Anastasia glanced at the sky outside and resumed pacing in the servant’s room on the first floor.
Soon, it would be time for her to safely escort Fia out of the city.
All she needed to do now was wait for the scouts she had sent out to return and report that it was safe.
The reason for such caution was that the magically carved tunnel wasn’t safe.
Any use of magic leaves behind traces of magical energy, much like fingerprints left by human touch.
The magic users of Aurora City could sense the presence of magic nearby through these traces and investigate further to determine what kind of magic it was.
Their side had managed to open a tunnel from inside the city to the outside in just a few days, thanks to earth magic.
If the Aurora City guards discovered this tunnel and set up an ambush outside, leading Fia through it would be like walking into a trap.
Therefore, they had to wait for the scouts to return before setting out.
“Captain, shouldn’t we inform Her Highness the Princess?” asked an elf soldier who, like Fia, was waiting in the less than ten square meter room.
Mentioning Fia, Anastasia’s serious expression softened, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
“Let Her Highness sleep a little longer.
Her spirit is unsettled and she needs rest.”
“I think so too.
It’s the first time I’ve heard Her Highness cry so loudly—” The soldier stopped mid-sentence, realizing Anastasia was glaring at him with a stern look.
“Hmm? Did that happen?”
“No, no, Captain.
I meant to say… I meant to say that Her Highness the Princess has become more personable, very, very cute.”
“Exactly.
Her Highness used to be so quiet and always spoke in a cold tone.
Now she’s like a different person, even telling us to ‘rise’ when we kneel before her.
We never dared to imagine that before.”
“Although her serious and quiet demeanor was cute in its own way, the current Her Highness is more like a girl her age.”
With a few words, the tense atmosphere in the room quickly turned relaxed.
The elf soldiers all wore expressions of admiration.
Anastasia didn’t stop them.
As the guards said, even though Fia’s current behavior was due to her memory loss, it didn’t change the fact that she was now more adorable.
In the past, Fia rarely smiled because of the burden of becoming the elf queen.
As Fia’s sister, Anastasia often felt guilty for not being able to change the situation.
But now, Fia had become cheerful and emotionally expressive, even to the point of crying in front of her.
Most importantly, Fia sought her out, needed her, which made Anastasia feel quite fulfilled, finally feeling like a sister rather than just a subordinate.
As for Fia’s constant worry about “not being the elf princess,” Anastasia thought there was no need to worry at all.
It’s worth mentioning that Fia’s worry itself was quite cute to Anastasia.
Anastasia’s lack of concern was simple.
The unchanged magic surge was one reason, and Fia’s retained habits were another.
Firstly, if an elf’s soul were replaced, the magic surge would change no matter what.
The magic surge is an external symbol of an elf’s soul, a guarantee that has never been wrong or had exceptions for tens of thousands of years.
Even in mythology, not even a god could replace a soul without altering the magic surge.
Fia’s magic surge hadn’t changed at all.
Moreover, some of Fia’s habits hadn’t changed despite her memory loss.
Besides Fia’s parents, Anastasia was the most authoritative person on this.
Whether it was the unconscious action of twirling her hair when anxious or the habit of keeping her thoughts to herself, they were just like the old Fia.
Even if the magic surge had issues, personal habits were enough to prove Fia was Fia.
As for the “memories that don’t belong to her” Fia mentioned, Anastasia guessed it might be due to Fia’s soul being contaminated by another soul after being harmed by the Holy Nation’s national treasure, the “Unsinkable Moon.”
Although the contamination of Fia’s soul by an external soul made Anastasia quite upset, even angry, it wouldn’t change her feelings for Fia.
Whether part of an external soul had merged with Fia’s or only memories had attached to her soul, Fia was still Fia.
The old Fia was too strong and smart for Anastasia to help her, but now she had the chance to repay Fia’s kindness and love her like a real sister.
As her thoughts flowed, Anastasia couldn’t help but recall Fia sleeping soundly in her arms last night.
She was so adorably illegal that Anastasia almost couldn’t resist secretly kissing her.
If Fia’s followers knew that the usually quiet and strong-willed princess, who always had a cool demeanor, had fallen asleep in her arms, they would be so jealous they’d want to skin her alive and treasure the skin that had held the princess.
Knock, knock.
As the room was filled with a relaxed atmosphere, a rhythmic knocking sound came from the wooden board they were gathered around.
The relaxed atmosphere came to an abrupt halt.
Upon hearing the sound, everyone simultaneously tensed their expressions, stepped back, and placed their hands on their weapons.
Almost every royal guard had undergone rigorous training in codes to ensure they could convey information even in a dazed state through muscle memory.
Now, the knocking from below the wooden board indicated that the person below was not an ally.
They had been ambushed.
