Lizbeth & Truth [NOEL]

Before Noel had a chance to ask something, Princess continues on her own.

“You know what, Noel? Actually...”

Noel thought whether she was going to reveal something related to her certainly about a legend.

“Actually, the hero's event really happened in the past. This has not been disclosed to many but the hero appeared during our great-grandmother’s time period.”

Noel was a little surprised by this, The princess revealed something completely different than what she expected but even this was pretty shocking on its own.

“The great hero appeared in my great-grandmother’s era,” the Princess went on, her voice now tinged with something melancholic. "And… she was very close to him.”

Noel’s eyes widened slightly. "Close?"

The Princess nodded. "She assisted him when he arrived in this foreign land. From what we’ve been told… they shared something more than just an alliance."

A fleeting love.

A love that had been swallowed by the unrelenting tide of history.

“It is believed that they were romantically involved,” the Princess admitted, her voice quiet yet firm. "If fate had been kinder, he might have even been our ancestor. But…"

She trailed off, her blue eyes dimming.

“But he disappeared,” Noel finished the sentence for her.

The princess nods, “It’s said he really vanished one day and the love story was not completed, our great-grandmother was in grief but she had a kingdom to manage so she moved on but no one knows what in her heart was her entire life.”

Noel was hearing this silently. The princess suddenly changed the topic as she starts talking about the book of ancient civilizations,

“This book is considered nonsense by most. The main reason is that it doesn’t contain the process for these imaginative outputs like metal building and moving objects in the air. This was considered a hoax and no one really researched more about this. The name of the author was not mentioned because it was his wish to do so. Our great-grandmother loved this book.”

Noel with a sudden realization, “Wait a minute, it means…”

Princess, “Yes, the author of this book was the great hero himself. No one knows why he created this book, containing non-sensible things but I believe he wanted to leave something for our great-grandmother”

The pieces of the puzzle were finally solved Noel thought,

“The possible thing, I’m certain now. Great Hero appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into nothingness. Most Probably he was someone from Leon’s world. Someone who traversed this world due to some phenomena and helped humans amidst the war. He was probably returned to his original world and never returned to this world again.”

The reason he disappeared wasn’t because he ran away.

He had returned.

Returned to the world from which he came, leaving behind an unfinished story and a heart that had waited for him in vain.

If the great hero had come from another world…

If he had vanished after completing his role here…

Then… would she also one day disappear, too?

Would she return back, just as suddenly?

Would she wake up one day to find that another world along with Leon was gone…?

A strange tightness settled in her chest, unfamiliar yet undeniable.

Noel with heavy breathing, Realization.

Princess sees Noel’s condition, “Noel, are you alright?”

Noel, “Yes, princess. It’s just a little bit too much to comprehend”

Princess, “I know right? This was also the reason that I believe such a world exists somewhere. Haha”

Noel, “Princess. Do we not have any more information about Hero? Like name and stuff?”

Noel thought if she found out the actual name of the hero then she could learn about him in another world during her dream.

Princess, “Umm, Actually The name of the Hero was always kept secret. No one really knows about it. He was said to be a foreigner so he had an unusual name, therefore no one really remembered besides him being a great hero”

Noel thought, “Another missing puzzle, is it?”

Princess, “But…Actually, only a handful know about this and let’s just say I like you so I’m going to share it with you”

Noel, “No missing puzzle….”

Princess goes to one of the hidden shelves where even the authorized are not allowed, only the royals. She then picks out a certain old book.

“This book, you can even call this our family’s secret book. This book was written by our great-grandmother in memory of a great hero. Here, it is vague but the name of the hero is mentioned”

The title of the book was,

“Lizbeth and Natsume”

Princess, “The name of the great hero was really uncommon, it was something like Na..t..su..me..”

Noel with the thunderstrike of realization buttered out a name, “Natsume Maruyama”

Princess, “Yes that’s it. That’s the name of great hero but did you already know about it?”

Noel snapped back to reality, “Ah? No, it just appeared in my mind, haha”

The conversation then went on casually, Noel maintained her demeanor but thoughts in her mind were something else.

The night had fallen. They had dinner and went to their respective chambers.

Noel finally revealed her thoughts, “Natsume Maruyama? Is that really it? Is this really happening? I know that’s the name of the game developer of the game Leon and I play in the game center. But is it really him? Is this the same person? But the time doesn’t match. Is the time flow different in both worlds? Or did he traverse our world’s past and change the course of history then return to his own in his own time period? Actually, this makes a lot more sense. The world of that game is eerily similar to that of ours. Now, I don’t think it's just a coincidence. I have to find out the truth”

Noel sleeps.