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> To understand the other's thoughts or sentiments toward you, or another person, or to know if they are truly genuine with their words, one does not require a powerful stone or magic... Sometimes, all you need to do is look into their eyes and determine the answer for yourself…

– Endellion Amaryllis

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There was a warm sensation all around me, and I could barely hear shouting, but the voice and words, like the source of such warmth, were hazy to me until I slowly opened my eyes and saw the ground... I could see a flash of orange dazzling light from the corners of my eyes, and when I turned to look around, all I saw was... was sheer terrible devastation... And yet, I wasn't frightened, but rather confused at which one was this…

  Whose recollections are these? Which past scenario was playing out in front of me right now? As I sat on the ground, I questioned them all in my head. The fires all around, burning the wreckage and bodies, might be a memory from every moment that war has been going on, but soon... my head starts to hurt. I closed my eyes and grasped my head hard. The words that had been a haze to me earlier began to become clear, but as I gently opened my eyes again, my vision then became hazy though I was still able to determine that there were two men there…

  One of the men was standing with a sword in his hand, and the other was kneeling on the ground… Soon, I slowly realized what was going on and…

  "El… Endellion… Endellion!..."

  …!

  … With sweat all over my face while breathing heavily… I finally woke up.

  ... What… What was all of that just now?... Everything seemed very real... yet it was all a nightmare, right?... I looked at my trembling hands before closing my eyes, and took a deep breath. It was all just a nightmare… it never happened… Hmm?...

  The room caught my attention as soon as I opened my eyes. I soon recalled what had happened that night's stay when I realized that the theme's usage of blue, gold, and silver was consistent throughout the room. I turned to look to my side, but there was no sign of the room’s owner, Taro, beside me. But at his desk and chair, though, there I noticed him drifting asleep. I'm certain that last night, I told him that if he won't let me sleep on the sofa, we could share the bed together, but with an embarrassed face, he insisted on offering his bed to me while he sleeps on the couch, making me feel ashamed, but I wasn’t able to refuse his offering either.

  However, he is not now sleeping on the sofa or in bed, unless he did something as I assume he had… I immediately moved carefully and quietly to the side of his desk after spotting the two envelopes that were neatly closed next to his closed arms, and seeing them was enough to bring a smile of joy and relief on my face.

  "It appears that there's nothing to worry about after all… That’s good…" I said to myself before realizing that he slowly awakened which surprised me. "Oh! Good morning, Your Highness... I hope I didn't wake you up. M-My very sincere apologies if I did..." I apologized as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "... I-I was just... I was just double-checking the two letters you seemed to finish last night."

  "Hmm?... Oh, Lady El… Good morning…" he said in a calm tone as he looked at me and blinked a couple of times. "Wait… Is it morning already? What time is it?"

  "Well…" I looked at the grandfather clock in the room before slowly turning my head to look back at him, "It’s… eight o’clock in the morning, Your Highness…"

  "Ah, it’s only eight o’clock in the morning?..." he repeated before lying his head back down on his desk with a small yawn and his eyes closed. Then carelessly waved his hand around he said, "... Then there’s more time to sleep, it’s still early…"

  I was confused, but I didn’t say or do anything about it. Instead, I waited for exactly five seconds before he suddenly sat straight back up with eyes wide open as the realization hit him. "Wait— I-It’s already eight o’clock?! I-I overslept again?!"

  "Is it a bad thing? Should I have woken you sooner? I-I’m so sorry— I didn—"

  "W-What— N-No— You didn’t need to apologize for anything at all! I-I was just…" he sighed and stood up from his seat, his eyes focused on his messy desk. "I… wasn’t able to sleep last night… And so instead of forcing myself to sleep, I tried to use my time to write the letters… Again and again… I rewrote both letters until I was able to be satisfied with the finished ones right here..." He said, looking at the two envelopes, moving them closer to my side at the desk before looking at me.

  I stared down at the two letters under his hand before my eyes looked back up at him as he asked, "Do you… Do you believe this plan will work out just fine?..."

"Are you still doubting your own work of words?... I don’t think Minerva w—"

  "What if she doesn’t like what I wrote? W-What if she still refuses the peace negotiation?" he began to walk back and forth. "What if her anger towards me— for that unwanted tragedy still weighs more until this very day? What if she already—"

  "Taro!" I exclaimed loudly to shake him out of it before grasping both sides of his cheeks to make him halt in his tracks and stare directly at me.

  "This plan will work... I will make sure that Minerva will be convinced, and Alessio will come back here safely… Just please…" I then slowly put down my hands, not breaking eye contact. "Even just this once, please… Trust me with this choice…"

  He stared at me for a good moment of silence before taking a deep breath and began to smile a little. "Alright… I’ll trust you and your words, Lady Endellion..."

  "Thank you, Your Highness…" I said, smiling at him before sighing in relief and looking at the door as Taro did the same. Noticing the beautiful blonde woman with blue eyes and dress slowly opening the door before soon entering the room.

  "Good morning, Your Highness… Lady Endellion…" she said, bowing. "I truly hope that I was not interrupting something important, but I am here to inform you that the maids have prepared the lady’s clothing, along with food and drinks to take for their trip with sir Garett back to the kingdom of Helio Vermillion today…"

  "Oh! That’s good. Thank you, Lady Lucerne… And oh— right! You two haven’t properly met yet, have you?" Taro said, moving to my side and clearing his throat. "Endellion, this is Lady Rachelle Lucerne, my lady-in-waiting and a good friend… And Lady Lucerne, this is Endellion Amaryllis, the younger sister of Alessio, and the one who helped us last time when there was an ambush here at the castle…"

  "... Alessio’s younger sister?" she repeated, tilting her head on the side for a moment before smiling back at me. "...A-Ah, it’s nice to finally meet you, m’lady…"

  "N-No need for such formalities— Please— You can just call me Endellion..." I said awkwardly, waving my hands around. "... But it’s nice to finally meet you too…"

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  We then both looked at Taro as we heard him chuckling and said with a very playful smile, "I truly believe… you two will get along just about right in the future."

  Looking back at her, she looked back at me before soon smiling at me.

  "I believe so too… Now…" she said before I noticed her hand holding out to me. "I also believe that it’s time for you to get prepared before your departure with sir Garett. And his highness…" she paused, looking back at him as I did the same.

  Taro blinked twice in confusion for a few seconds before realizing what she meant, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "R-Right! You’re right— I should get prepared now as well! Duties aren’t going to work themselves afterall."

  Lady Lucerne then bowed one last time before we soon left the room for Taro to get prepared. And as I took one last glance at him, I noticed how his sad eyes were focused on me but a small smile slowly formed on his face as he said,

  "I wish you good luck on your journey and mission to persuade the Queen…"

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An hour has passed after my talk with Taro, and Lady Lucerne was so nice that she helped me with my preparations for the journey that soon to come, and currently brushing my long ebony hair. Even though I said that I could do some of the things myself, she insisted and I wasn’t able to refuse. Well, I was never really the type of person to refuse an offer of help from someone with good intentions at mind…

  "You have such long lovely hair, Lady Endellion… it’s so soft and silky…"

  "T-Thank you, Lady Rachelle…" I said, blushing from her compliment. "But I do believe that you look more lovely than I, Lady Rachelle… And I’m not just referring to the outside, but to the inside as well. Perhaps even, could be one of the reasons why he—" suddenly pausing, my smile slowly faded as I looked down at my hand where the Stone of Time I held. "... I-I’m sorry… Forget about that last part…"

  "Hmm?... What are you apologizing for?" she asked, somehow not stopping from what she was currently doing. "I do not blame you for what you think you lack for it not to happen, nor must you blame yourself for it either… Even when a lot of us here had that feeling of what could have been, even when he already knew what could happen to him, none of us were able to prevent any of it from happening…"

  "I know. But even so— I—" Pausing, I looked at the mirror to see my own reflection before looking away, "I… I just don’t feel like I’ve done enough for him…"

  There was a short moment of silence before I felt her gentle hands placed on my shoulders. She leaned a bit closer, asking, "... And how do you measure enough?"

  I was surprised to hear the question, but I wasn’t able to come up with an answer for it, making another moment of silence before she asked, or rephrased the first question differently now. "Why would you think that Alessio sees your efforts that were not enough for him?... That you did not do your best for him?"

  Hearing the rephrased question, I knew that I shouldn’t stay silent like this forever. Realizing that this is perhaps the only chance where I would be able to speak out freely to someone who would understand me, before going back home, I then took a deep breath, then finally responded with, "Because I know that Alessio would do anything that he can to find me, if he knew that I was still alive. While there’s me— despite knowing he was still out there— knowing of what he’s being called as the Bloody Traitor— and I had the power and some people I know that could help me get to him— still, there was nothing that I did to reach out to him…"

  Holding tightly onto the Stone of Time, I slowly opened up my eyes. "I just wish I was able to do more for him, knowing he would do the same for me. But I was afraid… of the consequences of my actions rather than being there for him."

  Silence filled the room once more before soon hearing her unexpectedly saying in a gentle tone, "Well… Now I believe it more that you are truly his sister."

  Looking back up to see her face, there I noticed her smile and felt her gentle hands wiped away my tears that began to fall. "... Alessio… Throughout the years he was with us here, he was thinking like that most of the time from what I noticed and from what I heard from sir Garett. He blames himself for not being able to do enough for what happened to you in the past, for what happened to his friend…"

  Closing her eyes, she sighed. "... That was something we were not able to clear away from him entirely, but it lessened bit by bit after time after I told him…" Upon her pausing, my eyes widened a bit in surprise for her gentle kiss on my forehead then looking back at me with a smile. "For us here, always remember that you did everything you could. And even if it may not be enough for you because you may see it as a failure, for us, we believe it is enough… That you are enough…"

After hearing those words, my eyes widened once more as tears streamed down my cheek once more, but it was not out of sadness but for joy and relief, as a smile formed in my face and without knowing it, the Stone of Soul that I was holding and the Stone of Time inside my other pocket began to glow slightly.

… You are enough… I am enough… Oh how those words I’ve been longing and hoping to hear from someone, from anyone, and now it finally came true, it was heard. And those words bring such warmness in my heart and peacefulness in my mind… "I" thought as I stared at her beautiful sapphire-colored eyes that’s filled with so much warmth and hope, soon my arms wrapped around her, embracing her tightly, and burying my face on her shoulder.

  She seemed surprised at first, but her arms wrapped around me as tight, and even patted my back gently.

  Even if it was just after a short moment and a couple of sentences that were spoken out, I finally understand it now. I finally was able to hear it and see it with my own eyes now for how he was able to stay sane and filled with determination and hope to keep going, even in a world such as this where cruel Fate would throw anything in his way, where old friends would turn against him. As long as he has someone like them, and someone like her is always by his side throughout his time living here, he will live a fine life. And I’m very thankful that he met such wonderful people… I’m very thankful to have finally met them too, and felt the same warmth.

  "Thank you…" I said under my breath. "... Thank you so much, Rachelle…"

  She smiled at me, wiping away my tears with her gentle hands once more.

  "You do not need to thank me for this, but I am very glad to be of help to you too, Endellion… Even for something as simple as this." she said before standing up properly, looking at the grandfather clock in the room. She seemed to stare at it for a short moment before sighing then looked at me. "Sir Garett is probably waiting…"

  "O-Oh! You’re right! We should probably get going now before anyone else notices me…" I said, quickly standing up and picking up the two letters on the desk.

  I then placed my white hood over my head before we left the room, and we soon began walking down the hallway while being at her right side. In that way, any of the servants that were walking by wouldn’t be able to notice or recognize me. I sighed silently in relief, but soon my eyes couldn’t help but look around at this to keep my mind distracted. Looking at it now in morning’s daylight, it truly looked and felt different from the one back at Helio Vermillion, and had a much more calm and comforting aura to them as well. I wish I could stay here a little longer… Hmm?

  Looking back at her as we continued walking, I only now noticed how her sapphire-colored eyes were slightly looking at the floor, but I soon sensed a strong emotion from her that I wasn’t entirely sure at first. As the Stone of Soul began to glow a little more, I soon realized it and the first words that came out from me were, "You… You seem to truly feel that way about my older brother, don’t you?"

  She suddenly almost stopped from walking upon hearing what I just said. But we somehow continued on, as her surprised expression quickly faded away.

  "Well, I suppose you can say that," she said after a brief moment of shock. "Is it… is it that obvious?... Do you think he already knows that I… N-Nevermind it…"

  I blinked twice in confusion and was surprised as to how and why I suddenly said that to her, but it seemed that it caught her off guard and almost said what I believed she was going to say. But even without the need to tell that to me directly now, I was able to already sense that she truly has that kind of feelings toward him.

  "...Your eyes tell me a lot of things, Lady Lucerne… I could tell that you're worried about him, but you still have hope that he will come back here safely. And perhaps… hear the answer for yourself one day..." I said, smiling before bowing down to her. "Thank you for being interested in my older brother, Lady Lucerne. I truly believe that you two would make a wonderful couple when the time comes…"

  She wasn’t able to hide her shocked expression this time, but she still smiled.

  "O-Oh my… I-I… Y-You.. Well, thank you so much as well, Lady Amaryllis…" she said, her face flushing red a bit but she still kept a sincere smile on her face.

  "You two seem to get along well. I’m sure that Al would be happy with this…" Garett said, approaching us. "...And as much as I don’t want to disrupt your lovely conversations, Endellion— I mean, Lady Amaryllis and I should get going soon…"

  "Ah, of course. Of course… My apologies for keeping you both longer here..." she said before lifting her hand and soon a blue portal formed in front of her. She then looked at us. "This portal will send you to the nearest village in the kingdom of Helio Vermillion… I hope that your journey will be a safe one, and good luck…"

  "Heh, we’ll be back before you know it." Garett said with a confident smirk, looking at me then tapping me on the shoulder before soon entering the portal.

I then took a deep breath and looked at her, and Taro who walked beside Lady Rachelle, seeing them waved at me as I smiled at them and said, "Thank you so much for everything… We’ll be back…" before soon entering the portal as well.

  Upon arriving at the other side of the portal, a bright ray from the sun greeted me before I was able to see one of the closest villages in the kingdom of Helio Vermillion. And it wasn’t only familiar for me, but it was very much as well for Garett it seemed as I noticed the expression on his face. His eyes widened for a moment in surprise before slowly taking a deep breath, closing his eyes and said,

  "It’s been a very long time since I left here with him, but… I’m finally home."

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