I thank thee, my Royal Advisor. Thy words are sweet to mine ears, unlike the bold defiance that plagued the rest of this court. Infuriating wretches, all...
I have finished the latest sweep of my domain, and I confirmed what we suspected. Though some of the magic within the Heart of the Forest still eludes my hoard, our Ritual continues to siphon it into myself. It shall yet take some time, but eventually, I and I alone shall encompass the Heart, and never we twain shall be separated. My father shall be grateful, in the end. He shall not be able to resist for long.
My Underlings continue to prowl through the canopies and patrol the bridges, rounding up their former Allies. In the confusion of my transformation, many peons successfully fled, and infuriatingly, many of them still elude our grasp - but our circle of Time Magic remains intact, so they cannot have escaped into the brambles of the Withering and returned to their homes. I expect it is as we have discussed, and they are merely hiding among the tangled root caverns along the outskirts of my Forest.
No matter. My Underlings shall unearth them soon enough. And in the meantime, our dungeons have been graced with some notable guests. All of the Merfolk who were unable to escape as the Water Magic in the ballroom collapsed... that Commander from the Cosmic Solarium, who will surely be a satisfying hostage when the time comes to turn my conquering attentions to the stars... and of course, thy former enemies, the Headmaster of Hope and his wife. Watching them huddled in the cells must fill thee with sharp satisfaction.
How I hunger for that moment. And then we shall expand our reach to other realms. Shall we start with thy former homeland, Advisor? Though I should wonder why thy thoughts are set on merely reconquering. For the insults that they have wrought against thee, I should be most amenable to burning the entire kingdom into ash.
Dost thou still speak? Our enemies remain at large, and I wish to oversee the hunt!
