Duke Reynard all of a sudden broke his teacup by the handle for some unknown reason. Feeling some rise of random emotions all over his body. ‘What is this odd feeling???’ It had never occurred to him before, making him a bit worried.

"Grandfather?! Why did you all of a sudden break the cup?!" Ella watched Duke Reynard's cup fall to the ground while he still held the handle in his hand. '“Grandfather??? Grandfather???” Ella was completely ignored, not knowing the reason for him to pause for so long with silence.

"I-I don't know." Duke Reynard finally spoke out after a long pause not knowing why, but he had some odd feeling that it involved Mila. 'Is this some kind of sign to tell me something? Or am I just thinking about her too much?'

Leo and Luce saw Duke Reynard looking worried and unsettled as they didn't know what he was thinking at that moment. He was a hard one to read over everyone else. ‘I wonder if my father-in-law is fine. It hasn’t been easy on him or Leo since Mila woke up, but the increase of the Mana Hunter incidents have been increasing for the last few years.’ Luce hoped that things would soon settle down once the Mana Hunters had been taken care of. Allowing her daughter to grow up in a safe world, not only her child but children of any other.

[Lord Leo, I've come back with some reports. I do not think that you will enjoy it though.] Elmer appeared with his smoke element, forming his same caracal body and four eyes. Luce smiled, seeing Elmer who had been taking care of their daughter along with Rey. They enjoyed the company of little children who were willing to get to know them. Ella was one of those children who was the most interested in them like Mila was as a child.

"What did you find?" Leo looked to Elmer, who had been working most on finding any Mana Hunters nearby. He would have to know about the cruel truth to determine what the Mana Hunters were planning for them.

[I found some of them even taking children to use for their plans. I even managed to take one of the children, but I found that the child had long-lost their soul. They do not hold any soul in them to show emotions.] Elmer said Leo slammed his cup, breaking it on the table. He was unable to hold his anger back, even though his daughter was at the table.

"Father?!?! Why did you break your cup?!" Ella didn't understand what was going on with her grandfather and father that day. Alec just sat down, reading his books as usual ignoring the entire thing since he could not be involved, to begin with. "Alec, why aren't you saying anything?!" Ella was being completely ignored, with Luce watching how she was nagging Alec for attention. Luce did not understand what Elmer said, but she felt fearful for her daughter. Going over, she hugged Ella in her arms, feeling at ease that her daughter was with her. Ella didn't know what came around with her mother, but she hugged her mother knowing that there was something off about her. “Mother, are you okay?” Ella asked her mother who nodded, continuing to hug her.

Leo could see how Luce was concerned for their daughter. He was not going to let such incidents continue to happen to children. "I need to speak to the emperor about this." Leo got up, leaving them all with Elmer bowing to them before he left to follow after his master. Leo headed directly to Aiken's office, barging in he saw that Aiken was kneeling, listening to his wife's belly; smiling, and looking up at Addis.

Aiken and Addis looked to see Leo there when they celebrated the good news of their next child, that would be born in a few months. "Lord Leo, what are you here for?" Aiken didn't know why Leo came in a rush into his office, but he knew that there was always a reason for it.

"Your majesty, I need to speak to you about a serious matter." Leo didn't want to tell Aiken with Addis still in the room. It was like a private matter between officials since this was a troublesome matter that could affect many more than the common people.

"Addis, go ahead and rest first. I'll be with you shortly." Aiken had Addis escorted back by Vere, going to rest for the day. "Lord Leo, what’s the issue? Did you perhaps discover something?" Aiken sat down in his chair, where he would sit and listen to what Leo had to say.

"My beast has found that some Mana Hunters have been kidnapping children and using them as vessels to steal mana.” Once Leo had said it, Aiken held a shocked look to see that the Mana Hunters would go as far as using children for their selfish gains. “They are a body without a soul and will just be an empty body if we take them to interrogate. The children will know nothing about such matters since they know nothing about it. Those Hunters have become more ruthless in using children for their plans." Leo didn't want children to be tortured, but they have likely been abandoned children or kidnapped by the Mana Hunters.

"How do you know?" Aiken didn't know if it was true without solid proof. They needed solid proof to investigate further and look into the orphanage to see what was going on.

[Lord Leo, the boy's body is there. I've taken him to a nearby inn where he could stay for some time.] Elmer told Leo since he still had the boy in a safe location for them to witness.

"The boy is still alive, but I doubt he can give us any answers," Leo said, looking at Aiken. ‘If the boy has no soul, then it is likely that he would just be an empty shell walking on this soil land.’ Leo did not want to think of it that way, but it was the best way to put it.

"Alright, we need the boy here at least to see if any soul is left in him." Aiken knew that they needed to find something that could help them. Aiken would have a wizard see to the young boy for any soul left in him. Meanwhile, ZH had found a woman associating with the Mana Hunters, which caused him to lose one.

"Your majesty, there are some people here." A guard came rushing in with Aiken and Leo looking at one another.

Both rushed out, seeing that he was Emmett, Sara, Tim, and Thelma, along with two children who were angrily looking away from one another.

"Sir Emmett!" Leo rushed over to see Emmett, who greeted him.

"It's been a long time, Lord Leo." Emmett greeted him with formality. He still respected Leo since he was one of the people that Mila cherished. ‘He has grown up. Still, the same lord that I remembered six years ago.’ Seeing that Leo had changed a bit with a more mature look to himself.

"You are the bunch who remained by the young lady's side." Aiken smiled, seeing how they were all fine and well with their children growing up. "I can see that you all decided to grow your family within six years." He smiled at the two children who gazed up at him, seeing only his mask hiding his face.

"I'm pretty sure you've also thought the same." Tim smiled, knowing how Addis was now his empress this time.

"Come inside. We have a lot to talk about." Aiken had them all go inside with the children, who remained curious about the new kingdom they were in.

***

[Hey, how long does it usually take for a couple to resolve things?] Kate asked, looking at Skye and Vivian who were enjoying the sun's rays of light. Kate being an ice element, didn't enjoy much of the sun's light and heat. Sticking under the shade, she didn’t want her fur to start changing colors due to laying under the sun for too long.

[That would depend on the couple if they are mad at each other, then it takes longer, but if not, then...] Skye was lost since she didn't even know about the other options or how to say them. ‘What do I say??? I can’t tell her that it’s a way for humans to procreate!!!’

[Then???] Kate was a little worried now that Skye paused suddenly, obviously unwilling to tell her about it. ‘What else is there to say??? What was she going to say???’

[It's nothing. They are both fine. They were just busy trying to grow their family a bit.] Vivian said, laying down on her other side since she was a plant element that loved the sun’s light the most.

[How do you know???] Kate was the curious one out of the three of them. Being the youngest one there, she would be curious about every living being, from beasts to humans.

[Trust me. When you are in a relationship, you'll understand.] Vivian sighed and remembered Buck, who considered her his mare. 'That old Stallion better be taking care of himself. It’s been six years, so I hope he has been caring for himself while I’ve been dormant.' She thought even though she truly missed him when he would nag her and bother her. Whenever he did that, she would trot off to avoid him, but over time she found that she kept doing so to get his full attention.

[Kate, you've been growing lately. Have you been eating a lot?] Skye then looked over to Kate, who was a bit larger after a few days when they finally woke up from their dormant stage. Seeing that her body looked a bit, rounder than before which, she thought that it was just the fur.

[No, my meals seem to be the same. Although, I have felt like I've been gaining a lot of manas.] Kate said, knowing that her mana had increased rapidly for some unknown reason. Being able to gather more than she used to, she found it odd how she could get rid of all of it. If she gathered too much, it could harm her since absorbing too much could not be held in since her body was still not big enough to hold it all in.

[Is that so?] Skye remembered that the old wise Kate mentioned that her mana usually grew quickly. Her body collected a lot of mana, and ice elements were known to collect a lot of manas for some unknown reason. [Be sure to take care of yourself. We wouldn't want Mila to worry. I think it is about time you start thinking of a way to get a new ability with the amount of mana you absorb.]

[I won't let Mama or Papa worry!] Kate still called them both those titles, with Skye and Vivian unable to change their habit now. ‘I will be sure to make them proud!!!’ Kate puffed out a breath, feeling the determination to get a new ability soon.

'It seems like it's forever stuck with her.' Skye thought. ‘All well, there is just no way to change her now, but she is like their child. Along with being like our own sister and our dearest friend.’ Skye looked down to see Kate working on trying to form a new ability to use in the future.

'Mila will always be Kate's mama while ZH is her papa.' Vivian remembered how childish she was back then, but Kate was even more childish than her. Learning to be an older sister, she had to learn to grow up out of her childish ways to protect Kate and her friends.