A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Speak. I don't think that you are just casually taking a vacation, am I right? Someone of your caliber.. I don't think you would just succumb to your position being taken away, or did I think wrong?" Frey pointed her questions at the fae, who just shrugged and shook his head and let out a sigh.

"You see... Whether you believe it or not, I really didn't mean to purposely come here. I'm here because of a separate reason.. in Alfheim. I'm here to retrieve something. If I really did have big plans, why would I linger around here instead of working on my plans? I would've just left Estelle unconscious, and if I wanted to harm her, it would be even more easier. With her vulnerable state.. she would've been long gone in a flash," Heine reasoned with the woman, who in turn squinted her eyes and glared at him.

Frey gritted her teeth and was starting to become physically hostile.

"..Now, now. That's not the primary matter here, is it? Just take it as I fainted because of exhaustion, nothing less, and nothing more. Can we proceed now? We have cleared all of the enemies except for the ones who fled.. is that correct? Then, our next target should be to eradicate the disaster properly and make sure it won't sprout out again, and not just bickering with each other like this," Estelle appeased both sides who were starting to fight and separated them before anything worse could happen.

The matter was quickly deescalated, but Frey still refused to drop her charges and kept mumbling words of suspicion towards Heine's way.

Then, a familiar man came to approach Estelle, who was rubbing her temples in distress as Heine kept his passive aggressive attitude as he dealt with Frey's remarks. It was Aleksei.

"...Aleksei," Estelle called out, feeling slightly apprehensive towards the man because of the new information she learned. How should she act around him now that she possessed that knowledge? A frightening knowledge that struck her deep. Caught her in an intense dilemma. The two people's names were the exact same, which made it worse for her. Her memories overlapped between the man and the one inside her memories. And her suspicions came to light.

"Estelle, how about you? What do you think about Heine's intentions? Surely, he can't be innocent, right? I don't want to accuse him, but it is right that we should worry and be careful," Aleksei brought up his doubts.

Estelle sighed. This man was also trying to find faults in Heine. Heine did have his own purposes, but it wasn't something meant to hurt Estelle this time. Within seconds, Frey had suddenly became aggressive once again and went to attack Heine.

This was when Estelle created an iron ball and threw it towards Frey's way. Naturally, her intent was not to actually cause harm, but to frighten the woman.

"..Let's move on from this topic, shall we? Can we do that? Our priority is the disaster. After that, we will return to the royal castle. Is this clear? I don't care who is involved in this expedition as long as it's going to be finished. Be it Heine, a literal devil, or some random overpowered villager. That is, as long as we return back and report without any casualties," Estelle hardened her tone, making an angered expression as she commanded. She was frustrated with their dilly dallying especially because she felt a great amount of pressure after meeting the Absolute and being told more clues.

Her next destination after acquiring her needs in Alfheim was Vaitral. Her mind was set on it. Them bickering like this made her feel burdened.

The rest fell into silence, noticing the child's clear seriousness and that she was tired with all the bullshit. They too knew that they were starting to grow lax and put their mindset back to work. They grouped up, forming the same formation they traveled in before and started clearing up the area until there were no longer any trouble. Once that was done, they stood in the center of the area, which was the worst affected part of it all.

The vicinity was all clear, but Estelle still wanted to make sure for the final time before they left for good back to the castle.

Estelle sat down, putting up her extensive radar one more time and trying to detect any abnormal things from the area. The process took a couple minutes, and the result ended up as negative. There were nothing at all.

"Estelle, how was it?" Frey asked, her facial expression a bit strained as she sensed the child's unpleasant mood. She felt slightly apprehensive because she was the one who mainly caused Estelle's anger. But still, she couldn't help but put her suspicions on Heine.

"I didn't pick up anything, so we should be fine. I ran a check through the entire place and found nothing," Estelle replied, getting up from her meditative position and facing the others.

"Then, we can leave now?" Frey heaved a sigh of relief as they were finally able to go home. "I really want to go back home, this trip has been tiring,"

"I won't leave. I want to investigate something a bit deeper," Liviera objected to her claim. She had arrived here with a purpose apart from diffusing the situation, so she wouldn't be coming back with them to the royal palace. After she was done with her own investigation, she planned to return back to Elysium and report her results.

"I also won't leave," Heine interjected, asserting his own objection. Like, Liviera, he had came here for a purpose. Only, his one was a bit different.

It was the truth that Heine came here to seek Estelle, but it wasn't only to do that. Heine had a plan to brew and concoct.

"So it's just going to be me, Frey, and Aleksei? Take care, you two. We will leave right now," Estelle felt a bit hurried, so she immediately grouped the two of them on her side and wanted to return.

Liviera and Heine both agreed to the statement. Thus, the group separated into two. One left the vicinity, while the other stayed in the area.

Heine had things to plan for, so he immediately walked away from Liviera upon seeing Estelle board her turtle ship with the others. However, before he was able to do that, a powerful ice attack was launched towards his way.

"Halt," Liviera called out, stopping the man's departure and making him turn around with a gentle smile and ask what was up with her.

"Yes? Instead of using such a.. destructive method, you could've just called out to me, you know?" Heine said, brushing his clothes that had been blown away by the strong attack and gotten slightly disheveled.

Liviera snorted at his words. She took out her own staff and aimed at him.

"You know, I also had the same thoughts as Frey.. but unlike her, I thought deeper and didn't want to base an accusation just solely based on instincts, feelings, or anything like that. However.. I really am interested in you, what secrets do you have, and how you are related to Noir.

"..Hmm, so you are suspicious of me, correct?" Heine asked, an amused smile blooming on his face. He did act suspicious, so he wasn't all that surprised with the woman's approach.

"Yes. And that is why, I will have to detain you right here and now under the name of Elysium's Order, with the highest suspicion of you being the perpetrator and initiator of the chaos in Alfheim," Liviera stated in a professional way, her hair flowing about in the air as a strong gust of wind brushed through them.

Heine chuckled, thinking that the woman was quite foolish. Or was it simply just underestimation? Did she think that he could be detained by the likes of her? Wrong. However, as much as he wanted to play along, he had another purpose, and one of them was being Estelle's guide.

In truth, this role of his was much more vast than he first thought when he hadn't regained his memories of being Astarte yet. It meant that he would be the one that led Estelle's actions in such a way that it would form the ideal path that would bring her to greatness, to the destination that they all had. This was what it meant for him being a guide, not just simply being a teacher. He worked hard on his role, and that was why Estelle was able to meet coincidences left and right during her journey although not all of them were part of his work.

If he missed just one step, then the flow of things could be ruined. He didn't want this to happen, so he sought to end the matter right here. He couldn't afford to be ruined just because of a random suspicion being placed onto him.

So, what to do with Liviera?