Inside the tea room, the two sat facing each other, quietly sipping tea. Each displayed noble etiquette and grace.
Empress Catherine Fairwind could not hold back and asked Sera, "Sera, why did you not tell me Alex is still stuck at level 1? He should have advanced beyond that by now."
Grand Duchess Sera Azurestorm set her teacup down, met Empress Catherine's gaze, and replied, "We did not know what to do at the time, so we decided to keep it from others."
Empress Catherine was not satisfied with Sera's answer and rebutted by asking, "You could have asked for our help, yet you didn't?" Catherine pressed.
Sera sighed at the questioning. She had brought this up before, though not directly. She replied, "Catherine, do you remember when I asked about the status effect showing 'abnormal'? You said you had not heard of it, and I even asked you to look into it."
Empress Catherine finally understood and connected all the things,"So, that thing was for Alex, and just as you mentioned, I haven't heard anything like that, and I even looked into our library and asked others, but they didn't know about it as well."
Empress Catherine felt sympathy for Sera and Alex. "I asked several times why you were inquiring, but you did not answer. After searching for a while, I found nothing, so I stopped looking. Have you found any clues now?"
Sera's face saddened by reminiscing about her and her husband Shane's effort on finding the clue to Alex's status effect, she replied,"No, we have not found anything about it, but we are not going to stop looking for it. Even if it means spending all our wealth and manpower, we will find what is making Alex stuck at level 1."
Empress Catherine, thinking about how Alex was a bright kid, wanted to help and consoled Sera, "Don't worry, Sera, I will also look for it, and I will immediately inform you if I ever find anything about it," Catherine promised.
Sera felt happy that Empress Catherine was willing to help her. She nodded her head with her lips slightly smiling, but still her sadness was evident on her face. "Thank you, Catherine, I don't know how else to thank you," Sera replied gratefully.
Empress Catherine was about to say there was no need to thank her, as they are friends and might become family in the future, but stopped as something interrupted her.
Catherine was suddenly stopped by a guard who appeared beside the table. The guard kneeled on the ground, with one knee touching the ground and the other knee bent, his head facing the ground. "Her highness, Lady Eva, has been trapped inside a white gate," he reported.
Both ladies were shocked and immediately stood up. They reached out with their senses and found a different kind of magic energy emanating from one place.
Both Empress Catherine and Sera looked at each other, then disappeared from their positions and appeared in front of the white gate. The guard also followed them in silence and arrived a while later.
Sera looked at the guard who was bent on his knees and asked, "Why did you not stop the princess from falling inside the gate, and where is Alex?" Sera emitted her mana out of her body. She was a level 600 sage rank ice magician, only falling short by a difference of level 100 from reaching paragon rank, which starts at level 700. The surrounding areas' temperature dropped, and coldness surrounded the guard from all corners.
The guard shook where he was; he was only level 200, which was 400 levels lower, a huge difference. He bowed his head, touching his forehead to the ground, and answered, "Lady Duchess, I tried to catch Her Highness, Lady Eva, but the gate appeared so fast right where Lady Eva was standing, and immediately pulled her inside. I couldn't do anything. I tried to go in, but it only lets people under level 10 go inside."
Empress Catherine tried to push her hand through the white gate, which was surrounded by white mist, but was suddenly interrupted by a notification in her status window.
—————————————
[STATUS WINDOW]
Gate Classification: White Gate
Danger Level: Minimal
Entry Restriction: Only individuals below Level 10 may enter.
—————————————
Sera looked back at Catherine, who was stopped in her tracks, and Catherine nodded her head as if to confirm the guard was telling the truth. Sera then turned to look back at the guard, who had been shaking and quivering under the cold, and she slowly retracted her ice and asked, "But, where is Alex?"
Just when the guard felt he had gotten mercy, he realized he hadn't seen Alex. Fear crept over him, thinking of what Alex might have done. "Lady Duchess, I informed Alex not to enter the gate and came to you to inform you about it. I fear that he might have entered the gate," the guard replied, his voice shaking.
Guard felt himself freezing; the cold that had just barely stopped returned with full force, and the air grew frigid, and small ice particles filled the area. The guard fainted in his position from the cold; his level 200 defense was easily breached by level 600 magic.
Empress Catherine, seeing the situation getting out of hand, reached near Sera, slowly lifted her right hand and put it on Sera's shoulder, and said, "Calm down, Sera. The difficulty won't be hard, and both are strong," Catherine reassured.
Sera, who had only unleashed ten percent of her magic, retreated all her magic. She looked at the fainted guard; the surrounding area slowly returned to normal, but the air still remained chill and crisp. Sera replied nothing to Catherine.
Empress Catherine was a spirit summoner, a paragon rank summoner. She summoned a small fairy; her whole body was light green, her ears were pointed, her hair was in two ponytails, and she wore a green dress.
Fairy floated and hovered around Empress Catherine.
The fairy immediately understood her master's plans and healed the guard back to his previous self.
Empress Catherine ordered the guard,"Go back."
The guard, coming to his senses, wanted to stay no longer and disappeared immediately.
Sera was standing still. She knew Alex was stronger thanks to his training and dragon bloodline, but he was still technically at level 1. Catherine consoled Sera, understanding her feelings and what she was going through. "Don't worry, I am sure Eva will protect him, and she is level 8," Catherine said.
Sera could only nod and console herself that nothing bad would happen. She looked at the white gate, which was surrounded by a mist that encircled it. She couldn't stop the ominous feeling coming from the gate.
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