A few monts ago, Uoiea jumped out of her room, careful not to be seen by anyone. She drifted on the wind before hiding in the posts, playing hide and seek with the knights guarding the palace walls.
After several attempts at sneaking out without anyone noticing, she succeeded in doing so.
"Finally out!" She exclaid in satisfaction, though her voice barely a whisper.
The city was buzzing with activities; there were rchants several ters away from the palace walls while street perforrs stole every child’s gaze. Uoiea couldn’t help but smile upon seeing the blissful status of her place. However, the content of the letter from earlier erased the amused expression on her face.
’What will happen to these people?’ She pondered, halting in her tracks.
Then she looked in the direction leading to the Celestial Seer’s place. She wanted to et her to know what the letter truly ant.
"? Dying? Though I’m not that afraid of death, there’s still too many things that I want to experience, and besides," she uttered as she resud her steps.
"Anyway, I need to learn what will really happen first," she said, her eyes beaming with determination.
Ti seed to drag on during that mont. The princess, hiding under the cover of her hood, watched the ordinary lives of the empire’s citizens.
"I wonder how true their laughters are," she comnted upon seeing the joyful look of people scattered around the area.
Then her eyes widened in surprise when a sudden reply ca behind her.
"Anyone can laugh despite the things going on in their lives, young lady," it said.
Uoiea turned around to face the owner of the voice, and she felt awe upon seeing an old man standing near an antique shop. She was lost for words and didn’t know what to reply.
Feeling embarrassed, she just smiled and decided to leave as soon as possible; however, the old man’s next set of words caught her interest.
"Don’t mind this dying old man; I’m just speaking from experience. Anyway, are you seeking answers, young lady?" The old man asked, smiling while his slanted, narrow eyes were staring straight at the princess.
Uoiea didn’t answer right away; he gazed at the old man and examined his appearance, but aside from the wrinkles on his face, there was nothing noteworthy about his features.
The next second, the old man extended his right hand on the side.
"My shop is getting lonely without any custors. Co! Maybe you’ll find sothing of importance," he said, which captivated the princess’ curiosity.
Uoiea lowered her gaze, contemplating if she would enter the old man’s shop.
’A few minutes won’t hurt,’ she thought.
However, the mont she raised her eyes to look at the old man, he was nowhere to be seen. Uoiea blinked for a few seconds; confusion was present on her innocent face; she even looked around her, searching for the old man.
"Where... where did he go?" She stumred.
Without a concrete answer and her curiosity now at its peak, she ambled towards the shop’s door.
It was an antique shop with two gargoyle statues placed beside the corner. There was a window, but the inside of the shop was so shrouded in darkness that Uoiea couldn’t see a single thing.
The runaway princess gulped before pushing the door open. In fact, she prepared herself for a sudden attack, but contrary to her expectation, the inside of the shop seed normal and free from danger.
"Hello? I’m here," Uoiea said before making another step.
The sole of her boots created a clacking sound that reverberated inside the small room. Seconds continued to pass, but the old man was still not showing himself to Uoiea.
In light of this fact, she wandered inside the shop, looking at the displayed items; there were different kinds of potions.
"Healing potion... energy replenishnt... strength enhancent... speed enhancent..." Uoiea read each of the bottles’ descriptions until she reached the last one.
She picked it up and examined it on her hand.
While observing, she noticed that the last potion’s design was sowhat different from the previous ones. All of them had a sphere-shaped bottle, while the potion she was holding had an odd-looking design.
It had a rectangular shape, but there was a hand holding it underneath, giving it a weird, threatening appearance.
Uoiea searched for any item description, but even after rotating it sideways and upside down, there was not a single text present on the bottle.
"I wonder what this black liquid is," she uttered with her eyes gleaming in curiosity.
"Careful, young lady, that one is so valuable that even a mountain of gold will not be enough for soone to take a single sip," the old man stated behind her all of a sudden.
His voice caused Uoiea to be startled, making her loosen her grip on the unknown potion.
"Oh my!" She exclaid as she tried to catch it mid-air.
However, as if her hands lost all of their strength, she failed to grab the bottle, and the next mont, it fell on the floor, producing an ear-piercing sound due to the sudden shattering of the glass.
Uoiea looked at the black liquid that drenched her boots and gulped before turning around to face the old man.
"Ahmnn, I..." she uttered; her voice escaped like a choked whisper.
She couldn’t find the right words to say; she looked straight into the old man’s expression, but upon seeing him still smiling at her, she found herself in a daze.
"I’ll pay for it! It was all an accident though. I didn’t an to break it," she said, explaining, hoping for the old man to let him go despite the trouble she had caused.
"What do you an? Is there sothing broken?" The old man replied.
His answer made Uoiea even more stupefied, the sound of the potion shattering was so loud that it echoed in the small room, contradicting the old man’s words.
Accompanied with a deep sigh, Uoiea pointed her hand on the floor at her back before turning around.
"Here-" she said and was about to say sothing more, but upon seeing the floor with nothing but dust, the words failed to escape from her mouth.
"W-Where is it?" She stamred, confused.
Then she looked at her boots, but like what happened to the floor, there was not a single drop of black substance.
Given this fact, she diverted her gaze towards the potions on display, and her eyes widened upon seeing the strange bottle still on the spot where she picked it up earlier.
"Am I seeing things?" She uttered.
"What’s the matter, young lady?" The old man expressed his concern as he made a step forward.
Uoiea turned around and looked him in the eyes before pointing the black potion.
"Ahmnn, I dropped it a mont ago, and its content even splattered on my boots." Uoiea paused for a second and took the bottle from its shelf before continuing. "But as you can see, it’s fine, and there’s not a single drop on the floor."
Upon hearing the princess’ sentint, the old man couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. Afterward, he extended his hand, and Uoiea placed the bottle on his palm the mont she saw the old man’s gesture.
"This contains the blood of one of the strongest ancient demons, the Sixth Sovereign’s blood," he said.
"Ancient demons? Sixth Sovereign?" Uoiea repeated.
The old man looked at her and smiled.
"You’re now interested, aren’t you? Do you want to et them?" He asked.
Uoiea’s eyes lit up upon hearing what the old man had said.
"Is there a way?" She replied with a question.
"Then I’ll let you take a glimpse of who they are," the old man said, then he pulled out a piece of blank paper from his sleeves and smacked it on the woman’s forehead.
"Heed this old man’s advice; don’t let the Eighth Sovereign capture your soul; otherwise, you’ll be trapped in there for eternity," the old man gave out a warning.
Afterward, Uoiea’s eyes started to dim, and the next second, she lost her balance as her consciousness slowly drifted away from her body.
"You must return back alive and rember who you truly are," the old man stated after catching the unconscious princess, preventing her from falling on the floor.
Then he noticed the bracelet wrapping around the woman’s wrist. The dice hanging from it was emanating light and spinning in a continuous motion. Without wasting another second, the old man grabbed the dice and held it inside his palm.
The next second, he let go of it, and it stopped spinning; even the light coming from it disappeared as if nothing had happened.
. . . . .
At the sa ti, Zeno was on his way towards the empire’s capital. He took the shortest route upon sensing that Uoiea’s presence was slowly disappearing as the ti passed by.
The twin daggers were equipped on his hand, and Chrysantheum’s Legacy was being active, giving him a huge movent speed boost. He traversed the land with unimaginable speed, enough to damage the surroundings he passed.
’Uoiea,’ he thought, his face filled with worry.
Then, upon exiting the border of Duskstalker Kingdom, he ca to a sudden halt as Eliana’s Legacy failed to track Uoiea’s presence.
"This can’t be... even the Hexad is gone," he uttered, his voice laced with panic.
. . . . .
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