Gina eventually had to stop playing with the Pegasus so they could leave, and she entered the carriage with Jason and Stella before the Pegasus took off into the sky. As they flew, Jason wondered how the carriage was moving so smoothly. Azrael explained that the bottom of the carriage had been engraved with wind-based runes that allowed it to float gently behind the flying Pegasus. The Pegasus were simply pulling it forward through the air. It was a very smooth ride as the Pegasus flew them back towards the royal castle! As they approached the castle, Jason noticed an entire crowd of people standing outside the large building and cheering! There must have been at least two thousand elves gathered on the ground, and Jason could see even more of them in the trees! It was obvious that they had all come there to greet Gina and thank her for what she did, and Jason could almost feel Gina’s nervousness when she saw the sheer numbers that had gathered.
’Just smile and wave, babe. They’ll love you.’
Jason spoke up from beside Gina, and Gina turned to him in surprise! Gina smiled sheepishly when she realised that Jason had noticed her nervousness, but once Gina saw the calm look on Jason’s face, Gina felt her own nervousness slowly dying out, and she smiled as she put her head on Jason’s shoulder and relaxed. Gina wasn’t used to being the center of so much attention, and she didn’t know if she would ever get used to it, but as long as Jason was there beside Gina, then nothing else mattered to her! The carriage landed a few minutes later in the center of a large field, and the three passengers got out of the carriage to thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd! Jason brought up Gina’s hand and kissed it before he pushed her forward slightly while standing back with Stella, and Jason simply smiled and watched as Gina waved to the crowd! This was Gina’s moment, and Jason wanted her to enjoy it as much as possible! The Arandelle Royal family – minus the King and Queen – were waiting for Jason and Gina at the entrance to the castle, and once the two of them got close, the royal family bowed to them thankfully, and the eldest prince, who was standing in front, expressed their sincere gratitude for what Gina had done for them.
"We cannot thank you enough for what you have done for our mother. We only learned about our mother’s condition a few hours ago, but knowing what you have sacrificed for our people has made us indebted to you. I swear that we will do our best to repay your kindness in any way we can."
Gina smiled, and she bowed her head slightly as the eldest prince bowed even deeper to her in respect! Gina knew just how big of a deal it was for the prince of a kingdom to bow to an outsider like this, so Gina could tell that the prince was extremely grateful!
"Gina!"
A cute voice shouted from somewhere behind the prince, and Gina smiled brightly and spread her hands out as the littlest princess Heiert came over and jumped into her arms! Princess Heriet hugged Gina around the neck tightly, and Gina held her close as the little girl cried into Gina’s shoulder! Heriet, as well as the other royal siblings, had only just learned about what really happened to their mother a few hours ago! They had all thought that their mother had gone on an isolated training session to try and awaken her Sagehood, but they had no idea that their mother was actually in a coma! The only people who knew about the Queen’s coma were King Farlow and some of the elders in the kingdom, along with the head of the guards, who was in charge of protecting the Queen’s body. But once the children heard what really happened to the Queen, they nearly broke down from the grief they felt! They all thought that they would never get to see their mother again! The Elven Queen had been gone for nearly a decade, but the elves were a very long-lived race, and so they didn’t mind waiting for that long for their mother to return! But the thought that their mother might never return was just too much for them!
But then King Farlow began to tell them about the real reason behind his visit to the Forest of Eternal Wind as well as what Gina had done for them, and the sheer gratitude that they felt toward her was enough to nearly drown them! The elves were a people who never forgot a favour, and they were more than willing to swear their lives to someone that they saw as their benefactor! So right now, all the elves, both in the royal family as well as the regular citizens, felt a very strong sense of loyalty and respect for Gina and what she had done for them! Princess Heriet was one of the princesses who had cried the most after hearing that their mother had been in a coma, but now that she knew their mother would be okay, she was the one who felt the most relief, and the princess whispered to Gina between her sobs.
"Thank you, Gina! You saved my mother!"
Gina just smiled, and she pat Heriet on the back while saying that it was okay. Jason smiled at the scene and watched as Heriet pulled back slightly while Jason used a finger to absentmindedly play with Ulyn, who was flying beside him. Heriet cleared her eyes using her sleeves before going back in to hug Gina again. But then Heriet suddenly noticed that Jason was standing beside Gina, and the moment Heriet laid eyes on Jason, her eyes widened in shock, and she made a cute sound at the back of her throat!
"Squeak! The immortal King?!"
Heriet squeaked in shock from seeing Jason, and her cheeks burned red from embarrassment as she quickly pressed her face into Gina’s shoulder to hide again! Heriet had been hearing stories about Jason and Gina’s adventures throughout the Primordial Expanse all this time, and even though Heriet had the highest amount of respect for Gina, Heriet couldn’t deny that she had developed a bit of a crush on Jason after hearing about all his great feats of strength! In fact, there was hardly any elven girl who heard about Jason’s exploits that hadn’t developed a crush on him! So seeing Jason just casually walking through the forest like this was almost too much for the young princess to bear! Both Jason and Gina laughed at Heriet’s reaction before Gina turned to Jason.
"You know, babe, if you keep enchanting all these little girls, I’ll probably have a lot of competition in the future."
Jason just scoffed in amusement, and he watched as Gina tried to introduce him to Heriet and the other royal siblings. Heriet was still blushing wildly while looking at Jason, but she managed to stammer out a greeting while barely holding eye contact. But when Jason smiled at her and returned the greeting, Heriet’s face burned once again, and she quickly ran into the castle! Jason and Gina just laughed at that as Gina introduced Jason to the rest of the family. There were a few elven princesses who looked at Jason with a little too much interest, but Jason ignored them easily since he wasn’t interested. As Jason greeted everyone, Jason could see the closeness that Gina had developed with the royal family during her time here, and even though a lot of them were trying to make sure they didn’t act improperly, Jason could also see the nervousness that many of them had when they came up to greet him. There was no denying that Jason’s reputation was not the most pleasant thing in the Primordial Expanse! A man who had travelled across more than two hundred worlds and fought the Machina multiple times before finally deciding that the Machina were a thorn in his side and just going to destroy the entire race in one day! There was no world that wouldn’t feel nervous in front of Jason!