Chapter 012: Buying Time

Arendelle, the palace.

After waking up, the young first princess Elsa quickly dressed and called to her sister, "Anna, wake up, wake up."

The equally young second princess Anna felt her shoulder being pushed several times and reluctantly opened her bleary eyes, glancing at the sky outside the window.

Radiant sunlight streamed through the windows into the spacious and ornate room. In the bright light, countless specks of dust seemed to dance.

Anna rubbed her eyes, stretched, and mumbled indistinctly, "Good morning, Elsa."

"Anna, hurry up, hurry up." By now Elsa had already dressed and seemed somewhat impatient.

"Hurry up?" Anna looked at her sister uncomprehendingly, as if not fully awake yet.

Elsa put her hands on her hips and glared at her younger sister. "Anna, have you forgotten what day it is today?"

Anna: "Your birthday?"

Elsa was a little angry, so without hesitation she gathered a ball of water at her fingertips and splashed it onto Anna's face with a plop. "Anna, you idiot."

Anna was suddenly hit by the cold water ball, and she snapped awake. She felt that her sister was acting strange today, daring to splash water on her face.

Could it be that she had done something last night that made her sister angry?

But Anna thought hard and couldn't recall anything she had done last night to upset her sister. They had even discussed giving their teacher a surprise together last night.

Wait, teacher?

Anna suddenly realized, oh right, today was the day the teacher was coming to give her a lesson.

I really am an idiot.

She suddenly bounced three feet high off the bed, dressed in a flash, cast a cleaning spell to sweep away all the stains and dust, fixed her hair, and became full of energy.

"Elsa, hurry up, hurry up, we're going to be late."

She practically sprinted a hundred meters as she pushed open the door and dashed into the corridor.

"This idiot." Elsa stamped her foot, and an astonishing chill spread beneath her feet, freezing the bright floor instantly, extending all the way forward.

Elsa leaped up, lightly tapped her feet together, and a pair of ice skates appeared beneath them.

She glided away swiftly, and as she entered the corridor, the cold continued to spread, freezing the ground, and in an instant it reached the end of the corridor.

Anna, who was running, caught off guard, slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.

Before she could get up, Elsa, on her ice skates, rushed past her. "Anna, I'm going ahead. If you're late, I'll put in a good word for you in front of the teacher."

Before the words faded, she reached the end of the corridor, executed a drift, and gracefully turned the corner.

Anna couldn't help but say, "Ah, you're so sneaky, Elsa!"

But she wasn't without a countermeasure. The next second, Anna shook her arms, and in an instant they turned into a pair of wings. Then, Anna transformed into a beautiful white eagle and flew straight up.

Before long, she caught up with Elsa, who was skating.

The two chased each other, neither giving way.

King Agnarr was strolling in the palace with his queen when suddenly his feet slipped, and before he knew it, he fell to the ground with a thud.

As he fell, he instinctively pulled his queen, and then she slipped and fell on top of him with a thud.

Because they had the diamond ring in hand, the two didn't feel pain, but they were quite disheveled.

King Agnarr looked up and saw that the reason he had slipped was because the floor beneath him was actually frozen.

The next second, he saw his daughter Elsa skating past him like the wind, "Sorry, Dad, Mom, I'm going to be late. When I get back, I'll definitely apologize to you."

Then, a white-feathered eagle flew over their heads.

"I think you really need to punish Elsa properly. She's too mischievous."

King Agnarr recognized this as the voice of his second daughter, Anna.

So he darkened his face and shouted, "When you two get back, you will both be punished!!!"

Elsa's foot slipped, and she nearly fell.

The eagle's wings stiffened, and it nearly crashed into a pillar in the palace.

The two fled in disgrace without looking back.

Afterward, the ice on the floor gradually melted, as if it had never appeared.

Queen Aduna stood up first, then pulled her husband up from the ground, saying with a smile, "You scared them. They're just children."

King Agnarr said, "When I was their age, I wasn't this unruly."

"Alright, dear, you know they were just in a hurry to get to class," Queen Aduna said slowly. "They just didn't want to be late in front of their teacher."

King Agnarr snorted and said nothing, but his expression softened.

……

Meanwhile, the two girls, walking quickly, soon arrived at the forbidden area deep within the palace.

No one except the royal family was ever allowed to enter here.

Elsa pushed open the door to the forbidden area and walked in. Anna transformed from an eagle back into a human and followed behind her sister.

Inside the room, there was nothing except a towering door in the center.

Elsa passed through the portal with ease and arrived at Gushan. The first thing she saw was a vast amount of gold, silver, and jewels, along with a dragon lying on the treasure.

"Good morning, Smaug." Elsa nodded at the fierce dragon and performed a curtsy.

Anna did the same.

Smaug lifted his eyelids, glanced at the two girls, then closed his eyes again without replying.

The two girls didn't mind. After leaving the treasure vault, they soon found their teacher on Gushan.

"Long time no see, teacher." Elsa stepped forward and bowed.

Anna threw herself into the teacher's arms, "Long time no see. Did you miss me, teacher?"

Wang Bo vigorously ruffled Anna's hair, "Long time no see, Elsa, Anna. How have you been lately?"

It had been a few months since his last meeting with the two girls.

At first, Wang Bo had been very dedicated when teaching the two knowledge and magic, but ever since Elsa could control her magic and Anna also began to improve, Wang Bo appropriately reduced the lessons and meetings.

After all, he had his own things to do, and the two girls had royal lessons to study; they couldn't always be learning magic.

The two girls were not witches, but princesses.

So Wang Bo's lessons went from once a day at the beginning, to once a week, and later to once a month. Recently, it had been delayed even longer.