The next morning, waking up earlier than usual, I head to the living room.

"Good morning," Mom responds with a gentle smile.

"...Good morning," Dad, with bedhead, yawns as he emerges from the bedroom.

It's the usual scene.

Today's breakfast consists of French toast and sausages, salad with fruit, and orange juice.

"Eat up," Mom says happily.

"I love Mom's cooking!" I say, and Mom smiles, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mom's cooking is the best in the world!" Dad chimes in, somehow exaggerating.

After breakfast, although today marks the beginning of classes, it's not a typical school day since it's the first day.

I pack my bag with textbooks and such.

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On the desk lies a stack of blank copy paper.

"Huh?"

Flipping through the pages, they're all empty. Or so I think until I reach the last page, where something is written.

"Invite you"...

I don't understand what it says.

Below the incomprehensible words is a mark resembling a crest.

Though I had some English lessons in kindergarten, it was only the basics, so I don't understand a thing.

I show the copy paper to Dad in the living room. Initially puzzled by the blankness, he says, "What? 'Invite you'? That means, 'I invite you.' But what does it mean?"

Dad is good at English, but even he doesn't know the meaning!

Asking Dad doesn't help, and of course, Mom doesn't know either.

"But what about this mark...?"

I feel a strange urge to touch it.

With trembling hands, as I reach out, Dad shouts, "Oh, I remembered! Yume! Stop!"

But it's too late...

Light spills from the crest as it envelops Yume's body.

"That crest is the image of the kingdom's crest from the novel I wrote!"

Before Dad could intervene, the light disappears.

"Yume! Are you okay?" Dad shouts.

"...Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you really okay?" Mom checks.

"I'm really fine."

"Maybe you should skip school today..."

"I'll take a day off too..."

"I'm really okay!"

Looking at the copy paper, both the words and the crest vanish, leaving only a stack of blank copy paper.