“I welcome you, Hero, for you are the one we have waited five hundred years for to aid us in our darkest night.”

For the so-called hero—standing within the midst of the court, surrounded by those wearing clothes that could only amount to at least several thousand dollars apiece—you would have to forgive me for being shocked with a fork frozen halfway to my mouth. As if to break the intense silence that followed, the small portion of rice and fish layered evenly on top of my fork slipped off and fell down into the porcelain bowl I held in my other hand. Yet, even as the crowd began to whisper and look at me with skeptical glances, my mind went back a few minutes ago to try to piece together what just happened.

It had been a normal enough day. Wake up, go to school, fall asleep in class, copy my friend’s homework at lunch, read a novel during my last couple of classes, take a bus home, and prepare some dinner for myself. All in all, a very, very average day. I even planned on watching a few shows on my computer, and maybe staying up late to check out a few of the more…private matters. Of course, that had been before I saw the flash of bright light just when I was about to eat dinner. There was no swirling vortex or vast slipstream tunnel that would have made it obvious. One moment, I was in my kitchen, and the next, I was here, wherever here was.

“What is your name, Hero?” As if to shock me out of my thoughts, that same voice that had spoken from the start spoke to me once again. My eyes swiveled to focus on a priestly looking old man standing besides a throne. It was actually a bit difficult to figure out who the speaker was, especially when there were so many standing around him, but he had the stereotypical type of old voice that would fit his wizened form.

“J-Jen.” Well, technically, my full name was actually Jennifer Ro, but I wasn’t going to say that. My family was actually pretty well off, owning a good stockholder’s portion of several companies, so there was quite a bit to gain from ransoms if anybody was looking close enough. I just hoped that this wasn’t what I was thinking it was.

Rich cosplaying kidnappers.

Well, actually, if they were this rich, especially from the quality of the clothing they wore, I kind of doubted that I was going to be put up for ransom. That could only mean that I was kidnapped somehow—maybe by a newly developed strange government prototype teleporter or something—at the whims of a large group of medieval cosplayers for the purposes of indoctrinating me into their cult. They were probably planning on dressing me like them and making me participate in strange rituals.

Though, if that was the case, I was actually kind of willing.

“Ah, Hero Jajen—”

“Actually, that’s Jen. Well, Jennifer Ro, but you can just call me Jen.” Gah! I said my full name anyways by accident. I was too used to the habit.

“Then Hero Jen, I’m aware that you must be confused by this summoning. I shall apologize for that, but we must beg your assistance on a matter of grave importance.”

My eyes started glinting at those words. Oh, I knew where this was going. I had read enough light novel translations and played enough video games that I knew exactly where this was going. My heart started to beat a bit faster as I opened my mouth.

“You want me to save the world from the demon king?”

I knew I messed up when I saw the blank look on his face, even before I saw him shake his head.

“There is no such thing as a demon king,” the old man said. “However, your power is needed for the sake of the kingdom. Our nation is bordered by powerful countries that seek any possible chance to weaken us, and our villages are assaulted night and day from monstrous fiends from beneath the surface. I beg of you to lend us your—”

“Hold, priest.”

That simple command, spoken by the previously silent black-haired man sitting leisurely on the throne, silenced everyone in the room. As for the king or at least I think he is a king... Have you ever seen those movies or read those stories with the good looking prince charming or the handsome king? A face that could make any girls heart flutter, eyes that were violet like lilac, and a body that belonged on the cover of the trashiest of romance novels?

Yeah, that was him. The man, a king by all indication, pulled out a golden necklace out of his shirt. At the bottom of it was a moderately sized locket, possibly a timepiece in the old British style, and popped it open. He glanced between me and the locket several times with a kind of intense stare before he finally shut it closed. In that time, nobody dared to open their mouths. As for me, it was more because I didn’t know what to say, so I just waited and watched. He stood up from his throne.

“Cancel everything. She shall not be a part of our plans.”

“My lord!”

“Your Majesty, you cannot simply—”

“Silence! This is non-negotiable.” The king placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. “I will broker no more dissent. Those that continue to disagree will taste my blade.”

Under this oppressive atmosphere, he walked down the beautiful red carpet, and I had to admit that the way he walked towards me was more majestic than in any movie I had ever seen. It was a style full of confidence and authority, such that even my mind went blank, and I had the oddest urge to fall to my knees. I didn’t think I quite managed to keep them steady in any case as he finally loomed before me, towering in his height. I had to raise my head and even bend my back a little just to see his face. When he smiled down at me, I swore my heart skipped a beat.

And just like that…

He hugged me.

Bending down, he had scooped me into his arms with biceps that seemed harder than stone. Yet, for all his powerful muscles, the hug was soft and gentle. I would even say it was a lover’s embrace, if I even knew what that felt like, which I didn’t, though I bet it felt like this. My face was probably as red and hot as I was feeling.

“T-t-this…you c-can’t…”

The king ignored me and squeezed a little bit harder. That moment seemed to last for the longest time until finally, he pulled away. However, he kept his hands on my shoulders, and his smile seemed to glow just a little bit warmer. I could feel something important was going to happen. Was…was this going to be a confession…?!

“Welcome to my kingdom, mother.”

…wait what?

Before I could even formulate a proper thought, the entire room melted into pandemonium.

~o~

Seriously, how did it turn out this way? I was sitting on a chair in a private room while a group of three maids were busy fussing about me, combing my hair and applying make-up. The white dress on me was actually quite exquisite with its gold and red trimmings, but it also felt quite strange as well; I could tell that the material was not cotton or silk, but I couldn’t identify it. Still, it felt pretty good on my skin, and I had to admit that I felt happy it looked so good as well.

However, getting used to all this was a whole different ballgame. Yes, ballgame. I used to play baseball in middle school. Well, just softball actually. Regular overhand throws for the boys’ team and underhand throws for girls. I used to be indignant about that, not being able to play regular baseball because I was a girl, but all it took was one look at my team to see why. It was hard to complain after that.

Not that it stopped me, mind you.

“So what do you think about this mother business?” I asked. The question wasn’t really directed to any of the maids in particular, but I felt I needed to break the silence. Honestly, I felt pretty weird being serviced like this, so that played a part in it as well.

“I do not know, Your Highness,” one of the maids said as she brushed my hair. My black hair was of a pretty good length, reaching down to the small of my back, though I have to say that I was proud of how silky it felt. That actually took quite a bit of work over the years to maintain, not to mention money, though I couldn’t say that last one was really a concern of mine since my parents were the ones paying for all of it.

“You can just call me Jen.”

“We dare not, Your Highness.”

“Seriously, I won’t bite.”

“Even so, His Majesty may not take kindly to such disrespect. Please spare us, Your Highness!”

I frowned. I didn’t even have to take a look in the mirror to see what their expressions were. It didn’t really sit well with me to be called, “Your Highness,” all the time, but I didn’t want to get these girls in trouble.

“Well, he probably just think I look like his mother or something,” I muttered as if musing to myself. That was probably it, right? It was the only explanation because I would certainly remember losing my virginity and getting pregnant. Not to mention my so-called son looked to be around his mid to late twenties. Maybe thirties with a youthful appearance or something. Either way, it obviously meant that he was much older than I was so unless I somehow had him before I was born, I didn’t think that was possible.

And oh god, that imagery. Putting that aside—and burying it deep—this situation was just strange all around. I was honestly even looking forward to waving a sword around or learning magic, but it didn’t seem like I was going to get the chance to do it in this case.

“So why am I being dressed like this again?”

“Your Highness, that is because you will be eating with His Majesty soon.”

Oh right, I was hungry. I didn’t even get a chance to eat my bowl of rice and fish before they took it away from me. At the time, I was confused so I let it go without a hassle, but I feel that handing it over without resistance was the thing that I regretted most so far. It took me an hour to properly prepare and cook that fish. I had been looking forward to tasting the results of my blood, sweat, and tears—well, not really of those, but it was the thought that counts. I had put in a fair amount of effort into cooking it after all.

“All done, Your Highness.” One of the maids brought out a handheld mirror and held it in front of me. I had to admit, that was actually more than I expected from this kind of setting. I half-expected to be looking at the reflection on a metal pot or something, so knowing that they could produce glass gave me hope that they would be just as advance in other areas, especially toiletry. That was the thing about those light novels and games; they never focus on the bare essentials of modern day life that were obviously going to be missing in a medieval fantasy kind of setting. I couldn’t imagine wiping myself clean with something as rough as sandpaper.

The moment I saw myself in the mirror, I froze. Was that me? I hesitantly touched my face, almost afraid that I would destroy the image. It was a valid concern! I wasn’t sure if they could produce make-up that wouldn’t easily wipe off, but I still had to touch myself just to check if it was really me. Thankfully, it didn’t come off onto my fingers. As I stared at my reflection, I couldn’t help but marvel at it.

Porcelain skin, ruby lips. The first thing that would come to mind from that description was a clown or a cake-faced banshee, but it really didn’t do justice to what I was seeing. It was almost surreal, the doll-like face that stared back at me. If I didn’t know that was me, I would think that it was one of those real life replicas that were just on the border of uncanny valley. It was creepy, scary, and wonderful all at the same time. I usually go for the more natural look, a dash of this, a dab of that, but there was a sort of appeal with this kind of extreme. I wouldn’t want to do this all the time, but it looked really nice for just once in a while. Almost like a fantasy.

“Are you displeased, Your Highness?”

“No, no, it’s pretty good,” I said quickly, seeing the tension leave their faces. “You do have removers for all this, right?”

The maids looked blankly at me before they finally caught my drift. “Oh, of course, Your Highness! We will remove it once you retire for the day.”

That hesitation made me worried, but I tried to keep the frown off my face. I know that it shouldn’t be a concern, especially since I’m apparently in a parallel world full of life-threatening dangers, but it was something I couldn’t help at the same time. I had lived all my life worrying about skincare, ever since my mom taught me the basics when I was young. It was hard to stop, but yeah, I really should now that I think about it. Still, it was a bit difficult to rearrange my priorities.

“How long until dinner?”

“An hour, Your Highness.” Ugh, I was hungry now.

“Can’t I have a snack?”

“It would ruin your appetite, Your Highness,” the maid responded calmly. “His Majesty thought you might have some questions about this world so he pushed back the time of the meal.”

Oh, that was right. I had been swept up in events that I didn’t really give a thought to my own situation until now. I wasn’t happy that I would have to stay hungry longer, but I did have some questions. Naturally, I was the victim in all this, having been practically kidnapped from my home and stranded with no recourse. I wondered how my parents and siblings were doing. They were probably frantically looking for me,  even getting the police involved. This was likely to cause a lot of trauma and anguish for them, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Unlike the light novels I read, I held no illusion of returning home. If I was summoning a devil to grant me a wish, I would not have any thoughts about returning it back home. Going by that line of reasoning, it was unreasonable to think that they wouldn’t have prepared a way back for me. I would have to ask them about it regardless, but I wasn’t willing to spend years or even decades trying to find a way home because that would just be wasting my life away for something that may just be impossible. By then, my family would have to move on without me. While I did feel sad at the thought, I too would eventually have to move on as well.

“So, what is this world?”

“Your highness, this world is called…” Apparently, this world is called Luani, a world that was always on the brink of warfare. A pretty dark place considering, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. I asked a bunch of questions after that about the history, language, religion; the usual kind to get myself oriented. To summarize, about 2000 years ago, there was a great war in the pantheon of the Gods of this world. The sole survivor was a God named Ranvia, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that one single God wasn’t much of a deterrent for the darker dimensions. In that sense, portals opened all over the world and unleashed hordes of monsters. An originally human-only world became the home of fantastical creatures and monsters out of nightmares. It was pretty much an apocalyptic situation that only got worse as time went on. The situation was rampant for nearly 1000 years. To deal with the issue, Ranvia implemented the Heroes System and the Age Immortality System.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The Heroes System allowed a summon for each nation every five hundred years, when the stars were correctly aligned. These summons were beings from a different dimension, granted some abilities and buffs that allowed them to have some advantages over the natives. In the past, this Heroes System had been used twice, so I certainly wasn’t the first to be abducted like this. I probably wouldn’t be the last either. That meant that if there was a way to go home, then it would have certainly been found now, though I kind of doubted it because the world was still in turmoil after all these years.

The Age Immortality System was an interesting one. Basically, for anyone that was above a certain power level and aligned with a nation, then they would basically not age at all while in the territory of that nation. This gives people an objective since getting powerful was now synonymous with living forever—only for old age though; they could still get killed by any other method. However, that was only if they stayed in the country’s territory. If they left that territory or lose the allegiance of their country, they would age like normal. There were certain exceptions during times of war where you could enter an allied or enemy country with the system still working, but only if war was declared officially and publicly. Of course, a person could switch their allegiance to a different nation, provided that the other nation acknowledges it. This effectively congregates the strongest powers within a country, making it more focused on defense rather than offense. I had to admit that it would help in the fight against monsters while limiting the abuse of it for spies and assassins against other nations as I doubted many Immortals would do it since they would be forced to age.

At the start, many smaller nations formed just to take advantage of the Heroes System and get as many heroes into the world as possible. However, that didn’t last very long as the monster hordes targeted the smaller nations first, snuffing them out. Heroes were, after all, most vulnerable when they first arrive. Still, the situation was able to be stabilized by their efforts. However, once the monster threat lowered, war amongst the nations was inevitable.

And that was pretty much the gist of everything. At least, the important points. There were a lot of tiny details, but I couldn’t be bothered to remember those. I mean, I was never good at schoolwork in the first place so I couldn’t be expected to remember all these miniscule little details and the specific years that they kept spouting out. So what if this military general or that one won this battle or that. There were already too many of them in any case! If I even attempted to memorize them, I could imagine my brain melting down into sludge. Honestly, with just this much, I was already pretty confused. Heroes System and Age Immortality System? Was that something out of a roleplaying or strategy game? It was just weird, but I would have to figure out the specifics of those later.

“Is there a way for me to go home?” I saw the maids glance at each other out of the corner of my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“It’s fine. I expected that anyways,” I casually responded, yet I couldn’t help but be disheartened at their words. Just having it confirmed made it feel a lot more real. In a sense, I guess I was still skeptical about the whole thing. In fact, I even thought that I was being a lot calmer than a girl should be in this kind of situation. Maybe deep down, I wanted something like this to happen, to break the monotony of my average days. It made me feel guilty, but there was a sense of excitement accompanying that. Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was feeling. It was just such a mess.

“It’s time for dinner. Please don’t be sad, Your Highness. His Majesty may know more about this than we do.”

I nodded and allowed the maids to help me up from my seat. They escorted me as we walked out of the room, leading me down the endless hallway. It felt weird for them to seemingly hang off my arms as we walked, but it was kind of a necessity. As much as I liked the dress, it was a bit too long so the ends were trailing along the floor, picking up dust and whatever gunk on the way, but the problem was that I almost tripped a few times by stepping on them. They apologized for the inappropriate size and promised me fervently that they would get it fixed later. I told them not to mind it, but they quickly drowned me out with their protests. I wasn’t that much of a social dummy, but the chorus of protests was a bit much for me to handle.

As we walked down the rich, vibrant carpet, I noticed the paintings on the walls. Most of these weren’t the artistic kind that you would see of blocks and shapes or splats of paint; they were portraits of prominent looking individuals as well as scenes of famous battles. Well, maybe too many battles. I knew that they had a harsh history, but seeing all the canvas filled with fighting against both humans and monsters put things into perspective. It sort of glorified warfare to an extent that made me feel more than a bit uncomfortable. I mean, it was understandable, but at the same time, it was foreign to me.

When I finally reached the room and the door was opened for me, I saw that my host, the king, was already seated and waiting for me at a table with a candlelight. It would have been romantic if it weren’t for the fact that he called me his mother only a couple of hours earlier. I walked over to the table and bowed my head slightly. I wasn’t sure about any of the etiquette of nobility, but I didn’t think he would mind. Thankfully, he didn’t.

“Take a seat.” The king waved his hand to the only other open chair at the table. It was actually a smaller table than I imagined, but then again, when I thought of nobles and royalty, I expected a huge long table that spanned the room with each of us at one end. Though, that would probably result in a bad shouting match as we try to talk. In any case, I quickly complied with his words and sat down on the cushioned seat. It felt nice, like really nice. So nice in fact that I was tempted to say that it was too rich for my blood.

“Your um Majesty, I—” My stomach took this time to growl. I had the decency to blush as the king burst out into a small chuckle.

“Let’s talk after we eat.” He clapped his hands once. At that instant, a man in a chef uniform rolled in a cart stacked with plates through the open door. With a motion practiced from decades of service, the chef set the plates onto the tables and took off the metal covers.

I was almost disoriented by the cacophony of smells, but that didn’t make them seem any less delicious. I could feel a little bit of drool leak out the side of my mouth so I quickly wiped it with my sleeve, ignoring the horrified expressions of the maids and butlers around me. Without waiting, I quickly took my plate and speared a few pieces of meat with my fork. I bit those pieces off my fork like it was a shish kabob, my face lighting up as the taste hit me.

Delicious!

The meat practically melted in my mouth, mixing with the sauces to create a heavenly taste. I didn’t even know if it was chicken, pork, or beef, but I didn’t care either. It was so godly that I was lost in my delight. By the time I realized it, I found that my plate and fork was gone. The maids on each side of me had taken them away.

“Your highness,” the chef said as if he was scandalized. “You shouldn’t take the food yourself. Simply ask a servant to serve it for you.”

“Oh. Um, how about that one? And that one too.” I pointed at two different plates. The chef nodded and helped serve me a small portion of each. And by small, I mean small, like the corner of my plate. Well, I guess since there were so many plates, they ate like this. “Er, how about some of each.”

The chef nodded and carried out my order. On the other side of the table, the king was looking at me with an amused expression even though his own plate was empty. There was something in that smirk that made me feel indignant.

“Not going to eat anything?” I asked with an annoyed huff.

“I will. After he’s done with your portion.”

“Patient, aren’t you?”

“I had grown a lot since my childhood.” That reminded me. I needed to ask about the mother thing.

Before I could let loose one word, my plate was returned to me, stacked full of food and my fork was returned to the napkin on my side of the table. Well, stacked full was a bit of an exaggeration. It was like he clumped all the food together on one single layer, presenting it in such a way that it looked like a clustered painting than a mountain of food. I was actually a little bit bewildered, but my hunger quickly won out. I took my fork and began to dig in even as the king started ordering his portion.

By the time I was done, I had gone in for seconds and thirds. I would even have gone in for a fourth if it wasn’t for the fact that my host was already done eating his meal and was waiting patiently for me. Under that stare, I simply put my fork down as the servants began taking away the plates. They were still half-full of food which left me a little peeved with how much food was going to wasted, but I supposed they would feed the leftovers to the rest of the servants or maybe bring it to the less fortunate. Well, I doubted the latter one, but it was a nice thought.

“I suppose you have many questions for me,” the king said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Yeah, though I guess the biggest one at the moment is: who are you?”

The king blinked for a moment before he burst out into laughter. “I had forgotten that you might not recognize me. Give me a moment.”

Instead of saying more, he reached around his neck and took off his necklace, pulling it out of his shirt at the same time. With a swing of his wrist, he tossed the locket across the table.

“Ah!” I clapped my hands together a second too late, so the locket hit my forehead and fell onto my lap. Rubbing the spot where I could feel a bruise forming, I glared at him. He merely smiled apologetically in response. Feeling disgruntled, I picked up the locket and examined it. It was a simple gold locket, though there were wears and tears all over it. There was a button on top so I quickly pressed it and watched the locket pop open.

Inside, instead of a clock, I found a picture of a black-haired woman holding a similarly black-haired child. They were both smiling happily as they stared out from the picture, but even though she was older, I could have recognized her from anywhere. After all, that was my face.

My throat felt dry. It didn’t add up. The clothing that she was wearing as well as the scarf was actually something I owned and cherished. They were particular articles that I had gotten from my brother and sister for my birthday, so I would remember it anywhere. That left me with only one conclusion, and there was no mistaking it. That was me.

But how could that be? I looked up at the king, my face clearly showing my confusion.

“My name is Ranzel Ro. My friends used to call me RR,” he said. “You had me when you were fourteen, but you put in your all to raise me. I was in my early twenties when I got summoned here, five hundred years ago. I’m sure they explained the Age Immortality System, yes?”

I wordlessly nodded.

“I know this might be confusing, but I’m your son. Truthfully, the only reason I could remember after all these years was because of that locket. You’re younger than when I disappeared, though I don’t remember you vanishing when I was a child. You’re probably eighteen or so, so I would be around four years old at this time, correct?”

“That’s…that’s…” I swallowed my saliva.

“I know that it’s a lot to take in.”

“But that’s the thing, I was never pregnant!”

In the silence that followed, I bet that if I dropped a pin, I would be able to hear it from all corners of the room.

“So you’re saying that…” Ranzel looked distraught. “Are you sure?”

“I think I’d remember a teen pregnancy!” God, my parents would kill me if that ever happened. Besides, I never had sex so I was pretty sure that unless I was the virgin Mary, I wasn’t going to get pregnant any time soon.

“Is that so?” His shoulder seemed to slump, and for a moment, I felt pity for him. However, he quickly composed himself. “However, you are her. There’s no doubt.”

I scratched the back of my head, ignoring the fact that I was probably messing up my hair. “It looks like it. I mean, she is wearing the same clothing I have.”

“Then you are probably her from a parallel world where you never met my father.”

“Well, do you know his name?”

He shook his head. “I think I did once, but five hundred years is a long time.”

I nodded. It was a miracle he even remembered me—well, the other me. I guess my other self made quite the impression on him, besides the locket.

“Still, you are her, even though you are not exactly the same person.” Ranzel rose from his seat. “Perhaps this is for the best. This is a harsh world to live in. However, be at ease; I won’t allow any harm to come to you. We will continue this conversation tomorrow.”

“Wait,” I spoke just as he was about to leave, rising from my seat as well.

“Yes?” he asked questioningly, tiredly.

I wanted to ask if there was a way to go home, and if not, to ask him more about the Heroes System. Everything was like a surreal fantasy, but I definitely wanted to my place in all this. However, the moment I saw the drawn-out look on his face, I was given pause. In the end, I couldn’t summon the courage to speak about it. Instead, I smiled gently.

“Good night, Ranzel.”

“Good night, moth—Jennifer.”

“You can call me mother. I don’t mind.”

He smiled, though it was somewhat forced but not unnaturally so. “Good night, mother.”

Without saying a word more, Ranzel turned and left the room, leaving me to my thoughts.