"You are so pitiful, Artica." said Mia from behind Artica.
At once, Artica is surprised and notices Mia is already behind her pointing her finger at her neck. Then, she looks at Mia in front of her. Seeing two Mia back and forth, Artica's eyes somehow gain a clarity.
"This..." commented Artica.
"Surprise?" asked Mia in a mocking tone.
Although this place is their inner world, it doesn't mean they can do anything they like. They couldn't just create something out of nowhere. Creating a clone or multiplying themselves is impossible unless they use the corresponding skills.
"Hmph!! Surprise?! Far from it." retorted Artica before moving away.
"Your illusion magic is good. But, it is far to deceive phoenix eyes. I guess you are now barely qualified as my new vessel. Don't disappoint me, Mia." said Artica before striking her palm to empty space beside her.
At the same time, the invisible hiding Mia suddenly gets pushed back and thrown out of their inner world. *Whosh* A moment later, she notices she is back at Angus' dark space prison.
"Mia, are you alright?" asked Millie worriedly.
"Yes. I am fine. I am just a little bit tired." said Mia.
"Can you share with us what you find?" asked Angus from the side.
Then, Mia told them everything, from his sudden blurry visions to meeting her granduncle to Artica's weird behavior.
"It's normal, Mia. Although Artica will live as part of you, her existence will no more after the last step. It is the same as death or probably worse. As for her sudden clarity of behavior, it may have something to do with her past reincarnation."
"As you know, a phoenix can't truly die but will keep reincarnating, especially the strong one. Despite her stupid, arrogant attitude, Artica is one of the strongest phoenixes. She is the only Phoenix that manages to break the law of nature and attain power opposite to fire."
"Same as Fire Phoenix, no one knows how long she has been reincarnated. With each reincarnation, we bought something from our previous vessel. It could be a hidden memory or attachment that somehow influences our thinking." explained Jayna.
"This is why most phoenixes have an irritable attitude and are very moody. Still, there are also times we could be very wise through our old soul." added Jayna.
"Like the current smart Mommy?" asked Anna from the side.
"Mommy is always smart, Anna." replied Jayna while hugging her mischievous daughter.
Ignoring the little troublemaker interruption, "So, the Nostrand family is great at illusion magic?" asked Angus to return to the topic.
"I am not sure either. The vision is too fast to grasp something. But, I also couldn't forget about it. It is a weird feeling. It is as if it is just in front of me, but something prevents me from grasping it." replied Mia.
"Hmmm... There is a possibility that it is not just a simple illusion magic but is more like mind magic. It is a very obscure branch of magic and very hard to learn. Even our kingdom didn't know much about it." said Angus.
A loud curse and profanities keep being heard from outside the room.
"Err.. What is going on?" asked Jayna.
"It seems two nobles are fighting each other over something." said Angus.
"Hmmm.... It's rare for those nobles to act without restraint like this, especially in the Royal Palace."
"That's because they are Marquis Sterling and Marquis Arden. The two of them have been rivals since their youth. The meal is ready, My Lady." said head butler Darius from the side.
"Food!!" exclaimed Anna excitedly while being held by Jayna.
"Marquis Arden and Marquis Sterling? I hear they had close territory in the west." said Angus.
"Yes, Baron Victory. Their territory is famous for being a food distributor with animal husbandry as their top production." explained Darius.
"I understand." said Angus as they arrived at the dining area.
Now, Angus and the others forget entirely about the previous noble banter. Still, it is pretty rare to find two high noblemen who dare to curse and fight openly like that. Moreover, Angus could observe all the people nearby who were already used to such a scene.
Even the men under them are already used to their loud bickering behavior. Miraculously, no one dared to bad-mouth the two marquis' bad etiquette.
'Well, with the two territories working as the top food supplier, I guess no one dares to offend them. Otherwise, they will no longer enjoy high-quality meat.' thought Angus inwardly.
For others, they could survive even with the absence of high-quality meat. However, it is a different case for a noble. Unable to access such a luxury despite having the authority is like seeing the most delicious food inside a bulletproof glass.
As Angus and Jayna enjoy their meal, the dining area door suddenly opens. *Brak* Two grown-up men grab each other's hair while cursing around.
"You fucking bloody bastard!!" cursed one of the two men with a mustache.
"Fuck you!! Dirty bastard!!" cursed the other man with a goatee beard.
'Eerrr... Why did they fight like kids?! It is as if they don't know other profanity words. Also, both of them clearly are not using mana despite having physical struggles.' thought Angus inwardly.
Angus didn't expect the two grown-up men to act like children and ignore their surroundings. Still, their sudden intrusion is nothing to Anna and Jayna.
One focuses on munching the food before her while the other takes care of the little gluttony's grease-oily mouth from the leftovers.
Just as the two grown men wanted to choke each other and continue their child fight, "Gentleman, please mind your behavior. You are in the presence of the fourth princess and inside the dining area." said Darius from the side.
At the same time, the two grown-up men sense a dreadful and silent killing intent from the old headbutler. As the head butler, Darius hates it when someone dares to interrupt the Royal Family's meal inside the dining area.