Elio suddenly turned serious, his eyes locking on the horizon. Then, without warning, he threw his arms into the air and shouted with excitement,
"THEN LET THE—!!"
But he froze mid-sentence. The words died in his throat. A brief, awkward silence followed.
"...wait a second."
Without explaining, he took off running—his tiny feet pattering quickly toward the palace doors. Just a few seconds after disappearing from view, he returned, now holding a wooden sword.
He rushed back just as quickly and returned to his spot. With both hands, he raised the sword and struck a heroic pose.
"Haah… alright! Now I'm ready!"
Isolde slowly rolled her eyes. But when she met Elio's overly intense gaze, her expression darkened even more. Now the eye roll came with a deep scowl.
Dragging her feet, she walked over to Alia, gently tugged her by the arm, and pulled her behind her.
"Ahhıggh!"
Alia let out a dramatic squeak, sounding just like a distressed princess.
Isolde suddenly lifted her arms, bent her knee, and twisted her face into a monstrous snarl. Then she let out a ridiculous howl:
"WOOOAHHH! UUUURGGHH!!!"
In a deep, growling voice, she added:
"ARRGGHHOO! I'm the monster!!"
Elio puffed out his chest and stepped forward, shouting with heroic flare,
"Stop right there, foul beast!! Put the princess down at once!"
Isolde tried to look serious, but gave up almost instantly. Her face drooped and she shook her head with a sigh.
"Nope. I can't do this. Can I at least be a Demon Lord or something? Regular monsters don't even talk."
Elio just waved his hands dismissively and shouted,
"Whatever, Isolde!! Don't kill the mood! Be whatever you want!"