“Let’s get moving unless you still have something else to do. Such as…

  Watching him sleep:)”

  Her voice starts in a normal way, it’s quite noticeable that she’s serious or at least taking this in a serious manner. However, she abruptly stops talking out of nowhere. Not only that, she lowered her tone of voice once she resumed. Though as she did so, she got rather close to the girl, one that happens to face forward for brief moments as the Empress was speaking and that simple actions of hers, allowed this to happen. The Empress leaned forward towards the girl, towards her right side and more precisely towards her right ear and from there, she whispered the end of the world. While the girl has that mask that hides close to half of her face, it still was able to be noticed the sheer shock she felt. One can only guess but she most probably opened her eyes widely while her eyebrows were raised upwards in the same manner. Her mouth didn’t escape such fate as it followed the same path but, in this case, she quickly closed it afterwards, biting her lower lip for brief moments although it might have been by accident rather than on purpose. Unconsciously as her brain understood what her Empress whispered to her, she looked towards the sleeping Hero but quickly avoided him the very next moment as she comprehended what she was doing. If before her cheeks were red then now, they are a bright shade of it but that’s not the only part of her face that has the same characteristics as her nose is in the same state. Though, the same can be said about her ears, specially the one where it was whispered to.

  “M-My Empress! What are you even saying!?”

  “Fufufu! Am I wrong though? Last time, you stood here for close to half an hour-”

  “That’s because you told me to watch him!”

  “Oh? Did I? I don’t remember asking such a thing. I mean, watching him and watching him sleep are two different actions, no?”

  “I-You-I mean-Yes…”

  There’s nothing that the girl can say to refute her Empress point of view after all, it makes sense. The girl panic quickly rose up the very second her ears were able to hear the vibrations that quietly and softly came out from the Empress mouth. But once her brain translated those vibrations, panic then took control of her very own mind, making her act in such a manner. She abruptly got up mere moments before refuting what it was said, dragging the chair she was sitting on backwards quite aggressively. But, before she said anything, she faced her Empress in haste, leaning forward towards her at the same time. There is a difference in height between them, but one that is not drastic however, still noticeable to everyone that looks at them. Her left hand is touching the chessboard, the tips of her fingers to be more accurate while her right hand is gently touching her belly, grasping itself at the same time. After this, only then she spoke her panic out into the world. Her voice is no longer calm and stoic in fact, the complete opposite. It’s louder than normal, the speed at which she speaks is also faster than normal but right at the beginning she struggled to speak. Maybe it was her mind thinking on what to say faster than her mouth could let said thoughts out into the world, allowing for such struggle to happen in the beginning.

  Yet while seeing this, her Empress couldn’t stop the soft smile on her lips from forming.

  Ah, there’s enjoyment, amusement on seeing the girl’s unusual reaction, uncommon struggle. And, this is the very reason for why she kept on going with her teasing, even feigning ignorance to make it even more enjoyable to her but without first making an “effective” remark to completely disarm the girl. Then, as the girl tries to refute the remark with logic but also truth, her Empress simply shrugged it to the sides, almost if it meant nothing or at least its efficiency was below negative, allowing it to be thrown to the ground with such violence, rendering useless in the process. Indeed, with a little bit of play of words, she was able to forcefully grab what the girl said, squish it together into a small ball and then thrown it into the oblivion. After all, what she said more than makes sense and everyone hearing it even without any context to what’s happening, they will reach the same conclusion as her. Exactly, this is the very reason for why the girl has no answer, no comeback either. She quickly understood the meaning behind her Empress sentence and that alone was enough to leave her speechless.

  “Well, what you do with your time is not my problem although, have you at least got consent? I at least would not want someone to stare at me while I sleep.”

  Ah, I might have gone a little too far with this last part. Oh well, enough of my teasing, a little bit more and she might get upset. I mean, she did puff her cheeks and that alone pfft-it’s quite hilarious to say the least. Let’s move on then, no point in either waiting for her to retaliate or to keep going with my crusade. I still have to check the damage that was done to the universe in that specific area. From what she said, the majority is intact and that she did her best to keep the damage to a minimum, however, thanks to the sheer high number of them and even the fact that a Shadow Lord appeared, she couldn’t stop her attacks from inflicting some damage. I believe she’s overreacting a little too much as unless that area was completely eradicated, the Bubble Universe itself can recover from said damage albeit, it will take some time.

  “Alright, I will stop. We should get going then, the faster we decimate those ants the better for all of us.”

  Though, the moment the Empress started to get moving, she was quickly stopped by a curious little Miranda.

  “Before I forget… I do have a question.”

  “Hmm? Go on ask way. Though, there is no need for us to stay here, right?”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Ah yes, of course my Empress.”

  And so, they both get moving towards their destination, towards where she had that chaotic battle. Some passed since that happened but not enough for that specific area to recover from the damage that was done to it. It’s as my Hero once said, this entire universe is filled with magic, everything was created by using such and that’s the very reason for why a simple usage of the skill Magic Sense is able to give anyone a good idea of the entire layout of said area. Miranda quickly walks up towards her Empress, towards her right side to be more precise. After that they slowly get moving, it’s more than evident that her Empress is quite curious to what the girl might ask and that alone is unconsciously making her walk at a slower pace so that they have enough time for the girl to ask her question away.

  “Is there anyone else here? A few minutes ago the Hero just asked me that not only that, I did sense a different magic signature that was right next to him. Although in this case, it was rather small, if he didn’t happen to leave the building, I wouldn’t have noticed it from how small it is as it basically mixes together with his own magic.”

  While her Empress seems indifferent after hearing this question, in reality her emotions couldn’t be so different.

  “(If the Hero was the one that asked that then it means he met someone. The small magic signature might be that little rat and because of that, he might as well be asking about her. An attempt of understanding if he should keep her hidden or if he can leave her exposed to us. Oh? Aren’t you a sweetheart for worrying about someone who you just meet?)”

  He sure is a dummy, isn’t he? For some reason, for the little bit that I know him I can see him believing in everything that little rat told him and the fact that Kiana is involved, that was basically the final hit, one that was so powerful but also precise that forced him to “accept” the little rat’s tragic story. Now, it seems Miranda is unaware of that little rat and why she’s here, it seems her sister either forgot to tell her or she simply has not made the connection yet. Two facts that I don’t have trouble believing if any were the reason for her ignorance. However, if he actually has met someone else and that question was a simple attempt of figuring out if he should be worried about said individual or not it’s something that I can’t simply put to the side. Those Shadows breaking through universes and forcing their will upon this universe is more than expected, this is one of the few reasons for why I’m even here as if they weren’t able to traverse between universes, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything as the owner of this Bubble Universe is more than strong enough to decimate any foul beast that dares to destabilize it. Someone else coming here on the other hand, that is a simple fact that I cannot ignore as I simply have no clue how and why said person is here, if that is a person of course.

  Hmm, it seems I will have to do a little bit of detective work.

  “I see that your sister hasn’t told you anything, correct? That little magic signature that you referred to is nothing more than that little rat. She isn’t physically here but instead, with something akin to a moving mirror, one that even allows her to use magic between universes. Though, from what the Hero said, did he mention someone in peculiar?”

  Well, from that “ah” of yours, I can say that you never made the connection but you knew that the little rat was supposed to be here. Though, having in consideration how everything has been chaotic, something that it seems it was planned by those ants, it would be understandable if her sister didn’t have the time to explain the situation to her. She has been bothering me nonstop to the point that Miranda’s sister had to forcefully take her out from my domain and it wasn’t a few times, no. It was more than twenty times, twenty whole times that she got her rear end beaten by Miranda’s sister and yet, the very next day she was once again trying again to do whatever she wanted to do. I doubt she has a plan in mind, she’s a fool that blames herself for what happened. Ah, what an idiot. By allowing her to be here on my terms does remove her from the equation in the sense that I don’t have to worry about her doing something that will interfere with my plans. If it wasn’t for her the Hero would’ve come straight to me but instead, she messed around and forced him to come here to this Bubble Universe first. But there is no point in going with this rant, at this moment I need to understand what the Hero meant and of course what he’s hiding. I more than doubt he means harm but the simple fact that he’s ignorant about several factors, that alone might make him side with someone that has ill intentions.

  And that of course, it’s something that I do not desire to happen.

  “He did mention that he wanted to meet my sister. Or more so that he’s expecting to meet her in the future. But I doubt that is the case, however, I cannot sense anyone else around here and that’s why I’m asking you all of this.”

  “You are doing great, don’t worry about it. But you need to understand two things. The first one is that you already know everything that needs to be known. What you do with that information however, it’s up to your judgement. The second one is that irregularities are bound to happen.”

  “Irregularities... You think that “someone” is one of those irregularities? Unless it’s a different type of a Shadow, how is it possible for anyone to traverse between universes without similar powers to yours?”

  That’s a good question to ask Miranda but, it’s only because you are ignorant about the real world. It should be expected, your knowledge is a mix between two individuals, more so towards one than the other and that one was someone who was stuck in the same place for centuries. Then by having in consideration the current state of this universe, you shouldn’t be surprised that “weird” events are happening or will happen. This universe is slowly becoming destabilized, allowing for such to happen. The Shadows finding a way to easily traverse to this universe is only possible because of said destabilization, one that is weakening the core of the universe itself and of course, all of the defences it has. Think of this way, for you to enter a house you first need to go through the front door. Even if it’s locked, if the majority is destroyed, will such “lock” even prevent you from entering at all? Of course not, half of the door is gone, giving you quite the entrance because of it. Bubble Universes are the same way, if the door is too strong you won’t be able to enter said universe unless by unlocking it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this someone simply walked through the front door and got in.

  “If this Bubble Universe was not in this state, you would be right on what you said. This “person” might as well belong to the Sea of the Universe and happened to see an open door. Who knows, that’s why after dealing with those pesky ants I will have to figure out who this “person” might be.”

  “I see… But my Empress, I’m here to serve you. Just give the order and I will do as you desire, even if it costs my life. There’s no need for you to personally deal with this irregularity yourself.”

  Miranda, Miranda, Miranda… If that dummy was here to listen to you, I more than will guarantee you that you would be in one hell of a scolding from her.

  But, I more than agree with that dummy.