A place to call home and an unexpected event

-- POV Freya --

It was getting dark as we all slowly but surely made our way into the treeless area. Everyone was tired, even my little Shiro was sleeping next to Kate in a cart reserved for children. I was in the front from the beginning, which is why I was the first one out of the forest. The treeless area was vast and I could feel the fresh sea air tickling my face and nose. It was a land of dry earth and grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. As the carts came out of the trees one by one, I threw Inferno at full speed to reach the edge of this great plain.

"Go !"

"Your Highness !!!"

Trioa shouted as my other commanders tried to join me before being stopped by Emilia who, without a word had made a move to stop them all.

I didn't say anything, too absorbed by what was happening in front of me. My glittering eyes were fixed on the horizon, in front of this immensity while my horse galloped. I could no longer hear the sound of his hooves pounding the ground or the sound of birds as I felt like I was flying, free...time seemed to stand still. Inferno galloped faster and faster and carried me on his back with vigor until he reached the west side. As he stopped, his two front legs rose up as he neighed and reared at the edge of a small cliff offering the others a vision almost out of a dream. My long black hair flew as my single white strand reflected the last light of day.

As Inferno calmed down, the setting sun tinted the horizon with its warm color while I remained silent in front of this magnificent landscape.

[Wow..it looks like...]

"...the end of the world !"

In front of me was the sea that stretched as far as the eye could see. The water was calm and shone with an intense red, colored by the sunset. I felt like I had reached the end of the world, as if it belonged to me and I was alone while my eyes remained hypnotized by this place of beauty.

"Kira...this is where we will live..."

My voice rose softly as I whispered these words that made me smile. We had finally all arrived at the place where my Kingdom would soon stand, where we could all live in peace.

"Your Highness ?"

Trioa had flown to me and was waiting behind me, her dot on the heart and head bowed. As my gaze moved from the sea to the trees, I could see that the carts had all stopped in the middle and were waiting.

"Where's Shiro ?"

The first thing that came to my mind was to show her this scene before the sun had fully set. The light was still strong and I didn't want her to miss such a sight.

"Princess Shiro is in that cart over there, she should normally be awake."

"Very well, thank you."

I was once again throwing my horse in the direction of the place Trioa had pointed out to me. The cart was mostly made up of children and among all these little colored heads, it was not very hard for me to distinguish one completely white one. I approached the cart before getting off the horse and walking towards Shiro. Viana and five other women were looking after the youngsters and when they saw me, they hurried to their knees.

"Your Highness, we took good care of the Princess during the trip. Have you come to pick up her ?"

As Naia's mother spoke, I could not hide the slight annoyance that ran through me as my cold, powerful voice rang out.

"Get up, I don't like people kneeling before me for nothing. Save it for important events."

"Y..yes!"

The six women eagerly stood up as I saw almost all of them look down, their hands shaking. I didn't want to scare them, but I couldn't be any more friendly. Even though I wanted to rule my Kingdom firmly and be addressed as the Empress, to make up for my coldness and aura I had decided to be more encouraging and sincerely congratulate those who deserved it.

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter during the ride."

That was all I could say to them as I passed them to get my little moon. The six half-human women were smiling, obviously happy for this sign of gratitude despite the fear I inspired in them.

My daughter was alone and was trying to stroke the horse that had brought them here to thank and congratulate him. The scene was quite funny because she couldn't even reach his belly and kept jumping to try to reach him.

*Pffhaha~*

It was so funny that Kira and I couldn't stop laughing. As I approached her, I picked her up so she could reach her head.

"Thanks mommy !"

This little girl had such a pure heart that she still managed to impress me. As Shiro petted the horse, I talked to her about how I wanted to show her something.

"Sweetie, there is really something beautiful I want to show you. Will you come with me ? It seems to me that you have never seen the sea before, have you ?"

My little moon then quickly turned her head towards me with her mouth open, not even knowing what to say as she vigorously nodded her head.

"Haha~ all right let's go. Quickly before the sun disappears !"

Inferno was already standing by as if he had understood our conversation so it was quick to get my daughter on it before doing the same, to once again gallop to the end of the plain. Once we arrived, Shiro couldn't take her eyes off this fascinating landscape that could absorb all our thoughts. As far as I was concerned, it was no longer the horizon that held my gaze but my little girl and her eyes full of stars. For me they were worth a thousand times and even more that beautiful setting sun.

I leaned slightly to whisper three words to her that I had never said to her before.

"I love you."

This time her eyes stared at me as she answered in her little voice.

"I love you too mommy...th...thanks for showing me the sea for the first time."

Hugging her while we were still sitting on the horse, I quickly kissed her forehead as she gently closed her eyes lulled by the rhythm of the waves.

"This is where we will all live. If you wish, your room can even have this view....

....welcome home my dear."

My little moon was not asleep and I could see her smiling sweetly, her face buried in my shirt and her little arms around my waist. Shiro's eyes were still closed and even though she was turned towards me, I hadn't missed the little bead of water that was gently running down her pink cheek. My daughter was crying.

"Baby what's wrong ? Do you hurt somewhere ?"

I couldn't help but worry as I took her face in my gloved hands to wipe her eyes. Shiro sniffled while shaking her little head indicating that I shouldn't worry before answering.

"No mommy...I...I just wanted to say thank you. Since you became my mom, every day I am super happy. I have a friend, no one hits me, no one yells at me and most of all I have two really nice moms with me. When I wake up next to you in the morning, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore, I'm not scared anymore and I even feel warm in my chest...

....Is this what they call a family ?"

She looked at me with her big, still wet eyes patiently waiting for my answer.

"Yes...this is what a family is. In a family we love each other and protect each other. You are my daughter and Gaya is my wife and your mother, you are both my first family and I will always protect you."

*You too Kira I love you and you are obviously part of my family too*

[Thank you..I..I love you too onee-san]

Kira's voice was almost inaudible and I knew that she was touched by my words. While I was stroking Shiro's hair, no one else was talking because we were all enjoying this magical but not perfect moment. It would have been perfect only if my wife had stood by our side.

Gaya had been gone for several hours already and I was about to contact her telepathically to find out the progress of her mission.

Nobody had come to disturb us during our moment because nobody dared to disturb me when I was accompanied by my daughter or my wife. We were quietly trotting back to the camp that was forming little by little before our eyes. When I had almost reached it, Persea appeared before me.

"Your Highness, your tent is ready and the Princess' bed is inside if she wishes to rest. The members in charge of the kitchen are preparing food and the others are helping us set up everything."

"Very well thank you. Once finished rest all and eat, I must contact Gaya then no one disturb us."

The dryad bowed before leaving and passing the message on while I got off my horse and carried Shiro in my arms who had actually fallen asleep. Before leaving, I did not forget to caress Inferno who had carried me until here without ever getting tired all day.

"Go and rest too, you've worked well today."

The black stallion neighed, almost nodding his head before walking away to a watering hole.

[You're lucky to have found him, he's already extremely loyal to you]

*Indeed, he's a good horse and I'm glad to have him. I'm sure we're not done being amazed by him and Pearl.*.

As I mentioned Gaya's mare, I walked into my tent with my little moon still in my arms. The tent looked bigger and new things had been added. In addition to the large table and 12 chairs around it and the three beds, there was a wooden desk and small dressers with candles. Our beds had changed and looked more comfortable while my chair was also different. It used to be simple and like all the others but now it was bigger, had armrests and carved designs on it.

"I wonder when they had time to do all this !"

[During their week of recovery they were pretty busy though you know ?]

I was thinking about what Kira had told me while gently laying Shiro on her little bed, which was now covered with a very soft material. After giving her a last kiss on the cheek, I got up to sit on my new comfortable chair. I was going to test for the very first time the telepathy at distance.

*Tell me Kira, how do I contact Gaya ?*

[Just open your Kingdom menu and mentally select Gaya's name from the list to access her functions].

As I followed Kira's advice and selected Gaya's name, a whole new window appeared before me.

-- PING --

[Named individual : Gaya

Status

Information

Physical and mental state

Telepathy ]

There were some new things but for now I wanted to talk to my wife

-- PING --

[ Contact Gaya telepathically ]

[ YES/NO ]

As I mentally answered yes, I felt like a connection was being made in my mind. It was a very special feeling, as I felt and saw two golden threads connect together and go away as I tried a sentence to test.

"Gaya ? Can you hear me ?"

"AAAAAHHH !!!"

It was indeed the voice of the dragoness I had heard screaming. She seemed to have been surprised by this sudden voice that had appeared in her mind.

"Fr...Freya ? How do you...? Oh yes, that's right. Pfff you scared me, I think I could have died of a heart attack !"

I was happy to be able to hear her even though she was grumbling after being scared like that. I could already see her puffing out her cheeks in protest but before I bothered her any further I wanted to be sure of one thing.

"Is everything okay ? Have you met any people ?"

"...Uh yes, a few adventurers, there were five of them but it wasn't a problem for me. We are currently still walking at our own pace to get there as quickly as possible."

I was relieved to hear this and as I became more relaxed, I continued to ask her questions.

"Why are you walking at night ? Shouldn't you be resting ?"

"Adventurers are supposed to land towards the mountain at dawn, so we need to walk longer to avoid running into them."

At her words I stood up from my chair almost knocking it over.

"Do I have to come ?!?!"

"Honey no ! Don't worry we'll get there in 3 days if all goes well ! Just stay where you are and start construction...please."

She seemed strangely panicked but her words had reassured me.

[She's right, don't worry about her onee-san !]

Just as I was about to reply, a sentence that I didn't expect from Gaya suddenly echoed in my mind and left me speechless.

"Freya ? Just now, wh-who was that ?"

"Huh ?"

[Wh...]

This...was unexpected.

____

FULL STATUS

Name : Freya

Age : 0 years / Mentally : 25 years

Sex : Female

Course : Ice Demon Wolf of chaos - Adult

Race : Major Demon

Titles : Blessed by Titania, Goddess of endless Chaos and eternal frozen Hell.

Dragon tamer

Ruthless slayer

Level : 32/70

Exp needed for next level: 22 100 / 33 000

HP : 90 000 / 90 000 MP : 45 000 / 45 000

Strength : 390

Defense : 386

Agility : 400

Stamina : 403

Speed : 392

Intelligence : 390

Charisma : 410 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 0

Married to: Gaya

Daughter : Shiro

Kingdom (menu)

Subordinates : 385

Humans killed : 148

Elements: Ice / Chaos

Skills (all):

Attack - Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of hell (Lvl 5)

- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)

- Fighting techniques (Lvl max)

- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)

- Demonic aura of the empress (lvl 5)

Defense - Ice demon wall (lvl 5)

- Demonic cloak (lvl 5)

Pain Resistance (lvl 3)

Attack/Defense - Domain of the Ice Empress "frozen wrath" (lvl 1) - (under condition)

Others - Humanoid form

- Ice creation (Lvl 4)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 3)

- Devouring chaos (Lvl 4)

- Analysis

- Second soul (Lvl max) - unique

- Telepathy

Passives - Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]