Strongest Warlock - Wizard World Irregular

"J-Joanne?" Princess Ramona muttered as she looked at her best friend, whom she thought that she wouldn\'t see again in her lifetime.

At first, she thought that she was dreaming, so she decided to pinch her arm, which made her wince.

\'This isn\'t a dream?\' Princess Ramona thought. \'But how is this possible?\'

However, as she was thinking about these things, she couldn\'t help but hug the young lady sleeping beside her and pulled her close to her chest.

"Mmm?" Joanne, who was still half-asleep, found her face pressed on something soft and warm, making her want to go back to sleep again.

The young lady then wrapped her arms around Princess Ramona\'s body and continued to sleep, using the Princess as a hug pillow.

Seeing Joanne\'s reaction, Princess Ramona held onto her tighter, with tears streaming down her face, landing on her pillow.

There was no doubt that the one in her arms was none other than her best friend, who had left with her beloved to return to their timeline.

\'If this is a dream, I don\'t want to wake up again,\' Princess Ramona thought as she held onto the young lady as if she was the most precious thing in the world.

Perhaps due to her current state, she didn\'t notice that there was someone else inside the room, who was looking at her with surprise.

That person was none other than Ethan, who was lying on the bed beside them.

Hecate, on the other hand, was seated cross-legged in the corner of the room, meditating.

Ethan, who had been inside the Painting of Enlightenment once before, knew that the Ramona in front of him wasn\'t real.

But for some reason, the scene in front of him made his heart ache for reasons he couldn\'t name.

The way the Princess held his sister, as if she didn\'t want to let her go, reminded him of the day before the two of them had returned to their own timeline.

That night, Princess Ramona held onto Joanne and cried bitterly, just like she was crying right now.

Perhaps, sensing that something was wrong, Joanne once again opened her eyes and raised her head to look at the face of the Princess beside her.

"R-Ramona? Why are you crying?" Joanne asked. "Are you still upset that I kissed you a lot last time? How about I kiss you again? Will that make you feel better?"

The Princess didn\'t reply and simply held onto Joanne tightly, her shoulders trembling from time to time.

Joanne was at a loss, but sensing that her best friend didn\'t want to let her go, she decided to just hug her back and lightly pat her head.

"It\'s going to be alright," Joanne said softly. "I\'m here."

But instead of calming her down, that only made Princess Ramona cry even harder, which made the girl meditating at the corner of her room, Hecate, sigh silently.

Half an hour later, Princess Ramona finally regained her composure and apologized to Joanne for breaking down.

While she was hugging her best friend, memories of what happened inside the painting of enlightenment flowed inside Princess Ramona\'s head.

The battle against Godfrey, and the promise of her going out on a date with Ethan today.

Of course, those weren\'t the only memories that flowed inside her mind.

As if to tease her, scenes of Ethan making love to Lilian and Nicole also flowed inside the Princess\' head, making her almost choke on her tears.

It was also the main factor that sobered her up and finally returned her to her senses.

"You\'re going on a date with my brother today, yet your eyes are so puffy like this," Joanne said with concern. "Come. Let\'s take a bath and wash those tears away.

"After that, we will have breakfast, then you and Brother will be on your way. Today is a special day, so make sure to not waste it, okay?"

Ethan\'s sister always treated Princess Ramona as someone younger than her.

Even though her best friend was currently older than her inside the Painting of Enlightenment, she still treated the princess as if she was younger.

When Joanne and Princess Ramona left to go to the bathroom, Hecate opened his eyes and talked to Ethan, who had also propped himself up from the bed.

"It will be rude if you don\'t take this date seriously, Sir Ethan," Hecate said. "I know it\'s hard to treat the Princess you see like real Princess Ramona, but it would be best if you gave closure to the lingering feelings in your heart.

"This is the Painting of Enlightenment, and although you\'ve already been here once, its purpose is to tie up loose ends regardless of time and place. This is an opportunity that may not come again, so make sure to treat the Princess just as you would treat the real thing."

Ethan stared at Hecate with a complicated look on his face before heaving a sigh.

"Since when did you become as wise as a sage?" Ethan said wryly.

"Just now," Hecate replied playfully. "But please, take my words seriously, okay? Not only for your sake, but for her sake as well. Also, here—take this."

Hecate handed Ethan a key, which made the latter look at her in confusion.

"That key unlocks the Room of the Saintess. If you don\'t know where it is, it\'s located at the top of the highest tower of the temple," Hecate said with a smile. "I hope this will help you bring closure to the feelings in your heart. I know that even though you try hard to deny it, Princess Ramona is special to you as well."

"How did you even get this?" Ethan asked as he looked at the key in his hand.

"Did you forget?" Hecate arched an eyebrow. "I\'m also a Saintess of this Temple."

"Future Saintess," Ethan corrected.

"Still a Saintess." Hecate giggled. "Now, Mr. Prince Charming, come with me. I\'ll dress you up pretty nicely."

Hecate grabbed Ethan\'s hand and left the room with him in tow.

The young man frowned because the young lady who was holding his hand seemed to be very different from the Hecate that he usually knew.

But thinking that he was just overcomplicating things, he decided to just let her dress him up for his date with Princess Ramona.

He wasn\'t aware that inside his Sea of Consciousness, his two staunchest allies and critics were having a silent meeting with each other.

\'You saw that, right?\' Sebastian asked.

\'Yes,\' Ethan\'s Other Half replied.

\'Does that mean…\'

\'I believe so.\'

Sebastian, who also had a soft spot for Princess Ramona, didn\'t know if he should be happy or sad at the same time.

Ethan\'s Other Half, who also liked the Princess, couldn\'t help but sigh because he didn\'t expect that something like this would happen.

\'Should we tell him?\' Sebastian asked.

\'No,\' Ethan\'s Other Half replied in a heartbeat. \'This is Ethan\'s job. We can only watch and see what will happen next.\'

\'But it\'s so sad.\'

\'All the more reason why we should keep silent. Because if we tell him, something bad might happen—let me remind you, this is something related to Fate. Unless he\'s the one that discovers it, things will not have a resolution.\'

Sebastian reluctantly nodded before heaving a long and deep sigh.

He couldn\'t even fathom what kind of sacrifices the young Princess made in order to defy the destiny that should have kept her away from the person whom she chased across time and space.