20—Highland Breeze

Eyeing the large juice bar to the left, Marice returned the smile with her own. "Fancy setup you got here."

"Took me months to decide on the final design, but it turned out to be pretty swell, eh?" He glanced at Monica and her daughter who had stood up from their giant bean bag. "I got one of the most chic trendsetters in the country to help me out after all."

And as if on cue, Monica gave Katherine and Marice the standard deerkin greeting: a nuzzle on the left cheek and a smooch on the right. "I'm glad you decided to stop by, Marice! And wow, Kath! As I imagined, you look way prettier in person!"

"Oh, um, th-thank you! Y-You look gorgeous too, Monica!"

Her braided sidetail bounced. "Kyaa! I can't get enough of that Tagalog accent! Way better than using a psionic translator!"

Marice looked at the smaller deerkin, who was the spitting image of her mother. Her attention, however, was squarely focused on Katherine. "You even brought your kid, huh?"

Monica placed a hand on her daughter's head, patting her fluffy brown hair. "Come on, Maggie. Introduce yourself."

"Magnolia Helena Rosenglade, princess of the Pearlhorn Alliance." She raised her chin and puffed out her chest. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Princess?" Vivianne uttered, looking at Monica. "That would mean... huh? Eh?"

Monica tilted her head. "Hmm? Is something the matter?"

"Y-You're an actual monarch?"

She chuckled and gestured at the recliners, prompting them to take a seat. "Surprised? I certainly don't act like one in our chat server."

Vivianne bowed her head before occupying the recliner behind Marice. "And... if I recall, you've been livestreaming as a hobby too..."

"Correct again! On the internet, people refer to me as Princess Roe!"

"Like... the fish eggs? I saw you wearing a tuna costume in one of your videos."

She chuckled again and sat back down. "Ah, my Catunala avatar. It's a bit goofy, but my fans think its cute."

Vivianne then gasped as her eyes met with the smoking man beside the queen. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Vivianne Rouxel Everett. It's an honor to be in the presence of such esteemed individuals."

"Oh, right. You two haven't been introduced yet." She gestured to the man next to her. "This here is Celestino, the guardian spirit of this particular Mother Tree."

Celestino laughed, leaning forward in his hovering recliner. "Miss Vivianne, you don't need to be so stiff. Or maybe you were starstruck seeing such a handsome specimen before you?"

"W-Well, I suppose you could say that. This is my first encounter with a tree spirit in this country."

"Then you're in luck. Stare as much as you want. Maybe we can have dinner once you're free. What do you say?"

She smiled. "Thank you for the offer, but I would prefer if we simply stayed as friends."

His jaw dropped as he faced Marice. "I-I thought you were gonna soften her up for me! I didn't even stand a chance!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Isn't she the European beauty you promised to bring back for me?"

"What?! I don't remember that!"

"But you did! You even specified that you'd bring the tallest, curviest, and most gorgeous woman you could find in London!"

"Even if I did promise you that, no one's dumb enough to fly over here and cross another realm just to date a kapre."

"H-Hey, you never know! Ladies with exquisite taste are definitely out there!"

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel happy or sad that you actually pinned your hopes and dreams on ten year old me."

"You don't pull your punches, do you?" Shrugging, he looked at Katherine and Vivianne. "I'm honestly impressed you were able to make friends at all with that attitude."

Katherine smiled. "She is quite a handful sometimes."

"Yeah, real helpful, Kath," Marice replied.

He narrowed his eyes. "I have to say though. Puberty didn't treat you kindly. You look like you're just about to enter junior high standing next to them."

She glanced down at her body, placing her hands on her hips. "And what's wrong with that?"

"You're an alchemist, and a damn good one at that. Can't you concoct a potion to make yourself taller? Maybe even curvier in certain places, if you catch my drift."

"I don't need to. I like my body as it is."

Celestino was at a loss for words for a moment before sighing. "I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like petite women aren't popular to begin with." With a bitter look on his face, he nodded to himself. "You have it easy, Marice."

"Then why bring it up in the first place?"

"Well, by all accounts, you're still an Alcantara princess. People are gonna pay attention, whether you like it or not."

"Then let them. Their shallow regurgitated opinions mean nothing to me."

He paused again, eyeing Marice with a grin. "True that. You've come a long way. Mariella must feel so proud to have a daughter like you."

Feeling a bit of heat in her cheeks, Marice glanced to the side. "You say that, but I still haven't learned the one spell I want to learn."

"So are you just taking a vacation right now? When are you going back to Britain?"

She shook her head. "I can continue my studies from here."

"I see. That makes sense."

"What is?"

"Your involvement with the police."

"That's partially because Mom can't help herself playing the good Samaritan."

"But unlike her, you're working with them officially. You even got to look cool in that press conference the other day."

She grimaced. "Believe me. I just want everything to be over with quickly."

"I guess being an enforcer runs in the blood, eh? You and Mireia sure took after your father."

Her face soured even more. "Don't even dare associate me with him. He had nothing to do with anything in my life."

In an instant, the conversation screeched to a halt, her bitterness chilling the air around them. Celestino stroked his beard with his fingertips as he stared into her eyes, but Marice took it as a challenge and glared at him. The deafening silence continued for a while until the tree spirit finally relented with a heavy sigh.

"You're right," he said. "Your accomplishments are yours alone, but aren't you being too harsh on your father?"

"If he truly loved Mom, he would've left with us back then."

"He had his reasons, I'm sure."

"Reasons that are somehow more important than his own wife and daughter? And to add insult to injury, that two-faced liar agreed to marry my aunt." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Mireia shrinking in her seat, causing her to immediately regret what she just said. In an attempt to brush it all off, she stood up and walked towards the juice bar. "Look, it's all in the past now. He made his decision, I made mine. Everything will be fine as long as we stay out of each other's way."

"Then what would you do if he reached out to you and apologized? Would you forgive him?"

"Words are cheap. He'll have to work for it."

As Marice hopped on one of the bar stools, Celestino faced her and puffed out a cloud of vapor. "Want me to make you a smoothie?"

Feeling drained, she placed her head on the countertop and sighed. "Yes, please."

"Can I help?" Shiori asked, standing up. "Mimi and I could use something cold and sweet too!"

Celestino took off his suit jacket before donning an apron. "Of course, you ladies did quite a hike to get here after all."

As the group gathered at the juice bar, Magnolia approached Katherine before the latter could take a seat beside Marice. "Hello."

"Hi. Do you need something, Miss Magnolia?"

"I was just wondering. Did you base your VesFrame suit on Skyward Hearts characters?"

"My grandfather is a fan of the series, so he took inspiration from their designs."

Her green eyes suddenly shone. "Oh, oh! I knew it! Can you do their fancy loadout sequence whenever they sortie? I wanna see!"

Katherine obliged as she removed her duffel coat and walked backwards to give herself adequate space. "Suisei!"

Her floating shield answered her call, deploying her mainframe's dedicated waist module and four assorted weapons to fill up her shoulder mount. Once fully equipped, she activated her mask armor and tactical visor for added cool factor, earning an excited gasp from the deerkin princess. Lastly, she hovered in place and struck a combat pose, holding her katzbalger on one hand while bearing all her guns forward from the mount.

"That flight pack on your waist looks so cool!"

"I know, right? Core and Grandpa were so particular with its silhouette for some reason."

"Well, what do you think, Pammy?"

Sitting beside Monica, Pamela turned around to face the deerkin princess. "About what?"

"Her VesFrame, obviously! It's about time you upgrade yours, so Big Sis Kathy here is a good reference!"

The lizardkin eyed Katherine from head to toe before looking back at Magnolia. "That hardly counts as armor."

"Well, duh! It's an aerial frame! How can you move fast when you're all bulky?"

"Hmph. Anything's fine as long as it will let me fly."

"Couldn't you be any less enthusiastic about this? Ugh, I'll ask Dahlie instead."

Pamela glanced at the digital clock sitting on top of the kitchen counter. "She's about to finish her lessons for today."

"I know! She's been looking forward to meeting her favorite Cucucat all day!"

"Cucucat?" Mireia gasped, facing Katherine. "No way! You're that Cucucat appearing in her streams lately? How come I didn't realize it sooner?!"

Katherine chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "Darn! And I almost got away with it too!"

"If you find that news that shocking," Monica chimed in, "then here's a bigger bombshell: Marice appeared on my streams too!"

Mireia gasped and ran up to Marice. "N-No way! You're also into livestreaming, Big Sister?"

Marice couldn't help but smile, relieved that her sister didn't take her words to heart earlier. "As if. She just invites Kath and I to play games during her streams."

Monica grinned and shrugged. "You don't have to be so modest about it. You and Marice were an instant hit after your debut appearance after all!"

"Those streams were fun," Shiori said. "Who would've thought that a cat, a crocodile, and a deer would make such a fun ensemble?"

"Right?" Katherine replied as she unequipped her Suisei armor. "She only showed up four times, but she already has a passionate fanbase!"

Mireia grumbled, pulling down the brim of her hat. "Darn, would've been nice if I caught those streams." She then perked up, taking out her smartphone from one of her belt pouches. "What kind of crocodile unit was she playing as, by the way?"

"The Cropaya!"

"Okay, now I wanna see her virtual model!"

"Already ahead of you!" Monica said, pointing her gamepad at the giant monitor. "Witness our glory in 64K goodness!"

Katherine's eyes widened. "Wait, 64K? The usual streaming sites only cap out at—"

She was then promptly interrupted by the appearance of three characters on the screen. Design-wise, the avatars were cartoon renditions of themselves wearing their respective animal costumes. And with the use of cel shading, the vibrant pastel-colored models popped out of the screen as if they weren't part of the stream at all.

She took a step closer to the monitor, her hands up in the air. "It really is! This is crazy!"

"What I find crazier is the fact that Big Sister agreed in the first place," Mireia said.

Marice grumbled, watching herself giving a tour of her space colony filled with Cropayas and Cattleberries. "Once Monica found out I was playing her game, she pestered me to join her streams every day for an entire month. She even had the audacity to guilt-trip me for her birthday stream."

"But it worked, didn't it?" Monica said, exchanging thumbs ups with Katherine. "So how about it? Let's make it a weekly thing. Three of us hanging out, playing Fruit Galleons while rambling about random stuff would be a perfect stress reliever to end the week with."

"We already do that in our chat server. We don't need an audience."

She lowered the volume of the stream. "But think about your fans! All the kids want to see the grumpy Cropaya girl again!"

She turned pink. "Oh, don't bring the children into this!"

"You just got out of university, so you have no good excuses now! I'm sure you can spare at least two hours of your Saturday night for it!"

And before she could give a retort, Mireia snatched her hands and gave her puppy-dog eyes. "I wanna see the Cropaya girl, Big Sister!"

"Just rewatch the streams!"

"But I wanna see you do more content! Who's with me?"

As the others raised their hands, Marice pried hers away from Monica's, squinting at them. "See? This is what happens when you try to play nice. You humor them one time, then suddenly everyone acts like you owe them the world."

"But Monica's right though," Katherine said, approaching the group. "I know how important your research is, but you need to make time for other things too. You did say you had fun with the streams."

"Whoa, she did...?" Monica said, mouth agape.

"And honestly, I was hoping that you'd join us again. I've already written a lot of FG-related skits for us to do, you know?"

Katherine's sweet smile was too much to bear, forcing Marice to look away. Her eyes ended up meeting Vivianne's piercing gaze, which didn't help her situation one bit. And when she pried her eyes away from her, she met Mireia's hopeful stare once more. It took her a moment to wrestle with her own emotions before finally relenting to Katherine's request.

"Okay. Maybe once in a while won't hurt. If I feel like it..."

"Yay!" Katherine exchanged high-fives with Mireia. "Thank you! You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your hopes too high now."

"Then are you gonna show up tomorrow night?" Monica asked. "You definitely should!"

"Already?!"

"Well, you're here already, so let's make it an event before you guys return."

"You seem so confident we'd finish this spore problem of yours by then."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from the Twilight Demon after all."

Receiving her banana and mango smoothie from Celestino, Marice narrowed her eyes. "Those crocodiles outside are snooping too much."

She wagged her finger. "A little secret, my dear Marice. I have spies working within the wildlife trafficking network, so I'm well aware of how popular you've become among poaching syndicates and their clients."

"Wait, seriously?" Mireia uttered, receiving her pineapple juice from Laetitia. "But what's the story behind that Twilight Demon nickname they gave her?"

"Because that's usually the period of time where her hex magic takes effect and brings down judgment on her victims."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Is it?" Marice took a sip of her smoothie. "Indiscriminate killing of crocodiles gets you the death penalty here in Estrellia."

And in that moment, Vivianne spat out her passion fruit juice, hands covering her mouth. "You should've told me that earlier! I almost blasted one that got in my way!"

"Anyway, the problem I have with a lot of preservation programs is that they are mostly reactive. They always let the poachers make the first move, which defeats the point of protecting endangered animals and plants." She took a long sip this time, savoring her drink's flavors. "Funny how people suddenly behave when they realize that their actions have swift consequences."

"But that's still risky, isn't it?" Shiori said as she served berry-veggie smoothies to the pair of deerkins. "They could do the same to you."

Vivianne smiled, dabbing her chin with a tissue. "The barrier surrounding our university grounds nullifies any form of hex magic. And since Marice was a recluse who rarely left her apartment room..."

"Ah, that's actually clever! Then what about now? Has anyone made an attempt on your life since you left London?"

"Nothing so far," Marice replied, watching Laetitia clean up Vivianne's mess on the floor. "Maybe because I already returned back here. And well, there's also the fact that a botched hex attempt can be used against them."

She chuckled. "I guess they knew better to not mess with a witch of your caliber."

"You can say that again," Monica said. "Her targets carried the strongest hex protection charms they could find, but her curses still went through them."

Vivianne crossed her legs as she took her tumbler with both hands. "In the international community of witches, they always say that you should never ever make a Filipino witch heartbroken lest you suffer a lifetime of misfortune. So it's only natural that her enemies didn't stand a chance against her."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Her love for animals is what made her curses more potent. Coupled with the growing grudges of the nature spirits towards mortalkind, I imagine that her strongest curses were akin to karmic retribution of heavenly proportions."

"They're that powerful?!" Mireia cried as Marice gave Vivianne an exasperated look. "What exactly did you do to them, Big Sister?"

"Are you sure you wanna know?"

"Oh, uh, on second thought, I wanna enjoy my drink."

"By the way, don't tell Mom about this."

"O-Okay..."

"Look, it takes a special kind of stupid to motivate me to snuff someone out, so trust me when I say that those who got the death sentence had it coming." She cracked a smile. "Especially those who run animal torture rings. Their souls deserve to rot in Limbo."

"What?! T-Torture rings?!"

She paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "Though the one time I went out of my way to kill someone, my curses didn't work. That was on me for getting cocky."

"Now that's a surprise," Monica said. "You actually met your match. Who are they?"

She paused again before a smile tugged her lips. "It's a secret."

The disappointment in the air was palpable as they turned to Katherine. "Wait! I honestly have no idea either!"

Vivianne blinked. "You are not covering for her, are you?"

"She's telling the truth," Marice replied as she started to regret mentioning this tidbit. "I haven't even met this person myself."

"And yet you want to dispose of them. Are they really that repulsive?"

"Very. I want to kill them just as much as the demons who killed Coco. They're part of my bucket list, you see."

She gasped. "You just do whatever you want, don't you? Kath told me that the two of you occasionally participate in environment programs in Africa and Europe, but I never would've expected you would confront the entire underground trade on your own."

"We have the Crimson Order backing us up."

She raised an eyebrow. "They do? Why?"

"I don't know. Kath was the one who asked them to help, and they agreed. They even gave me a hit list to work with."

"J-Just like that?! What did you even tell them, Kath?"

Katherine glanced to the side, sipping her apple cucumber juice. "I don't know the details either, but they just want to make sure Marice doesn't get us in too much trouble."

She didn't look convinced. "Even if your mother was a senior knight in the Order, it's hard to believe they humored Marice playing vigilante."

"Is it that big of a deal?" Celestino said. "Some of their members already do the same thing anyway."

"But that's the suspicious part. It isn't like them to get civilians involved in their operations." Her eyes darted back to Katherine. "Do you think they're assessing Marice?"

"You mean, they might be planning to recruit her? They sure would want another Alcantara in their ranks."

She nodded. "Katherine's promotion is only a matter of when, so it isn't unreasonable to assume that they would want Marice onboard as well. Just think of the possibilities with her around. I'd be a fool if I let someone with her talents get away. It'd haunt me for the rest of my days just thinking about it."

Marice squinted. "Uh, sure."

"But I wouldn't have expected anything less from the cutthroat ways of the order." She made a wide grin, chin tilted upwards. "Unfortunately for them, they are too late. Marice has already pledged her allegiance to my empire."

"So you really are that desperate, huh? I'm not even sure if I should feel annoyed or sad."

"Well, since you keep refusing to acknowledge your own worth, it's better that I harness your talents in your stead. You don't even have to do anything."

"Okay, I get it. I don't even have plans to join them."

"See? It's just what I've been telling you," Katherine said, winking. "All you have to do is ask."

Shiori leaned on the counter, holding her mango juice. "Oh? But wouldn't you prefer if Marice worked for the Crimson Order? You'd be together all the time."

"Vivianne's right though. Marice will be able to make better use of her alchemy in her business."

"As opposed to helping out other people like you do?"

She shook her head. "If Vivianne's business takes off, cultured meat will become more accessible around the world. She even plans to cater to the supernatural market so they won't have to prey on humans anymore."

"My, how ambitious. That's something to look forward to."

"Cultured meat, eh?" Monica said. "Looking to one up your great grandmother?"

Vivianne's eyes widened. "You know her?"

"Of course. Our kingdom shares the same vision of a sustainable future after all." She smiled. "That, and her products are popular here too."

"I'm looking to establish my brand for the spacefaring market. Once we secure the first-mover advantage, my empire will become an irreplaceable pillar of the space food infrastructure." Her expression soured as she took a moment to take a huge gulp of her juice. "But thanks to my meddling family, I can no longer secure more modules for my ship! I can't even launch it to space as I foolishly held off purchasing an atmospheric booster!"

"Why not just purchase modules from other manufacturers? Or if launching it to space is that urgent, you can just rent someone's mass driver."

She gritted her teeth. "I'm already blacklisted from conducting business with them."

Monica lurched forward, almost spilling her drink. "They went that far? Why do they seem so desperate to keep you from acquiring ship hardware?"

"Because I've dared to walk a different path than the one they graciously set before me."

"I see. If you're looking for modules, I can help you with that."

"Eh?"

"What kind of ship did you buy?"

Vivianne blinked. "A Capricorn-class frigate from Polarlicht Industries..."

"A frigate?" Celestino chimed in. "So you folks on the other side just let civvies buy warships?"

"To be fair," Monica replied, "there are no treaties that forbid anyone from bringing weapons to space. Anything goes as long as you aren't packing WMDs."

"Err, that's not the point."

"Anyway, Polarlicht's great! Their commitment to support third-party modules has made them a popular pick lately!"

"Ah, you're familiar with spacecraft too?" Vivianne said. "An enthusiast, perhaps?"

"I suppose you could say that. Our kingdom is partnered with several big companies from your realm, allowing us to develop our own ships and modules."

She gasped, slamming her tumbler on the countertop. "Then... if it's possible, would you allow me to purchase ship modules from your kingdom?"

"Of course. Just bring your ship here and we'll install the parts for you."

"Thank you so much, your Highness!"

She clapped. "Though I might have to ask a teensy tiny favor from you in exchange."

"And that would be...?"

"If your schedule permits it, I'd like you to join our streams. I think you'd fit right in with the program."

"Huh? Me?"

"A posh British lady would add another dimension to our dynamic."

"Ooh! The more the merrier!" Katherine said, pumping her fist. "And we can pester Marice together so she actually joins our streams!"

"Hey, I'm literally right here," Marice replied.

Vivianne glanced at Marice and Katherine. "Is that all I have to do? I don't mind playing a part in it, but I'm not familiar with the game you're playing. You'll have to show me the ropes."

"It's not that complicated," Monica said. "It's an all-ages game, you know?"

"I see." She fished out her phone and opened its app store. "Might as well start right now while I have the chance."

"Oh, right!" Katherine said, skipping towards her. "Make sure you select your starting colony within the Turvy Winter quadrant, orange sector. Marice and I are there, so we'll be able to trade faster with you."

"Uh, the what quadrant now?"

"It'll make sense once you start playing."

Monica nodded. "And when you've established your space colony, let us know your favorite Cultivar. Preferably anything else that we aren't using as an avatar."

Magnolia faced the queen, pointing at Katherine. "Mommy, if you're gonna open another commission, why not make Big Sis Kathy an avatar wearing her VesFrame! It's way cooler!"

"It is," she replied, "but her mecha aesthetic doesn't really mesh well with our branding."

"But Fruit Galleon's sci-fi anyway. Nobody will complain."

"What do you think, Kath?"

"Oh, um, I think the current one is fine."

Magnolia pouted. "Aww... really? I guess the Cucucat is cute enough."

With the appointed time for the council meeting almost upon them, the group headed to the alliance capital on the island of Vela. Mireia's teleportation magic had been making it incredibly easy for them to move from place to place, but this time it wouldn't be necessary as the Mother Tree had a portal door that connects it directly to the royal palace.

And sure enough, once they walked through the portal with the guardian's authorization, they found themselves in a completely different chamber guarded by VesFrame-wearing knights. Upon seeing Monica, they formed a double file and saluted with their sheathed swords. Marice expected a stricter protocol with the ongoing ecocide within their territory, but guards didn't look concerned that they were standing so close to the queen and princess.

Was it because Celestino and Mireia were with them? In any case, she wouldn't complain. Compared to the first time she visited this place, it was nice that everyone was on the same page. But what caught her attention was a group of nobles gathered past the chamber's doorway. Upon meeting up with them, they offered their formal salutations to the queen before breaking character.

"Heyo!" the squirrelkin woman greeted.

"Oh, you guys were waiting for us?" Monica said.

The tip of her fluffy tail started waving left and right. "Yeah! We were just about to head over to the council hall ourselves, but we heard you were bringing in some interesting visitors from the other side!"

The boarkin woman who just returned in her hoverchair propped her chin on her fist. "And me oh my, you've certainly brought quite an entourage." She smiled. "It's been a while, Maricel. Still remember me, I hope?"

"Uh... Feliciana, right?"

She nodded with a wider grin. "Wonderful. I see you even got your friends to accompany you. And such beauties too. Don't you agree, my brothers?"

"Indeed," the tallest boarkin replied, bowing his head to Marice's group. "And I've heard that their histories are just as remarkable as well. It would seem that our Maricel wasn't as aloof as we thought."

"A-Aren't you being a bit rude, Brother?" the VesFrame-wearing boarkin behind him replied. "A lot can change in a year, let alone an entire decade."

"Severino being the voice of reason yet again," Marice said, placing a hand on her hip. "Florentino should've given you the throne instead."

He looked stunned for a moment, earning mischievous looks from his siblings. "O-Oh, I'm honored to hear that, but my talents would be better used in advancing our kingdom's technology."

"Ah right, Monica mentioned you're overseeing the construction of a mother ship."

"A-A mother ship?" Vivianne uttered before he could answer. "Where?!"

Taken aback with her excitement, Severino pointed to his right. "Um, the spaceport is to the northeast, but you'll be able to see the ship from here using the lookout balcony."

She then faced Monica. "This kingdom of yours is more formidable than I thought...!"

The deerkin queen winked. "That's the alliance for you. We pride ourselves with the latest innovations across all realms for the betterment of our people." She then put on a more serious expression, shrugging with her palms up. "Unfortunately, some people crave so much attention that they would actively do the opposite and spoil the fun for everybody."

"If they want attention that badly," the squirrel lady replied, cracking her knuckles, "then we just have to make them choke on it, won't we?"

Feliciana nodded and propped up her chin. "We'd love to chat some more, but you ladies came at a rather... tumultuous time. Worry not; we'll see to it that your needs are taken care of during your stay here."

"Actually," Monica chimed in, "their business is with us. Marice thinks that the events here may be related to the case they're working on back in Manila."

The revelation earned surprised looks from the nobles. "The one involving the queen of the Manila underworld?"

"Well, sorta," Marice replied.

Florentino folded his arms on his chest. "The visiting Crimson Knights also mentioned a rumor that a powerful demon might be involved."

She raised an eyebrow, facing Katherine who just shrugged in response. "They're spreading that rumor too? No wonder it's getting so much traction."

"Is the fungal outbreak that devastating for the Crimson Knights to be deployed here?" Vivianne asked. "I thought it was already contained."

He nodded. "Their assistance won't be necessary. The knights are simply here to monitor the rising tensions between the neighboring kingdoms."

"I see..."

He turned to Marice. "But you know, I didn't expect you would take your role so diligently. Especially after seeing how unenthused you look during that press conference."

"I already agreed to it, so might as well get it done quickly."

"Is that really all there is to it, Maricel?"

She paused, an image of a smiling Katherine from last night flashed before her. "Of course. I have better things to do, after all."

"Fair enough. In that case, shall we get going, your Highness?"

"And oh, one more thing." As they looked at her, Marice raised an index finger. "I'd appreciate it if you can just call me Marice."

As Mireia and the nobles headed for the royal council meeting, Marice and the others made their way to the lookout balcony on the uppermost level of the Mother Tree. From their vantage point, medium to high-rise establishments filled the entire northern and western districts of the island. But as expected of an urban area in Mystifica, nature was abundant and flourishing despite all the infrastructure. Most rooftops and balconies had their own gardens, while avenues made up the network of roads. Interconnected parks ran through the city as well, acting as agricultural hubs and island-wide pedestrian zones for people and wildlife alike.

Taking in a lungful of fresh air, Marice could only wish that Manila was at least half as green as this island.

"Look, there it is!" Vivianne pointed at the massive mother ship in the distance. "That ship has to be around six hundred—no, close to seven hundred meters long!"

Celestino took a seat at a nearby round table. "It'll get even longer when they attach its secondary thrusters and stern weapons blocks."

She clasped her hands, her shoulder cape billowing behind her. "I always find it fascinatingly absurd that we can build colossal vessels like that and launch them into outer space. Do they already have a name for it?"

"Margaret, the founding leader of the alliance."

"Ah, a fitting name."

"What did you name your frigate, Miss Vivianne?" Magnolia asked.

"Empyrean."

"Ooh! That sounds cool!"

Vivianne squinted at the spaceships, standing on her toes. "You think so? You have good taste. What about that other ship adjacent to it? The disc structure forming the middle part of its hull makes for a fascinating ship silhouette."

"That's a new type of assault carrier developed by the Pearlhorn Alliance and the Philippine Space Force," Celestino replied. "Her hull was just finished a few months ago, though it will take them another three to four years before she becomes space-worthy."

She gasped as she leaned over the railing. "Wait... that top disc looks like it can retract to expose the ship's deck catapult. Interesting."

Marice faced her, leaning against the balustrade. "Since when did spaceships become your thing anyway?"

"I've always dreamed of owning one. Though I suppose my family's recent fixation on the industry played a big part in it too."

"If I have the money," Katherine chimed in beside her, "I'd buy one too!"

"Yeah," Marice replied, "just like the truck you rarely drive."

She lightly jabbed her with her elbow. "L-Look, I'd be driving it around all the time if I didn't have literal thrusters attached to my body, okay?!"

"I recall you bought it because Marice wanted a trailer to be converted as a workshop," Vivianne said, "but couldn't she shrink objects down using those alchemy bottles anyway?"

"But it feels awesome driving around a large truck. The comforting hum of the ether engine, the gentle rumbling of the cabin, that satisfying hiss from the maglev stabilizers when you squeeze the brakes—ah, I can't get enough of it!"

"Now you're sounding like a certain brother of mine..."

"Okay, now I'm pumped! Let me drive it later, Marice!"

"Then you better get a local license first."

As Katherine let out a grumble, Magnolia approached her. "If you want, I'll let you drive it around the palace garden."

"You would?!"

"In exchange, let me ride on it too! I wanna experience what it's like!" She faced Pamela. "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Pamela simply sighed. "As long as it's a hover truck, it won't damage the landscaping."

"Yay! Dahlie's on her way, so shall we?"

"Wait, you mean now?"

"Of course! Meetings can get so long and boring anyway!"

"Please mind your manners, Princess. They didn't come here to be your playmates."

"Come on, it's not like we have anything better to do!" She faced Marice, looking up at her with wide puppy eyes. "Right?"

Marice pried her eyes from the princess, her heart melting. "If we're gonna do this, I might as well make my prep here too."