With numerous enemy details actively patrolling the castle corridors, Cyan and Nishi desisted from utilizing the Lakitu's cloud for transit.
Cyan directed Nishi to store the cloud asset securely inside her inventory.
The two cautiously evaded the defensive units shifting through the citadel, methodically searching the structural sectors for the quarters housing Prince Peach.
Meanwhile, inside Prince Peach's designated holding quarters, Kamek finally arrived after systematically soothing the volatile temper of the Bowser Queen.
"All of you clear out, I desire to be left alone with my thoughts for a brief duration!" Prince Peach commanded the five attendant Toads who were staring at his person with anxious anticipation.
Obeying the Prince's directive, the Toads vacated the master bedroom, retreating into the localized sitting room.
"Prince Peach, a mercenary rescue detachment will materialize within a minimal window to deport your person back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Moving forward, your solitary objective is to wait for the Mario brothers to achieve full physiological recovery, and then direct them to initiate an aggressive military campaign against our citadel. Once they reduce the Queen's combat parameters to zero, it will prove mathematically effortless for your person to secure her hand in marriage. Through this operational loop, the impending threat of war between our respective sovereign states will be permanently neutralized, and the resulting unification of the Bowser and Mushroom Kingdoms will yield the single most powerful empire across the face of the world."
Prince Peach settled onto the edge of the mattress, releasing a heavy sigh as a wave of profound despondency washed over his features. "However... the Bowser Queen appears to hold an exceptionally low evaluation of my personal optics..."
"As long as you systematically optimize your physical chassis by shedding weight, the probability of success remains highly viable. Do you possess no intrinsic desire to stand atop the absolute apex of this world and look down upon the masses? The terminal vector of opportunity stands directly before your person, completely within arm's reach; all that is required of you is a minor deployment of operational effort and personal fortitude." Kamek's voice dripped with pure, calculated manipulation while his hand, concealed carefully behind his back, subtly rotated his magic staff.
"The structural reality is... the individual captured in that photograph is actually my younger sister, Peach..." Prince Peach admitted, scratching his head in intense embarrassment as he disclosed an absolute bombshell of a biological secret.
"Huh? Your sister?"
Kamek's hand trembled so violently he nearly lost his grip on the magic staff. He had fundamentally failed to project that the striking individual in the photographic record was not Prince Peach at all, but rather his younger sibling, Peach!
This was an absolute logistical absurdity! He had spent an immense duration calculating and manipulating variables for the long-term geopolitical future of this empire!
And yet, he had been thoroughly run in circles by this bloated little pig.
"Given that your younger sister possesses such flawless aesthetic parameters, it is structurally impossible for you, as her biological brother, to be completely devoid of genetic potential! Regardless of these newly introduced variables, variables have already stabilized; you will execute this script whether you possess the capacity or not! The tropical Kong faction was neutralized entirely by Mario's intervention! Utilizing the combined combat strength of those two brothers, augmented by the Mushroom Kingdom's proprietary assets—the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Super Star—achieving a victory over the Queen remains fully viable. Even if the resulting matrimonial union exists strictly as a nominal administrative construct, the absolute integration of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Bowser Kingdom is non-negotiable!"
Kamek's magic staff flared with an intense, localized light, and the sensory arrays behind his heavy spectacles flashed with a bizarre, hypnotic luminescence. Prince Peach's eyes instantaneously glazed over, shifting into a completely hollow state before resetting to normal configuration. He remained entirely unaware of the subconscious modification executed upon his neural network; an intense, overriding obsession had just been hardcoded directly into his cognitive baseline without his awareness.
Namely: Secure the hand of the Bowser Queen at all costs! Force the systematic unification of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Bowser Kingdom!
Prince Peach spoke with a sudden, fanatical edge to his voice: "Kamek, your logical assessment is absolute! I must marry the Bowser Queen! Once the Mushroom Kingdom and the Bowser Kingdom integrate their respective assets, we shall emerge as the single most powerful superpower among the Seven Kingdoms!"
Under the absolute influence of Kamek's hypnotic programming, Prince Peach now harbored an unyielding, supernatural obsession regarding these two specific objectives.
Excellent. Through this vector, the long-term parameters of my strategic design can continue executing.
Kamek inspected Prince Peach with an expression of profound satisfaction, swinging his magic staff to vanish instantly from the coordinates of the chamber.
Completely oblivious to the elaborate strategic conspiracy being engineered by Kamek, Cyan and Nishi were currently positioned outside the quarters, actively picking the lock mechanism.
The internal tumblers produced a faint, metallic clicking sound, causing the captive Toads inside to instantly raise their alertness parameters as they scrambled to conceal themselves beneath the sofa.
"Targets acquired."
Cyan stepped cleanly into the room, advancing toward the sofa before hoisting the furniture piece effortlessly into the air to expose the Toads huddled beneath the frame.
"We are independent bounty mages deployed by the Mushroom Chancellor to execute an extraction operation on your behalf."
Nishi displayed the official badge asset provided by the Mushroom Chancellor, effectively dissolving the defensive psychological barriers of the captive Toads.
"The Mushroom Chancellor sent you?! This is an exceptional development! We possess the capacity to return home!"
The Toads bounced up and down with intense excitement, rushing to the entrance of the primary bedroom and knocking aggressively on the wood. "Prince Peach! A rescue detail has materialized to extract us!"
"Is it Mario and Luigi?"
The heavy sound of footsteps echoed from the opposite side of the barrier. The door swung open, and Prince Peach stepped out from the inner chamber.
Prior to his physical manifestation, Nishi's cognitive matrix had been filled with high anticipation, projecting the appearance of an exceptionally handsome, refined royal sovereign. However, the exact millisecond Prince Peach crossed the threshold, her expectations were violently liquidated into absolute disappointment.
This entity qualifies as Prince Peach?
Evaluating his structural volume alone, he could be more accurately classified as Prince Plum...
Nishi internally roasted the monarch's physical optics, though her exterior facial features remained completely locked down. Emulating Cyan's baseline behavioral patterns, she maintained a flawless, expressionless poker face.
"And your identities are?"
Prince Peach maintained perfect internal clarity regarding the situation, yet his exterior behavior simulated confusion as he scanned Cyan and Nishi.
"We are independent bounty mages. We have accepted an official mercenary contract to deport your person back to the territory of the Mushroom Kingdom."
Cyan methodically scanned Prince Peach's profile. For reasons she couldn't entirely define, she discerned a profound anomaly in his behavioral baseline; it felt precisely as though he possessed advance knowledge of their arrival script. This variable, coupled with the highly suspect Toad who had provided the map layout earlier, pointed toward a singular conclusion.
A conspiracy?
The events that materialized over the subsequent timeline heavily reinforced Cyan's tactical deduction. As she and Nishi escorted Prince Peach along with the five Toads out of Bowsette's fortress, their exit vector remained completely unimpeded. They failed to encounter a solitary hostile unit across the entire route, precisely as though the castle's defensive network had deliberately cleared a path to permit their departure.
Two days later, within the borders of the Mushroom Kingdom:
The exact millisecond the five rescued Toads stepped across the threshold of the Mushroom capital's outer walls, Cyan received an instantaneous data transmission from her Survival Imprint.
[System Notification: Hidden Mission – Rescue the seven captive citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom detained by the Bowser Kingdom.] [Mission Status: Completed.] [Mission Reward: 2 Skill Points acquired.]
Inside the royal palace:
"Your Highness! The reality of your safety brings tears to this old servant's eyes!" The Mushroom Chancellor wept so intensely that old tears streamed down his face like a torrent.
"Chancellor, suppress your emotional output. Am I not completely devoid of damage right now?" Prince Peach remarked, appearing somewhat at a loss as he stared at the heavily sobbing official.
Cyan and Nishi received the remaining balance of the contract bounty from the Mushroom Chancellor, promptly vacated the palace grounds, and secured temporary lodging at a local hotel within the capital city.
"Master, has Survival Mission 1 updated to a cleared status?" Nishi asked as she emerged from the bathroom facilities, her frame wrapped loosely in a standard bath towel.
"The citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom have not been restored to their baseline organic configurations. Survival Mission 1 remains incomplete. My initial tactical projections calculated this environment with an excessive deficit of complexity."
Cyan offered Nishi a brief glance, possessing zero intrinsic desire to appreciate the physical allure exposed by the loose towel. She systematically removed her heavy outer garments and stepped directly into the bathroom block.
"Are my personal charm parameters genuinely that deficient?" Nishi muttered, staring at the closed bathroom door before inspecting her own chest, which had scaled up by a margin of two cup sizes. She fell into a brief phase of profound self-doubt.
As evening blanketed the capital, a sharp knocking sound echoed from the suite entrance.
"Prince Peach? To what do we owe the honor of a personal visit from the Prince?" Nishi asked, her features reflecting absolute surprise as she opened the door to find the monarch standing on the threshold.
"Is it permissible for us to conduct this dialogue inside the suite?" Prince Peach requested with a polite, measured smile.
"Certainly."
As Prince Peach stepped past the threshold, Nishi glanced out into the corridor, confirming the complete absence of royal guards. It appeared he had traveled to the commercial hotel entirely alone to locate them.
"I wish to formally retain the services of you two bounty mages to assist in the liberation of my royal father and the general populace of the Mushroom Kingdom. They have been transformed into inanimate objects and have yet to be restored to their normal biological states! I am fully aware that this deployment carries an extreme hazard tier; however, relying strictly on the combat parameters of the Mario brothers will be mathematically insufficient to dismantle the Bowser Queen and restore our populace to normal!"
Prince Peach delivered his request with an expression of absolute, solemn sincerity.
Nishi settled onto the edge of the mattress, looking down slightly at Prince Peach with a subtle smile. "Prince, you have already conducted administrative dialogues with the Mushroom Chancellor, correct? Our operational fees do not occupy a low pricing bracket."
"Provided we can successfully neutralize the Bowser Queen and restore the structural parameters of the Mushroom Kingdom, I am prepared to liquidate any asset required as compensation!" Prince Peach stated, grinding his teeth with an expression of supreme righteousness.
His primary anxiety stemmed from the projection that the Mario brothers, who had only recently discharged themselves from medical facilities, might fail to achieve a total victory over Bowsette. This variable had driven him to solicit the direct intervention of independent mages like Cyan and Nishi.
In reality, even if the Prince had desisted from presenting this contract, the moment the mercenaries acquired intelligence that the Mario brothers were marching toward Bowsette's citadel to restore the kingdom's populace, they would have synthesized a logical pretext to embed themselves within the vanguard anyway. After all, clearing that bottleneck was mandatory to fulfill the conditions of their Survival Mission.