Riya was sitting on the balcony where Aditya used to sit and draw runes. The goddess would often come and sit in this place. Last month, she had spent many hours sitting here, doing nothing. She would just sit here and stare at the sky or observe the Azure city to see if anything interesting is happening within the capital.
Riya's maid came to the balcony with a letter in her hands. "Milady, a letter from the Celestial Terrain has arrived. The letter has been personally written by Her Majesty." An elf from the Celestial Terrain delivered a letter to Riya's personal maid a few minutes ago.
"What does my mother wants to say?" Riya clearly wasn't in a good mood from her tone.
Riya's maid opened the letter and started reading out.
[My dear Daughter, I really miss you. Please come back home. You have been waiting for Aditya for over a month now. Why don't you come home and spend a few weeks or a few months with your poor mother? You know that I don't have anyone beside you.
I am very lonely without you.]
This is the exact reason why Riya didn't want to read her mother's written letter. Riya's father had long passed away. Riya grew up with no father. For as long as she can remember, she and her mother always have lived together. Riya's mother never let her feel the need for a father when growing up. When Riya became a little older, she realized that her mother is overprotective and too much loving of her.
In fact, Riya's mother was against Riya coming to live with Aditya. If Riya hadn't kept her busy with all of the Celestial Terrain Empire's works, then her mother certainly would have become her biggest obstacle in coming to live with Aditya.
This is not the first time this month, her mother has written this kind of letter to Riya. In the span of 34 days, Riya's mother has written her 17 letters. Nowadays whenever a letter comes, Riya just lets her maid read it aloud for her.
"How many times, do I have to tell her that I am not going to return home without Aditya? Especially in his absence, I will stay here and keep the balance." There are countless ways that Riya can help the Istarin Empire.
What a white, Riya sighed feeling tired of everything that was happening.
Sigh!
"Just tell my mother that.....Riya stopped when seeing Watson running towards her.
"Watson, what happened?" At this moment Riya didn't know why but she got the feeling that she was about to get a piece of very good news. The look on Watson's face said everything.
"The portal has opened." The goddess didn't dare hesitate anymore. Without wasting a single second, she prepared to teleport to the Southern region and head to the Icy shattered ruin but Watson stopped her.
"Lady Riya, since we're going there, it would be better if we take Lady Julia with us as well." Riya stopped and then nodded her head in agreement. This month's past hasn't been kind to any of the goddesses. Each of the goddesses suffered in their own way.
Riya hasn't seen Julia for over 20 days now. Since the three goddesses were busy dealing with their own grief, they didn't had time to help each other.
Scene change_____
"I apologize for losing my temper on you. Honestly, these days everything has become really difficult. For the first time in my life, I am not able to enjoy my work. Before I was able to enjoy my work more than anything but ever since I got close to him, I realized that I have changed in many ways."
Alicia loved loves competition and challenges. The thrill of overcoming all the odds and difficulties and becoming the biggest player and also the biggest profit maker in the market had always excited her. But now for the first time, she found her work exhausting. She felt burned out. She no longer felt the joy of earning money.
"Milady, there is no need for you to apologize. As your maid, I know you better than anyone in this world. I have been serving you for so many years now. After serving you for so many years, if I can't understand your emotions or understand you, then I am not worthy of being your maid."
"I know currently you're going through a difficult phase of your life. Before becoming a maid, I also had a similar kind of experience. I have also lost the people whom I dearly love. Though I cannot completely understand your pain, I can relate to your situation." Hearing this Alicia sadly smiled and said nothing.
"Milady, there is one more thing that I want to tell you. Aditya and you were married to each other through a contract. In the contract, it was stated that if Aditya dies, then all of the goddesses will also die. So I do believe that His Majesty is still alive. No matter where he is, I am sure right now he is completely fine and trying his best to return back to the Istarin Empire. As His majesty's future wife, you should put your trust in your husband and should wait for him."
"Thank you. I need to hear these words." Alicia felt much better hearing these words from her maid. Alicia now felt a little bit calmer. 'She is right. I should believe in him. Only he can turn the impossible into possible and create miracles in desperate situations. I have seen him do it so many times. I should believe in my beloved.'
"Can you please bring me something to eat? Suddenly I am starting to feel a little bit hungry." The maid was very happy to hear this. This was the first time in an entire month, her lady had expressed her desire to have something. Normally, she and others would have to force Lady Alicia to have her meals.
"I will be back in 5 minutes. Please wait." Just as the maid opened the door intending to excuse herself from her lady's room, the maid was startled when she saw an assassin standing behind the door.
The maid quickly relaxed seeing the Istarin Empire's symbol on the right side of the assassin's chest. The female assassin was a member of Nathan's division. She wore a black dress that completely covered her body and hid her face. She tied her hair into a bun.
"Do you have anything urgent to report?" This wasn't the first time the members of Nathan's division were sent to Alicia.
"Greetings, Ma'am. The situation is very urgent. The barrier around the portal has disappeared. It is now possible to enter the portal." Alicia's entire body trembled as if she has been struck by lightning. For a second she froze as she couldn't believe the words that she just heard.
"Wha....What? Repeat what you just said?" Alicia's voice trembled. The goddess couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had to ask the female assassin to repeat her words.
"The portal has opened and...Smosh!" The female assassin couldn't even finish. Alicia left through the window.
Scene change to the Training grounds___
This month the training grounds seem to have become quiet. The spirit, the aggression, the unity, the fighting intent, and the passion that once existed among the new recruits seem to have vanished. This was mainly because of the gloomy atmosphere of the main 7 division Captains. As all the 7 captains or also known as the generals of the Istarin empire heard about Aditya's disappearance, it seems they become depressed as well.
Even though everything went on as before. Even though the training of the new recruits continued as it did previously. The passion that once burned in the training grounds seems to have disappeared. This was mainly because of the fact that the Captains and the sub-division Captains, all looked gloomy nowadays.
In the 5th division,
The Captain of the 5th division who was a fox tribe woman sat on the chair and read a book on elemental control. These days Amber had a gloomy atmosphere around her. This was mainly because of the fact that after Aditya's disappearance, her best friend Julia, completely changed. Before, regardless of how busy Julia or Amber was, both friends would find at least 5 minutes to catch up and chat with each other.
After Aditya disappeared, Amber made many efforts to bring Julia out of her depression but she was unsuccessful. This has made Amber feel that she is not worthy of being Julia's best friend. Amber looked down on herself for not being able to help her best friend in such times.
'All of this is his Majesty's fault.' Although Amber would never say it out loud but deep down she was angry at Aditya for disappearing for over a month and leaving her best friend sad and depressed. Now no matter what Amber try to do or did, nothing worked.
'In a few more days, I should be able to reach beginner 4th-order with my magic cultivation. As for my Physical cultivation, I have reached Peak 3rd-order a few weeks ago. Although this has tremendously increased by strength, in the end, I cannot feel happy seeing my best friend like this.' Usually, Amber would take missions and go out to various cities to hunt for criminals. But nowadays, she stopped taking any missions. Instead, she sent her 5th-division members to complete the mission while she regularly tried to bring Julia out of her depression.
As for the other 6 generals, even though all of them were depressed, they did not slack off. The six of them carried out their duties as usual and didn't let any enemies get inside the Istarin Empire. The generals protected the Istarin Empire both from the outside and inside.
Sigh!
"I should try to talk with Julia." Amber closed the book that she was reading. Just as she walked out of the room, in the hallway, she noticed a messenger heading towards her.
"Greetings, my lady. I have come with very exciting news."
In the next seconds, Amber was gone from the training grounds. Amber quickly reached the Dragon palace. Without any hesitation, she entered Julia's room only to find her best friend lying on the bed and blankly staring at the ceiling. Seeing this Amber once again felt sad for her best friend.
Amber excitedly woke up Julia. Opening her eyes, Julia looked at Amber in confusion. The goddess wondered why Amber was suddenly being so excited.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"We finally have a way to reach him."
"By him.....you don't mean?" The goddess's eyes went wide open. Seeing her best friend nod, the goddess covered her mouth with her hands while tears formed in her eyes.
"Let's not waste a single second."
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