~ [Music Recommendation: "Dearly Beloved" by Yōko Shimomura (Orchestra version by Hikari) - available in Youtube] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter XD ~

"How far have you fallen, oh king … to treat your people as objects!" Illumináire's voice heightened. With tear-stained eyes, she glared at the abomination in front of her. Her voice trembled in her anger. "Do not mistake my faith for the Supreme as idealism for it never is and never will be!"

​​

"And as a king, I must be prepared for all the possible things that can happen - no matter how good or bad they can be," King Calum replied, with a tone of voice as cold as an icy mountain. "I am doing everything in my power for Gaia to survive, thus, the reason why we're going from planets to planets. But it doesn't matter how much I want it since fate and destiny seems to be always against me - just look at my childhood up to now," he shrugged. "My mother died, all my relatives died, then, my father died as well, all when I was just a mere child ... Everyone around me just keeps on dying! What makes you think that I will just believe in Gaia being saved? Do you even know how many days it has left?"

Though very cold, the king's words carried a heavy weight on them.

Illumináire stayed silent, and kept her unrelenting glare at the king.

"Huh! Of course, you don't," King Calum snorted, deliberately mocking her. "Fifty days … We only have around fifty days left for Gaia," he continued, stressing on every word.

"Your highness, she shouldn't -," one of the Generals tried to stop the king from speaking any further. 'The Oracle shouldn't be learning such confidential information' was what he thought.

The king raised his hand, signalling him to shut up.

"I have already sent high ranking Scouts to look for a suitable planet for us to reside," King Calum added. "This planet, Earth, is one of them. Should Gaia show no sign of improvement after 20 days, we will spend the last 30 days evacuating everyone we can from Gaia and transfer them to the next planet. Traveling from extremely far places takes a lot of spiritual energy and a group of high ranking people to do so. And as it suggests, we can only save a handful of people".

A heavy atmosphere filled the place as the king uttered such cold words.

"Among everyone left in Gaia, I prefer having those with higher spiritual concentration and talents to survive more than those with lower ones," he continued, making Illumináire clench her fists tighter than it already was. "Thus, once evacuation starts, we will begin with the higher ranking Magi. We can try starting the evacuation now but … I'm not yet satisfied with the planets that the Scouts found. I want something better with the most abundant spiritual energy source. Also, we will need to eradicate the race staying there, or maybe keep those that are useful. It depends".

"As I said, Gaia WILL survive!" Illumináire stayed firm on her beliefs.

King Calum rolled his eyes. "And if not? What are you going to do? Cry?"

"There is no such thing as 'if not' - the Supreme has already given his message of hope! It will surely come to pass!"

King Calum sighed. "... I'm sorry, Blessed Oracle but I can't just blindly trust on something that is extremely uncertain. We are talking about millions of lives on the line. I can't trust their fate in the words of someone who's not even showing himself. And if the Supreme really wanted to save Gaia, why wait until the people already suffered? Why didn't he just prevent all the tragedies from happening while he's at it? I have so many questions with the Most High that you love so much".

"I see that you are still a fool, your highness," Clavis joined the conversation. He stood up from his seat and walked towards Illumináire, standing beside her as she faced the king.

"Oh? What's this? Such brotherly love … so touching," King Calum teased them in a mocking way.

"The fear of the Supreme is the beginning of wisdom, but as I see it, you still refuse to accept the truth".

"Your opinion of truth, and my truth, are entirely different".

"Mine is not an opinion, but the 'truth' itself. But yours is not. Just as 'what's right is right, and what's wrong is wrong', there is no middle ground".

"Haaah …," King Calum sighed deeply. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to relieve the headache he's feeling. "You really are twins. Talking to the both of you drives me crazy".

"The feeling is mutual," Clavis shrugged. "And as it stands, it seems we will not be granted the permission we came for".

"That is correct. And my decision is final," King Calum declared. "Whatever arguments you say, I will not change my decision".

Clavis turned to his sister. Looking at each other's eyes, they both nodded their heads in unison, agreeing to something they must have previously discussed prior to asking an audience with the king. Then, Clavis turned back towards the king. Though his eyes were light blue, they burned with an unending passion.

"In that case … for the first time in history … the Sortis family will break their oath of loyalty to the king. We will not follow the king's decrees!"

King Calum's eyes widened. Not in a million years did he expect Clavis, his most trusted confidant, to turn his back on him. He was extremely appalled. In his shock, he was unable to refute or say a single word. His mouth gaped wide open.

The other Judges' expression turned grim. Of all the people that would betray the king … the Sortis family? They thought that they must be out of their minds or hearing things.

"C-Clavis … are you … sure about what you're saying?" one of the Judges asked. "You will be tarnishing your name and branded a traitor!"

"Let it be," Clavis said calmly. "Before we follow the king's decrees, we follow the Supreme's. We revere Him greater than any king or queen. Thus, we will send our family back to Gaia and help those in need. Because Gaia WILL survive and we trust in the Supreme's salvation".

Illumináire nodded in agreement. "There will be no need for a new planet, nor for people to be evacuated. For the Supreme has prepared a savior for us, as it is foretold in the prophecy of hope spoken even before all of these calamities happened".

Then, the twins recited the Prophecy of Hope in unison … to remind everyone that the Supreme was in control.

"Make way! Make way!

The dragon roars for our savior has come!

With dress as pure as white,

and eyes burning yet calm.

Favoured by the Supreme, she stands

A maiden that is not one of us will save us…"

Their voices reverberated in the rather silent throne room, sending shivers to the Judges present … and to the king.

King Calum wretched his face as he listened to them speak the prophecy known to all Magi.

"Foolish! How very foolish you two are!" King Calum thought and shouted in his mind. "Why can't you just listen to me and save yourselves! My whole family is already gone and now … both of you are running straight to your ruin! Hah! How great! It seems that I'm really meant to be alone in this world. All the people I care about just waste their lives like there's no tomorrow!"

After reciting the prophecy, Clavis and Illumináire bowed their heads and turned their backs to the king, preparing to teleport back to their home. But they stopped when the king left a parting message for them.

"If that's what you want, suit yourself! Let your entire family's death be upon your heads!"

News of the Sortis family's betrayal to the king spread fast across the whole Floating Kingdom. Everyone gossiped and murmured for days. No one really knew what the discussion was about nor how it happened and what arguments they had … so most of the blame was placed upon the Sortis family. Their untarnished name of being loyal and faithful to the royal family was no more. Some officials and Generals even mocked them for their so-called "foolishness".

Oh, how easy it was for everyone to believe on mere gossips unsupported by facts and truths. How easy it was for them to judge based on what other people say even if they knew nothing of what truly transpired in the throne room that day.

But then again, many still believed in the Sortis family. Their thousands of years of reputation preceded them. Many thought … if the Sortis family was to betray the king, it would be on something they strongly believe in. And as a family priests and priestesses where the Oracle was born every generation … it led them to think that it must be something related to the Supreme.

And most of all … despite betraying the king who sat on the throne … their hair color didn't change. It remained the beautiful, light blue color as it had always been.