Hearts heartbreak:The Crown's Bitter blood [1]

The wonder of flowers

Lovely stared coldly at Fay for a moment before speaking. "How exactly are you going to help me? And why should I trust you?"

Fay smiled nervously. "You don't have to trust me, but I'm going to help you anyway." She reached for the wand tucked into her hair and, with a determined look, declared, "I'll get you out of here. Bibbidi Bobbidi boo!" She waved her wand, and golden magic flowed from it, enveloping the lock on the cell door. To Fay's surprise, it clicked open.

Fay's eyes widened with excitement, and she jumped up and down. "It worked!" she exclaimed, clearly not expecting such success.

Lovely gave her a strange look but stayed quiet. Then, unexpectedly, all the other cells glistened with the same golden light and flew open. Criminals rushed out, causing chaos. Fay's smile quickly faded, replaced with panic.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I don't have a good handle on magic yet!" Fay stammered, realizing her mistake.

Lovely's face twisted with anger. "You just made things worse!" she snapped.

In a fluster, Fay waved her wand again, shouting, "Bibbidi Bobbidi boo!" A flash of golden light surrounded them, and suddenly, they disappeared, reappearing in the middle of a strange forest. As they stood up, they noticed money growing on trees, leaves covered in fur, and trees with faces that had been deep in conversation until they noticed Fay and Lovely. The tree faces quickly disappeared.

Lovely sighed, recognizing the trees' dislike for humans. She turned to Fay, a bit annoyed but trying to keep her temper in check. Fay, sensing Lovely's frustration, spoke up timidly, "So... what now? Do you have a plan?"

Lovely, her annoyance growing, replied sharply, "You're supposed to be my fairy godmother. You're the one who's supposed to be helping me!"

Fay flinched at Lovely's raised voice, reminded of her mother's sternness. Lovely caught herself and sighed, softening her tone. "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated. But yes, I have a plan. We need to find Cater the Caterpillar. He can probably help me. But if you don't have anything else you can do, why are you still here?"

Fay straightened up, surprising Lovely with her newfound determination. "I'm not giving up on helping you. If I do, it's just proving everyone in fairyland right—that I'm not ready, that I'm irresponsible, that my sister, the Blue Fairy, is better than me. No, I'm not leaving. I'm seeing this through to the end."

Lovely was taken aback. For the first time since meeting Fay, she saw real confidence in her. Smiling, she nodded. "Alright, you can tag along."

Lovely then spotted a group of talking flowers nearby and approached them with a smile, while Fay watched in confusion. "Hello, flowers," Lovely greeted.

"Lady Lovely!" the younger flowers chimed.

"Just Lovely," she corrected gently.

The older flowers smiled warmly at her. "What brings you here, dear?"

"We're trying to find Cater," Lovely explained.

Fay, still puzzled, asked, "Why do you need the flowers to tell you where this Cater the Caterpillar is if you've visited him before?"

One of the flowers replied, "Cater and his mushroom are never in the same place twice. The only way to know where he'll be next is for us flowers to tell you."

Fay's face lit up with understanding, and she began muttering to herself. Lovely chuckled. "Fay, that's enough. You'll scare away the bread and butter-flies."

Fay blushed with embarrassment, while Lovely thought to herself how cute Fay's excitement was. The flowers then revealed, "Cater is nearby, lucky for you. He's near the Golden Apple Tree."

"Thanks!" Lovely called out as she started running. Fay quickly bowed to the flowers and hurried after her. Racing through the woods, Lovely's mind whirled with urgency. She needed to hurry and expose Ace and Deuce, get them arrested for their crimes, and most of all, return before her mother succumbed to the poison.

Finally, Lovely stopped when she saw a majestic Golden Apple Tree with shimmering golden apples. Next to the tree was a large mushroom, atop which sat a sizable blue caterpillar with green spots, leisurely smoking a pipe.

"Cater!" Lovely called out.