if there was no need to try at all, "Don’t worry. You won’t need to lift a finger. When the opportunity arrives, just make sure he is alive and out of this facility. No need to cause extra drama that would solve itself on its own."

Lily looked a bit confused, looking at the ceiling she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing~~ just don’t focus too much on them and do what you are told." The voice again said.

It was about to leave when Lily quickly asked him an important question that has been bugging her from the beginning, "Can you please introduce yourself mister? Maybe just the name?" she asked, her cheeks slightly red.

The voice chuckled softly, as if amused. It’s voice grew closer and closer, its voice dripped with honey and a hint of malice as it uttered the words that caused Hestia to get a completely horrified face and her body started to shiver, "!h& ^$$8 ^%89y4*&^*%".

Its chuckle practically leaked from somewhere within the room. Lily still sat there, her completely terrified and shivering body curling up beside the wall. Tears leaked from her eyes as she realized just what being she had just signed a contract with.

He quickly left, looking at something far more distant that couldn’t be seen through normal eyes, his voice still having the same laughing mask as he said, "The journey ahead should be interesting..."

To be continued...