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Chapter 2

Madalyn Manansala

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Goldie was instantly enamored by the unsuspecting beauty that came from the shadows. Despite all the charming men and women she's met over the years, this woman was on a new level. But what struck Goldie most was the choker with an azure gem, the same color as the woman’s beautiful eyes. It reminded her of the gift she had never picked up from the nightstand a few days ago. Never had someone captured the aura as this stranger in all of Goldie’s short life.

“I asked, who are you, child?!”

The stunning beauty roared like a lion. The defenseless princess shuddered as fear overtook her. Goldie thought about the spells from class. She tried her best to make a shield using her mana, but it broke before the woman even had time to react.

“Hm? What a novice.”

The woman berated the child.

“H-How dare you?!”

“You’re doing the spell wrong. Channel all of your energy into your heart and push your mana outwards. That’s how you do it.”

The mysterious woman explained. But the princess didn't want to listen. This stranger had the gall to say she was doing something that started with "w" and ended with "g." There would be no way the princess could have messed up. Clearly, the spell was taught incorrectly.

With this train of thought, her pride got the best of her.

The princess tried her best to take charge of the situation. Goldie stood up even though she was still in pain. She straightened her back in a feeble attempt to appear taller. However, the mysterious beauty was still almost way taller than the princess, making Goldie feel a sense of inferiority.

“D-Do you not know who you’re shouting at, lady?! I am…”

The princess sighed, gathered her composure, and announced her presence with vigor.

“I am Goldie Kingsman, the heir to the Kingdom of Nora. I can have you executed for speaking that way to royalty.”

 

 

“Kingsman...”

The woman uttered the name in distaste like the name was poison infecting her lips. Her crisp blue eyes searched the child. She analyzed the princess with a finger to her lip and the tilt of her head.

“W-What are you looking at!”

Those beautiful eyes were entrancing the princess, causing her to become flustered with embarrassment. The mysterious woman didn't answer immediately. No, she continued to dance her gaze up and down before concluding.

“Ah, yes… I see it. You… you truly are a Kingsman, aren’t you?”

Goldie crossed her arms and puffed her chest.

“Now that you know who you’re dealing with, I demand you apologize to me and state your name and occupation, woman!”

The enigmatic woman shut her eyes and clicked her tongue.

“Your royalty means nothing here, Kingsman. Leave me at peace. Never come back."

Coldly, the beauty attempted to step into a tiny house to leave the lost child alone on the cobblestone outside.

“W-Wait! What do you mean by my royalty mean nothing?! Where am I?!”

Annoyed, the recluse glared at the child.

“Oh… you have no idea where you are? How… bothersome.”

Goldie pondered.

“Y-Yes… I seem to have fallen into a spell or… something of the like. I don’t… like spells.”

Goldie never had an interest in learning spells and crafts. They were needlessly complicated to her and ruined a fun day by forcing her to study. One would say she was lazy, but Goldie would blame the mages and witches for not teaching her well enough. The effort to learn spells was too much for the princess.

With a deep sigh, the woman turned back to the pitiable child.

“You are within the Grimoire of Reason.”

“Grimoire of Reason?”

Goldie parroted.

“You may leave this place by stepping out of this space, into the void behind you, Kingsman.”

The princess turned to see a vast space cutting off the cobblestone. Trapped on an isolated island and the world around them was emptiness. There was nothing here in this darkness but stars more beautiful than any diamond in the Kingdom of Nora. They twinkled in front of her, which was nothing but awe to appreciate.

“Now leave me be, Kingsman.”

“W-Wait!”

The princess stopped the recluse once again. This time, however, the illusive woman's fangs showed as she spun around, causing her white hair to dance across her shoulder.

"What?! I told you how to leave. What more do you need from me?!"

Goldie backed up, terrified by the authority of this mysterious woman. Bashfully, she gathered her thoughts and approached.

"H-How do I know I won't fall to death by walking over that edge? There's nothing but darkness and stars out there.”

Annoyed, the blue-eyed woman groaned intensely.

“You don’t. Nor do I care if you don’t trust me. Either leave this place or stay out here out of fear. Just don’t bother me anymore, Kingsman.”

That feeling of being ordered around by an older authority struck Goldie’s ego. She was instantly reminded of Victoria and all the other adults that have forced her hand recently. Her rebellious side came to the front, stomping her feet on the cobblestone.

“Who are you?! I demand you to tell me else I’ll have you executed the moment I get back to the Kingdom of Nora!”

“Didn’t I tell you that your royalty means nothing here, Kingsman? Your threats are useless like a tree that bears no fruits."

The woman grasped her Grimoire tight with one hand and pointed at the golden child.

“Your legs are trembling, and you look like a pathetic puppy who knows only how to squeal and can’t yet bark. Leave me be. That is my final warning, Kingsman."

The ignored golden child clenched her fist and bit down on her teeth. Again, someone older and more experienced caused her to hold her tongue. The adults belittled the princess, and she couldn't come back confident enough to nip at their heels properly.

“You… are just like the rest of them! How can you adults be… so cruel.”

In the darkness, the mysterious woman glared at the Kingsman. After a short while, her eyes softened. Before speaking again, she stared at the golden child for what felt like a lifetime.

“You…”

The recluse mumbled.

“I… feel an intense sadness coming from you, Kingsman. One… that’s far too recent.”

Her cold tone changed suddenly. It was in no way warm… but lukewarm may have been the correct way to describe it. As if a piece inside her turned on, the mysterious woman became a tad more open as she asked…

“Something happened to her, didn’t it, Kingsman?”

Goldie's eyes opened wide. The morning's pain erupted inside the princess, but she tried her best not to let it come out. It was one thing showing these pains to Victoria or her father but to a stranger was out of the question. So, she crossed her arms and pouted to the side, doing her best to keep her pride intact.

“Annastella Kingsman, your mother... She passed away, didn’t she, child?”

Those brimstone eyes began to itch. Something must have brushed them is what Goldie wanted to believe. But her shoulders gave in as they began to tremble. Her legs started to quake, and minor coughs escaped her mouth. The princess closed her eyes and thought of a vibrant version of her late mother. She had the same dazzling golden hair with those firey brimstone eyes. Goldie admired her mother, and not seeing her again... devastated her.

 

 

“Y-You knew… you knew, mommy?”

Goldie tried to ask, but the hiccups assaulted her chest. Silently the stranger watched what was left of Goldie's ego crumble. Tears raced down her cheek, and her face turned a cherry red. Even her nose began to run, unbecoming of royalty.

“I knew something was wrong. There should have been no way anyone could get in here. And… it’s been harder to…."

The recluse closed and sighed deeply.

“A leader must not mourn the dead for too long, lest their light is not shone for the people who follow them.”

In this fantastical world, this stranger echoed the words of Victoria, the head maid, to Goldie’s surprise. The princess lifted her head, eyes beginning to tear up.

“How do you know those words?”

The illusive woman looked at the starry sky and confessed.

“Because Annastella believed that saying. She was nothing short of the beacon of light, the warrior who saved the Kingdom of Nora, if not the world.”

Goldie admired the tender words of the stranger. Those crisp blue eyes glamoured the stars and looked like her mind was far away.

"They told you not to cry for long, didn't they, Kingsman?"

The stranger’s deduction was spot on, and it only made the pain that much more real. Goldie's lips began to quiver, and she spoke her feelings to another for the first time since the tragedy.

“T-They don’t get it. Nobody gets it. H-How am I not supposed to mourn the loss of my mommy? She was always sick… but I… I wasn't ready…."

Those hot, painful tears flooded out as her chest twisted maddingly. She wailed to the dark sky with no restraint. Goldie wasn’t the heir to a powerful kingdom at this moment… she was just a little girl who wanted to feel her mother's touch again.

 

 

“M-Mommy! Mommy!”

The stranger didn’t approach. She stayed and watched silently as the child released her anger, frustrations, and pains to the enclosed world. After some time, the recluse finally spoke up.

“Kingsman…”

She spoke to the child sweetly, unlike how the strange had been previously.

“This place is like a time capsule. Time doesn’t move the same as it does in the real world, outside.”

Goldie rubbed her cheeks as she tried to listen to the sudden calming voice that touched her heart. Meekly, she faced the woman who held her Grimoire tightly.

“W-What do you mean?”

“Every minute in the real world equals a decade here."

Goldie looked at the woman, eyes still full of tears. What she was saying was incomprehensible to the novice magic user. If such a spell existed, there would be no telling what kinds of amazing feats magic could be used for. Understandably, Goldie doubted this.

“Lies.”

The woman sighed.

“Believe me or not, it’s the truth.”

“T-Then… how long have you been inside of this place?”

“I don’t know… nor do I care any longer.”

She approached the child, put her hand on her cheek, and gently caressed her face. The stranger's hands were soft, as though they had never seen a hard day of work. The warmth mirroring that of Goldie's mother raced through her, and it made the princess's body grow warm.

“Take as long as you need to cry and mourn the loss of your mother. You will never grow hungry here. You won’t age or get sick. Sleep, wake up, then cry again. When all your tears are satiated, go back into the world with your head held high and never come back.”

The stranger released her touch. The golden child put her hand on her chest and looked back at the mysterious woman whose eyes were much kinder than before.

“A-Are you… sure I can stay?”

She nodded.

“Yes. It’s the least I could do for Annastella. Though I hate the Kingsman passionately, Annastella was… important to me.”

At that, the woman turned around again, ready to leave the child again. However, Goldie pushed forwards through her anguish and asked.

“Wait!”

Again, the woman stopped. One could tell she was growing annoyed, but she held her tongue and looked over her shoulder.

“…”

"I'm Goldie. Y-You know I'm a Kingsman already, but… I don't know who you are. P-Please… tell me who you are.”

 

With another long-drawn-out sigh, the stranger turned around.

She towered over the golden child and, with vigor, stated who she was.

“I am Madalyn Manansala, the Overlord that once subjugated the Kingdom of Nora and the world.”

 

 

“Ah… Ahhhh…”

In horror, Goldie backed up and fell to the ground as the world dimmed around her. Those beautiful crisp blue eyes looked sinister as fear set into the princess. Her limbs turned to jelly as the terror crept inside of her.

“The Kingsman are my enemies. But because I once cared for your mother, Annastella, I won’t put their sins upon you. Once you’ve mourned the loss of your mother… leave and never see me again.”

Goldie didn’t attempt to stop her again. She watched as the self-proclaimed Overlord walked into the tiny home and shut the door. Goldie couldn't move in reasonable fear of whether this stranger was telling the truth.

Stories of the Overlord rushed into her mind. The bloodshed of the Overlord massacring thousands in battle came to mind. Goldie was confused why someone that vile was trapped within the confines of her basement.

“T-That can’t be true… Madalyn… she must have said that to scare me."

Frightened yet still in agony, Goldie stood at the world's edge. The face of her pained mother came to mind. The tears didn't stop, despite the revelation she had learned. Her mother was gone, and this was her only chance to mourn her properly.

If what the Overlord, Madalyn, said was true, she could take all the time she needed to properly mourn the loss of the person who understood her most.

“Mommy…”

Shamelessly, the princess whimpered and cried in the vast darkness to the stars above. There was no one there to stop her from grieving. No responsibility as the princess to save face for her selfish people. This world, within the Grimoire of Reason, was her sanctuary, if only for a moment.

 

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Inside the tiny home, the self-proclaimed Overlord sat upright on her bed. Madalyn's breathing was labored as she kicked the sheet. She could hear the cries and pains of the Kingsman. Finally, her internal struggles calmed down. Warily, she opened her Grimoire and traced her finger on the book.

“Annastella… I’ll hold on as long as I can.”

A light tear rolled down her as Madalyn wrote in her book intensely...

“I’m sorry… Anna. But it’s hard… it’s hard when…."

 

 

 

"When it's been so long, nothing means anything anymore."