Ball of Nothing

It took Zero three days to finally arrange a private audience with the princess. King Darius had been petrified when Zero made a request to see the princess alone in the salon for a chat. Even the chancellor started to plead on behalf of their princess and Zero had to spend hours convincing them that he wasn't angry anymore.

After talking to the King and the chancellor about why he lost his cool and why he wanted to keep his adventurer ranking a secret despite his frightening ability, they were finally convinced. The only delay was waiting for the king to finally persuade his daughter to agree to the private audience with her teacher in the salon.

Zero felt bad when he saw how frightened the girl was. Even though Princess Dorothy was no longer dieting, she had lost the weight she gained back. In fact, she looked pale and Zero worried for her health.

"Are you alright, princess? You look worse than when we first started lessons."

The genuine concern that Zero showed went over the princess' head. Her head was hung so low and she wouldn't meet Zero's eyes for the first ten minutes, only replying to Zero's questions with perfect manners but not opening up to him.

Zero took his time and brewed calming tea. He was reminded of their first meeting where he also used tea as an excuse to bond with his student. Princess Dorothy accepted the cup of calming herbal tea from her teacher who looked slightly different from usual. Ever since that day, the princess had always been too frightened to look at the healer in the eyes. Zero's magic was able to shake the entire Rocket Mountain and thankfully, the healer calmed down quickly. If Zero hadn't calmed down fast enough, the princess didn't know if this mountain would still be standing.

"Teacher, I'm very sorry..." the princess apologised again, nursing the teacup nervously.

Zero sighed. "Stop apologising. It's not your fault for not knowing. I was wrong to react so badly to something you didn't know better. I-I was never a teacher before so I don't really know how to be a good teacher," Zero admitted.

This time, the princess looked up in a mix of amazement, respect and joy that Zero wasn't blaming her. Princess Dorothy might still not know what she'd done to warrant such a reaction in the healer but Zero's sincere apology over a cup of tea in an empty salon made the dwarf feel relieved.

"You've been a great teacher so far to me," the princess smiled and Zero looked at her with uncertainty.

Instead of going straight to the point and telling Dorothy what she'd done wrong, Zero decided to try a different approach. He told her a story about something that happened to him in the past when he was still a student under Hua Tuo.

"You know, there was once a healer who had incredible powers. She had a dream to use them to save everyone who was wounded or ill. Her teacher was a great doctor who taught her many things. Of the things taught to her, this healer had to learn how to master the most difficult healing art - the art of resurrection."

Although Princess Dorothy didn't know where Zero was going with the story, she had a feeling she was listening to something that was personal to Zero. The elven siblings were mysterious. Nobody knew anything about them apart from the fact that they were envoys from Magnus Hilda. When the princess understood that Zero was telling her a story about his past, she felt a sense of closeness like never before as if they were finally walking on the same bridge.

"The art of resurrection was difficult to master. There were also many criteria before it could be executed successfully. Her master gave her some rules to abide by. One of the rules was to complete resurrection within three minutes of death or to never use this healing art. The dead can only be brought back to life if their souls were still attached to their bodies. Once the soul leaves, a person will truly die. No resurrection art will bring them back."

The princess listened attentively and even helped to refill their empty teacups. "What happened after that? Did the healer manage to bring back the dead to life?"

Zero smiled mysteriously. "She did. At the price of creating chimaeras and zombies that slaughtered villages."

Princess Dorothy gasped. "That's horrible! Did the healer stop them?"

Zero shook his head. "The healer didn't know about it but her teacher did. After cleaning up the mess that his student had created, the teacher wasn't even angry about it. He called her out one day just like us right now, to have a one-to-one talk. He explained in a very calm manner about what happened and asked her why she broke the three-minute rule. The healer replied that she was simply curious and determined to try another method of perfecting resurrection magic since her failure rates were very high. She didn't know what would happen if resurrection magic was used for more than three minutes after death. Her teacher didn't blame her about it. He only blamed himself for not explaining clearly why she shouldn't do that in the first place. Do you know why the teacher wasn't mad at her despite causing the deaths of so many?"

The dwarf shook her head and Zero smiled. "He wanted her to feel the heavy burden of sin to remember it for life, the consequences of her action. He could have stopped her from doing what she did but he did not. They were both guilty for the loss of a few hundred lives from that incident. That is why the healer, till this day, understands the importance of life. Imagine her shock when she comes to a country where the living are purposely starving themselves to death and ruining their health because of beauty. Is beauty really more important than life?"

Hearing the question being directed to her, the princess hung her head low. "No, I guess not. However, for some, life isn't worth living if there is no love."

The response made Zero remember the tragic love story of Athena, Poseidon and Medusa. Not all love stories have a happy ending and although he didn't know what love was, he could understand where his student was coming from.

"I don't know about that. For me, there will always be love. It just depends on where you look. Fae King Vivian might not love you the same way he loved Queen Rihanna but that doesn't mean you're not loved, princess. Do you know why royalties have to be the busiest people in the kingdom?"

Princess Dorothy shook her head. "We're not the busiest people in the Kingdom although we are rather busy. The chancellor is busier than my father and I don't have much to do."

Zero sighed. "You don't have much to do because you don't find things to do. You crave love and attention from others because you couldn't create any of your own. Royalties are like Gods. They are born into a role of responsibility to care for the people in their territory. If you don't have much to do, it just means you're not making an effort to find something to do. Do you think the Gods are idle? Even if everything is working for them, they still work hard to make sure people's lives get better and bless those who offer prayers faithfully. How can the royal family be less busy than the Gods who are so much more powerful than mortals? Something is wrong."

Listening to Zero's logic, the princess started to think. "Teacher, I don't understand exactly what you mean. Are we still talking about love and beauty or something else?"

Zero smiled. "What I'm trying to say is that you should find a direction in life to follow. As a princess, you don't have to limit yourself. Just like your love interest and your idea of beauty, your purpose in life doesn't have to be determined so easily. From what I can see, princess, you are too obsessed with the present that you do not consider the future. If I did not find out that you were practising magic and soul cultivation soon enough, you would be dead by the end of the month. Those who practise cultivation cannot practise magic and those who practise magic cannot cultivate. The collision of two opposing forces in a mortal's body will cause it to explode without an outlet."

Hearing that she was so close to death, the princess paled. Now that the dots were connected, she could finally understand why Zero was so angry with her when he found out as well as his purpose of sharing stories with her.

"I understand now, teacher. I was in too much of a hurry that I treated my life carelessly. Thank you for teaching me not only the ways of a great beauty but also opening my eyes to reality. Although I still don't know what I can do as a princess, I'm sure there will be a role for me. I won't be in a hurry to want to see Fae King Vivian for now and focus on cultivating."

Zero smiled. "And I'll be there by your side for every step of the way. Congratulations, you've become wiser now and are on the right path at last to become a great beauty like your mother."

Princess Dorothy blushed. Queen Demora wasn't the beauty of the century, she was a warrior with many scars but for some reason, hearing Zero comparing her mother with a great beauty made Princess Dorothy very sure about what it took to be one.

It wasn't about the skin, it truly was about the soul. In all of Rocket Mountain, there is no other woman greater than Queen Demora who cared for her people, led her people, defended her people and gave her life for her family. For Dorothy to become a woman as great as her mother, she had to start with self-acceptance.