I woke from my nap to the late afternoon sky, and regretted sleeping as much as I did.

Even after all the exploring and art doing and all that, really I'm just being lazy and quite frankly freeloading.

I mean why is it that Lasory took me in? If only for me to sit here and do nothing with my very boring existence?

Questioning the ulterior motives of someone as generous as Lasory has been feels wrong, but I can't help but do it anyways. Granted, I can only wonder what those motives are and haven't a clue as to any actual possibilities. The fact remains that I'm very much a lonely, clueless boy with very little of a path forward.

Well, now a clueless girl. And that's something I'll have to get used to.

My exploration high had died off for the time being, and I went and looked for Myu, which ended up not being hard at all since she was having tea with Ayami at the table I met her at yesterday. When I came down from the tree, her face brightened, whether from seeing me or from seeing someone appreciating her hammocks I wasn't sure, but I couldn't help but feel like it was cute.

They were just finishing up, and after that we had a small dinner and went to bed early, since Myu was hitting heavy on some of her tutoring, which I'm told is currently about economics. Gross.

I wasn't sure what to do with my night since I just had a fat nap, but I definitely couldn't tell a very stern Miss Ayami "no," so I went up to my little attic room again and kind of just paced. Maybe I could go try to find a book that would be mildly entertaining, but then again, I kind of feel like that would be overstepping the already immense generosity of these people.

The generosity that I don't understand.

And speaking of generosity I don't understand, Myu poked her head up from the spiral staircase leading to my room with an excited smile and a dry bar of soap in her hand.

I looked at her with a what brings you here expression, to which she replied, "We should take a bath together! I wanna get you all cleaned up."

That question almost made me blush. I've never been bathed by anyone, nor naked in front of anyone, nor naked in front of anyone in a girl's body... you get the point. Words in general aren't my strong suit, but if "words" was an application and my brain was a computer... "Words is not responding. Would you like to close the program or wait for the program to respond?"

She laughed. "C'mon!! It'll be fun, I promise!"

I mean I can see how you might find that fun, but the idea to me is completely and entirely terrifying.

My face was heating up, and I think I might have actually been blushing. I fidgeted with my fingers, trying to think of a response that somehow was no because I didn't want to be bathed and yes so that she didn't get sad.

"I-I'm not sure," I squeaked out, forgetting how to use my voice.

Myu cheered again, trying to convince me that it was okay and I had nothing to be afraid of, but she was abruptly stopped by the storming of some very angry feet up the stairs.

"Myuila-Renee Sakari! You are supposed to be asleep, and you are sleeping in your own room tonight!!" She was shrieking out like an angry mother, and gave me a very harsh glare when she came all the way up.

What did I do wrong...?

"Yes Miss," Myu obliged in a low, submissive voice as her face drooped and head sagged, turning around to follow the angry maid back downstairs to wherever her room was.

I mean that solves my response dilemma, but that's one angry woman. Either way I was back to square one in terms of figuring out what I was going to do with my night, especially since getting a book now seemed to be genuinely risky with Ayami's current mood.

My nerves ended up getting the best of my decision-making and I decided to just tough through it and try to fall asleep. Perhaps I'd do some useful thinking while laying awake. Perhaps I'd do... other things... while laying alone and in bed, awake at night.

I heard bright giggling from behind me, and turned to see the ghost Lydia again.

"You're free to do whatever you want," she said mischievously. I immediately felt myself blush, and hard. "Hey you're the one that thought about it."

I shook my head, as well as those thoughts, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking in is all," she dismissed. "Besides, there's so much you don't know, and as far as I know, you've got a while to talk, so why don't we do just that?"

With a few chuckles, I obliged. "Who were you?"

She held up a finger and with a proud face, she said, "An herbalist and somewhat of a pharmacist, as well as the wife of Hystial Teriu."

........so that means I have a husband???

"He's dead now," she added, just a little too nonchalantly.

"Oh."

"You had a husband this young?" I started a new question.

"I'm actually quite well-on in terms of age. I just don't look it. I am 36 years old and have seen quite a many things in my life, Mr. Vincent."

"How are you 36 but look so young? What kinds of things have you seen?" My curiosity was piqued, namely because if this is my body now, I want to know the life of the person who once inhabited it.

The ghost took her finger and placed it below my eye.

"That big scar? It's what's driven so much of my life and how people treat me. You've already experienced it."

I tilted my head and frowned. "What's so bad about a scar?" My female voice was becoming more and more comfortable to me.

"That's quite the long story. People just need something in their lives to hate, I suppose. I didn't always look this young, but after Hystial died, I was taken and made a slave. After being overworked, the Scar on our face made us look this way, since a smaller body needs less nutrients and such."

Everything this woman said was just so nonchalant and matter-of-fact, despite how absolutely dark it was.

"I'm sorry..."

There was a break in the conversation, until I broke it with another big question on my mind. "So... are you mad at me?"

She, once again nonchalantly, said, "what could there be to be mad at you about?"

I almost couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "For taking your body from you. I mean you're just a spectator as some guy walks around wearing your face."

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"Oh, I see," she realized. "There's nothing for me to be mad at. After all, it's not like it's your fault. How could I blame you for the actions of some power much greater than either you or I? And besides, it's not like you're someone walking around wearing my face. You are me."

That took some processing.

"You're Lydia now," She added. "I'm only here to help guide you through whatever it is that you are uncertain of when it comes to this world."

"So you don't blame me for taking your body? What about your future? Isn't there someone you want me to talk to still or some purpose to fulfill for you? I mean your personality is so much different from mine. Am I supposed to follow that?"

She smiled. "That's sweet of you, but by the time I died, I didn't exactly have any connections or motives or friends. You're Lydia now, but I'm not here to tell you what to do with your new life."

I was touched. It was like getting a huge gift. I didn't know how to accept it or respond or anything, but it's also not like I had a choice.

"If I only made one request, it's that you explore. Not just here. See the world. See it to experience it, but see it to change it. Maybe that's just the regret left in me, but you have a mind-blowing second chance, Lydia," she added a laugh for calling someone else her name. "You've gotta have this chance for a reason."

There was a knot in my throat. I was sad for her and overjoyed at this gift and blown away by the prospect of being important. For a moment, I forgot all about my timid nature and let myself dream of the idea of doing big, important, world-changing things.

"Why are you so lax about all this?"

"We're in this together. Again, it's not like it's your fault."

I guess even a ghost needs a friend.

We sat on the bed and began to share some stories from our pasts. She was intrigued to know about my life before and the world I lived in. I told her about my time in school and my mother and Gabriel and really whatever she wanted to know.

Bringing up my mother made my heart sink a little, and she rubbed me on the back when she saw me get sad over the fact that I don't have her around.

Lydia told me about being an herbal doctor and how she discovered so many things about health and conditions and cures for them, and about all the amazing things she did as a princess for the kingdom of Teriu. When she talked about that kingdom, I realized that this, too, is a big wide world with so many different places and climates and countries, just like Earth.

After a very long conversation, I did eventually pass out with a bit of a headache. I dreamt of a sweet, gentle man. I was almost certain that it was Hystial, but when I woke up, Lydia wasn't there for me to ask her, and I didn't know how to just call her.

I made a mental note to myself to ask her about that next time I do see her.

~

The next day, I was brought some food by Ayami. She seemed to be in mildly better spirits, and smiled at me a little as she dropped off some clothes for me. I wasn't sure what changed, but I didn't mind that she didn't look like she wanted to see me on the streets and miles away from her and her family.

At least I kind of knew what everyone was so upset over. Perhaps I'll bring it up sometime.

I thanked her, and because she seemed nice, I asked a little about her tutoring to try and start light conversation. She kindly replied and said that it's going well and that Myu is a good student.

Her kindness was confusing but I wasn't complaining.

The following days were easy-going. After her lessons, Myu would sit me down somewhere and tell me a little bit about how society here worked, with royalty and stuff like that. I just played it off like I was dumb and didn't know anything. Though I created quite a bit of shock when I knew how to read and write and do math.

I didn't see much of Miss Ayami, but when I did, she wasn't always as nice as when she brought me food that one morning, but she didn't seem like she wanted to kill me. Might have just been an off day for her.

Lasory is apparently usually gone for long periods of time with his Messenger stuff, which leaves Myu to do her own thing.

One day, Ayami had to explain to me that Myu would be going to the castle to see her father, and that they would be gone for a day or so, and I was to stay in the mansion and keep myself out of trouble.

She showed me how and where I can get food and basic needs without being seen, and gave me a maroon-colored poncho made of fabric to cover up my face a bit. Getting used to wearing feminine clothes and having Lydia's name was definitely a longer process, but one that was coming along steadily. The day and a half that I spent alone I did pretty much nothing.

I saw the ghost once for a few minutes and she congratulated me on the strides I was making, but otherwise I still just felt like a freeloader. When I asked what I could do to help out around the mansion, I was sternly told that there wasn't anything.

That led me to start thinking that I really should look at more long-term goals, which wasn't something I'd ever done before.

Those goals didn't include this mansion. If I was to venture out and explore, I don't feel like this would be the place to do that. And even beyond, I have nothing to do here. Not just for entertainment, but for work. These last couple days have been hellish proof of that reality.

I'll have to find myself some kind of chance or opportunity outside here - really any work will do, and go from there. I'd love to say I could learn something neat and fantasy like the world I'm in, but I'm neither that motivated nor that interested.

When Myu got back, she brought me some clothes her father gave her to give to me, leading me to then take about another 10 minutes to realize that meant the king gave me a gift.

That night, she tried again to give me a bath, and be it out of curiosity or boredom, I let her.

I was apparently very gross and grimy. Hygiene hardly occurred to me when I was wandering the mansion and trying to stay hidden all these days... but also ew. By "giving me a bath" I should say more specifically that we took a bath together and she washed me.

Isn't this normal for girls or something? Or maybe it's just because I look like a little kid. Myu had unbelievable smooth and healthy skin and gorgeous purple hair that looked majestic even wet. Something about her just screamed elegance. Well no, that's not really the right word. Maybe natural wonder?

Seeing as to how we both looked equally young, and how I was just happy to see someone I could at least somewhat talk to again, I ended up adjusting to the awkward feeling of being in the bath. Plus, it was a massive tub, and we had two maids standing at wait with their eyes closed anyways.

In the end the bath was fun, but afterwards I broke the news to her that I was probably going to leave. For a moment, she seemed kind of sad, but then congratulated me on my decision and we moved on. Lasory got home that night and brought with him a strange woman.

She had white wings and incredibly long, bright green hair, along with an intricate silver band across her forehead. What struck me the most was the way she tended to just float. She didn't even move her wings, she just floated.

Rarely did she place her feet on the ground, in fact. When Myu saw her, her eyes watered and she became about 5 years younger, running straight into her arms and shouting, "Auntie Marrine!" as she cried in joy.

That was the only time I saw the woman set her feet down. As it turns out, she was an angel. A real life angel, and she was as interesting as she looked.

She had a certain arrogance to her, not in a dominant sense, but more in the sense that she rarely seemed to ask for permission. Yet it seemed natural in a way. She said what she thought, went where she pleased, looked and touched, and took what she wanted.

Her name was Marrine Zola, and I was directed by Lasory to follow a servant to retrieve a small box for her. I wasn't around to hear it all, but when I came back to deliver the box to her room, which was both huge and mind-blowing, Lasory was telling a bedtime story.

I suppose they had been for a while, because the angel and I ended up chattering about trivial and stupid things, mainly because she took interest in me for some reason, finding me odd and peculiar. I found her the same, and wasn't entirely fond of conversation, but she was the type you couldn't say no to. Not without walking out alive, at least (I swear she made no threats, but I just know.)

All I know is, Myu had a wide-eyed stare as Lasory smirked a little and finished his story.

"So he.... died...?" she mustered out after a moment of very strenuous thought.

Lasory laughed loudly. "That's just a story, Myu. We live in much better times, now."

Jeez, what kind of story did he tell her??

"That's so... pretty..." she whispered, blown away entirely by whatever it was she heard. She reminded me of myself after I read a good book or saw a good TV show and it ended. That story must have been captivating.

Marrine was behind me, pretty much sitting in midair and drifting backwards as she had a contemplative look. Near the princess' door was her dresser, and atop it sat her necklace, which caught the angel's interest the moment she laid eyes upon it.

In what seemed an instant, she was in front of the dresser with the silver jewelry, centered by a faceted red gemstone, like she was surprised to see it. She stuck her thumb into the center, causing the gem to pop out.

Now I was curious, so I approached her. The back of the gem had something inscribed on it, and Marrine seemed genuinely and thoroughly surprised.

We walked over to Myu and Lasory, and neither of them could read it.

"a mea culpa, alea iacta est," it read. Latin. Marrine didn't seem to know what it meant, but she did know where it came from.

"Huh..." she wondered aloud. "So it was them after all."

"Raven -- Levahn -- Lecoulia;; Kavari," it said at the bottom. Names.

"Those were all the humans in your story!" Myu shouted.

Marrine was somehow even more contemplative. "Not all of them were. Raven was quite the interesting treat. And not a human one," she explained matter-of-factly, like she was reminiscent. Was this story of Lasory's real? What could they have been talking about?

I quietly spoke up. "I've reached the point of no return."

Why are you all looking at me like that? That's what it said...