A Dream Foretold.

“Now, that’s done…” Alice said, gently hugging the little girl who soon fell asleep before walking towards me as if she didn’t just convince a little girl in a suspicious method. “How about we head back for now, we already have everything we need.”

“That’s fine with me but where will she sleep?” I inquired whilst looking at the little girl as Alice responded. “We’ll sleep on an inn of some sort; do you want to come along or are you staying at your residence for the meantime?”

“I don’t know really, I have to inform Anathasia and Elise over this matter; after all, it also concerns a major issue within the household since I am currently the only heir of the family…” I replied before she groaned. “I totally forgot about that issue…”

“Your father would most likely be the first to reject of this idea, wouldn’t he?” Alice added before I shook my head. “I didn’t even see him once over the past few months or so, nor do I even remember what he looks like… how would I know?”

“Eeeh… ah, right…” she said suspiciously before shaking off her head, smiling at me whilst carrying the little girl who was sleeping peacefully on her shoulders. “How about we head back for now, it’s already getting late… the higher rank monsters will soon take over.”

“True, I wouldn’t want to fight with a sleeping girl…” I answered whilst looking at the little girl, Aria who was still peacefully sleeping with no trace of reality… the key to changing the future and the key to breaking this endless tragedy.

If she is here, then we would have no need to explore that much; Alice wouldn’t need to battle around monsters with her around, if it is about money then we could simply go for simpler quests like helping at shops… I don’t want the same tragedy to happen again… never…

With that in mind, the two of us together with the sleeping Aria soon started walking back to the city, side-by-side; the city was a few distance away, brimming with lanterns and people; stars filled the skies behind the city, making a wonderful scenery.

“Hey, do you think we should change up Aria’s name?” Alice suggested before I tilted my head. “Isn’t Aria already an adorable name, what else do you want to name her?”

“Well, I thought of using something like Shelly or Mana, for example,” she answered whilst poking the little girl on her cheeks as I replied. “Mana does sound like a nice name, but what does it even mean? Is it just some random cute name you made up?”

“Not really, I read somewhere that Mana as a child’s name usually means star or affection; wouldn’t it fit her well considering how the aura she radiates is close to that of a star, and how she looks adorable?” she responded before I looked at the little girl for a few seconds.

Her cheeks were adorable, that is for sure, almost like fluffy pancakes or sponge cake; her eyes from what I could remember were average though they do shine adorably; her voice is also another point, it sounded very adorable which is as expected of a child… though for some odd reason, she does feel unique somewhere.

“I can’t really pinpoint where, but she does feel unique…” I replied before Alice nodded. “I think I might have an idea on why you think she is unique; the chances are, you are peeking through the mana she is leaking off.”

“People have different kinds of mana, from soft to rough but from what I can see, Aria seems to have another kind of mana that sits in between the two types; hers seems to be gentle when non-aggravated but during traumatic experiences, or some sort, her mana seems to fluctuate like a storm.”

“In normal cases, people would only have a singular state in their mana; gentle people have gentle mana and dangerous people tend to have stormy kinds of mana which is why she seems to be a unique kind that cannot be understood honestly…” Alice explained.

Soon after she finished explaining, the three of us soon reached the gates of the city where three guards stood wielding their spears upwards. “Excuse me, are you two perhaps the Princesses of the Empire?”

“Yes, is there any issue?” Alice replied to the guards before they sweated. “Nothing much, it seems like a message from the King and the Archduke has been delivered for the two of you; do you wish to read it now or later?”

“I would prefer to read it later, since we aren’t really in the best condition to read a letter right now…” Alice answered whilst looking at Aria who was still asleep before the guards nodded. “It seems like the little girl over there is a new figure here, do you two perhaps have any identification or credentials for her?”

“That might be a little bit of an issue, it seems like the little girl was involved in some kind of traumatic incident and has forgot all of her memories except for her name which she said was Aria.” Alice answered with honesty before the guards nodded.

“It really is an issue; we cannot let the little girl enter unless proper credentials are granted…” one of the guards answered before I interrupted. “Is there any way to letting her pass for now?” before the guard sighed.

“We could let her pass for a single day but that is under strict supervision from someone of a high-ranking status, despite the fact that the two of you are Princesses, we still have to follow the rules and regulations of the Empire…”

“That is fine with us, do you perhaps have any gentle female knights who doesn’t make children tremble in fear?” Alice answered before the guard tilted his head and looked at the inside of the gates before whispering to another guard’s ear as the other guard nodded, running back inside.

“We do have one… but she is a little problematic…” the guard responded before out of the blue, an adorable feminine voice came out from the gates. “Yo Hans! What’s the issue, calling me out late at night during my break?”

A pink-haired tall lady came out from the gates, dressed in a white naval officer suit with a sword hanging on her belt; her hair was tied in a ponytail and her face was that of eighteen years old; her eyes were the most unique feature of her, they were orange.

“Julie?!” Alice shouted in surprise before the pink-haired lady looked at Alice and widened her eyes. “I humbly bow down to the Princesses of the Empire!” before taking out her sword in a split second and thrusting it on the ground as she kneeled before Alice.