“Come, you must be weary from your journey.” The Queen gracefully motioned her hand to urge us to walk with her. “Join me in the Great Hall as we wait for the midday meal.”

“Thank you for your kind invitation.” Andres replied. I don’t know why but it seemed pretty interesting how he’s suddenly speaking formally.

“Luntian.” The Queen called and a young woman with moss-green hair approached her timidly from the side.

“How can I be of help, Your Highness?”

“Will you see to their accommodations? Have the great chef prepare a meal for our lovely guests. Make sure that the food will suit their taste.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Is there anything else you’d like for me to do?”

“That will be all.” The queen continued to walk in long but smooth strides, as if she was floating.

After walking through columns of more ivory, the path led us to a huge oblong room that was spacious enough to hold thousands of people. Sunlight heavily manifested in the room by entering through the windows on one of the long sides.

I looked up and noticed that the room went up for two to three stories before reaching the ceiling. Instead of the castle banners that hung on medieval castles, different flora crept along the walls and even decorated the ceiling. Immediately in front of me ran one long table that seemed to be made out of marble with intricate floral designs carved into them.

At the far end of the hall was a wide platform raised a step above the rest of the room that held the high table. The long table and the high table somehow formed a ‘T’ but somehow it felt more right if there were two long tables instead. Did they have a redecoration recently?

Instead of sitting at the golden throne decorated by rubies shaped into flowers which stood out in the middle of the high table, the queen simply sat down at the main seat by the long table. She motioned for us to take a seat. Andres and I ended up sitting adjacent to the queen while facing each other.

Glasses of clear yellow liquid was served to us by Luntian.

“You may leave us.” She motioned for Luntian the other attendants to give us privacy. The latter bowed their heads and left.

“The wind has whispered something interesting to me on the night of the three moons.” She started; she had her chin rest on her interlaced hands propped up the table. “I cannot believe that you two have lost your way and came into this again! And you’re not even kids anymore!”

The queen laughed heartily, with tears almost leaving her eyes. It was shocking how she loosened up from the extremely regal visage she held earlier.

“Haha, that is indeed the case, Your Majesty.” Andres lightly chuckled.

“Well at least I was able to see you two again, Andres, Isadora.” The queen happily spoke. “The both of you have aged quite beautifully.”

“You look like you haven’t aged a day, Your Highness.” He beamed. “You are as beautiful as when we first got here.”

“I see you have learned to use your silver tongue.” The queen commented.

I couldn’t understand how Andres manages to get into a conversation with the queen. It was as if I turned into a block of ice, I couldn’t move or speak much while Andres is even somewhat low-key flirting with the queen.

Not too long after the food arrived and we started eating, the look on the queen’s face was filled with seriousness. “I assume that’s also the reason why you are here today. You wanted to be able to return to the human world before Bakunawa devours the last moon, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that is correct. We are here to request for your help.”

“The kingdom of the diwata will never forget what you did for us. The hearts of the fairies are still rejoicing for decades now and even to this day, thanks to the both of you.”

It appears that the flow of time is quite different in both words. My heart started beating like crazy when the smile playing on the royalty’s lips slowly vanished. “However, I am quite unhappy to let you know that we cannot directly aid you in the challenge that you will face. This is in line with the laws of our kingdom. “

The meals served to us were absolutely scrumptious; even those that looked weird or I haven’t heard of. The taste was exquisite and the ingredients themselves were unheard of in our world. I looked out the window and saw the breath-taking view of the lake. How peaceful it is!

The queen soon described a bird of omen that had crimson iris and the bill and the legs were tinted with black. It was called the TIgmamanukan, which was supposedly what we needed to obtain to receive the faeries’ help. “Andres, would you like to visit the study to read more about it?”

“You will find Luntian outside the hall. Ask her to guide you.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” Andres finished his meal and stood up. “I’ll be back, Isay.”

Andres silently left the room, so it was just me and the queen. The word awkward would not even describe the cold air that stayed.

“Isadora.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty?” My voice faltered with embarrassment.

“You may not have noticed this, but Andres is doing all he can in order for you to return home.” She closed her eyes and heaved a huge sigh. “He is a blessing gifted to you by Bathala. Whatever happened in the past should just stay in the past; however, you should not let that hinder you from facing him properly. Don’t let doubt and guilt deprive you from fully restoring your friendship.”

“How did you know–“ How could she have known about what happened in the last couple of years?

“That’s not important right now, Isadora.”

“Is this why you asked Andres to leave? Is it just to talk to me about it privately?”

“You are not mistaken. I have felt an air of negativity hovering around you and it is somewhat directed towards Andres. It seems that they are waning now though, it is not as bad as it was originally." She stood up and soundlessly sat next to me. “Now that that is out of the window, let me tell you more about the Tigmamanukan.”