Still Midnight
Fey, grand creatures of the forest, mischievous and prank-loving.
Able to fly and most important of all, they have the ability to create illusions.
"Ha...haha...hahahahaha!"
Adikia could not resist giving a zealous, insane laugh.
Thankfully, Adikia did not let herself go off that much. She stopped after a moment and looked at her small hand in deep thought.
I'm such a fool, we're literally located in the Forest of Illusions, why didn't I think of it sooner? But hm, I can use illusion magic huh...but why wouldn't Neia or Tial teach me about this? Wait wait, in the first place would girls, heck, commoners even learn about this?
The girl sighed.
I'm not too sure about the outside, and if it's really as Tial said. But...I worry, that it might be worse than I thought.
She blew out the candle and placed it by her bedside.
If I can learn how to use this ability correctly, I should be able to go check out a town nearby.
You see, the protagonist understood, they understood that their emotions fueled her own thoughts.
The matters of males being more important and highly valued while females were cast aside, it infuriated her.
But did it matter to the others?
The other young girls and old ladies?
She was hesitant and unsure of her own resolve.
Ahhh! Let's wake up bright and early and see then!
Morning
"Milady, it's time to wake up." A soft voice drifted into the slumbering girl's ears.
"Mmm...okay~" Letting out a small noise, Adikia lifted herself up and replied.
"Hah, you're always such a good girl." Tial caressed her head slightly before pulling her over to get changed.
Neia was also there, holding a suitable set of clothes for Adikia to wear.
A relatively long, grey dress with short sleeves, two frilly white socks, and small black Mary Jane shoes.
Usually, our protagonist goes out in her pajamas and barefooted.
"Hm? There are some smudges..." Tial whispered under her breath.
Adikia felt some cold sweat drop.
I was careless this time!
"Smudges? Where?" Adikia let out an innocent voice.
"Hmm...nothing..."
Tial still seemed to harbor some suspicions, but it seemed to be allayed by her words.
Adikia for her part just let out a cheerful "Ok~"
Undressed and dressed, she twirled around and smiled at the maids, who were closer than even her real family. "Do I look cute?~"
Adikia: (/□＼*)・゜
Ahhhhhh! What am I even saying I'm so embarrassed
"Look as cute as always Milady," cooed Tial.
"Enough jabbering now, we shan't miss breakfast," Neia spoke.
With a voice of agreement from our protagonist, they left off.
Breakfast Time
Sitting around the table were the Princesses who as always spoke of random happenings.
There was no one new sat around the place, in the past years no children were both in the Royal Family, but this is another matter.
For now, Adikia was silently eating her breakfast in deep thought.
For now, I should ask about this place more, I've just gotten the overview of this world recently, we haven't spoken about this Kingdom itself, except different nobles and how to treat them. I'm actually pretty curious alright? In the first place, I don't even know who my parents are...well I can assume my father is the king, but my so-called mother has barely appeared since I was born except for tea parties.
As for why Adikia didn't read any books about the Kingdom? It was because she couldn't find any, there was a blank shelf, presumably where they were, but had disappeared.
"...say this happened...Lecasa...knightly order..."
"...where...perhaps...they are..."
Huh, what was that?
Adikia glanced over at the silently whispering maids from across the table, they seemed to be the maids of one of the older Princesses.
She tipped her fork against her plate, Strange...what are they talking about?
As soon as she thought this thought, another maid hushed them quickly.
Adikia: This one wants to know more
After Breakfast
The Princesses began leaving one by one, including the youngest girl, which is our protagonist.
Holding the hands of her maids she walked along the hallway back towards her room where her lessons would continue.
Say, my sisters always talk about random things and other stuff, but I wonder if knowledge is forbidden from the Princesses? Actually, it might be the case? Or perhaps they don't speak about it because it's sensitive things, guess I'll have to wait and see.
As her thoughts drifted around, she arrived back into her room, Neia and Tial began setting up the lesson they were going to learn today as Adikia waited patiently.
"Phew...there we go." Neia let out a sigh as a piece of green parchment paper was held up against the wall of her room.
Drawn on it was a strange thing, a rough circle that seemed to have been cracked in the middle, almost split, but yet not.
"This," explained Neia, "is the map of this world."
All of a sudden, the paper glowed slightly, and words appeared on it.
"Let's begin the lesson shall we?"
To the east was where the Kingdom lay, a proud forest surrounded by water.
Directly to the far west, lay the massive Iroas Kingdom of Humans, they, in pursuit of power, have conquered much of the land to the west.
There were few words scattered around the map with different Beastmen Tribes of importance, and a line that ran across the world symbolizing the Dwarfs.
Recently, the Humans have gotten caught up in their greed and were encroaching onto Elven territory, or so Neia explained.
Before Neia continued on however, Adikia raised her hand and asked an innocuous question.
"Say, Neia, how do we live in this forest if there are illusions?"
Neia paused, then spoke, "It seems that I have forgotten to inform you Lady Adikia, apologies." She then tilted her head slightly to Tial, who got the message.
"You see Milady, the first Elves were gifted the ability to see through deceit as well as the ability to hide themselves to protect from the abundant monsters. Originally many Elves had this gift, but now it is descended to only the main line of the Royal Family," Tial halted, "Speaking of Milady, you look very much like your father, his majesty the king."
"Tial!" Neia interrupted harshly.
Strange, why did she say that?
"S-sorry Neia, I just..." Tial hesitated to speak.
As for Neia, she only shook her head slowly, "It doesn't matter much to us, but if someone overheard..." She gave a pointed look.
Tial nodded remorsefully.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Swallowing back her questions, Adikia simply let out an excited exclamation.
One step at a time...
Midnight
The day passed soon, and the maids garbed Adikia in her pajamas and left the room for the girl to sleep.
Of course, the girl didn't sleep.
As soon as the two maids walked out of the room, Adikia got out her bed and hopped out her window.
Out of the castle walls, she tested if she could turn her hand invisible. Success.
With this she quickly went to find a nearby village, with the lesson of today, she had learned of the Capital that was located about twenty minutes walking distance from the Royal Palace, or twenty-five minutes from the Flower Courtyard.
Under the shining moonlight, she soon saw the lights emitted from the town, or city should it be called.
Adikia went behind a tree, made sure she was invisible, and walked into the city.
She dodged the bustling crowd of elves, many of whom seemed...drunk?
I guess these Elves, like to drink as well...though all of them are male?
Suddenly a figure almost crashed into her, quickly she stepped out of the way and through the maneuvers, saw an alley that seemed not as crowded.
With careful dodging, she reached it and walked in. There was nothing but a few pieces of food bits and a scurry of mice.
Stepping warily through it, she found that the alley rotated towards the right.
Turning, the Moon shone against her constricted eyes.
