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Alice and Alyssa puffed out their cheeks in sync.

Meanwhile, Hana with an awkward expression sat in front of me at one of the party tables that had been prepared by the Royal Palace Maid.

Around us were rows of holy spirits bound by contracts with holy maidens from the Aurora Goddess Shrine.

Some of the forms I know are dragons, wolves, crocodiles, whales, and horses.

I have seen their forms because they were written in children’s story books that I have read.

The five main powers are the higher-class of strength of spirits bound to the Aurora Goddess Shrine. For people who have high sensitivity to aura or magical energy like me, they will run away in fear because the spirits in the Royal Palace outdoors emit dense and gripping magical energy.

It was proven that Hana looked very scared when she saw their presence and my twin step-sister seemed normal with their presence as if it was not scary.

"Don’t worry, Hana. They won’t attack you, right?" I said with a friendly smile to the five spirits.

From one of the spirits, I could see traces of magical energy used to restore the physical condition of the battered heavenly holy dragon spirit.

I could see the awkwardness of the five holy spirits.

"N-No problem, we actually came here on the orders of the Goddess Aurora for our behavior in oppressing them since they became low-level cocoon spirits," said the crocodile spirit who was seen sweating coldly with her mouth trembling in fear.

"I-I also want to apologize for being carried away by the taste of the magic thread that was produced when you were low-level cocoon spirits," said the spirit who used the form of a wolf.

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"I don’t want to admit it but the magic thread that you produced in the past timeline was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten and made me addicted to it to the point of stealing your cocoon-shaped bodies, hahaha… sorry if my actions in the past were disgusting," said the dragon spirit who looked like a wise old woman.

"Yes, it was my fault, after seeing one of my descendants battered like this. It seems that the grudge in the past timeline is very big. As a form of my responsibility, I think you deserve one of my old scales to make an artifact for your Master," the wise-looking holy dragon spirit suddenly gave her scale as a form of her responsibility for the past timeline events.

Zoe accepted the scale given by the holy dragon spirit while observing its quality through her magic resonance which tried to check the value of the scale.

"A good scale for a greedy old dragon like you, it seems that the Aurora Goddess Shrine gives you a lot of free time to take care of a scale full of magic energy like this. Is it okay to give half of your magic energy stored in this scale?" Zoe asked after assessing the holy dragon spirit’s scale.

"No problem, it’s nothing compared to what I did in the past timeline harvesting your magic threads just to fill my stomach that was hard to feel satisfied, hahaha…"

"You still have no shame as usual."

"Yes, but please don’t tell this to my contractor."

"…" Zoe fell silent after hearing that.

"This is the first time I’ve seen a holy dragon spirit scared by its contractor," Zoe commented.

"Trust me, I’ve become wiser since forming a contract with a holy maiden whose heart has not been corrupted by worldly sins. It’s best that your Master doesn’t approach my contractor or I’ll have a hard time explaining what love is…"

"I can’t guarantee that, because my Master can naturally attract other girls to her."

"Urk! Now I’m really worried about my contractor’s love rivalry."

"Don’t worry, my Master can be fair... sometimes."

My ears felt hot when I heard the conversation between Zoe and the holy dragon spirit. They were so calm talking about me without caring about my presence I could listen to their conversation.

"Excuse me, should I apologize too? As a spirit that lives in the open sea and as a whale spirit that doesn’t like to socialize, this is my first time we’ve met," said the whale-shaped spirit. Its small, chubby body shape looked so cute like a cute pillow that I wanted to hug, I almost let go and hugged it.

"Oh, yes, this is the first time we’ve met. You’re lucky you’re not on our list of personal grudges," Zoe said, flapping her butterfly wings.

"Ah, I’m not interested in that kind of thing afterall. Can I go home now? My contractor seems to be looking for me because I suddenly disappeared. Even though she’s a solitary holy maiden who is a bookworm in the library of the Aurora Goddess Shrine, I have a special affinity as her exclusive pillow," said the whale spirit while moving its plump body that looked as supple as a pillow.

"I don’t mind that. You can go home now," said Zoe in a friendly tone.

"Thank you for your understanding," replied the whale spirit while disappearing into water droplets that slowly evaporated until its physical form was no longer visible.

"I didn’t think there was a way to escape like that, can I do it too? I’m just a wild horse spirit who accidentally found a contract with a holy maiden and reached the level of a heavenly spirit that somehow changed my spirit level to a high-level spirit," said the horse spirit with a snort typical of a wild horse at the end of its sentence.

"Oh, why are you still here? Didn’t you go with the whale spirit?" replied Zoe with her indifferent attitude.

"Oh! Ooohh!! Thank you for your understanding. If one day I or my contractor have a conflict with your Master, please make me realize my mistake. I am just a wild horse who is unaware of what happened in the past," said the spirit in the form of a horse suddenly running in the air and disappearing from Zoe’s sight.

"Alright, after the spirit present has felt my magic thread in the past, maybe this will hurt a little for a small punishment," said Zoe while changing her body shape into my human form.

Zoe’s floating body was covered by a thin veil with purple dress that showed her glowing red eyes and a creepy smile.

Her body trembled and a surge of black and purple energy mixed around her body.

A carving of a magic formation was centered behind her body and enlarged until it covered the ceiling of the Royal Palace.

The scorching sunlight was suddenly covered by the magic formation launched by Zoe.

"Sob… I don’t want to die," grumbled Hana who was scared again after seeing the magic formation launched by Zoe.

Without hearing Zoe’s creepy laughter and seeing her creepy smile, I was busy enjoying the snacks that had been brought by the Royal Palace Maid who was hiding behind my body.

"E-excuse me, your spirit won’t destroy this place, right?" she said in a trembling voice.

"Don’t worry, Zoe can’t do all that while I’m within her attack range."

My answer was a little ambiguous but that was what was going to happen. Zoe didn’t have the guts to hurt me or my family. The only thing Zoe would do was fight back that she had become part of a high-level spirit.

Showing her extraordinary strength had made them aware of the threat that Zoe would pose if she clashed with them again.

When Zoe’s circle formation was perfectly formed, several butterflies were created from a state of nothingness. Thousands of butterflies came out of her magic circle formation and landed on each of the heads of the spirits that had shrunk their bodies.

Ctaaspp…

Zoe snapped her fingers until a sound was made.

When the sound echoed, the butterflies that had landed on the spirits’ heads exploded and left a butterfly wing mark on their heads.

"Oh, I see, a curse, huh?" asked the wise holy dragon spirit.

"Judging from the magic formation, this is a curse that controls behavior, what have you planted in this curse, oh great and compassionate butterfly spirit?" asked the holy dragon spirit while touching its head which was engraved with the butterfly wing mark.

"You will know when the time comes," replied Zoe with a mysterious smile that seemed like boundless cunning.

"Now I am really worried about this curse, what has been planted I do not understand but it seems that it will control me if I try to break it."

"You know it clearly," replied Zoe with a smile.

"..."

I could see the holy dragon spirit looking like she was depressed at the curse that had been given to him.

"C-Can I go home now? It seems that I left my contractor for a long time, she might be looking for me.

As the representative of the spirits bound to the Aurora Goddess Shrine, we sincerely apologize for the incident that our greed caused in the past timeline," said the holy dragon spirit while bowing her body, after which she returned to her original size and flew away from the Royal Palace courtyard.

One by one the holy spirits bound to the Temple of Goddess Aurora left the grounds of the Royal Palace.

The awkward and calm atmosphere brought me into the enjoyment of the sweet snacks that had been provided by the Royal Palace Maid.