Jasmine Rhea Yyddrasil decided to visit her sister because something was bothering her. After what happened in the Ice world last time. She couldn’t get rid of the image of smirking Orpheus. It kept haunting her. She searched for information about him, but she found nothing; even if he was from the mysterious Hidden village, she could at least find some information, but she could not find anything. Therefore she decided to visit that place to organize her thoughts.

•••••

Located in the northern part of the Elven forest was the capital of the Yydrassil Empire.

Floral.

That was the name of the Yydrassil Empire, the capital of Elves.

As the capital of one of the Four races, no Three races because as the matter stood, never the other races will recognize the Vampire race, the Night rulers, as one of them. Floral was a fantastic city in size and majesty; it was way better than the Luxiria Empire’s capital; Neos claimed as the most majestic and beautiful capital of the human races.

From afar, beautiful houses built upon gigantic Trees could be seen with a lot of Elves walking back and forth.

With one glance and still concealed, Jasmine went past the capital.

Passing through a barrier fifty kilometers away from Flora, Jasmine appeared in another location.

It was another forest; this one looked a little special; in front of Jasmine was a garden.

It could be described as a formal garden. The bonsai trees lined the perfect lawn in their wooden boxes. In the center, there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so you could look down at the fishes inside it. The flower beds were a riot of May color, and even on close inspection, they were weed-free.

As Jasmine tiptoed through plants, she abruptly stopped because from the other side of the garden, she sensed someone else present, and without confirming it, she knew who this person was.

Only a few individuals were authorized to set foot into this area; one was her, another was her big sister, Alvina, and the last person who couldn’t even be here, nor Alvina. So, only one person can be present today; it is without saying that it’s her big sister, the current ruler of the Elves.

Not wanting to encounter her Big sister, Jasmine drew back slowly as she could, hoping that she hadn’t alerted her Big sister of her presence.

Unfortunately, Jasmine had not taken her second step when a voice rang into her ears.

“Fufufu! Little Sister, you aren’t planning to go back without saying Hello to your Big sister, do you?”

Jasmine’s body froze when she heard her big sister’s voice; she spun around and went back into the garden.

Sitting on a garden bench in the middle of the garden was a beautiful woman.

The garden bench was fashioned from a wind-felled tree, the legs being sections of the trunk still clothed in bark, and the top was a fine long plank rendered a deep soulful brown by the varnish.

The lady sitting on the garden bench tending a Jasmine flower was beautiful beyond description; without turning around, she said,

“There is nothing more perfect to me than a Jasmine flower. Five white petals with sunshine yellow in the middle, beautiful. I like their scent more than anything; it’s soothing.”

The Lady stopped tending the Jasmine flower for a moment before continuing,

“(If a flower could laugh, it would be the jasmine. They dance when the wind blows between the houses, releasing more fragrance into my yard. If I ever have a daughter, that will be her name, and I will teach her to love and tend to their delicate blooms as I do. And her name will remind me that she, too, needs tenderness and care. But when she laughs, the whole neighborhood will hear, not just me. She will be happy, share happiness around her; she will be strong, so strong that her heart will not waver.) Do you remember who said this?”

The Lady dressed in white spun around and asked; her face was a picture of perfection; strangely, she shared some similarities with Alvinia; it could be said that she was the mature version of Alvinia. There were similarities between her and Jasmine as well.

There was nothing to be astonished about, this green-haired beauty is Alvina’s mother, Elmyra Yydrassil, the current Empress of the Elves, and at the same, she is the Big sister to Jasmine.

Sighing, Jasmine sat on another garden bench before replying,

“How could I not remember who said this? It’s the mother; I received this name because of her loving Jasmine flower more than anything; it was her favorite flower, after all. Ah! I still miss her; I wonder how she’s doing.”

Jasmine remembered her mother, who went missing a few years ago; she was what people call Adventurer; she likes to explore forbidden zones, the highest mountains, the hottest places in the world, and Ruins. She had explored even the Yydrassil forbidden zone, she visited the other forbidden zones as well, but after visiting that place, there was no news.

That place was dangerous; nobody returned from there after setting foot into it. ‘The Netherworld, ‘ as they named it, was the most dreadful of the other forbidden zones, and also it houses a big secret that the world didn’t think of it or they chose not to think about it because they were afraid to confirm their assumption or die trying.

Conscious of the risk of no return, their mother had already warned them not to try searching for her in the case she never returned. Since she went missing, fifty years had already passed, and the girls’ hopes had died down by now, making it difficult to tell whether their mother was died or was still alive.

Royal High Elves possess something called a Soul crystal; this Soul crystal could be used to determine if a person is still alive or not. If you, a person who possessed the Soul crystal, die, your Soul crystal would shatter, or its color will become red. However, from when their mother went missing until now, her crystal color remained black; what this means, the girls couldn’t tell, and neither the Elders.

“You’re right; I miss her too. However, that is not the point of me saying what I said earlier, and you know it, don’t try to switch the subject.” Elmyra rebuked Jasmine as the latter was trying to switch the subject.

“Tch! I know. Big sister, you’re no fun at all.”

Jasmine replied, clicking her tongue.

“Heh! Thank you for the compliment, little sis; now, care to share what happened to you, and you seemed so troubled ?” Elmyra asked, eyes locked onto Jasmine.

There was a pause before Jasmine finally responded.

“Okay, I give up.”

Inwardly she was thinking about how she couldn’t win against her Big sister; she knew that the day would be extended; however, spending time talking with her Big sister wasn’t bad; she was not done something like this it had been a few years ago.

Elmyra smiled upon seeing her sister surrender.

“Okay, let’s make our talk a little more enjoyable, shall we.”

After saying that, she disappeared and reappeared shortly after and sat down on the garden bench before flicking her fingers.

In the middle of the two appeared a small round tea-table and upon it a little silver tea kettle on a standard of the same metal. Dainty cups and saucers of egg-shell were grouped about it; a miniature silver tray held a sugar dish and a cream pot and a half-dozen gold-lined souvenir spoons.

After serving herself, Jasmine did the same for her Big sister before bringing her tea and sipping it.

For a moment, silence hung in the air as the two enjoyed their teas before Elmyra raised a question.

“So, little sister, what’s the matter?”

Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and acted as though everything was fine.

“Rhea, do not play this game with me. I know you better than you think. Something is bothering you, and you don’t know how to cope with it. You’re asking yourself what you should do, right?” Elmyra speculated.

Jasmine couldn’t help but praise her big sister; just by observing her, she had more or less guessed what was happening.

“Ah! You’re right Big sister.” With a sigh, Jasmine confirmed Elmyra’s speculation.

“So, who is it?” Elmyra automatically questioned.

“Who what? I dunno what you are implying, Big sister.” Jasmine said, refusing to answer her big sister’s question.

With a smirk, Elmyra said, “Who is the boy you giving you a hard time?”

”One of my students.” Finally, Jasmine gave in and told her sister was bothering her.

”Wow! You fell in love with your student?” Elmyra asked with a smirk.

”What?” Jasmine almost dropped her tea cup because of what her sister had just said. How could she say that? How could she fall in love with her student? She could be his grandmother.

”Hahaha! You don’t have to make that face I’m joking. So, tell me what is bothering you?”

Jasmine sighed before she began talking about Orpheus, her sister quietly listening to everything and soon offered her advice. She found this young man to quite interesting.