There was a long silence between Kael and Jojo as they kept staring at the empty bed and the hole in the ground.Kael was in a daze because everything happened so quickly. But he finally snapped out of it once Jojo burst out in tears.

"WUAAHHH! MOMMY!!!!"

His cry was so loud that it alerted almost everyone around them. They quickly gathered around the Beast King, unsure of what happened inside, because Kael was blocking the entrance to the doctor’s office with his body.

Kael hugged his son tightly, allowing him to cry while burying his head in his father’s chest. It wasn’t until Vestor walked in and inquired about the situation that he finally replied:

"The Queen is pregnant, and..." Kael paused for a second. "She left for the faerie land."

Everyone gasped immediately, and Vestor asked, "T-then, what should we do next, My King? Should we dispatch soldiers to bring the Queen back immediately? You said that she’s pregnant, right? It’s too dangerous for her to travel that far without any protection!"

"None of you are allowed to enter the faerie land, so it’s no use," Kael said. "Jojo and I will bring the Queen back. We’re her family, so we have some rights to enter faerie land."

Vestor and the rest of the beastmen around couldn’t stop the Beast King, who returned to the Queen’s courtyard.

"Vestor, what should we do next?" Grishaw asked. "Should we follow our King?"

"No, have you seen how serious the situation is? Our King looks angry, and the Crown Prince is crying nonstop," Vestor pointed out. "If we tried to follow them, it might spell disaster for us."

"So, we’re going to wait?" Grishaw peeked at the hole inside the doctor’s office and was stunned.

"Yes. Let’s make sure that the kingdom stays strong and united until the Beast King returns with our Queen."

*

"Daddy, I wanna see Mommy..." Jojo said in between his sobs.

He didn’t struggle as his father put on the cloak made by Sisi before putting one on himself.

"We’re going to the faerie land, Jojo," Kael said as he carried his son. "We need to bring her back. She belongs here, with her family, especially when your mother is pregnant with your baby sibling."

Jojo would be five years old in a week, but even he realized that something was terribly wrong when Sisi got swallowed by that giant plant.

He knew that Sisi wouldn’t die, because she said that all plants were her dearest friends.

But why did the giant plant suddenly swallow her and bring her to the faerie land? Did she not want him anymore? Did Mommy grow tired of him?

Jojo’s eyes were pooling with tears once again. He got a heartache seeing how Sisi struggled while carrying him during that blizzard when his father finally found them, and now this heartache returned, all because he couldn’t see Sisi anymore.

Jojo wanted to cry again, but he looked up at his father whose crimson eyes shone brightly. He was angry, and... sad? Jojo felt that his father was very sad right now, even though he didn’t show it.

Thus, Jojo decided not to cry anymore, because he didn’t want his father to get even sadder.

The boy just wished that he could reunite with his mother as soon as possible!

*

Sisi didn’t even have time to react when she suddenly got swallowed by a giant Venus flytrap.

She was trapped inside the Venus flytrap’s mouth as it was absorbed by the giant root underground, and once Sisi opened her eyes, she was already sitting right next to the giant tree with colorful petals.

Yes, she was inside the faerie land, specifically right next to Grandma Tree.

The faeries were already gathered around her, looking worried because Grandma Tree was shaking all of a sudden and then stopped shaking once it brought its granddaughter home.

"Darling!" Crush Tutu panicked as she was the one who handed the seed to Sisi just now. She was also carried by the flytrap, and along the way, she felt guilty because she didn’t know that the seed would’ve spawned such a vicious plant!

"A-are you alright, Darling?" Crush Tutu asked as she helped Darling Sisi to stand up.

"I am... alright..." Sisi murmured, but she was far from alright, because she was questioning the whole thing.

She was supposed to return next week, so how come she ended up in the faerie land right now?

On top of that, Kael and Jojo must’ve been in shock and worried sick after witnessing her getting swallowed by a giant plant.

She needed to get an answer from her grandmother, because this wasn’t in the deal they made before.

"Darling, since you’re holding the seed that I gave to Tutu, does that mean you are... pregnant with the Dusk Star’s child?" Elder Toto asked.

Sisi peered suspiciously. "Yes, what’s wrong with it, Elder? Tutu said that it’s a seed from Grandma Tree, so she must’ve realized something, right?"

Elder Toto sighed. "You can talk with Grandma Tree yourself, Darling. We, the faeries, are just doing our duty based on what Grandma Tree ordered us."

Elder Toto knew that Darling Sisi must’ve been angry to get swallowed and transported back to the faerie land without her consent, but that was Grandma Tree’s request, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Sisi also knew there was no point demanding answers from the faeries right now. So she patted the tree trunk and whispered,

"Grandma, Sisi is here..."

The massive ancient tree shook its branches, and colorful petals rained over the spacious garden in the middle of the crater.

Then, a vine came out of the ground and gently wrapped around Sisi before lifting her up to enter through a small hole where Grandma was living.

Crush Tutu still felt guilty, especially toward Jojo.

Had she known that the seed would’ve forcefully transferred them back to the faerie land, she wouldn’t have used it, since Darling Sisi still had one week to say goodbye to her husband and son.