You know, a boy I don't know came to see me tonight.

- So that's what you are, Aysel, - I felt his gaze on my face. His whisper was sweet and full of warmth.

Even though the night was rich with moonlight, I didn't risk opening my eyes to quench my curiosity and see who had come.

"Who is it? His voice doesn't sound like an adult. One of the brothers?"

It's clear from his voice that he's not going to hurt me, but then why did he come here?

Ah, it doesn't matter. Just stop looking at me, or I'll be standing there smiling!

- Your hair is the same color as mine. - he gently and gently, as if he didn't want to wake me up, took me in his arms," I wonder, if you weren't blind, what color would your eyes be, mom's or dad's?

"Shit, if I had eyes the same color as that psycho's, I'd probably just drown myself," I thought immediately.

And yet, this guy, why would he even think of me? Now I know he's definitely one of the brothers, but why?

"Boy, why are you so thrifty with someone you're meeting for the first time in your life?"

... А?

A few drops of liquid fell onto my cheeks and began to roll off them.

"Is he... crying?"

I opened my eyes and froze when I saw that my "brother" had pursed his lips. His eyebrows are drawn together, and tears are streaming down his cheeks. He's trying not to pay attention to them, and he's choking the hysteria inside him.

- I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't see you sooner. Your brother didn't want to know you because he thought you were going to die soon. - he hugged me. - And today... today I found out that when I was four years old, after it turned out that I couldn't control magic, I got really sick, and my father just left me for dead because I was useless to him. And if, if I couldn't survive and learn about the possibility of putting mana into a sword, he would just kill me."

His weeping face, which had possessed a cold beauty, now looked so defenseless and full of regret. Short-cropped mint-green hair, blue eyes. He looked like an emperor, but he was just a seven-year-old child who had been through too much and was now crying quietly in the arms of a creature he hoped would not push him away because they shared a common destiny. It was the first time a child had experienced betrayal.

...Indeed, it was somewhat similar. He and I felt abandoned, it came to both of us that our father was a bastard, and we both managed to survive.

My palm reaches for his face, and he notices it and flinches, throwing me back. He seems ashamed to show me his weak side, but he can't help it.

I exhale.

Of course, how can he not flinch? After all, I'm a hundred percent sure Greenhead brainwashed him with his "Never show your weakness to anyone and always keep your emotions under control."

I, too, am "for" one to be calm in any situation, for it helps one to think adequately, but. No matter how strong you are, one day you just get tired of it. Sometimes you need to vent all your emotions, cry, yell, take a break from that 'You're strong.

"And how do I calm him down? I'm kind of mute!"

Without thinking long, I got off the bed and groped to find him. He squatted down in front of me, and I patted my brother on the shoulder encouragingly.

His tears stopped flowing. He looked at me with great surprise. I nodded understandingly.

- Aysel... - he smiled bitterly with gratitude in his eyes, and I thought that I should especially capture this moment in my memory, because at other times he seemed indifferent and cold.

His character and appearance... Most likely the older of the brothers, Ansel. Neo tells me that the older one is calm and melancholic, unlike the younger one, who still has a mischievous spark in him.

Ansel suddenly remembers something, reaches for something, and then puts it in my hand.

- Thank you, and happy birthday, little sister. - His face brightened, and a gentle smile touched his lips.

"No. This is the moment I need to remember!"

He may only be seven years old, but he is awfully handsome. Oh, girls, take care of your hearts, or when he grows up, you won't see him steal them from you!

I smiled softly back and lowered my eyes.

...My first birthday present in this world was a dagger.

- When you're older, I'll teach you how to use it properly. - He rose to his feet, his face taking on its usual melancholy expression.

"That brother. I love him already."

From that day on, this child began to appear periodically in my life. Without knowing it myself, I seem to have become the kind of psychologist friend with whom you can talk freely about what upsets you. But this does not weigh me down, on the contrary, dilutes my gray everyday life. It's boring to live without the phone, social networks, and the Internet. It's just torture, guys.

Anyway, so we quickly became close, and after Grandma Marit caught him, listened to him, and promised not to tell anything to the emperor, he began to appear more than two or three times a month.

So a year flew by.

Now I am six. Just six. I just can't wait to be an adult!

I took a pencil and a piece of paper, wrote my thoughts on it, and showed it to Ansel.

- [I'm six now. Teach me how to use a dagger, or better yet, a sword!] - that's what it said.

Normally children are taught to write and read at six, but since I was supposed to be blind and dumb, I was taught much earlier. Learning their alphabet was easy because it was suspiciously similar to the Russian language. And anyway.

This world seems somehow suspicious to me. It looks more like a parody of the Middle Ages. Yes, the clothes and the style of architecture correspond, but the fact that, for example, there are normal toilets; the gravity of the earth is weaker, because of which, if you train a little, you can jump like a grasshopper; no one throws garbage out the window and generally all so civilized, is suspicious.

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It feels like I've entered the world of some low-grade novel. But I can't remember ever reading a novel, manga, or novella with this kind of world. Or maybe I have, but I can't recognize it yet.

Ansel and I were walking in the garden when I wrote this and showed it to him. Although my handwriting was sloppy, the letters flew as I tried to imitate the way a blind child writes.

Ansel read it with a calm face, and then looked thoughtfully at his gift hanging from my belt.

That's right, as of this year I've decided to give up dresses and wear more comfortable clothes. But as much as I hate dresses, I still have to wear them if I get invited to a ball or banquet.

"Well, hopefully that won't happen."

Finally, Ansel looked at me and answered in a calm tone:

- 'I'll teach you how to use the dagger first, and then we'll see.'

I nodded obediently. From the next day our training began.

It wasn't difficult for me, but my body didn't seem to think so. Because I didn't feel any physical pain when I came into this world, I would just lose consciousness as soon as my body reached its limit.

When this happened, it was a sign that it was time to finish the training, even if it happened earlier than necessary. Ansel asked me several times if it was normal, and I nodded casually.

Every week Brother Ansel would come to me, teach me how to use the dagger, and just train my body.

But now the problem was that he hadn't shown up at the Phantom Palace in two weeks.

I couldn't ask Neo to go and ask, because if they found out I was still alive, they would definitely kill me. What if Ansel is just busy? I shouldn't be intrusive.

"I wonder if I can think that he should have warned me before he suddenly disappeared."

A flick of the dagger. More, and more!

Even though Ansel has disappeared, I continue to train, even if without him.

The place where I train is a small clearing behind the palace. It is surrounded by trees and it is quiet, which makes me happy. I really like this palace because of the quietness.

But suddenly I feel that

someone is approaching me, and I point my dagger sharply in his direction. For a second I felt the point of the sword scratch the... the stranger.

The handsome face clenched. The boy covered the cut on the bridge of his nose with two palms, took a step back, and sank back on his heels. A cool breeze developed his curly white hair.

"What kind of pepper is that?" - I raised an eyebrow skeptically. Is the Phantom Palace some kind of playground for toddlers? Nonsense!

Sighing, I took a notebook out of my pocket, quickly wrote what I wanted to say on it, and showed it to the boy, pinching him painfully on the shoulder before doing so.

The boy opened his gray-blue eyes wide. His hands slumped, a thin trickle of blood running from the cut.

- [You shouldn't have come here. But I shouldn't have hurt you, either. I'm sorry] - I said apologetically.

He was silent for a few seconds, staring at the sheet with a frozen, surprised expression on his face. I thought he couldn't read, but then he looked at me and shook his head as if awakened from a dream.

- No, no, no. Don't apologize. It's my fault for interrupting you. I am so sorry.

He rose to his feet with an awkward smile on his face and paid no attention to my wound.

My heart rejoiced and wondered. For the first time in this world, someone other than Ansel had asked for my forgiveness, instead of saying it was all my fault.

- Can I ask you something? - He asked carefully, hesitating a little.

I nodded, looking down at him at the same time. A pretty face, a snow-white shirt of quality fabric, a small leather shoulder bag, dark pants and dark shoes.

He does not look like a servant or the son of a servant. One can only enter the Phantom Palace with the Emperor's permission.

- What is your name? You can't be that ghost concubine, can you?

Okay, let's start there. The first three palaces of the emperor are for women. The first palace is for the empress, the second is for the emperor's mother, and the third is for the concubine.

But the third palace is also called the Ghost Palace because of its history: once upon a time, the emperor took a beautiful girl as his concubine, but he never visited her. The concubine was ridiculed and mocked, but she was madly in love with the emperor and eventually, unable to endure, committed suicide.

Since then, there has been a legend that the concubine's ghost inhabits the palace and kills anyone associated with the emperor.

And I don't know what happened next, but after that incident, emperors never took concubines again.

I write:

- [Right. And as for the name, before you ask another to introduce himself, introduce yourself.]

The boy shifted his gaze from the sheet to me.

- Oh, oh...!

He looked worried and a little confused. He really wasn't paying any attention to the wound I had inflicted on him.

- I am Aeneas Aurelian," he smiled modestly. - And you are... Aysel, aren't you? - he hesitated, as if asking me about the mystery of the world.

Indeed, my existence is indeed a mystery to the Empire. But how does he know?

For several seconds I hesitated whether or not to tell him the truth. But what's the point of lying if he already knows about me? So I nodded at his question.

His face brightened.

- I'm glad!

- ?

- No, nothing. - he shook his head, still smiling broadly.

- [How do you know about me?]

- Oh, my father is the best doctor in the Empire!

The best doctor in the empire? Is he the son of that good-natured man who persuaded the emperor not to kill me?

"If you look closely, they do look alike. But since he's still young, it's hard to tell."

Speaking proudly of his father, Aeneas told of what he had learned about me from his father. He said his father was surprised when he examined me - my eyes were like a blind man's, but I could see and was completely healthy. His father, Daniel, called it a miracle, nothing more, when I reacted calmly to the Emperor's "welcoming party."

"This little guy. He's only six years old, but he has a good memory."

- So... - cautiously I began. - you know that I am healthy?

I put the dagger in its scabbard.

My face and voice were unemotional.

Ugh, my throat. I've heard that if you rarely speak, you can become dumb. I'll have to think of something so I don't get killed for being able to talk. Like lying that I was healed by some angel who came to me in a dream or something like that.

- Waaaah. - Aeneas opened his mouth enthusiastically upon hearing my voice and then nodded. - That's the way it is.

- Who else knows about this?

- Mmm... - he said thoughtfully, without taking his eyes off me. - What's wrong with your hands?

- ?

I followed his concerned and curious gaze, and then raised my palms to look at them.

The calluses on my baby hands were torn and oozing blood.

"It's just some kind of blessing that I don't feel pain. Thank you!"

- It's okay.

I was about to put my hands down, but he stopped me.

- I'll just process this quickly," he took off his bag with a businesslike look and opened it.

- You don't have to. Treat your wound first. - I pointed to the cut on the bridge of my nose.

He shook his head.

- No, you first.

He pulled out a bottle of water, some green and a Band-Aid, which triggered an "error404" in my head, until I remembered that I had already thought about how unmedieval this world is in some places.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I did not refuse help. For starters, Aeneas rinsed my burst blisters with water.

"He really is the son of the best doctor.

- Grandpa the wizard seemed to know, too. - He answered my question by starting to smear the wounds with green. - I found out about it when he and my father were talking about you.

- So you overheard him. - Affirmative.

He frowned slightly.

- I don't like that word. "Found out" is better. - He smiled as he finished applying the band-aid.

I thanked him for his help.

He nodded with a smile and was now treating his wound.

- How did you get in here? Did the emperor give you permission?

- No. The pope was summoned to the imperial palace, and he gave me permission to go with him. But then I wondered how you were, so I decided to come here.

"How am I? It's a child. You act like we've known each other for a long time. How careless."

- Hmm? Is the emperor ill?

- No, it is the eldest of his sons. He's had a high fever for two weeks now. He can't even eat properly. - Aeneas' eyes grew sad. He felt pity for the prince.

So that's why Ansel didn't come. He's sick.

- Oh, that's right. - The white-haired, curly-haired boy woke up as if he were asleep when he finished dressing the wound. - His father should have finished his examination by now. I must go back or he will be worried!

Aeneas turned half sideways and smiled at me.

- See you later!

- See you later. - Nod.

The thought swirled through my head as I watched the child's back moving away:

"I think I should check on Ansel"

Ansel is a good comrade and brother. I like him. He'll get a lot out of it, and I shouldn't miss the chance to make the most of it.

Friendship is friendship, service is service.