Ramza\'s eyes widened in happiness. "Nice meeting you Esmeralda! May I know where is Kate? I wanna see her!" he requested in an excited voice.

Esmeralda\'s brows furrowed. "Huh? Why would you wanna see her?"

"Because she is my girlfriend!" Ramza answered enthusiastically.

"Oh!" Aspen was astounded.

"What is your name?" asked Esmeralda.

"My name is Ramza," he said.

"Looks like the lovebirds are destined to meet today, eh?" Vearah commented casually.

Ramza can\'t contain his excitement of seeing his beloved again. "Kate my love! I\'m outside the house! Please come out! I wanna see you! I miss you so much!" he shouted over and over again.

The trio\'s face contented into a grimace.

Esmeralda rolled her eyes, while Vearah giggled.

Aspen raised a brow and covered his ears. "Silence, please! You don\'t have to shout. Okay, I\'ll get your lady love and inform her that you\'re here," he said and turned around, going to the house.

"Hey wait! Unfreeze me first!" Ramza shouted.

"Later... If Kate doesn\'t know you then we will throw you down the mountain to be feed into the lions!" Aspen said as he entered the house going to Kate\'s room.

When he arrived there, the door was already open but Kate was not inside. "Huh? Where is that drama queen girl!?" he asked. He exited the room and look for Kate around the house. She\'s nowhere to be seen.

He rushed outside the house and informed the women about Kate\'s sudden disappearance. "Girls, Kate disappeared! I can\'t find her anywhere in the house!"

Esmeralda\'s eyes widened. "OMG! Don\'t tell me, that girl went to the castle!" she spoke.

Vearah shook her head. "No, she can\'t get out of this mountain! I hide her necklace in a secured place!"

Esmeralda and Aspen looked at each other.

"Oh no! Don\'t tell me, she stole your belt, Aspen!" Esmeralda said.

Aspen rushed back to the house and went to his room, looking for his belt. He already checked everything, but he can\'t find his belt! Where is it? It was just under the pillow! Why it disappeared? Esmeralda is right! Kate must have stolen his belt and open the portal going to the castle! Oh no! Grrr! That stupid girl deserved a spanking!

Wait until he sees her again! Hmph!

He went outside. "Girls! I can\'t find my belt!" he told them.

Vearah took a deep breath.

Esmeralda released a deep sigh. "That stupid girl!" she murmured to herself, feeling annoyed.

Ramza looked at them. "W-what happened to my Kate?" he asked in bewilderment.

Aspen shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. "Your girlfriend stole my belt that can open up a portal... leading to the castle! She must be heading there right now!" he told him.

Ramza\'s eyes widened in fear. "By all means! Unfreeze me now so that I can go after her and prevent her from entering the castle!" he demanded.

Vearah scratches her head. Oh my, another problem again! So many things happening in just a few hours interval. She looked at her student. "What are your plans now?"

Esmeralda sighed heavily. "What else can I do?"

"Will you go after her?" asked Vearah.

Esmeralda was shaking her head. "I dunno yet..." she said, undecided.

Aspen waved his hand and unfreeze Ramza. He looked at the girls. "Calm down Esmeralda...I will go to the castle to see if Kate was going there!" then he looked at Ramza. "Use the portal in your hand and go to her house in the village and check if she\'s there. Let\'s come back here to report if we see Kate!" he said.

Vearah opened her hand and Kate\'s necklace appeared in her palm. She gave it to Aspen. "Go now! Hurry up!"

Aspen wasted no time and opened the neon color portal, he entered it and the portal disappeared.

Ramza did the same, he opened the portal and was gone in seconds.

The women looked at each other, both shaking their heads. They entered the house and settled in the living room trying to calm their panicking nerves.

"If the men can\'t catch Kate on time, two sisters are back inside the castle. Double trouble!" Vearah said.

Esmeralda shut off her eyes. She was experiencing a headache all of a sudden. "I didn\'t expect that Kate would be this desperate and stole Aspen\'s belt!" she said indignantly.

Vearah smiled. "Kate was very much like you when you were still young, so stubborn!" she commented.

Esmeralda released a deep sigh, truly disappointed with Kate this time. "Why can\'t she wait for us to make a solid plan first!" she grumbled.

"The girl is desperate, Esme. At least on that part, I can understand her impatient attitude," Vearah said. "Maybe you have given her an impression that you are not ready to help her that is why she takes matters into her own hands in a desperate attempt to rescue her sister from the castle," she added.

Esmeralda sighed and stood up. "I\'m going to my room and have a rest," she told her.

"Okay, take a rest. I\'ll inform you if they come back already," Vearah said.

Esmeralda walked towards her room, while Vearah remained seated on the wooden chair, waiting for who will arrive first.

~

Aspen arrived at the base of the hill. He looked around him, he can\'t see anyone nearby!

Dammit, where is that stupid girl?

He hovered above the ground and looked at the castle. Then he saw a figure of a lone woman walking towards the castle...

"Shiit! Is that Kate!?" he said loudly. He zoomed towards the person walking towards the castle, the woman was now a few meters away from the gate!

He landed in front of the woman blocking her path. "K-Kate!"

Kate\'s eyes widened in surprise. "W-why are you here!?"

Aspen glared at her. "Why did you stole my belt? You give Esme a heart attack! She was worried about you!" he scolded her.

Kate pouted. "Get out of my way!" she demanded. "I want to enter the castle to save my sister!" she shouted at his face.

Aspen sighed in annoyance. "You are such a stubborn girl!" he gritted his teeth furiously.

Kate shoved him out of her way and run towards the gate of the castle determined to enter it.

"Dammit!" Aspen sighed and bolted after her, he immediately waved his hand, freezing Kate on the spot.

He finally reached her side, he grabbed her arm and opened the portal back to the mountain. He carried her inside the portal. A few seconds later, the portal disappeared.

~

Meanwhile, Ramza was back in the village, he landed outside the house. It looks deserted on the outside and the windows were closed. He can\'t hear any movement inside. The doors on the back and front were padlocked.

It validated his suspicion that Kate didn\'t go home.

He was hesitating to go back to the mountain right away. Should he proceed to the castle? But that guy told him that he will go to the castle. Hmm, he will just go back to the mountain first! Maybe Kate was already back there.

He opened up the portal and entered it. The portal vanished after a few seconds.

When Ramza arrived in the mountain, he landed in the fruit garden. The guy was already back and was currently holding and eating red apples in his hands. "Hey bro, d-did you find her?" he asked politely.

Aspen nodded his head. "Yes. She was about to enter the castle. Good thing I moved fast and freeze her on the spot before she can cause a commotion and alerted the people in the castle. I tell you, that girlfriend of yours is hardheaded! She invites dangers wherever she goes!" he said.

Ramza smiled. "Thank you, bro, for bringing her back! I owe you big time!" he said.

"No problem! Kate is my friend," Aspen said while munching on the apples.

Ramza was about to go to the entrance of the house but Aspen blocked his path.

"No, you can\'t enter the house yet! Just wait here, the girls were having conversations right at this very moment, it\'s rude to interrupt. Wait until the Granny\'s are done with Kate then you will see her," Aspen said.

"Okay," Ramza obeyed. He was restless, pacing back and forth in front of Aspen. His heart was beating faster in his rib cage, he was very much excited to see his beloved Kate, looking forward to hearing her voice again!

Aspen groaned. "Hey, what is your name again?" he asked him.

"Ramza," he said.

"Can you please stop walking back and forth in front of me? You are disturbing my eating!" Aspen scolded him.

Ramza grinned. "I\'m sorry," he apologized. "I\'m just excited to see my beloved Kate again," he said happily.

Aspen rolled his eyes. He placed an apple on Ramza\'s hands. "Eat some apples to calm your nerves. You can eat all the fruit here... This garden allows unlimited eating," he informed him.

"Really?" Ramza asked, delighted to know that the fruits are free to eat. "The beautiful immortal won\'t get angry?" he asked to be sure.

"No. Go ahead, pick any fruits you like and enjoy eating!" Aspen said.

Ramza walked towards the orange tree and picked two oranges within his reach. He immediately removed the skin of the orange and began eating. "Wow! So sweet!" he commented.

Aspen smiled. "That\'s one of my favorite fruits here!" he said casually.

Ramza looked at him. "May I know your name?"

"Just call me, Aspen. Kate gave me that name."

Ramza\'s brows furrowed. "Huh? Don\'t you have a name?" he asked in astonishment.

Aspen shrugged. "I\'m a tree for a long time, then recently I have a breakthrough and finally able to separate my spirit from the tree and now I\'m fully human," he explained. "But I can always go back to being a tree anytime I want," he added with pride.

"That\'s cool!" Ramza commented in awe. He likes Aspen\'s chatty personality.

The two men continue eating fruits while waiting for the women to finish their conversation.