We had exited the kingdom gates half an hour ago. I looked outside the window but saw nothing except forest and mist. Finally, I asked, "Where are we going?" as I was getting suspicious. Kite was explaining winter backstory to Athena, who had asked him to tell her more about what winter was like at the academy.
"We're going to the prince's personal mansion," said the general, while casting a spell. Before I could react, Athena, Kite, and I began glowing white. I looked at the general, who smiled and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the white glow burst out, blinding us for a second. When I opened my eyes, I felt no different. Athena and Kite also looked confused. I turned to the general and asked, "What did you just do? What spell did you cast?"
"This spell cancels out your scent entirely," the general said, pointing outside the window. We looked out and saw many owls walking near the carriage, but they moved away after sniffing. "They can't smell anything from this carriage—no humans, not even the horse that is right infront of them ."
We finally realized how useful the spell was, but a thought crossed my mind. Before I could ask, Athena voiced the same doubt: "How long does this spell last?"
"Forever—the spell will last forever," said the general. "What do you mean 'forever'? Are you saying my smell is gone forever?"
"It's not like that. There's no spell that lasts forever; every spell has a counter or a time limit. The last time I cast this spell, it lasted two decades before it faded away," the general said, pushing Athena away from his face.
"Then why did you say it lasts forever?" asked Kite. "I only said 'forever' as an assumption—because I believe my magic power has doubled after receiving the God of Time blessing," the general replied, finally pushing Athena back into her seat.
"What about Winter? You haven't cast the spell on him," Athena asked angrily.
Why is she so angry about losing her smell? I thought.
"You don't need to worry about Mr. Winter. I cast the spell on him a few days ago on the prince's orders," the general said, standing up just as the carriage stopped. We looked outside and saw nothing but mist. The door opened, and the general stepped out. We followed him into the mist.
As we went deeper, the mist began to change—shifting colors , then slowly turning into a forest. Eventually, we reached the end and saw a giant mansion.
So this is the prince's personal mansion, I thought.
We followed the general as he opened the gate for us. As we entered, we felt a large pressure pushing down on us, making us kneel slightly. We stood up again.
"Sorry, this is just a security measure in the mansion," the general said with a small smile.
Inside, the mansion was a mess—books were scattered everywhere. We heard some noise from above, looked up, and saw two kids flying. The kids noticed us and smiled before flying toward us. One of them crashed directly into my stomach, sending me flying into a wall. Groaning in pain, I looked up and saw two green eyes and green hair. The kid sat a little way from me, rubbing his head. He looked at me and smiled again. Without hesitation, I stood up and knocked him on the head.
****
"So you're telling me these two kids are twins and they are from the fairy race?" I asked the general. I saw Silver and the kid who crashed into him pulling each other's hair, while the other one was sleeping in Athena's lap.
"These kids are twins. But as far as I know, fairies are never born as twins, and they don't like to stay on the continent of Avaris. So tell me—were these children kidnapped from their homeland cause fairies are kidnapped for sacrifices ?"
Kite looked angry for some reason. When he asked the question, even we became suspicious of the twins.
"You're right to be suspicious—about how twins could be born among fairies and how they got here," said a new voice. We turned and saw the prince. He came and sat on the sofa next to Kite. Kite, who had been angry, calmed down a little as he repeated his question.
The prince chuckled lightly and said, "There's no way twins can be born in the fairy race—unless another race is involved."
I looked around and realized that only Athena didn't understand what he meant.
"These twins have human blood mixed with their fairy blood," he explained.
"Hey Silver, what is Mr. Prince trying to say—'human blood mixed with their fairy blood'?" I asked. He looked at me and said, "I'll tell you later," before turning away. I noticed the prince looked at me with pity in his eyes before continuing.
"These kids are my friend's children. Their mother was human, and their father was a fairy," he said sadly, his head lowered.
"So where are their parents now?" Athena asked casually. We all turned to her, sighing. "What?" she said innocently.
Just then, the kids came back, floating with ice cream near them. They handed the ice cream to us. "Father, where did Aunt go with the man ? And who are those people with you?" one of the kid asked.
*****
"So tell me, Princess—will your plan really work?" I asked, still doubting it. As I was thinking, I was suddenly attacked. I barely dodged in time, and when I looked, I saw the princess had been the one who struck. She now stood ready, scythe in hand.
"Prepare yourself, Winter. I don't want this plan to fail, so I need you to be strong."
"So, the shy-girl persona is gone? That's good," I said with a smile, unsheathing my sword and taking my stance. The princess smiled back, and we launched at each other.