The capital of the Gabriel Empire, near Gabriels City, in the upper reaches of the Claudine River, the Elitechra Academy, one of the twelve academies of the Human Race. After a short journey on the water, Bella and the others finally arrived at their destination, the Elitechra Academy campus, where the Hundred Flowers Festival was being held.
According to the Demonic Eye tracking, the mysterious figure that Bella and the others encountered on the Claudine River had disappeared upon arriving here. In other words, they hid themselves somewhere near the venue of the Hundred Flowers Festival. With that thought in mind, Bella entered the Elitechra Academy campus with Lolita and the other lolis.
The Elitechra Academy campus was located on the Elite Plains in the upper reaches of the Claudine River. It was a deep forest city that was very close to nature. There were greens everywhere, houses built in trees, and rare buildings made from stacked rocks. Bella almost assumed she had entered an Elven Race village.
Apparently, there were traces of elven activities in the Elite Plains 10,000 years ago. It was one of the few foreign bases of the elves outside the continent where they lived. However, the exact Elven Race remained unknown. The first humans who discovered the place came across the villages but not the elves.
To not damage the beautiful natural environment here, the people who first discovered the place had remodeled it a little. The elven wooden houses had been modified for human use. Over the past 10,000 years, many human historians had visited it, all wanting to determine which of the Elven Race lived here.
However, these archeological operations ended in failure. No elven remains were ever found. The wooden houses that seemed to have been built by the elves weren’t enough proof that elves once existed here. Bella learned about these campus secrets from the student union president and vice president of the Elitechra Academy, Andanetta and Andanielle.
Archaeologists at that time had even invited the Elven Race to examine the place. However, the elves could only confirm that the wooden houses possessed their architectural styles. They couldn’t be sure if they were built by elves. The unwilling archaeologists invited the Fairy Race and Dwarf Race to identify them, but no progress either.
Bella wasn’t interested in archaeology, but the scenery was breathtaking. They were surrounded by a sea of flowers of countless varieties. The three lolis behind Bella obviously had different tastes. They weren’t very interested in these beautiful flowers and continued gnawing on their cookies, forming a sharp contrast with those around them.
Since Bella had “collected” the president and vice president of the Elitechtra Academy’s student union, Andanetta and Andanielle, in the Belizegra Military Camp, they hadn’t been found yet. Alfred the Third was forced to temporarily issue an edict so that the oldest and second princesses of the empire, Kliveny and Karin, would replace Andanetta and Andanielle as the hosts of the Hundred Flowers Festival.
The Hundred Flowers Festival’s main activity was a flower appreciation event for both men and women. However, the women actually appreciated the flowers, while the flowers the men enjoyed were something else entirely. According to tradition, the main event included the flower queen selection, the most beautiful girl at the Hundred Flowers Festival. The other event was to give flowers to your favorite girl. This event was called the Master of Famed Flowers. The girls participating in the Hundred Flowers Festival would anonymously choose the three types of flowers they liked.
Those who participated in Master of Famed Flowers had three opportunities to give flowers to the girl they liked. If one of the three flowers they selected was the same as the girl’s, both parties were fated, and the girl would agree to go on a date with the person who correctly guessed the flower that she liked. In fact, it was just a fun event. But because of questionable confidentiality measures, the organizer might also deliberately reveal the flowers that the girls chose.
This was just one aspect of the blind date. There was another event where the women chose the men. This activity seemed to have been specially introduced from the Manasvir Empire. The Gabriel Empire had sought advice from interdimensional traveler Empress Manya Felan who planned a runway similar to a dating show. It was sold to the Gabriel Empire at a high price and retained its original name, “If You Are The One.”
Bella wasn’t interested in participating in this event. Although the organizers came several times and hoped that Bella would join as a VIP guest, Bella refused. She thought that the organizer of the Hundred Flowers Festival was truly wicked, trying to find a boyfriend and coming to her about all kinds of matchmaking activities. If Bella didn’t participate, Princess Kriss and the others would naturally find a reason to forgo the event.
The only female guests invited on “If You Are The One” were lesser-known imperial princesses at the opening. None of the famous ones, such as Kriss, made their appearance. However, this novel game opened the eyes of the “indigenous inhabitants” of the Other World, attracting a large number of people who stopped and watched. Fortunately, even without Bella, Kriss, and the others, the situation wasn’t too embarrassing.
The event Bella participated in was the second one, the Master of Famed Flowers, which was to choose a flower the girl she admired liked. There was something special about this event, which was its tradition. If one could get all three kinds of flowers right, that proved that both parties were predestined. In that case, the girl would accept an engagement request.
This was the Hundred Flowers Festival tradition, and the imperial family members must also abide by it. Bella and Kriss had already secretly discussed writing the same three flowers, except in the reverse order. There was an obvious loophole in the Master of Famed Flowers. Since it was an event that had been passed down for thousands of years, girl-on-girl hadn’t yet appeared in the Human Continent. In the Master of Famed Flowers, the gender of the flower giver wasn’t specified, but the ones receiving the flowers had to be girls.
It wasn’t against the rules for girls to give flowers to other girls. According to the tradition, if Bella and Kriss send each other the three same types of flowers, they must agree to a marriage proposal. In the Human Continent, there was no precedent for an engagement between two women. To reduce the resistance of public opinion, Bella intended to take advantage of this special tradition so she could get engaged to Kriss. They could attribute it all to destiny that way, so the public would show better acceptance of the matter.
Bella had considered the fact that both she and Kriss were famous ladies. Many knew about this tradition. Which three types of flowers would they choose? Many would be able to determine this through various special channels. Bella and Kriss selected the three rarest flowers in the Elite Plains to avoid being preempted by others. They were practically legendary flowers. This made it more difficult for others, as well as Bella, to find them.
For ladies who participated in the Master of Famed Flowers event, the flowers selected must be found within the Elite Plains. That was the only way the event could proceed. The Elite Plains contained almost all the flower varieties that had ever appeared in the entire Human Continent, so the ladies could choose as they pleased. As Bella had expected, after learning of the list of flowers submitted by Kriss and herself, many confident boys lost more than half their self-assurance at once.
The three flowers that Bella and Kriss chose were famed flowers that only existed in the legends of the Elite Plains and were almost impossible to find. However, because they were also included in the list of flowers that existed in the Elite Plains, the list submitted by Bella and Kriss was deemed valid. Many boys had been forced to shift their targets and no longer had any delusions about Kriss and Bella.
The three types of flowers Bella had written were the Star of The Sky that symbolized the sky, the Boon of the Land that symbolized the earth, and the Spirit of the Sea that symbolized the sea. These three flowers had once appeared in the Elite Plains and were known as legendary flowers. With the Demonic Eye’s assistance, she could scout the area and had a great chance of finding these legendary flowers.
The Demonic Eye lived up to her expectations and soon discovered the hidden energy signatures, which should be the locations of these flowers. No one had been able to find these three flowers for thousands of years because mysterious beings were protecting them. Under the influence of illusions, even the old Sword Gods of the Hilikas Family in the Sanctuary of Swords near the Elitechra Academy hadn’t seen through those illusions. It was obvious the ones who created those illusions were terrifying.
Bella confirmed the map of the area. The Star of the Sky was located on the tallest ancient tree in the Elite Plains; the Boon of the Land was located in the deepest cave, while the Spirit of the Sea was located in a small stream. According to the information obtained from sisters Andanetta and Andanielle, these three areas were strange, similar to the Forbidden Grounds in the Olsylvia Academy’s Midnight Unbelievable Tales and the many other campus legends.
“Bella, the three flowers that you chose are really tough. I saw the young master of the Renald family, Leonard, immediately turning ashen, as if he were sick.”
“Hmph, who gave him the guts to hit on my girlfriend! Let’s see how he looks for them! Kriss, let’s go as soon as possible. Finding the three flowers first is more than half the victory.”
Bella quickly joined Kriss. The two girls and three lolis formed a team, moving to the first hidden location–the tallest ancient tree in the Elite Plains. The girls’ scope of activities wasn’t limited in the Master of Famed Flowers. Right now, the entire Elite Plains was filled with boys looking for flowers for the girls they admired. It was lively indeed.
The Elitechra Academy campus had no clear borders. It was an open campus located at the highest point of the Elite Plains, the ancient tree. The place was covered in overgrown weeds and appeared deserted as if no one had set foot in there for a long time. On their way to the ancient tree, Bella and Kriss were dissuaded by many boys.
“Grand Duchess Bellina, that tree is really evil, especially at night, so don’t go!”
“Princess Kriss, that tree is ominous. It’s best if you don’t go. There are many fun places on the Elitechra Academy campus. You don’t have to go there.”
Faced with the kindness of these boys, Bella and Kriss used the excuse that it was still daytime, so there wasn’t a problem. Due to Bella’s strength as a Dragon Knight and the fact that it was still daytime, these students didn’t say anything.
According to the Elitechra Academy campus’s legends, a terrifying Demonic Beast lived on this ancient tree that had grown for thousands of years. Many students apparently saw a pair of red eyes as big as lanterns on the tree in the middle of the night. In the early days of the academy’s establishment, many students had disappeared under the old tree. For the safety of their students, the tree was sealed off.
The Sword Gods of the Hilikas family had also explored the ancient tree. Except for being unusually tall, no abnormalities were found. In the end, they had no choice but to stop. The Gabriel Empire had always disliked dealing with the Aldridge Empire and had a poor relationship with the Radiant Church. This sort of unusual thing couldn’t be solved by swordsmen who weren’t adept at magic. It was more reliable to entrust the investigation to the Radiant Church’s priests or some great mage.
Bella instinctively sensed an evil aura even from a considerable distance away from the tree. It was the aura of a fellow companion, a Demon King mixed with several Demonic Beings. It was the aura of an opposing camp, the old Twelve Demon Kings. Bella had previously met the Moon Demon King on the way to the Gabriel Empire’s capital, Gabriels City. There were various signs that the coup in the Gabriel Empire had traces of the old Demon Kings.
The other dark force cooperating with the wandering Prince Cruz was probably part of the Twelve Demon Kings. With this thought, Bella wasn’t surprised that the ancient tree had a strange demonic aura. She wanted to confirm who the Demon King was. It was alright if it were a female Demon King, but it would be troublesome if it was a male.
“Bella, Kriss, you can’t go there. That ancient tree is evil. There have been many who had gone missing…”
“Um, Calman, Cahlia, why are you participating in this event? You’re obviously still minors!”
“What minors, Big Sister Bella? Don’t take Kriss and those young ladies on such a risky adventure. They look like ordinary maids. It’s very dangerous.”
Two obstructers appeared on their path. It was the twin daughters of the Hilikas Family, quasi-Sword Gods Calman and Cahlia. Bella could have fooled them if it were anyone else, but not these two sisters who wore a “supervisor” armband.
Calman and Cahlia had been entrusted by their family to supervise the Hundred Flowers Festival, so they weren’t among the participants. Like Lolita and the others behind Bella, they were girls who hadn’t accepted the invitation. The family had specifically asked them to secretly keep an eye on Princess Kriss and report her location at all times.
However, upon seeing Bella, Calman and Cahlia inexplicably ignored reporting Kriss’ position. After realizing that Bella and Kriss were headed to the ancient tree, they became anxious and disregarded the rule prohibiting them from intervening in the event. They immediately stopped Bella and the others.
After a moment’s hesitation, Calman and Cahlia secretly revealed that the Hilikas Family did find something in the exploration thousands of years ago, but the things they found were too terrifying. Thus, they were afraid to disclose their findings to outsiders, not even the Emperor. To the outside world, they claimed they hadn’t found anything.
Not only did the six Sword Gods of the Hilikas Family participate in that exploration, but they had also secretly invited the other three Sword Gods who were hiding in other areas of the empire. The three also used secret methods to preserve their flesh and succeeded in living for thousands of years. However, they were attacked by a python during the exploration and were forced to retreat before exploring other areas of the ancient tree.
In that attack, a never-before-seen mysterious python managed to suppress the Sword Gods. To cover for the retreat of the six Sword Gods from the Hilikas family, the three Sword Gods completely disappeared after being rolled away by the python. The six Sword Gods who escaped were all seriously injured. Fortunately, the python’s range of activity was limited to the ancient tree, so it couldn’t come out and cause trouble. Otherwise, the entire Gabriel Empire would have faced the crisis of destruction.
Bella and the others weren’t bothered. Sword Gods, who were top experts before ordinary folk, were just cannon fodder in front of them. And the python was just a stronger Abyss Demon. They were powerful enough to deal with it. Bella could also sense a gaze originating from the ancient tree as if it were observing them.
Obviously, the Demon King in the ancient tree had already noticed Bella and the others. Even if they were to retreat, the other party wouldn’t let them go. In that case, it would be better to meet them head-on. The only thing that seemed strange was the fact that the Demon King’s gaze seemed to linger on her slightly longer than it did on anyone else as if the two had previously known each.
“Listen you two, Kriss and I are going over. If you’re afraid, then go back!”
“Who’s scared, Big Sister Bella. Wait for us!”
In a mysterious area on the ancient tree, a strange mirror reflected the images of Bella and the others. On the Demon King’s throne in front of the mirror, a petite figure immediately rose to her feet upon noticing Bella.
“Sure enough, it’s you! It’s the evil Demon King who knocked me out and robbed my summoning channel. I’ll make you suffer this time!”
