Old Man of Pomefiore

Peony looked to the calm and serene scenery before her as she said in a calm and polite voice, "Then, can I entrust their feed to you from now on?"

Hearing this, the two looked up to her with a start as Maisey hesitated, "Milady... Do you plan to leave the kingdom?"

Her face were gentle and nostalgic as she nodded, "Ten years after my graduation, I must leave this world and return to my birth world."

Aqua's eyes widen with a start, "But-!"

"Is there really no other way?" Maisey questioned in great hesitation.

Peony sighed, "If there was, I would've already noticed it by now. However, my pursuers are growing by the day and more portals are opening across the world. Twisted Wonderland is not prepared for an invasion against another world and neither are either one of the countries by themselves. Not with my condition."

There was a long silence as Peony continued, "Once the heavens realized the inhabited existence of this world, they will try to take control of it. Not even the gods are prepared an all-out war against an entire world."

"However, you are still..." Aqua grimaced in dismay.

Peony nodded, "I'm also very aware of my current condition. However, which cultivator did not have their own danger within their bodies? It is not ideal, however, it's clear that I need more resources that only comes from my birth world and other pocket dimensions. If I want to prevent the starvation from going towards drastic levels, I need to cure my poison. That and the record of all plants must be completed."

"The record..." Aqua frowned, "How much progress has been made?"

"Half." Peony shook her head with a frown, "I'm afraid the other half will not be as easy as before. Ten more years will not be enough."

"Princess, if you need to go, let us come with you." Maisey suggested.

Aqua frowned, "Then, we'll be missing some military forces on our side... However, if we talk to the King-"

"No." Peony shook her head firmly, "You seem to have forgotten how talented those in our kingdom is. Everyone here has an important role in the kingdom and their skills are second to none. Aqua, you are even my parent's retainer and, Maisey, you are the leading engineer amongst the craft fairies. The best of the best. Pyro is my father's greatest right-hand man and Robin is part of my parent's intelligence network acting as my father's eyes and ears. The world is wide. Even if the fairies are stronger than the humans in understanding magic and nature, they have metal and capable of utilizing contracts with familiars. In the future, as our kingdom grow stronger, so will others. That's why even one fairy is a valuable asset to the kingdom's growth and safety."

"That's true..." Aqua heaved a heavy sigh in despair.

"Though we have a friendly relation with the Valley of Thorns, we can't forget that it's also because of their strength that we are also able to survive against others politically. Our strongest asset is our alchemy skills, knowledge of plants, and fairy dust. However, it is due to the fairy dust that our fairies are always being aimed and kidnapped by the corrupted."

"It sounds like Princess has a solution?" Maisey questioned her nervously.

Peony nodded, "But, it's the last resort. Not only is it a last resort, but we do not wish to go down that route no matter what."

"Is it that bad?" Aqua questioned in bewilderment.

"I can tell you that it would earn the disapproval of both mother and father immediately without much thought." Peony sighed, "For now, let's keep trying to think of more ways."

"What if we ask the pegasi and flying monkeys for help in military force?" Aqua questioned hesitantly.

Peony and Maisey both shook their heads as Peony explained, "The suggestion is enticing and I understand that you think they'd be willing to help since we get along with them, but you need to remember, as much as we get along, they still need to care for their own kind. If the humans reached out to us to ask for help in exchange for sweets and resources in the past, we would naturally decline, especially if it pertains to our fairy dust."

Fairy dust. the golden powdery dust that gives the fairies the ability to fly. For fairies, just having wings is not enough. Because their bodies still outweigh how much their wings could carry, they still require a little help from outside sources. That's where the fairy dust comes us. However, this material is very rare and only their kingdom can produce this resource. As this is sought out for by humans, her parents placed a restriction and protection of the fairy dust in each districts of the kingdom. The palace is the only place housing the fairy dust. In the past, she was rather surprised and relieved how that one room could not be destroyed from the last three incident victimizing the palace. Her mother then taught her how the room contains the kingdom's entire stock of fairy dust. It is also the livelihood of the kingdom and the fairies. That's why, since that day, she tried her best to avoid damaging the palace. She tried really, really hard too!

"Fairy dust is important to the fairies as is the safety and survival of their kind in their groups. That's why, it is risky getting them involved with our matters. Of course, we could always try, but, if we do so, we must remember that they will always keep the safety and well-being of their kind first and foremost just as the safety and well-being of the fairies is our main concern." Peony pointed out with a frown.

"The king and Queen won't let you go somewhere so dangerous on your own, though." Maisey remonded her nervously, "There are so many people coming after you in that world. They won't be able to stand the thought of you getting hurt or worse."

Peony nodded, "However, it will be too dangerous for you to follow me into that world."

She sighed as she glanced to the red roses next to her and recalled the familiar bright figure in her mind, "In the world, beastman are divine beasts but strong enough to take human form, humans capable of using magic is difficult for cultivators to understand and would be classified as evil cultivators, and fairies would be considered plant or artifact spirits like Xiao Li and Ying Hui. All wanted by human cultivators. Not to mention, dark faes like god-grandfather will be assumed to be demons and hunted down by humans actively. Hence, eldest sister and master cannot accompany me. Not to mention, they may assume that I am the contract master and attack me, especially if there is a dark fae around me. Only by getting stronger can I protect everyone around me. "

Basically, they would only become dependents if they go with her.

There was a moment of silence before Peony shook her head and gave a small smile, "Anyway, there is still time. Till the ten years after graduation is over I plan to keep thinking of a way. Also..."

Peony turned to them and smiled wide yet with her mischievous voice betraying her expression, "I'm thinking of opening a general store run by fairies! Also, I'm planning to make Grim the mascot of it!"

"What?!?!"

.....

Upon returning to the dormitory, Lotus stepped out of the mirror and was greeted by several of the staffs. However, the teachers were nowhere in sight aside from Mister Vargas who told her that Mister Crewel was busy making sure that everything was in order while Mister Trein was dealing with the piles of documents and phone calls on complaints. Thinking of this, she assumed that it might probably have to do with those guys from the dorms. When asking the others through her phone, it seems that Yuu and Grim returned safely and even with memories intact. However, the problem is...

"Pomefiore...?" Lotus wore a tight smile when she saw the message from one of the students she had come to know from the dorm.

Just the name wasn't a problem, however, one thought of that guy, that she had witnessed turn into an old grandpa due to the effects of entering and leaving the underworld, left a bitter taste in her mouth and it wasn't because he was turned into an old man either! She just is disgusted with that guy!

According to Yuu's message, the dorm was closed due to maintenance since the damage was done and they had gone to Pomefiore to stay for the next few weeks. Then, they also forgot to ask Idia for compensation on the damage done to their dorm by the humanoid robots. Naturally, there wasn't much they could do, so they hoped that the money they won from the competition could at least make the dorm look a little more decent to inhabit compared to before. Also, they said that, if willing, she could go stay with them if she wanted, but...

She absolutely refused to go and stay there! She'd rather go sleep in a tree than over at his dorm!