"Y'know... Lady Elise seems really happy today..."
"She's practically beaming... What happened to her?"
Elise and I walked through the corridors of the academy, with her hand in mine and our fingers intertwined.
As embarrassing as it is... I couldn't exactly refuse her after... that...
"Hey, Y/N."
Ah, it's Blair... and Prince Leonas...
"Greetings, Miss Y/N."
The prince's gaze stayed on Elise and I's hands before he looked back at me.
"Did something good happen yesterday?"
Something good... I mean it did feel nice... Hold on! Begone impure thoughts!!
I turn to Elise, and she averts her gaze, slightly blushing.
Prince Leonas narrows his eyes for a moment before chuckling. Blair on the other hand, doesn't seem to understand...
"Something good happened?"
A few knowing glances were exchanged between the people who knew.
"Oh yeah, how is it going with B/N?"
I quickly change the topic. The prince perks up at the mention of my brother.
"You're familiar with B/N?"
I mean, he's my brother...
"Yeah.. I met him the other day."
"I see..."
The corner of his lips tilt upwards unknowingly. Is he really the same character? I can see an imaginary tail wagging behind him.
"Leo! I'm back!"
Is that B/N? He goes to this school too?
His gaze meets mine as he gives me a wink before dragging the prince away..
"I wonder what that was about..."
Blair murmurs.
"Never mind, let's just head to class first."
She turns to Elise and I.
"Are you two coming?"
"We'll join you later. We have something to do first."
Elise answers before I say anything. Did we have something to do?
She drags me along with her to a more secluded corner.
"N/N... Are you close with that guy B/N?"
Don't tell me... she's jealous of my own brother? Well, he isn't exactly my brother in this world...
"I wouldn't say that close..."
"Hmm..."
I still have to explain my real identity to her... I wonder if she's going to freak out if I tell her the truth..
"N/N... you love me, right?"
"I do."
"But we can't make it official in public... you're still 'engaged' with Prince Leonas..."
Elise furrows her brows.
"I don't care about that..."
"You have to care... it's your image..."
She buries her head into my neck. Jeez, when did she become so needy?
"N/N, just promise me you'll stay with me."
"I've already decided that the moment I fell in love with you."
I feel her slightly relax at my statement.
She steals a quick kiss before pulling back and smiling slightly.
"Let's get going then."
_____________________________________
She's too close to other people... how did she meet all of them even when I'm around her most of the time?
She's already told me she loved me... I shouldn't be too insecure...
But the people around her, they're all outstanding that it makes me blend with the background...
Am I really the closest to her?
If I have to share her... no, would I even want to share her? I only want her undivided attention...
I want her to stay with me.
_____________________________________
We head to class afterwards, and Elise remains stuck to me like glue.
"Y/N, Lady Elise, you two are finally here. We're supposed to get into groups of four today, we'll be exploring the dungeon again."
After that incident.. they still want us to go back there? Isn't it dangerous?
"This time, some teachers will be stationed at different points in the dungeon just in case."
I still feel a little uneasy...
The students formed their groups. Elise, Alisa, Blair and I were in a group while B/N and Prince Leonas made their own group along with two other students.
We entered the dungeon again, but all students were transported to the tenth floor. This time, it looked like the interior of a magnificent castle.
Although the lights flickered, and cobwebs formed on the walls of the room, it still retained its grand appearance.
The door in front of us was huge. As we walked closer to it, it opened on its own.
It was bright. We could only see a white light, and from my previous experiences, that isn't a good sign.
After the light faded, I opened my eyes.
"Batman?"
"I'm here, master."
That's good... I looked around. Only Batman and I were here... the rest were gone..
I got up and walked towards the only route there was, forward.
"User, you're here."
"You've finally arrived..."
"We've been waiting for you..."
Who...?
Two figures appeared in front of me. Batman got into a stance, cautious.
It was the two cats from before... they disappeared last time, and they've appeared before me now...
"User, we thank you for freeing us."
The white cat speaks up.
"What are you two...?"
The cats exchanged glances.
"We are the familiars of the first user."
The first user... Who is it?
"Our master... Amelie."
It gives me chills hearing that name again. The memories that flooded into my mind were coming back again.
Someone wanted to save the first user...
"What happened to Amelie?"
"Her soul... it's trapped..."
Trapped...?
"We'll tell you what happened from the start.."
The white one says.
"The story behind the festival of wishes..."
The black one continues.
"It's true."
Eh? Isn't it just a fairytale?
"The ending of the tale however... was different."
"Our master was the commoner of the tale. After being captured, she was killed immediately."
"At that moment, her soul was trapped. It couldn't get back into the original world, nor did it have a body to enter in this world. Till this day, it still remains deep in the dungeon."
So her soul... it still exists...
Then the memory that I witnessed back in that cave.. it belonged to... the princess.
"Wait! Then, the princess.. is she..?"
"She's dead."
Of course... it's been centuries... she died... but she couldn't meet the commoner in the end, because her soul was trapped here..
Then the two familiars that belonged to her couldn't leave the dungeon either because their master's soul was still trapped in here...
"Please.. release our master..."
"We wish for her to meet the princess again."
"For her soul to finally rest at ease."
The two cats pleaded for their master.
"Where can I find her soul?"
"Deep within the dungeon. Follow us."
They lead the way.