What can they do, if the all-powerful Princess Arreya decided to kill them? General Moria didn't even want to think about it.

In his mind, only five mages from each of the different elements would be able to face the princess. He knew Therius was a pyromancer and an aeromancer, and Xion was a cryomancer and an aeromancer, but he did not know their levels and the various other powers they possessed.

After all, both were still very young. Compared to Princess Arreya, who was almost fifty, of course, these young men were still quite green.

"We will protect you from space. If anything happens to Your Highness, we will attack Princess Arreya and their warship," General Moria finally said after seeing how stubborn the prince was.

"DO NOT attack them, General Moria, if you see me being attacked by my mother in-law. Let me deal with her first. If you attacked her with weapons from space, it will provoke an open war. Even if I die, my cousin, Yared can still be king. I am not the only heir. Let Princess Arreya be my business," said Therius firmly.

General Moria was silent. He could not dispute Therius' words. In the end, he said nothing more.

The Dragonite immediately went to the place requested by Princess Arreya. Aguilar Wilderness was a vast expanse of forest and wasteland located on the border between Akkadia and Taeshi.

The area was still full of wild beasts such as dragons and monsters that were deliberately kept there by the governments of the two kingdoms to prevent the citizens of both countries from entering without permission.

It was also a popular place for mages who want to train their powers without disturbing others. Mages could use the elements they controlled at will in this wilderness and practice. They could send down rain, launch fireballs, catch dragons, fight monsters, and more.

It was not a place for the weak and the faint-hearted. Some mages died in their efforts to train in this wilderness.

By asking to meet in the Aguilar Wilderness, Princess Arreya was ready to face all possible disturbances from the wild beasts and monsters.

She was such a powerful woman, thought Therius. How impressive!

It was very rare for a woman to want to go to Aguilar Wilderness alone like Arreya.

'Oh, Emma .. I will meet your mother soon. I wish you are here so that you can meet her, hug her and vent your longing after being separated for 16 years ...' thought Therius with a sad feeling. 'I'm sorry, you have to wait again.'

He hoped to persuade Princess Arreya to surrender by telling her about Emma's condition. If Princess Arreya was willing to go with him back to the Akkadian capital and pretended to atone for her sins by sacrificing herself to save Emma and the rest of the Taeshi capital, then Therius would protect Arreya with all his might.

He calculated that King Cassius must have died when he returned home and he would soon become king. When that happened, Therius would immediately forgive Arreya and canceled her sentence. Then, finally, he would be able to marry Emma with her mother's blessing ... and everything would be fine.

***

That night, Therius and Xion slept restlessly. The two were thinking about Emma's fate in the capital and how their meeting with the girl's mother tomorrow in the Aguilar Wilderness would go.

They hoped everything would go according to plan. However, based on recent experiences, there were always surprises that messed up their plans and forced them to improvise.

One example was the wedding yesterday. Everything should have gone smoothly with Therius marrying Emma, ??then killing King Cassius, and finally going to Taeshi to meet Princess Arreya.

As it turned out, suddenly, everything fell apart because Queen Ygrit forced Therius to marry Princess Yldwyn at the same time as Emma.

It then went on to become a big mess because Therius refused the order and now Emma was in the custody of King Cassius. Therius knew that yesterday Emma had stayed up all night, not sleeping so that she could protect herself from being examined by the court doctor.

He could imagine that Emma would not sleep again tonight to protect herself.

Oh ... Emma, ??why did it end up like this? Therius thought sadly. He was wondering if he should have just accepted the king's order yesterday to marry Princess Yldwyn.

If he had been wiser, he would have accepted his grandparents' request to dispel their suspicion. Later, after he took the throne, he would be able to divorce Yldwyn.

Emma was better than him at things like this, Therius thought. She could always think with her head, and not let her heart messed up her judgment. She didn't allow herself to be influenced by feelings.

Ah ... but, that's not the real reason why Emma asked Therius to marry Yldwyn. She just didn't care about me, Therius thought dejectedly.

He massaged his forehead. There was actually one more reason why he rejected the double wedding yesterday. He couldn't marry Princess Yldwyn and later divorced her. If he did that, Yldwyn would feel humiliated.

The political impact will also not going to be light. Besides, he couldn't bear to do such a bad thing to a nice girl like Yldwyn. The girl was innocent. She only had one fault: she wasn't Emma Stardust that Therius loved.

The man remembered how much his grandmother's hatred and grudges against Emma and her family were due to the failed union between Arreya and Darius. Women were terrifying when they held grudges, Therius thought.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He did not intend to make more enemies.

***

The next day, after breakfast, General Moria informed Therius that they had arrived at the Aguilar Wilderness and he could soon meet Princess Arreya.

For some reason, Therius and Xion felt their chests pounding when they heard that. Not only because they were tasked with the responsibility of persuading Princess Arreya to surrender, but also because they were about to meet the mother of the woman they loved.

For Therius, it would be like meeting his mother-in-law for the first time. So much pressure!

Therius deliberately asked to meet Princess Arreya in the morning to persuade her to come to Akkadia quickly. Once it was done, they could immediately go home to save Emma. Every hour was precious and the clock was ticking.

Xion and Therius got into a shuttle that would take them to the meeting point. Princess Arreya asked to meet at the top of the Red Hill in the Aguilar Wilderness.

When their shuttle landed at the designated spot, Therius and Xion immediately saw that the woman they wanted to meet was already waiting for them, standing tall facing the valley.

Therius ordered the shuttle pilot to return to The Dragonite, while he and Xion walked towards Princess Arreya and met her on their own.

As the two young men walked closer, the princess seemed completely motionless. Her body stood straight with her back to the two, still staring intently at the valley as if she didn't care about anything.

The aura that emanated from this woman was amazing, Therius thought. He could feel Arreya's great charisma and energy. Inwardly, he could only imagine if Emma trained with the best teachers and improved her skills, she too might become a woman as powerful as her mother.

"Good morning, Mother," Therius greeted respectfully after he and Xion arrived only a few steps away from Arreya.

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From the author:

I am so happy with how the story is going. To be honest, oftentimes, I don't know what I will write, until I sit and type on my laptop. That's just how it is. I read stuff about this thing and found that I'm a pantser, which means a writer who prefers to create by the seat of their pants.

In other words, rather than outline their novel, they hop in their concept like it's a car, letting it take them where it takes them, only seeing as far ahead as their headlights allow. Yep, that's exactly how it happens.

King Cassius suddenly forced Therius to have a double wedding??? I was just as shocked as you were!

Emma pretended to be pregnant with Therius' child??? She impressed me too. That girl is too cunning!

I want to end if after Emma Stardust found what she was looking for, (the title is "Finding Stardust" anyway): her family.

And, maybe close the book with a real proper wedding and lots of R-18 stuff to satisfy our cravings... HAHAHA. I know, I'm shameless like that. I enjoy snooping in my characters' intimate moments. XD

If you like the story to continue, fret not, I will probably continue Emma's story after all the big events that followed her arrival in Akkadia in a new book (a sequel). Yes! A sequel. It will have a different vibe and fewer sorrows, unlike "Finding Stardust".

The sequel will tell the story of how Emma is navigating her life as a student in the academy to train her powers while being the secret queen. Her husband wants her to be the strongest mage she could be, so he supports her to study and he covers for her in the capital during state events. Like Arreya, she would study under a secret identity, and no one in the academy would know that she is actually the queen.

There will be plenty of face slapping moments, a ton of dog food as well, a new conflict, rebellion, dark secrets that are being unveiled, etc etc. It will be exciting!

I hope you will continue the journey with her in the next book. I haven't decided on the title. Maybe "Queen Of Akkadia". I'm open to suggestions tho.

xx