Elsa's Room
Elsa slowly opened her eyes and immediately saw her mother sitting by the bedside.
Suddenly, the memories surfaced in her mind. Her eyes gradually welled up with tears, and she buried her face in the pillow, quietly beginning to cry.
"Hmm?"
Even though the sound was faint, it still woke Queen Iduna up.
"What's wrong, Elsa?"
As soon as Queen Iduna opened her eyes, she saw Elsa with her head buried in the pillow and… crying.
"Mom, last night… last night, I—I didn't mean to do that. I don't even know why it happened. Waaahhh…"
Seeing that Queen Iduna was awake, Elsa didn't hesitate and threw herself into her mother's arms, crying as she poured out her feelings.
Just now, Elsa remembered everything. Last night, her magic had gone out of control, and she accidentally hurt El and Anna.
She was very scared and felt guilty for fear she might hurt her loved ones again in the future.
"There, there. It's all right now. It's all over. Let's not think about it for now, okay?"
Queen Iduna held Elsa gently, softly patting her back and comforting her in a tender voice.
This child had truly been frightened. After all, things had been so dangerous last night.
Queen Iduna let out a quiet sigh.
...
A few minutes later, Elsa stopped sobbing and lifted her head.
Elsa's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were red as she looked up at her and asked anxiously, "By the way, what about El and Anna? Are they okay?"
"Anna's fine. Look, she's sleeping right there on your bed. She was a little scared and hasn't woken up yet, but don't worry."
Seeing how anxious Elsa was, Queen Iduna didn't tease her and answered her directly.
After all, the sisters were very close.
Elsa looked behind her, and sure enough, Anna was still lying on the same bed with her. She had been so overwhelmed with guilt that she hadn't even noticed until now.
Anna was still lying there, and judging by her breathing, she was indeed asleep.
"As for El…"
Seeing that Elsa had relaxed a little after checking on Anna, Queen Iduna began to speak about Elijah but deliberately paused halfway through.
"What about him? Mom, please tell me!"
Elsa was upset by the pause and quickly asked.
"Elijah is fine. He just used up most of his magic trying to shield against your powers when they went out of control—but he's okay."
Queen Iduna saw that her plan worked and told Elsa without hesitation.
"Phew… that's good, I'm so glad!"
Elsa sighed with relief when she heard that El was fine. She thought she had accidentally hurt him.
"Oh? Elsa seems to care quite a bit about little El!"
Queen Iduna, of course, had noticed all of Elsa's reactions and now looked at her teasingly.
"N-no, it's not like that! I was just worried I might've hurt someone…"
Elsa felt really embarrassed by Queen Aduna's look. She quickly added, "Mom, you can go now. I'll come down for breakfast in a bit."
"Haha, alright, I'll see you later then. I'm going to check on little El."
Seeing Elsa's shy expression, Queen Iduna chuckled softly and left Elsa's room.
...
After he left his room, El passed through the hall and noticed that the shields he had used yesterday to block Elsa's out-of-control magic were still frozen in ice.
The soldiers were trying to figure out how to melt the ice.
He didn't think much of it at first and was about to head toward the dining room when he suddenly stopped. He had just heard the notification sound from Joi.
[Congratulations, Host, you have triggered a random quest.]
[Quest: Aftermath]
[Description: The incident from last night may have already started to spread in Arendelle, and you need to do something to resolve the situation.]
[Reward: 10 magic coins.]
[Failure: None]
This was the reason he had stopped.
Yesterday, El finished refining Elsa's raw ice magic, and it merged with his own ice magic. Now, he could control the ice Elsa had created, and his ice control had been upgraded to Ice Mastery (Intermediate).
It was a good improvement.
"What do you think happened last night? Why are there several shields frozen in the hall?"
"I don't know, but I heard it was because someone tried to kill Prince El and Princess Anna, but it was stopped in time."
"Is that so? Don't these people know this castle is as secure as a fortress, even at night?"
"Tell me about it… Prince is coming, let's not talk about it anymore."
After accepting the quest, El walked toward the several shields frozen in ice. He overheard the soldiers discussing what happened last night, but none of them really knew the full details.
It seemed his old man had done a good job keeping things under wraps.
"Your Highness, we're in the process of melting the ice. Would you like to go around the other side?"
One of the soldiers saw El getting closer and suggested.
"It's okay! You all go ahead. I'll handle it from here."
El said, looking at the soldiers in front of him with a slight frown. He didn't want to use magic in front of everyone as it might cause unnecessary trouble.
"Well…"
The soldier hesitated for a moment.
"It's fine, my father gave his approval. He won't blame you for this."
He noticed the soldier's hesitation and smiled to reassure him.
"Alright, then. We'll go back to our patrol."
Hearing this, the soldier relaxed and walked away, along with a few others who were working on melting the ice.
Once everyone had left, El approached the shields frozen in the ice.
'Is Elsa's magic really this powerful?'
Staring at the shields frozen in ice, El couldn't help but admire. He saw yesterday how many soldiers were pushed back several meters just trying to block that magic.
It was really powerful.
Then, El placed his hand on the ice.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Just as he thought, El easily broke the magic holding the ice together. The shields fell down, and the melted ice water soaked into the floor.
If they had used the method they tried earlier, they might have had to wait until the magic disappeared.