“Catch!”

A solid ball of blue energy came flying towards Myra.

“U-Uhm!”

Her hand-eye coordination was lacking at best, resulting in her smacking the ball away.

“That’s not how it goes! You’re supposed to catch it!”

The small girl in front had a silly smile. Her eyes shone brightly like twinkling sapphire gems.

Hina… she’s so young in this dream.

Myra glanced between the blue ball that was rolling out of sight and her former friend that stood a distance away. Before she could smile at this fond memory, the young Hina spoke again.

“You can’t even catch a ball, what good are you?”

What?

Myra looked back towards Hina with a shocked expression. Hina’s eyes frosted over and her cheerful smile was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m leaving.”

Hina turned to walk away, and with each step she grew a little taller.

“Wait! Don’t leave me! I can catch the ball, I swear!”

Myra immediately chased after her, but no matter how fast she moved she couldn’t close the distance between them.

After taking another step, Myra somehow found herself seated on a chair inside an empty stone room. The walls looked aged and damp with hints of moss growing within the crevices.

“I was set free.”

A soft voice called out from in front her the moment she looked around.

“Hina?”

Myra’s eyes focused on the speaker in confusion.

Hina, who was now a mature beauty, stood tall and glared down at Myra with her arms across her chest.

“Since when are you able to call me by my name? Who are you?”

Who am I? How can you not know?

“I’m-“

“I don’t care. Definitely not about some trapped mouse living in a small world.”

The light in Myra’s eyes faded away as the Hina before her continued speaking.

“Your life is insignificant, how about you just let it all go? You’ll never reach me. Go ahead and die.”

“But…”

Before Myra could reply, she was no longer in the isolated stone room. Instead, she found herself staring at a young boy wearing a hooded sweater in a hallway.

The boy took a step forward, and she took a step back.

You’re not Hina.

Her thoughts were scrambled once more.

“Myra.”

He called out her name while his eyes flashed a piercing blue light from the shadows of the hood.

----------------------------------------

Myra sucked in a deep breath as she finally woke up from an endless stream of nightmares. She immediately sat up and placed a hand over her chest.

Her rapid heartbeat was eccentric and her breathing was wild.

After a few moments to herself, she finally calmed down and processed her memories.

That’s right, Hina left me forever, right?

After a couple of minutes, she noticed that she was sitting in a luxurious bed with dim streams of light illuminating the corners of the room.

“Where am I…”

She mumbled under her breath.

“You’re in the young master’s training facility.”

“Hiik!”

Myra yelped as her heart lurched in shock. The voice came out of nowhere!

She didn’t have to wait long before she noticed that a beautiful young woman stood in front of the doorway.

The woman’s cascading hair caught the light at an angle, causing it to shine whiter than usual. Myra couldn’t help but think of a certain someone.

Hina has light hair too…

“Who are you?”

Myra knew that this woman wasn’t Hina, and she wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. However, it was still a little jarring to wake up in a foreign bed. Her only solace was that the stranger before her was a woman and not a man.

Ciena adjusted her glasses on her face, her eyes glinted.

“I would like to ask the same. However, I will answer your question. My name is Ciena, and I am the young master’s assistant. The young master carried you here earlier today, but I do not know why.”

Myra shuddered after hearing Ciena’s tone of voice.

This woman feels dangerous. What did I do to offend her?

“My name is Myra Gradis. I am… no one important.”

Although she said she was no one important, she had already given her family name. Anyone who had a modicum of worldly knowledge would be able to correlate her to the Gradis royal family.

“I see… May I ask why you were clinging onto the young master like a little girl?”

Ciena’s eyes narrowed as a soft smile that didn’t seem like a smile crept onto her face.

“I-I was what? I don’t know anything about that!”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Myra looked away, both in embarrassment and to avoid Ciena’s piercing gaze.

“Uh huh… well then, get changed.”

Ciena gestured towards an outfit that was conveniently placed at the foot of the bed.

“What?”

“I said get changed. The young master requested that you join him. You don’t have a choice in this.”

Myra frowned once her illusion of choice had been questioned. For too long she followed her family’s orders. For too long she obediently carried out her tasks and duties. It appeared that nothing changed and everyone was the same.

Her heart sank low and she quietly reached for the clothes. She was used to this behavior; used to following orders.

From an outsider’s perspective, she was strong willed and heavy handed. She was domineering and controlling in her own right, but this couldn’t be further from the truth once someone broke through her façade.

It was an instinctual reaction to follow orders that seemed absolute.

The moment she deemed herself in a position of lesser authority, she would obey, albeit reluctantly. At the same time, a piece of her heart withered away with each command.

“W-What are these?!”

Myra held the small bits of cloth in her hands. Ciena looked at her strangely before replying.

“Training clothes? Wear the outfit please, don’t waste time.”

Myra reluctantly pulled the clothes closer to her before looked back at Ciena.

“Could I change alone?”

She noticed that Ciena remained in the same spot throughout the exchange, and she didn’t appear to be leaving.

“No. I am only following the young master’s orders.”

“Well… could you at least turn around?”

“No. Get changed.”

Myra bit her lower lip before beginning her transformation process. It was odd, but Ciena’s gaze of subtle hostility somehow gave Myra a trace of solace as she slipped into her new set of clothes.

Myra didn’t take long to find herself wearing skintight shorts and a sturdy training bra that kept her ample chest in place. Her midriff and lower back were bare, along with everything below her thighs.

“Do I really have to wear this?”

Myra couldn’t help but ask again, despite already knowing the response.

“Trust me, you’ll regret it if you don’t. Let’s go.”

Ciena didn’t drop a single beat as she opened the room’s only door.

Vibrations immediately boomed and thumped along the floor and through Myra’s body.

The moment the door was opened, the rhythmic sound of music poured into the room. It sounded like futuristic sounds were blended with tribal chants, creating an adrenaline inducing atmosphere.

The sudden rush of music initially startled Myra, but soon curiosity overcame her as she followed Ciena out of the room.

Immediately, she was able to see the enormous center stage that had been converted into a training arena. Purple and blue lights surrounded the large room, which seemed to flash in tune with the music.

“Wow…”

Myra looked around with interest while Ciena led the way. This was a first for many things for the sheltered girl.

In Myra’s upbringing, music was either background noise for a high-class party, or a display of skill to be performed by talented musicians. She would be forced to sit through these concerts that could only be described as boring.

In addition to this new taste in music, she also never experienced the surreal setting created by the lights. When combining the two experiences together for the first time, she could only stare in amazement as her lips soon formed a content smile.

The sound of metal clacking upon metal broke Myra out of her trance.

“Hup!”

“Keep moving! Don’t stop! Counter! Strike! Watch that form!”

The series of shouts filtered its way through the music and into Myra’s ears. She then noticed two men were fighting each other at a fast pace in the center of the stage.

The noises grew even louder as Myra stood with Ciena on the platform taking them to the ground floor. As they got closer to the bottom, Myra nervously took a half step behind Ciena.

Even though her important areas were covered, she was essentially half naked and was likely going to participate in some sort of training. At this point, she felt closest to Ciena because she had already interacted with her previously.

Soon, the platform reached the ground.

“Let’s go.”

Ciena walked forward with her charge in tow.

“Huff… Huff… Alright! Let’s call it here Bennon.”

Jun sat on the floor with his arms around his knees.

His makeshift weapon was lying by his side. Both Jun and Bennon were currently wearing similar outfits, which consisted of a simple black shirt and a matching pair of shorts.

“As you wish Boss.”

Bennon gave a small smile and looked towards the direction of the two newcomers.

Ciena was subtly inspecting Jun for any potential injuries at a distance, an act that didn’t go unnoticed by Bennon. Behind her, Myra fidgeted nervously with her fingers as a red hue unknowingly glowed on her cheeks.

She was clearly uncomfortable in her current outfit, but that would change with time.

“Young master, your guest is here.”

Ciena stepped to the side and motioned towards Myra.

“Ah yes, come sit in front of me here Myra.”

Jun pointed to the empty space in front of him. Just earlier that same day, this same girl was as vicious as a wild tiger. She had a fiery temper that could erupt at the slightest grievance.

However, now she was as docile as a water lily as she sat cross-legged in front of him. She was unsure of herself and she felt insecure being in a foreign place. All of this was easy for Jun to see.

“Why did you bring me here?”

Myra was the first to speak up after she was seated.

“Well you passed out on me in the hallway. Should I have left you there?”

Jun hid a faint smirk as he tried to keep his expression unreadable.

“If you left me there then Reila would have come for me.”

Myra narrowed her eyes as she countered. She was beginning to gain some confidence as she spoke more, which resulted in a shift of attitude.

“I see. Who’s Reila?”

“She’s my personal guard. She’s also an ascendent. She’s very strong.”

Jun could tell that Myra was threatening him in a roundabout way. He simply raised an eyebrow before responding.

“So then why didn’t she come for you?”

“That’s because you took me away.”

“You’re saying a powerful ascendent can’t find you? Couldn’t your family track your system token?”

He held a device in his hand, which was the same device he had used to contact Myra’s father through the World System.

“Hey, give that back!”

“No.”

Myra, who was about to go retrieve the token, paused abruptly. She was shocked from the blunt response she received, which only reminded her of her current position.

As a princess to a powerful kingdom, she had never been in a situation where her commands were ignored. Of course, she really only gave commands to those with lesser authority or status than herself, and sometimes playfully to her father.

“So what then? I don’t know how long I was asleep, but Reila will come for me soon.”

“That won’t be happening either.”

Myra looked at Jun strangely, who simply cleared his throat before speaking out loud in a modified voice.

“I told father that I won’t be coming home. I’m going to make my own decisions now.”

Myra stared at Jun with disbelief as her mouth hung open, and soon, anger boiled within her.

He just copied my voice perfectly!

“What have you done?!”

She was about to shoot off like a loose cannon. No one would appreciate a stranger interjecting into their life like that.

Before she could say more, Jun tossed the system token towards her. She caught it somewhat clumsily and quickly opened the display on it.

“Don’t be in such a rush. Listen to the last recorded message before making a decision.”

Myra swiftly navigated to the history section, where she found that the last call she made was to her father. The only problem was that she had never made that call.

She played the recording a listened intently.

Father, I’m not coming home tonight…

I’m don’t want Reila watching me anymore…

I don’t want to be controlled…

I’ll contact you when I’m ready…

Myra listened to every second of the call until it ended with her voice telling her father she loved him. The entire conversation was filled with words that would never come out of her mouth, and a cocktail of emotions bubbled forth from this feeling of being off the rails.

Nervousness, insecurity, excitement, and most importantly, hope.

Myra placed the system token down in front of her and she stared at the ground. She appeared lost in her thoughts as her eyes shifted uneasily.

“At this point, I imagine you have some options.”

Jun picked himself up off the ground and walked towards her.

“Your first option, you can call your father back. Let him know that you want to be taken home, and he’ll make it happen. I won’t stop you from returning to your pitiful lifestyle.”

Myra glanced up at him as he spoke. She would have flared up in anger if he called her lifestyle pitiful at any other time, but now she only remained quiet and listened patiently.

“Another option is to give yourself a bit of time, reorganize your life and priorities, and then return to your family with the intent to change. Considering your personality… this has a low chance of succeeding.”

She looked away once more as he mentioned her low success chance. She didn’t want to return and change nothing about herself. Not after fully losing Hina and certainly not after being given this opportunity to live a life that transcended the script.

“It seems you don’t like that idea.”

He confidently extended his hand down towards her.

“Your last option is to accept my help. I can show you a new way to live life. It’ll be like wearing a different pair of pants or walking a mile in someone else’s dress. Perhaps one day, you can become the person that Hina wants to see.”

Myra’s heart thumped a little faster. Then she reached up and firmly grasped Jun’s hand, her face showing only determination and a willingness to change.