Chapter 1: Decision To Join

After deciding to take over the matter of the elf kingdom, Alpha decides to have a strategy meeting with the Seven Shadows because of the upcoming tsunamis.

"Inform all the Seven Shadows of the meeting at the base hall," Alpha mutters nonchalantly, with a very subtle smile, like a maiden waiting for her loved one, while leaving the room. No sooner had she completed her muttering than a shadow could be seen subtly merging with the darkness beside the door.

Somewhere in the palace of the Midgar Kingdom, a girl stands with a face delicate yet resolute, bearing the weight of leadership. A cute smile might grace her lips, but beneath it lay the steel of a strategist, the determination of a queen. She watches the moon hanging low, casting a silver glow upon the world, its pale face unyielding, as if it held answers to questions she dared not voice. Her silvery hair cascades like a moonbeam, falling in gentle waves around her shoulders. Each strand holds a hint of starlight, as if the constellations themselves had woven her crown. She is none other than Alexia Midgar herself.

'Should I stand idly by, watching from the shadows? Or should I draw my blade and confront this darkness head-on? But the truth is, she's already lost to us, and I... I am left with no place in this unfolding tragedy.' Alexia contemplates deeply, scanning the darkness for answers.

"I need to talk to father... now." With a determined look, she rushes toward the room of his Majesty, her father.

"Fumu... It's not a decision I can make lightly. As a king, I bear the weight of our kingdom's future, and as your father, I can't bear the thought of you in harm's way. The responsibility to maintain our royal bloodline weighs heavily on me, but so does the duty to protect my family." After getting permission for the audience with her father, Alexia runs into his room, where she opens the door and walks toward the balcony where her father is waiting for her, gazing at the night star. After standing beside her father, she asks him once more for his opinion on her joining the Shadow Garden, as her sister has already been brainwashed by the cult and if in the future the Shadow Garden wins the battle, then there might not be anyone of their bloodline to carry on the legacy.

"And what makes you think they can win?" her father is a little astonished after hearing her calculation, so he jokingly asks her.

"I-I have witnessed their power several times, and I am standing here because of them. No, honestly speaking, because of Shadow." With a firm look and eyes filled with admiration, she speaks her heart out.

"If that is truly your wish, my daughter, then as both your father and your king, I must do what I can to support you. I will share with you some information that we have come upon only by chance, hoping it may aid you in your quest."

"You mean to say that the chaos in Oriana was a direct confrontation between the cult and Shadow, and that the Shadow Garden emerged victorious, now purging the corrupt nobility... And Rose, she's... she's collaborating with them, isn't she?"

After listening to the few things they have got, the air around Alexia was clear, and it was clear to Alexia where she needs to head to in order to find them. Her face was pale, yet there was a kind of understanding in her eyes.

"I am leaving tomorrow afternoon, father," she said with a somewhat saddened expression, and her father didn't know what to answer other than, "I will arrange the escort for her."

Tang

sip sip

"Mitsugoshi... hun." Suddenly, a very sweet and calm voice echoed in the room, yet it made Alexia and her father surprised.

'How?!?...' Alexia thought in her mind as shivers ran through her spine because of the sight that she saw after turning around.

"Seated on the sofa, draped in black with a golden-lined pattern that seemed to shimmer in the dim light, was a figure with two distinct pink strands of hair cascading down her chest. Her hood obscured most of her face, but her piercing blue eyes, burning like flames, held the weight of countless battles, a testament to the taste of both victory and betrayal. Her very presence exuded an aura of danger and intrigue, casting a palpable tension in the room."

"Y-You... You are from the Shadow Garden, right?" There were cold sweats all over the face of her father, but there were no signs of panicking aside from his voice because the killing intent residing inside her eyes was not toward either of them.

"I mean no harm. My visit is solely to advise your daughter,"the figure spoke, her voice calm and measured, betraying no hint of malice

sip