Mira, the princess of the great kingdom of Adreinn, believes that all she has to do is to become stronger. She believes that she knows herself better than anyone else. But what if all she ever believed in is a lie?
The kingdom of Adreinn. My homeland. It still looked the same. I didn't know how many days I had left the land. I almost lost count after that day I almost got attacked by a werewolf. The barrier was still protecting it and it was already dark when I got there. I walked into the kingdom. The barrier somehow opened by itself to let me in and closed as soon as I was in the kingdom. Probably because of the Annihilation that was on my back. It was originally a pendant from my father, which was used to go in and out the barrier.
There was no one except me when I was inside the barrier. It was dark but I could see the light from the castle. It was bright despite its distance from where I stood. I took a breath and walked to the castle.
I was hoping that no one would notice me when I was walking in the castle but it was no use. Someone had gasped as soon as I was in the castle.
One of the maids in the castle. Ivetta.
She slowly walked towards me and patted my cheeks softly with her blue eyes wide open. She had that face, the face of not believing that I was there.
"Where had you been?" She exclaimed. "It's been a month and you are confirmed to be dead."
A month. Wow.
"Relax, Ivetta. I just went outside to train." I simply said and when I saw her confused face, I added, "Outside the barrier."
"Outside?!" she whisper-shouted, "How did you do that? No one ever survived that long outside the barrier. But I'm glad you're okay. You must tell me everything. You must have a great adventure―" she stopped dramatically.
"What? Why the sudden?" I creased my forehead.
"Where's Dane?"
Hearing his name made my heart ached. Tears slowly fell down my cheeks. Seeing that, Ivetta hugged me, ignoring the Annihilation on my back.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He was killed by Eligos." I said and she hugged me tighter.
She was starting to sob and I couldn't help but cry harder. It reminded me of everything that happened. Eligos killed my father, mother, and Dane. In front of me. Leo was gone and I was alone. It pained me so much.
And Ivetta. I felt sorry for her. I knew she got feelings for Dane and she didn't even have the chance to tell him. I pulled out from the hug and saw her wiped the tears off her face.
"I'm so sorry, Ivetta." I said.
"It's okay." She smiled and left.
As she left, I walked to my chamber to take a rest and forget everything for a while.
Nothing changed. The portraits of the Royale's lineage were still hanging on the wall along the hallway. I stopped in front of a portrait before the door to my chamber. It was a portrait of a woman wearing an elegant dark green gown. She had a full lips and high cheekbones. She was fair and young and stunningly beautiful. I didn't know her, though.
But there's something about her eyes that caught my attention. It was oddly dark red in color and her gaze was sharp. Interesting, I thought. The whole portrait looked suspicious to me; like it didn't belong there. It was completely different from other portraits. It was larger than the rest but I just shrugged it off.
I entered my chamber and it was still the same. The wall was still the same shade of blue, the furniture was still in the same order I left it and the whole chamber was clean. The only difference was that there was a man, staring outside my window and his back was to me. The standing gesture was so familiar my heart ached.
Leo? But it couldn't be... it was impossible because Leo's gone. I saw it with my own eyes. And besides, Leo's hair was silver. This man's hair was brown.
"Ah, you're back." The man said without tearing off his eyes from the window. The gentleness in his tone was familiar to me. Too familiar. And he was taller than before. Almost the same height of Leo.
"Jerry. What are you doing here?" I said, raising an eyebrow. Even I could hear the harshness in my voice. I threw myself onto my bed with the sword beside me. I looked at him for an answer.
"Still the same, huh. Rude." He turned to me. When his eyes landed on the sword, his eyes narrowed. "Annihilation. The second strongest sword in the world and Uncle Percival handed it to you. And it seems like you mastered it."
"You're not answering my question."
"I took care of the castle when they have confirmed you to be dead. I don't believe it though. You're strong, I know." He said in a low tone. "I missed you, little Mirabella."
"I missed you too, but hey," I sat up and spoke in a small voice, "I'm not little. You're just taller than me. So is everyone else."
Hearing what I just said made him grinning widely. It was true; most of everyone I met was taller than me.
"Whatever you say." He said, still grinning.
I rolled my eyes at him and picked up my towel. "I'm going to take a bath. No peeking."
Jerry chuckled as he rummaged my closet and threw a baby blue gown on my bed. "Wear that. There are guests."
I stopped in front of my bathroom and looked at him. "Who?"
"You'll know it later. And you know, my little cousin," he smirked, before leaving my chamber, " you are getting curvier."
I rolled my eyes at him and he left my chamber with a laugh. What a pervert.
