Dave woke up, feeling that something was terribly off. He untangled an enormous blanket off himself and crawled out of what looked like an exceptionally opulent, four poster bed.

“Rise and shine, my young prince!” A round-faced woman dressed like a maid walked into the room.

“What? Who?” Dave sputtered. His mind felt like it was swimming in molasses. It took him a minute to recognize the woman. It was Telarossa, the maid Alaster killed thirty years ago!

“Best hurry, your father awaits!” The maid declared as Dave tried to reassert control of his now much shorter limbs.

“My father?” Dave sputtered. "What?"

“Lord Rim has no patience for layabouts!” Telarossa declared, pushing Dave into the bathroom.

As Dave looked into the mirror, he failed to recognize himself. His face was far too young, black hair framed his head. Dark, gray eyes stared back at him.

. . .

In about 20 minutes Dave stood in front of the desk of Lord Alaster Rim in an opulent office with the oil painting of Alaster he recognized from his dream-vision.

The world around him looked real and vibrant, felt physical. It had smells to it and was nothing like a mere simulation or his mental dreams in which he talked to the dead souls.

If he had to gander a guess, the Ward of Shandria could either create ridiculously complex simulations using the armada of dead souls it possessed or could somehow project him into parallel universes.

Perhaps, he had somehow ended up in an alternative Shandria in which Rimzadria Estate wasn’t a derelict. In which Telarossa never died. In which Lord Alaster Rim didn't go insane and was his father. In which he was now somehow inhabiting the body of a scrawny, teenage prince of the Rimzadria Estate.

“Argon! Straighten up,” Lord Alaster said, his voice stern.

Dave tried not to slouch. He blanched mentally. It was odd to think of himself as Argon Rim... the son of Lord Alaster Rim and maid Tellarosa.

“We have a ball tonight,” Alaster continued, his gaze piercing. "As the prince, you are expected to make a favorable impression on our esteemed guests. Remember, you represent the Rim name as the future inheritor of our noble legacy."

"I...I'll do my best, Father," Dave stammered. The office he was in now was far too big. Being a lot shorter was disconcerting, and had offset his center of gravity.

Lord Alaster studied Dave for a moment. "Remember, my son, you have the blood of Shandrian nobility running through your veins. You must show the world the strength and grace of a true Rim prince as we quest for a bride at the ball tonight!"

Dave nodded, feeling his palms sweaty with sudden nervousness. He wasn’t a big fan of crowds.

"A bride?" Dave asked.

"It is important to pick a worthy bride," Lord Alaster nodded, his expression serious. "One that will bring strength and prosperity to our family, and secure the future of the Rimzadria Estate."

The idea of choosing a bride at such a young age seemed ridiculous. Was this not supposed to be a trial of some sort? Dave expected to fight some monsters or something, not do whatever this was. Worst of all - his Phantomancy wasn't responding. He really felt like a kid here, completely powerless!

"But Father," Dave hesitated trying to get into the role of a young prince, "I barely know anything about being a Lord, let alone choosing a bride. What if I screw this up?"

Lord Alaster placed a hand on Dave's shoulder. "Argon, you must trust in your instincts and the guidance of your heart. There will be many worthy attendants at the ball. I'm certain that you can find one that will be worthy of you."

Dave nodded. Perhaps Cedez was here, at the ball. Maybe that was the trial?

. . .

Dave spent four hours at the ball, engaging in polite conversation with various posh, overdressed girls and their parents, at times completely forgetting that his name here was Argon. Despite his efforts and expectations, he didn't find Cedez among the attendees.

After a few hours, the chatter and faces around him started to blur together. He struggled to maintain interest, becoming more and more stressed out by the crowd.

It seemed that every girl he spoke to was more interested in his noble title and wealth than in getting to know him as a person.

As the day wore on, Dave's hopes began to wane. He had hoped to find the foxgirl and perhaps end this test quickly with her at his side, but she wasn't in attendance. When Dave asked the Valet he was told that there was no Cedez Astra on the attendance list and that there was no such noble last name.

Frustration mounted within him, as he longed for an escape from the charade of being a princeling.

In another hour, feeling stuffed from far too many caviar sandwiches, Dave could no longer bear the weight of the ball. Desperate for an escape, he rushed to the nearest bathroom and hastily removed his constricting gold-threaded suit. He pushed the window open wide, breaking the safety latch with a kick. He quickly climbed out of the bathroom window and climbed down the ivy-covered wall.

Landing into the bushes, he felt his heart pounding with exhilaration. If Cedez wasn’t at the ball, perhaps there was another place in Shandria where he could locate her.

Dave ran through cobblestone city streets, eventually finding his way towards the little cottage where he had first met Cedez and her family. The wind whipped through his black hair as he navigated the packed streets, ignoring curious and judging eyes of the onlookers.

Finally, he arrived at the quaint cottage nestled among a cluster of trees. He knocked on the door and waited, feeling his heartbeat accelerating.

The door swung open, and Cedez's mother, a kind-looking orange-furred foxkin Clothmancer, greeted him with a warm smile. She looked a lot younger and somewhat different in this world compared to the woman he met.

"Yes... my young prince Rim?" She asked, instantly recognizing his fancy clothes as she bent down to his level. "How may I be of assistance?"

Dave caught his breath for a moment, trying to find the right words. "My apologies for the intrusion, lady seamstress, but I've been looking for Cedez. Is she here?"

“Cedez?” The woman blinked with a confused expression.

Dave swore mentally.

Then his mind clicked.

He wasn’t Dave here. Maybe Cedez had a different name too, inhabited a different body. He clung to this hope with all of his will.

“Do you have a daughter… about my age?” He asked.

“You know my daughter, my prince?” The foxkin Clothmancer's smile turned into a look of extreme concern. “What has that rapscallion of mine done now?”

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Dave reassured her, shaking his head. "I just... I need to speak with her. It's… important."

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“How does the son of Lord Rim know of my daughter?” The woman asked.

"We've met before," Dave replied, rubbing the back of his head as his mind tried to arrive at a realistic lie. "She helped me when I was lost at a market, and now, I need to find and thank her. She, uh, introduced herself to me as Cedez… but that’s clearly not her real name."

The foxkin Clothmancer studied him for a moment before her worried expression softened. "My daughter does have a heart for those in need. She should be in the backyard, my young Lord. She's been practising her swordplay. Come right this way, through the gate.”

Dave followed the foxkin Clothmancer through the cottage and out to the backyard, where he saw Cedez, her orange fur glinting in the sunlight.

The much younger version of Cedez was practicing swordplay with a wooden stick.

Dave froze. Since when did Cedez have brilliant, orange fur like her mother? Was she not the Sovereign here?! Was this girl not his Cedez?

"Terri, you have a visitor," her mother called out, causing the foxkin teen to pause and turn. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Dave.

"You found me!” She uttered, dropping her pointy stick, her orange eyes flashing with sudden recognition.

“Yes,” Dave walked up to the foxgirl.

“I see that you’ve got reincarnated as a lordling,” she whispered in English when he arrived right next to her.

“Why, though?” Dave asked as Terri’s mother departed back into the house.

“The Engine of Crown Continuity is testing you,” she smiled, eyes twinkling. “Duh!”

Dave blinked. "But why? What does choosing a bride at a ball have to do with that? Is this reality or a simulation? Why don’t I have Phantomancy? Why is your fur a different color?”

"The trial is not about you finding a bride, but about making choices that reflect your true character. It's about finding someone who will support and stand by me, a test of who you are as a person. It seems that the Ward wants you to rely on your wit here rather than your magical prowess. It's a test of your true self, stripped of any magical crutches. As for whether this is reality or simulation, does it matter? We’re real enough aren’t we?”

The younger, smaller version of Cedez Dave knew stepped even closer to him, her orange-gold eyes striking his.

“Hrm,” Dave pursed his lips. “So, if I don’t have skills… Do you?”

“I don’t have magic either,” Cedez shook her head. “In this place I’m really just a simple foxgirl. As far as I know, I have no grand future here, no potential to lead Shandria. You, on the other hand, do.”

“Does this mean that…” Dave’s eyes went wide. “You aren’t bound by the Shadow?!”

Cedez nodded and Dave wrapped her in a tight embrace. The seconds ticked by with his heartbeat. One-two-three-four-five-six-seven. The previously impassable limit was gone.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her smile wide.

Dave closed his eyes, refusing to let go of the hug. Was this the test? If so, then it wasn’t so hard. The hug stretched on and on until the silence between them became awkward.

“So,” Dave asked. “When does this ‘test’ end?”

“How long did your previous vision last when you grabbed my hand?” Cedez replied.

"Until I died horribly," he said.

"Then that's when it'll end," she shrugged.

“And what if we don’t die?” Dave arched an eyebrow.

“Then we will live here, Lord Rim,” the orange foxgirl grinned.

“Seriously?” Dave stared at his companion. “What about Remy, Sherlock, Svenn? Are they just going to wait for us forever out there?”

“We’re on Arxtruria, Dave,” Cedez sighed. “This city will be obliterated by one God or another in due time, I’m certain. Don’t look so concerned, like I said before almost no time should pass in that world while we’re here. Let's make the best of it and get to know each other better, yeah?”

“Fine,” Dave sighed, accepting the situation. There was no convenient “Esc” button for him to press to leave this simulation.

The couple spent the rest of the day in the backyard, engaging in heartfelt conversations and getting to know each other better. They talked about their dreams, their pasts, and their hopes for the future of Shandria. The worries and pressures of the test seemed to fade away as they shared jokes and stories beneath the large oak trees in the garden.

As the sun began to set, casting a warm glow over the cottage, Cedez looked at Dave with a soft smile. "You know, Dave, I never expected to find someone like you. But I'm really glad that I did."

Dave returned her smile. "I'm glad I found you... and Remy, even though I wasn’t looking for either of you.”

“Who were you looking for?” She asked.

“My friend Lari,” Dave confessed. “She died on Earth and I was hoping to find her here, hoping that the fat God-Emperor reincarnated her.”

“You still might find her,” Cedez shrugged. “Like Sherlock guessed, Arx is a great wheel where all souls end up eventually. Uncounted billions awaken here after they perish elsewhere, this world constantly brings new souls from the void through the power of the summoners like the mad Dragon God-Emperor. You said that you heard a female voice when you died the first time on Earth?”

“Yeah,” Dave nodded.

“Then it was a female summoner who got you the first time around,” Cedez said.

“Think I’m going to meet my other self someday too?”

“You will meet yourself,” Cedez nodded. “And you will likely have to kill him.”

“Why?”

“Because he most likely turned into an absolute monster,” Cedez explained. “Joined one of the Gods as a lieutenant, helped vaporize nations, became an Archmage of death.”

“I really can’t imagine myself as someone like that,” Dave said looking up at the sparks of distant detonations already visible high in the darkening sky.

“Arx changes people,” Cedez shrugged. “Maybe he lost someone special and started murdering people left and right and didn’t stop. Maybe he got old and went insane or even became a dungeon. Rare skills have a cost and you didn’t pay for yours, he did.”

Dave frowned.

“Remember that the choices we make shape who we are. Just because there may be a version of you who has gone down a dark path, it doesn't mean that you will follow the same fate. You have the power to choose differently, to stay true to yourself… and to me,” Cedez leaned her head onto Dave’s shoulder. “Even here, in our little… forever.”

She suddenly reached out and kissed him.

Dave froze, but accepted the kiss. This wasn’t real life after all, this wasn’t even his body.

The wooden garden gate suddenly banged open and a Valet from the Rim Estate entered with armed guards following behind him. Lord Alaster Rim was there too, surrounded by his guards. His fiery glare struck Dave.

“There you are! We’ve been looking for you all over!” he barked.

Dave quickly broke away from the kiss, his face flushed red. He wasn’t sure of what to say. This entire world was fake, an illusion existing within the Ward of Shandria, but telling that to Lord Rim seemed like a bad idea.

Alaster's eyes narrowed, scanning the scene before him. "You've abandoned your duties at the ball to see this peasant girl?" he asked, his voice stern and accusatory. “You’re a prince of the house of Rim! You have a responsibility to your line!”

Dave took a deep breath before he spoke, "I may have a responsibility to our lineage or whatever, but I also have a responsibility to my feelings. I... uhh... refuse choose a bride simply based on status or wealth!" He concluded, feeling smug with himself for his somewhat acceptable acting.

"You truly believe that?" Lord Rim asked.

"Yes," Dave replied. "And if this test is about finding my true self, then I must choose what feels right to me."

Dave’s guess was that he wasn’t speaking to his pretend father, but to the Crown Engine.

“Besides, am I not Tellarosa’s son?” Dave asked, knowing from absorbing the Gravity dungeon of Rimzadria that Alaster loved his maid.

Alaster sputtered, his face turning red.

“You are the son of Baroness Kovalesh!” He declared. “She died during childbirth!”

“Am I really?” Dave arched an eyebrow, watching his father’s face turning deeper shades of red.

Lord Rim's expression darkened as he pointed a finger at Dave. "If you insist on choosing this girl, then I'll have no choice but to disown you. You will no longer be a prince of the house of Rim, as long as you’re here, with this commoner!”

“Whatever,” Dave shrugged. His hand found that of Cedez. If this was part of the Ward’s test, then he had to choose Cedez above all else to finish the game.

Lord Rim glared at the couple before turning away, his voice thick with disappointment. "Very well. You've made your choice. Enjoy the life of a pauper. You are my son no longer.”

Dave relaxed as he watched Lord Rim angrily storm away with his guards.

Cedez squeezed Dave's hand gently.

"So," she whispered. "You chose me over wealth and power.”

“You’re real, this offered power from a bullshit noble title isn’t,” he shrugged. "I've never earned it to begin with, why would I want it?"

“Your predecessor chose a lifetime of power over me,” Cedez whispered.

“Eh, I’d be perfectly happy living in this little cottage at the edge of town,” Dave waved his hand at the simple croft covered in trees.

He looked at the sun setting overhead, sinking into the darkness of Nihilim. The test wasn’t ending. It was dark, but no red pyramids lit up around town. Her Divine Shadow wasn’t protecting this version of Shandria! They were free to sit under the trees in the dark, nobody chased children away from the garden.

“Now what?” He asked.

“Now… we enjoy a happily ever after,” Cedez winked.

Dave wasn’t entirely satisfied with this answer, he wanted to return to Remicra and others in the Crown Tower, yet the test didn’t give him a choice in the matter.

“You’re welcome to stay with us, prince,” Cedez’s... no, Terri's mother emerged from the house. “I’m certain that your father will forgive you once he cools down.”

“Just call me… Dave,” Dave sighed.

“Dave?” The Clothmancer raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he affirmed. “I am no longer Prince Argon Rim, I'm... just Dave.”