446 Take The Princess And Run

"Mistress…"

"Sister Aster…"

I waved my hand at the two girls to show that I was fine while I stood up from the ground with our Tiara in my arms, having caught her before she fell over after her final chain was shattered.

"Let's just… Go home," I muttered, not trusting myself to speak more than that.

It was stupid… I admit that I did not feel anything when the other versions of Tiara that came from through the mirror were killed right in front of me… But just because I spent a little bit of time with this dimension's version of Tiara, I felt sad for her death.

Perhaps it was because I worked so hard to save her so I wanted to keep her alive or I would have felt my efforts were in vain or something.

It certainly felt like a waste to me that she had to die though I would still choose this over losing our Tiara instead.

I guess it's the same feeling where you worked really hard to save an NPC in a game only to find out later that the NPC has a scripted death scene later on.

As I picked up Tiara in my arms, I could see the King making her way towards me, right as the mirror behind her shifted colours again.

The entire tower started to shake and I felt an immense pressure pressing down on me, as though something big was standing over me.

All of us turned towards the mirror where the colours spun around like a kaleidoscope until it settled back into a normal mirror surface again. The only priblem was that it was not reflecting what was in front of it and showing a giant eye glaring at us instead.

Somehow, my instincts were screaming at me that being seen by that eye was a very bad thing.

"The portal… Run!" The King shouted.

All of us turned back and ran towards the portal that was already in the midst of closing at the end of the tower.

Looking at the portal's current size, I had a moment to wonder if any demons managed to squeeze themselves through since it was already big enough for an adult to slip through relatively easily right now.

My thoughts were interrupted when the tower shook even more violently and a roar came from the mirror, followed by the distinct sound of glass shattering.

The walls around us started to collapse and a pillar narrowly missed crashing down on us as we ran past.

"Don't look back! Just run!" The King shouted at us from behind.

Not helping, Justinia… That only makes me want to look more… I managed to prevent myself from doing so though.

As we were about to reach the portal, another quake shook the tower and caused the hole the King had created with her fight with the Pale Fiend to collapse, widening the hole even further.

Unfortunately, the floor in between us and the portal was part of the floor that broke off, leaving the portal suspended in midair with no path towards it.

"Katsuki!" I shouted, prompting my maid to dash past me with her arms extended outward.

I tossed the princess into the air and my maid caught her in her arms as she leapt past, using her momentum to cushion the princess and also allowing the force to propel her into the air and straight into the portal.

I half turned and reached out my hand behind me, prompting Odeta to grab onto me while her other hand grabbed the King's wrist.

Without slowing down, my wings burst out from my back as I leapt towards the slowly closing portal while flapping my wings as hard as I could.

The three of us dipped down dangerously as I fought to try and maintain my altitude, which was just fine since it gave Odeta the time she needed to swing the King into the air and toss her into the portal.

With just Odeta under me, I beat my wings again and got back to the same altitude as the portal, flying towards it as fast as I could.

I did not dare to look back as the feeling of something cold grabbing at my neck could be felt, almost like some kind of giant was trying to snatch me out of the sky.

With Odeta hanging under me, I dove into the portal with barely any time to spare, appearing above the skies of the capital.

I chanced a look behind me at the portal that was still closing us to see the eye glaring after me, clearly irritated that I managed to escape. The portal then quickly closed up, cutting us off from that dimension completely.

That cold feeling quickly disappeared and I could breathe properly again.

There was no time to relax yet since we literally appeared in the skies of the capital and out of the five of us, one was unconscious and three could not fly.

I was panicking slightly as I tried to come up with a way to save them. Could I get all of  them to hold hands while I used my wings as a parachute of sorts and land them somewhere safely like a pond or a lake?

Right then, a dark shadow shot up towards us and snatched Katsuki who was still holding the princess out of the sky.

It then curved and flew straight towards the King and plucked her out of the air as well before heading towards me.

I was just about to shoot a [Spark Strike] at it until the shadow slowed down by flaring its wings in front of me, revealing itself to be Mother holding three people in her hands without much effort.

"Ara, ara~ Welcome home my little one~ Did you have fun with your outing with little Justi?" Mother greeted me, not even acknowledging the fact that Katsuki, the Princess and the King were hanging under her arm like sacks of potatoes.

I shuddered, "Mo… Mommy… I don't think now is the time for that…"

"Ufufufu~ Is my little one concerned that some demons managed to come through the portals? Fret not, none did so~ My dearest, cutest child managed to save the Kingdom!"

"Ahem… Yes… Thank you, Aster…" The King muttered, before looking at Mother with a complicated expression. "Madam Nilm… If it's not too much to ask… Could you set us down now? This position is… Quite demeaning…"

"Ara, ara~ Is little Justi complaining about having been saved? You're even interrupting my time welcoming my dearest child back home too~ I can always just drop you here, you know?"

"My… My apologies… Please forget I said anything…"

Ok, now I really think Mother might be one of the former rulers of this Kingdom and retired voluntarily…

I nodded at Mother, "Umm… I will have to agree with the King on this, Mommy… I think we should be taking care of the Princess right now."

Mother looked down at the Princess who was still being held in Katsuki's arms and also still unconscious.

"Ara, ara~ It looks like the little Princess is still not waking up~ Ufufufu~ Very well then. Shall we go back home or drop her off at her tower, little Justi?"

The King opened her mouth to answer before hesitating and snapped her mouth shut.

She thought for a moment before opening her mouth again, "At this point… I'm not sure who else is under the influence of the Demonic Cores… I think it would be safer if we let Tiara take refuge in your home first while I deal with the Demonic Cores, Madam Nilm. If that is alright with you, of course…"

"Ufufufu~ What does my little one think?"

I was a little surprised that Mother asked my opinion on that matter and took a moment longer to answer, "Eh? Ah… Umm… I suppose so?"

"Ufufufu~ Very well. In that case, do take care of the little princess, Katsuki~ She's a guest of my little one after all~"

Eh? Ah… Mother is acting as  though I'm the one that is inviting the princess over to stay instead of Mother herself.

But why?

Is it because she had some arrangements between the Royal Family and herself where she's not allowed to show preference towards any of the princes or princesses like allowing them to stay, but the rule does not apply to me so that's the loophole she was exploiting?

I suppose the other princes and princesses would not be happy with Tiara if they were to find out that Mother was sheltering her and giving her benefits but they get nothing. It would be easier to deal with their complaints if they were to say it was not Mother but the child that was doing the sheltering instead.

But they would really overlook the fact that Tiara almost got used by demons huh?

Well… As long as it works in our favour I guess… This is why I hate politics.

Katsuki did not question it and inclined her head, "Of course, Madam. I will make sure that the Princess is well taken care of."

"Ufufufu~ I would expect no less from my little one's personal maid~" Mother giggled before diving back down in the direction of our mansion with me following closely behind.

Ugh… I really need some sweets after this…