Quickly, as she saw the way they all turned their heads towards her, Vida clarified.
"Oh! Wait! No, no, not like that!"
Jeci glared at her with a daggering look and raised one of her brows. Even Annette had to turn to her side with a frozen look of shock on her face.
Vida exhaled and steadied her expression.
"My tribe has a belief that teaches us from the mont we’re born what a male must be and what a female must be."
Her tone softened, as if she was hesitating.
"We are predominantly female, trained and taught to be protectors of the male ones. Anyone who must marry us must, of course, be stronger, and there is a standard for that strength."
She paused and looked down for a mont.
"I am an abomination. My fat body is the complete opposite of what a girl should be. Girls are preferred to be lithe, agile, with an hourglass shape. But I was fat—I was what our standard for n were, and therefore tagged as taboo, an abomination. From childhood, I trained, lost weight, I did everything to reach the point I am now. However, it simply resulted in gaining muscle and thickness. My body beca overpronounced, and the clan defined that as adulterating the purpose for which we exist.
"At the end of the day, I was cast out... afterwards, Rughsbourgh found and sent to the Dark Continent. I never liked Raven because she was what my clan wanted. Master Annette was the one person I could relate to—we were alike in more ways than one. Of course, she was much stronger than I was."
She looked up at everyone. The silence in the room was almost deafening the mont she paused.
"Then I t Northern. Strong... very strong. At first, it was denial. A lithe, weak-looking boy shouldn’t be so strong. Strong n were supposed to be muscular, and it was supposed to be obvious, so I was at first irritated by his existence and preferred not to associate with him.
"Then I witnessed his might. Over and over again... then I began to understand. My irritation stemd from jealousy. I resolved to catch up, but that also quickly blew up in my face. I saw him at the academy, and I had to be real with myself about how delusional I was..."
She smiled.
"When that delusion shattered, it gave way and helped realize just how much I admired him. Certainly, he has plenty of flaws—his arrogance was unmatched, especially in the Dark Continent. But that didn’t erase the value and importance of the hard work he put into growth, the suffering he had to endure.
"As much as we all had our fair share of suffering in the Dark Continent, at least we were never alone. We had each other. He had no one. It’s funny when I think of what we expect from him, like he owed us. He had no obligation, yet always showed up over and over again for us—for people he claid were not his friends. His actions spoke so much louder than his words..."
Annette suddenly exclaid.
"Ahh! At this point, you might as well write a biography on him already!"
Raven frowned thoughtfully, considering Annette’s words.
"Actually, that would make a lot of sense."
Annette turned to her, stunned.
"What? You too?"
"I’m just saying, what if we convert Northern’s escapades into songs, stories? It’s a great way to spread his influence."
Ilitis nodded from where he was seated.
"This is an excellent idea. Stories carry information like wildfire. It’ll definitely be instruntal in spreading awareness across all nations. And it’s even better since we don’t need to exaggerate them at all. The Void Lord’s story already sounds like an exaggeration."
Hao nodded in agreent.
"That’s valid, and trade points could actually be used strategically to spread this information. But we also have to clarify what we hope to achieve."
Raven responded.
"Well, since we want to build a kingdom, we first have to spread the word of power and reverence."
Bairan sat back and watched as the conversation he had orchestrated slowly unfolded on its own without him having to do anything.
For him, it was proof enough that this was ant to be. His test had not been the silence or giving everyone a chance to speak their hearts. What he had simply hoped to achieve was to see the direction the silence would lead.
It was a reckless play, but not an uncalculated one. If like-minded people were put in a room and they all shared the sa purpose, the direction of the conversation would naturally gravitate towards that purpose. If they didn’t, it would be scattered.
So this was confirmation that indeed, there were no bad spots in the Pioneers—at least for now.
***
Lady Henai and Princess Rehema Nora sat at a table. Rehema Nora was looking down with a somber expression plastered to her face.
Henai had explained everything to her—from her first eting with Northern, the things he had gone through, and how he ca again and saved the entire continent.
She clenched her fist.
"Rughsbourgh! I’ve never liked that man."
Lady Henai chuckled softly, finding Rehema Nora’s anger endearing. Then her expression straightened monts later, and she asked.
"How did you discover it, though? About his existence? I thought even your father was convinced of his death."
Princess Rehema Nora sighed and leaned on the table.
"Well, it’s a long story, but Reis—he’s been missing for ten years, as you know, and in the course of it all, I’d been tracking him... I found him. And I think he knew, then led my trail to Rian’s existence to throw off his back."
Lady Henai frowned.
"So that ans Reis most likely knows too?"
The Princess nodded and folded her hands.
"But you have nothing to worry about. I will protect Rian."
Lady Henai chuckled lightly.
"Oh, I’m not worried, really. Rian now has dependable friends. And after all that I witnessed with my own eyes, do you think I doubt how strong my son is now..."
Rehema Nora was so stunned by Henai’s words that she froze for a mont, then laughed.
"Amazing! It’s so good to see you so relieved."
Henai smiled as well. After the jovial atmosphere cald, she then asked with a flat tone.
"So... what now?"
Princess Rehema Nora gave a kind smile.
"I’m sure the Emperor will be pleased to see his second wife and lost son again."
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