Aeren returned to Ellie, who had healed all the wounds she'd received from the battle and was staring at him from a distance.
He could see her displeasure, but he ignored her reaction. Aeren closed the distance to Ellie and approached her.
Ellie studied Aeren from head to toe and noticed the knife in his hand. She took it from him and made it vanish.
"Where were you?" she asked in a flat tone while simultaneously punching at Aeren.
Aeren dodged her punch and countered with a strike to her abdomen. "I was enjoying my time with the girls," he stated casually.
She spat saliva from her mouth after Aeren's punch, nearly collapsing to her knees but managing to steady herself and maintain her balance.
She stood, barely able to remain upright, and glared at Aeren. However, she fell silent, unable to speak after his punch.
Aeren observed her condition and spoke. "Clear out the entire village. This whole place was a smuggler's hideout. I've taken all the girls with me, so you can cleanse this village."
As soon as Aeren finished his sentence, she released all her ice magic into the atmosphere. The village began to freeze.
All the houses, people, and even the underground areas started freezing. She even wanted to freeze Aeren, but he vanished the moment he finished speaking.
Hours later...
She had frozen everything around the village and created an ice castle, smiling as she admired her creation. She observed her castle for a few moments and whispered to herself, "That's how a house should look—not like that cramped cell. Even though it's too small for me or brother Aeren to live in, at least one of us could stay here. Hehehe, let me show brother Aeren so he'll understand that I was right. Hehehe."
She completed her work and turned toward the village exit.
After a few moments, Ellie emerged from the village and spotted Aeren. He was sitting and waiting for her, surrounded by girls.
She ran directly to Aeren and shouted, "Brother, look at that! That's how a house should look!"
Aeren glanced at the distant castle, watching it shatter and crumble in the air. When everything had disappeared, he turned to Ellie.
"Where? I can't see anything there."
Ellie also watched her castle dissolving before her eyes, but now there was nothing left to see—only empty ground with no trace of her creation. She realized there was nothing left to explain and forgot about her earlier question, having been mesmerized by her own beautiful castle.
All the girls and Ellie turned to Aeren, shocked by his comment, and had no response. The girls then looked at Ellie, who appeared as surprised as they were.
Ellie was about to speak about her castle, but what could she say when there was nothing left to show? She abandoned her description and turned to the girls who were staring at her. "What are you all gawking at?"
Aeren had rescued 10-20 girls from the village, but only 3-4 remained here now, and they all lowered their heads.
"Sorry..."
One of them replied to Ellie, her head still down. Ellie watched them with suspicious eyes, studying their demeanor before addressing them.
"Why are you still here? Get lost."
All four of them lifted their heads, unable to believe their ears, and turned to Aeren. But he was conversing with someone and wasn't even looking at them.
One stepped forward from the group. "We have nowhere to go. We've all been betrayed and have no place to return to. Please, you two can take us with you, and we'll do anything. Sob Please don't leave us here."
Ellie watched their pleading but remained unmoved, feeling more irritated by them. She ignored them and returned to Aeren.
Aeren and his shadow were speaking with each other when Ellie reached them. They stopped talking and turned to her.
"Hmm, what's wrong, Ellie?" Aeren spoke politely.
Ellie stared at the shadow, and after it noticed her gaze, it disappeared. She felt relieved. "Nothing. Those wenches want to follow us."
Aeren lifted his head toward them and saw their hopeful expressions. He smiled at them, and his response gave them relief before he turned back to Ellie.
"Just kill them if you don't like them."
Ellie wasn't shocked by Aeren's perspective—she wanted to eliminate them but had saved them to complete her mission. They were her stepping stones and held no value beyond that, but they were her first stepping stones. So she wanted to keep them as a reward.
Ellie began contemplating what to do.
"I'll take them as human shields. They should be proud to serve as shields for a princess like me."
Aeren listened to her fantasy without immediately responding. He watched them for a few moments and thought, Hmm.
After seeing enough, Aeren turned back to Ellie. "Fine, don't overdo it."
While Aeren and Ellie were discussing this, a carriage arrived to collect them both. Ellie saw the carriage and turned to the girls.
"Get into that carriage and follow behind, or you can stay here."
All four girls saw the carriage and then noticed the royal family's emblem, which sent shivers through them. They had all assumed the siblings were from a noble family because of Ellie's beauty.
But they had never guessed they were from the royal family. When they saw the carriage, they all turned to Ellie.
One of them spoke. "Miss, who are you?"
Ellie looked confused by the question, staring at them before noticing her own clothing.
Do they think I'm common filth or noble filth? Should I ask? Never mind, it would be disappointing to ask them. Let them learn their place.
Ellie's posture changed, her beauty became more radiant, and she spoke with her cold, emotionless voice while using magic to enhance her words. "Of course, I'm the only princess."
Ellie's words rang in their heads, causing pain. The next moment, they all collapsed to the ground instantly. Only one girl had the will to remain standing.
She stared at Ellie in shock before turning to her fallen companions, who had knelt from the pain.
Ellie saw the last girl still standing and smiled, thinking, One has the qualifications to serve me.
Aeren watched the entire scene from behind, impressed by his sister for following his example perfectly and acting as she felt was right.
After observing them briefly, Aeren spoke to Ellie. "Ellie, let's go. Everything is ready."
Ellie turned to Aeren and spoke her final words to the standing girl. "You will serve me directly after we reach the palace."
Ellie told her this and returned to Aeren. The last girl simply watched her retreating figure.