Inside Hestia Academy…
"Ever since we returned, the academy forbade us from accepting any missions," Princess Eowyn said as she glanced at the beautiful flowers that swayed in the distance.
She, along with Kenneth, and Pearl were having afternoon tea inside a gazebo located in the academy's garden.
"The Headmaster is just worried about your safety, Your Highness," Pearl replied. "The incident with the Dryad had alarmed his Majesty, and he personally requested that we be exempt from the Quarterly Test of the academy.
"I know, and I understand why father acted the way he did," Princess Eowyn commented. "If not for Conan delaying for time, and Sir William's arrival, all of us might have suffered a fate worse than death. Even so, I just feel that nothing has changed. I'm still a flower inside a greenhouse, that is not allowed to go outside in fear that I might wither away."
Pearl sighed as she listened to Princess Eowyn's complaints. She then glanced at her comrade, Kenneth, who was sitting perfectly still with his eyes closed.
"Kenneth, are you asleep?" Pearl asked as she lightly tapped the silver-haired Elf's shoulder. After spending some time with William's Ex-Roommate, Pearl noticed that he would automatically fall asleep whenever they were not going to do anything.
'This person sure likes to sleep,' Pearl mused as she eyed the silver-haired Elf who was not giving any kind of reaction to her slight nudging.
Princess Eowyn also shifted her attention to the elf who was sleeping peacefully while sitting on a chair.
She didn't know much about Kenneth. The only thing she knew about him was that he came from the Rayleigh Family, who were well-known for their accurate prophecies.
Right now, the Elders of the Elven Council, as well as the Elf King were starting to feel anxious. According to the Patriarch of the Rayleigh Family, the time of the prophecy was near. Although he couldn't give an accurate time when it would happen, he affirmed that the Prince would be born in less than two years.
This had sent the Silvermoon Continent into a frenzy and various defenses were being set up around the Elven Kingdom in preparation for the Prince's arrival.
Princess Eowyn had also been given a special task by the Elven King, and that was to pay close attention to William.
As someone who had met the twins of destiny, and learned Dark Magic, he was the prime candidate for becoming the Dark Prince.
It was not only her who had been keeping an eye on William. The Headmaster of the Academy, in addition to the various rulers of the land, were doing the same.
With William's conquest of the Devil's Floor, their conviction that the Half-Elf was the Dark Prince was at an all time high.
Even so, there were still people that doubted whether William was truly the prophesied Prince or not. Kenneth was one of them.
"Sir Kenneth, do you still think that Sir William is not the Prince that will cover this world in darkness?" Princess Eowyn asked the silver-haired elf who still had his eyes closed.
Half a minute passed before Kenneth opened his eyes to look at the Elven Princess, who was looking at him with a serious expression on her face.
"I want to believe that William isn't the Prince of Darkness," Kenneth replied. "I don't want him to fall into darkness. If that were to really come to pass, I would personally go and stop him."
Kenneth's voice was firm, and his eyes held conviction. The Princess could tell that William's Ex-Roommate was serious in his declaration.
"And if you can't stop him?" Pearl asked. She had a very bad impression of William due to her sister's brainwashing. If only she was a match to the Half-Elf, she would have already beaten him up and demanded that her sister be returned to her former state of mind.
"There is no can't," Kenneth answered. He eyed Pearl as he firmly made his declaration. "I will stop him. Even if this body of mine breaks into pieces."
—–
"You can't find him?" Byron, the Headmaster of Hestia Academy, asked his agent who was tasked to follow William's movements after he set out of the academy.
The agent, who was in his late thirties, shook his head firmly.
"I was able to follow him up to the Port City of Alabaster, but after that, I lost his traces," the agent replied. "I made subtle inquiries to the Army Vice Captain named Haleth, but she didn't know where William was planning to go.
The Half-Elf only told her that he would go sight-seeing with the two ladies that accompanied him.
Byron snorted. "Sightseeing my foot."
Byron raised his hand and a giant scroll materialized in front of him. He then unfurled the scroll and gazed at the map of the Central Continent with a critical gaze.
"He went to the Port City of Alabaster…," Byron muttered. "There are many places that he could go from there, so finding his trail will be hard."
After eyeing the map, a hint of realization appeared on Byron's old face.
'Could it be? No. He's not stupid enough to go there…,' Byron thought as eyed a purple vortex that spun at the Southwest corner of the Central Continent.
"The Seventh Sanctum…," Byron said softly. "Could he have really gone there?"
The face of the agent, who was listening to Byron's muttering, started to become pale after hearing the words Seventh Sanctum.
'I hope that he won't order me to go to the Forbidden Ground.' the agent prayed inside his heart. 'I still haven't lived enough. I don't want to die.'
After a few minutes, Byron sighed and made a gesture for the agent to leave. The agent respectfully bowed his head before leaving the Headmaster's office.
After stepping out of the office, the agent was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Even if his commission was increased, he would not dare to enter the Forbidden Ground for the sake of finding a Half-Elf.
Back inside the office, Byron tapped the map with his finger, while deep in thought.
'Did he really go there?' Byron mused as he stared at the purple vortex on the map that was spread on his desk. 'That boy sure has guts. Does he not care for his life?'
The Headmaster of the Academy sighed as he rolled up the scroll and returned it inside his storage ring. Even with his current powers, he would have to think twice before venturing into this mysterious domain that had claimed many lives.
He knew that if William really had entered the Seventh Sanctum, it was already too late to do anything. All he could do now was wait in the Academy for the Half-Elf's return.
As the Headmaster was about to deal with other urgent matters that required his attention, the door of his room broke apart, and a little fairy entered the room with a big smile on her face.
"Headmaster! I'm here!" Chloee announced as she landed on the Headmaster's desk. "I have already finished my mission. The item you requested has been delivered properly!"
The corner of Byron's lips twitched as he looked at the destroyed door of his office. He had just repaired it a week ago, and it was once again destroyed by the little fairy who liked to smash things that blocked her way.
"Chloee, didn't I tell you to knock on the door properly before you enter my office?" Byron asked.
"Didn't I just do what you told me to?" Chloee replied while tilting her head. "I knocked down your door properly! Hehehe, now, pay me for my mission! I plan to go shopping!"
The little fairy stretched out her little hand and demanded her payment.
Byron was about to argue with her when an idea came to his mind.
"Say, Chloee, I have another mission for you ,and I plan to give you double, no, triple the rewards," Byron asked with a benevolent smile. "Are you interested?"
"Triple the rewards?" Chloee looked at the Headmaster suspiciously. "Since when did you become generous? Are you an impostor? Tell me, where did you hide that senile and stingy old man that doesn't take a bath? If you don't tell me the truth, I'm gonna clobber you!"
It took a while for Byron to coax and convince the violent little fairy that he was not an impostor. Also, after hearing the contents of the mission, Chloee readily agreed and set out to look for Celeste in order to inform her and ask for permission for her next expedition.
The Headmaster of Hestia Academy looked out of the window of his office with a smile.. Since the Forbidden Ground was a dangerous place, he would send out an equally dangerous little fairy to look for the Half-Elf who had disappeared without a trace.
