"I don't know about others, but we have an Ancestral God. The same Ancestral God as the Elves Clan, the Goddess of Nature," Raphtalia replied.
"Nature? Where is this Ancestral Temple, and how can we enter it?" He asked her.
"The Ancestral Temple is right behind the Royal Palace, and it is heavily surrounded by Royal Guards. Also, only the members of the Royal Clan can enter the Ancestral Temple as there's a formation that keeps the door locked and only opens it when a blood drop of a Royal Lineage member falls on it," She answered.
"So I need to kidnap a royal as well? The more I hear, the more it feels like it's not going to be peaceful," Ryder said with a frown on his face.
"You promised me that you wouldn't harm our people!" Raphtalia said as she heard his words.
"I said I don't want to harm them as long as there's no need to. And I intend to keep that promise, but only if there's no obstruction in my path. I will get the Nature Healing Crystal at any cost!" Ryder said.
"All of it can be prevented if you help me get that crystal. That sounds like a fair deal to me. A crystal versus the life of your people,"
Raphtalia hesitated for a moment before she made a decision.
"Alright. I'll help you. Even if I get banished from the Kingdom for helping you, I'll do it to save the lives of my people," Raphtalia said.
"That good. Also, if you're banished, you can come to my Kingdom. Don't worry about that. You won't lack anything," Ryder comforted her.
"So tell me. How can we do it peacefully? I need Royal Blood, so I need to kidnap the Princess or the Queen. And even if we do that, we can't enter the Ancestral Temple without dealing with the guards. If you have any suggestions, tell me," He added.
"I can help you get the princess. As for the guards, If you enter with the Princess, they won't stop you as long as they don't realize that you're not Elves," Raphtalia replied.
"Alright. First things first. Tell me how you'll help me get the princess?" Ryder inquired.
"The princesses are my friends. I know a few things about them. One is that the princesses sneak out of the palace every full moon night to take a shower in the lake of the forest. It's a full moon night, so they should be there," She answered him.
"Really? Why would they do that?" Ryder asked with a perplexed look on his face.
"I asked the same question. They told me that it was told to them by an old woman right before she died. She said that if the princesses bathed in the lake on every full moon night, they would meet their true soulmate," She replied.
"That's stupid. I guess they told their father, who didn't believe them, and didn't allow them to leave; that's why they sneak out? They look like hopeless romantics to me," Ryder muttered.
"Alright. Take me to them," Ryder told her.
"Wait a minute. You need to cover yourself first. If someone saw you, it would be problematic. Don't you have a cloak?" She asked.
"Nope," Ryder shook his head.
"Your Highness, I have a cloak. Here," Rale said as he opened his spatial storage and brought a cloak out. He gave it to Ryder.
'Who are these guys? They both know space magic? Which species is so advanced?' She wondered.
"Let's go," Ryder said as he wore the cloak. Rale also wore a cloak.
"Ah? Can you free my hands first?" She asked them.
"Rale?" Ryder muttered softly.
Rale waved his finger and cut off the ropes that tied her hands.
Raphtalia started walking towards the lake while they followed her. They got to the lake after 50 minutes.
"This is the place. They should be here at night," Raphtalia told them as they got there.
"Huh, so we need to wait for hours. Are there any beasts nearby? I want to go hunting in order to not get bored," Ryder said.
"The beasts do come here during the day, so we should see a few if we stay here," Raphtalia replied.
Ryder nodded his head as he sat under the shade of the tree and started waiting.
Rale and Raphtalia stood beside him. Rale never took his eyes off of Raphtalia for even a second.
Time kept passing, and just like that, 12 hours passed away. It was already night.
"What the heck? Didn't you say beasts come here? Why is it that I did not see even a glimpse of a beast!" Ryder said in annoyance as he glanced at Raphtalia.
"I'm not sure. But I heard that the beasts of Lightning Valley are more sensitive towards danger. Your men are so good at stealth that even we can't sense them, but maybe the beasts did? It's possible that that's why they didn't come here," She replied.
Ryder was about to reply when he heard the sound of footsteps.
"Looks like the princesses are here," Ryder stood up as he looked to his left.
After some time, he did see 2 girls come out of the woods. They were both just as tall as Raphtalia, but they were much more beautiful. Although they wore ordinary clothes, it was clear that they possessed more charisma.
They had light green hair and deep blue eyes. They looked really identical. Ryder couldn't see any difference at all.
"Who's there!" both girls called out at the same time as they sensed someone ahead.
"It's me, princess!" Raphtalia replied as she stepped towards them. Ryder and Rale also stepped forth.
"Raphtalia? What are you doing here? Why did you bring more guards here? Did our Father order you to take us back?" One of the Princess said.
"It's not that, my lady. It's something else entirely. I need you to listen to me carefully. The lives of our citizens depend on it," Raphtalia said to them.
"Lives of our citizens? What do you mean? Who would dare to put the lives of our citizens in danger?" the princess inquired in shock.
"Me," Ryder said as he stepped ahead of Raphtalia.
"W-who are you?!" The Princesses were scared as they stepped back, but they couldn't move back much as they saw the cloaked person that was standing behind Raphtalia appear behind them.
