Her hand passed through empty air, and her entire body froze instantly, standing completely still for a full second or two.
At that moment, she felt as though her heart skipped half a beat, and her arm trembled faintly with weakness.
Yet as queen of the underground kingdom, Dianna still managed to maintain some composure.
Calmly withdrawing her hand as if nothing had happened, she quickly scanned her surroundings, hoping to see the figure she desperately wished for.
However…
Everything around remained as empty and silent as when she'd arrived.
Due to her prior orders, even the Carbink would not pass through this place.
"Elias?"
Trying to suppress her rising anxiety, Dianna tentatively called out.
She remembered Diancie mentioning that Elias seemed capable of using psychic powers.
Perhaps…
Perhaps after the healing was finished, he was playing a little prank on her, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
As queen, she normally maintained her dignity and strictness.
But this time, Dianna had already decided—even if Elias really was pranking her, she absolutely wouldn't punish him.
And so…
"I won't blame you, so come out already!"
Her clear, cold voice echoed repeatedly through the empty space. Yet, even after the echoes faded entirely, she received no response.
As her words gradually dissipated into silence, Dianna's calm facade began to collapse.
Panic surfaced bit by bit upon her normally indifferent face.
Her body, which had briefly warmed due to Elias's healing, now felt plunged into an icy cavern, cold spreading from within.
Forcing herself to steady her shaking limbs, Dianna felt her thoughts spiraling into chaos.
Just…what exactly happened…?
Even now, she still didn't understand why Elias had suddenly disappeared.
It was as if he'd evaporated from this world, gone without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Even after meticulously searching every corner, there was no sign of him—not even a faint trace of his aura.
Suddenly recalling the large amount of life energy he'd transferred into her, a dreadful thought crept into Dianna's mind.
All that life energy clearly came from Elias's own body.
Could it be…?
Did he perhaps give her all of his life force, leaving none to maintain his own existence, causing him to vanish into thin air?
After all, Elias was essentially a ghost-like entity.
Without sufficient energy, disappearing in such a manner wasn't impossible.
Realizing this possibility, Dianna's knees buckled slightly, almost causing her to fall.
However, at that very moment—
"Elias!"
A familiar, anxious voice abruptly sounded nearby.
Turning toward the voice, Dianna saw Diancie hurriedly approaching, urgently calling out the name that made Dianna's heart jolt.
But soon, Dianna keenly noticed that Diancie's gaze wasn't focused on her.
In other words… Diancie was looking directly at Elias?!
Dianna felt her previously faltering heart suddenly come back to life.
...
Meanwhile, Diancie felt she was already moving at the fastest speed possible.
Yet despite this, she still desperately wished she could sprout a pair of wings like a Fletchling.
Just moments ago, upon noticing Elias's absence, she'd rushed out of her room in a panic.
Initially, she'd intended to head straight toward Her Highness's quarters.
But the instant she'd stepped outside, she'd felt a strange sensation, as if Elias and the Queen weren't in the kingdom's center at all.
Instead, they seemed to be somewhere very close to her own chambers.
After a brief hesitation, Diancie trusted her intuition, turning to hurry in the opposite direction.
Then she witnessed the scene unfolding before her now.
Even from a distance, Diancie immediately spotted Elias.
But rather than standing nearby with open arms ready to receive her embrace as usual, Elias appeared shockingly frail.
His entire body flickered faintly, more transparent now than even when he'd first emerged from the diamond.
Instead of standing upright, he was leaning weakly against a massive rock, half-slumped in exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Dianna stood just a short distance away, making no move at all to help Elias.
Panic rose fiercely within Diancie—she couldn't comprehend how things had changed so drastically while she'd simply been asleep.
This was the first time she'd ever seen Elias this weak.
What exactly did Her Highness do to him?
As she approached, Dianna nervously stepped forward, about to ask Diancie where she saw Elias.
But before Dianna could speak, Diancie had already knelt carefully by the rock, gently lifting something invisible from the ground.
Dianna swallowed back her unspoken words.
Watching Diancie's careful actions, Dianna suddenly realized something crucial:
If she remembered correctly, there'd been a considerable period when she'd been completely unable to perceive Elias's presence herself…
Her guess had been correct—Elias had indeed given away his own life force to heal her…
"Elias…? Elias!"
Diancie bent low, terrified to shake him too roughly.
But after gently tugging at Elias's arm, he remained entirely unresponsive, as though sunk deeply into sleep.
Diancie's small face slowly paled.
She didn't possess any healing abilities; no matter how desperately she searched her mind for solutions, she could only helplessly fret.
Eventually, she placed her tiny hands carefully on Elias's cheeks, desperately trying to determine his condition.
His skin was still as cold as always—something Diancie had grown used to.
But what made her breath hitch in shock was that her fingers nearly sank into his cheeks.
His body felt as if it might disintegrate at any moment, barely retaining any physical form.
Realizing this, Diancie quickly pulled her hands away.
She was terrified that even the slightest pressure would cause Elias's body to dissolve like fragile foam.
Only after confirming he wasn't deteriorating further did her wildly beating heart gradually calm.
Yet, even now, Elias showed no sign of awakening.
Staring blankly at Elias's sleeping face, Diancie's expression went slightly dazed.
Given that Elias had never needed rest, this was the first time she'd actually seen him sleep.
His sleeping form was even more beautiful than she'd imagined, exuding a gentle, indescribable warmth.
But now was certainly not the time for admiration.
Taking a deep breath, Diancie turned furiously toward Dianna, glaring harshly at her senior who was clearly trying to say something.
"What did you do to Elias?!"
If it were any other time, she'd never dare speak so harshly to her senpai.
But right now, the only thing filling Diancie's heart was burning anger.