Bonus Chapter: Introductions

While waiting for someone to enter the room, me and the princess pass the time by talking. She opened up a lot about herself and so did I.

She told me stories about the early days of Glimmerholm and Eldergrove as a whole.

Apparently, back then, there weren’t much of the other races wandering the central lands. It was peaceful for the most part.

She mentioned how she and Princess Thalia were very close. They played a lot together in the forest when they were young.

At some point, she was involved in a Royal Intermarriage where she was supposed to marry into another elven kingdom’s prince but apparently, he did not find her attractive to become his wife ultimately breaking any possible alliances between the two kingdoms.

I say that the elven prince is stupid. Princess Rhiannon is definitely a charming person. He definitely missed out.

I told her that he was wrong to think that and she’s definitely a desirable person but she assured me that she was already over it. Apparently, it happened exactly 1050 years ago.

Her mentioning that made me more curious. Just how old is she?

I asked and she normally answered. She’s 1575 years old. Usually, women don’t like to be asked about their age but I guess being an immortal being makes one indifferent to it.

She also talked about Elzara and how he didn’t used to act like how he does now. Supposedly, at some point, he just randomly became eerie leading her to believe that he’s being controlled by someone.

It was hard for me to believe. I couldn’t really comfort her about him so I kept quiet the whole time she talked about him.

She noticed and quickly changed the topic.

This time, she asks me about my life.

At first, I was hesitant to tell her about myself considering that I’m from another world. As I ponder about it, I thought that it would only be fair to tell some of my stories while also being truthful to her. I did tell her to be herself when she’s with me—I’d do well to follow my own advice.

“Princess? Before I say anything, I want you to know that I’m very serious about this, ok?”

“Why are you being so weird about it? You can tell me.” She said merrily.

I told her my secret. About how I’m from another world and that I got transported here randomly as I was running away from the police. I even told her about the dreams I had, about the voice and the fox, and how I even saw her in my first dream as well.

As I told her more and more of my story, I notice her face shifted from a happy one to a more disappointed look.

At some point, she stops me from speaking. It seems she’s heard enough.

With a depressed look on her face, she speaks to me.

“You’re not being fair. You tell me to be honest with you and yet you don’t do the same for me.”

My heart sank. I knew this could happen if I were to ever tell this story. All I could do now is go all out and convince her that it’s the truth.

“Princess, I promise you that I’m telling the truth! I really did come from another world. Before we met, I was running away from law enforcers and I ended up getting hit by a fast-moving vehicle which led me to get transported to this world. You have to believe me, princess.”

I begged and begged, trying my hardest to convince her, but she gives me a puzzled look, like she’s unsure whether to trust my words.

“What did Lord Arin have to say about this?”

“I… I never told him…”

“Why is that?”

“I just never did.”

Silence fills the room. I was unsure how she’d treat me after this. Everything was going great for us too.

She moves closer to me—our shoulders touching. She rests her head on my shoulder.

“I’ll believe you, Naoki.”

“Thank you, princess.”

Silence fills the air once more, only this time, the weight of anxiety is gone in our hearts.

I decided to break the silence by telling Princess Rhiannon about myself.

When I was a kid, back when I was around 12 years old, I used to spend a lot of time in the nearby forest of my hometown. There wasn’t a lot of things to do and the nearest places for fun is located in another city.

During the summer, while school was out, I spent the day catching bugs in the forest. Everything was going fine as usual until I heard screaming deep in the forest.

It wasn’t the kind of fun and screwing around type of screaming. It was a blood-curdling scream that made my entire body shudder.

I wanted to report it to the police but I ended up just following the screaming’s origin. I knew the forest well enough that I wouldn’t get lost even if I tried.

About 5 minutes of creeping towards the screaming, I finally saw what was doing all this noise.

A girl, who’s obviously lost, is on her knees crying her heart out. Her clothes seemed ragged and dirty, probably from all the dirt in the forest.

I went near her and the moment she made eye contact with me, she started screaming even louder.

I couldn’t get closer to her because whenever I did, she would back up and scream. I tried leaving her and she did the same thing.

In the end, I ended up spending about an hour just sitting in front of her, waiting for her to calm down.

The moment she did, I asked her what had happened. Supposedly, the local kids played a prank on her and left her lost in the middle of this forest.

She tried to find her own way out but she scraped her knee in doing so. She’s been yelling for help ever since.

We introduced ourselves to each other. Her name was Emily.

We spent a lot of time together after that. Apparently, her family is visiting their relatives in this part of the countryside.

I took her to the nearby beach and showed her around town. I couldn’t take her back to the forest to play—it seems she has grew afraid of it.

She also took me to play her own toys, like dolls and stuff. It wasn’t my cup of tea but I played along. I liked seeing her happy.

Eventually, the time came for them to leave. It was hard seeing her cry again that it made me cry as well.

We ended up making a promise of meeting each other again.

During school, I studied hard so that I could make our promise come true.

The next summer vacation came but she didn’t return to my hometown. I guess they’re not visiting relatives this time.

I took it upon myself to go look for her. At 18 years old, I travelled to Tokyo to find her while also attending university there.

In a stroke of luck, I met her again there. She remembered me as well, although, our reunion was filled of saying sorry to each other.

Still, I was glad to have found her. We became lovers soon, though not for long. It seems love is complicated.

I’ve thought for a good amount of time if it was my fault. I never got my answer.

…

“That’s… I’m sorry to hear that, Naoki. Do you… still have feelings for her?”

“I don’t think so. I neither feel love nor hatred when I think of her. I just… Was I the problem?”

“No! You’re a charming person, Naoki. She definitely missed out.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t expect her to bring back what I said to her.

“Naoki? I’m glad to have gotten to know more about you.”

“Me too, princess.”

Her face scowls as I answered.

“It made me realize that I never apologized to you about all the terrible things I’ve done to you.”

Princess Rhiannon started tearing up. I put both my hands on her shoulders, grabbing her attention.

“It’s okay, princess. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“No, Naoki! It’s not okay. I don’t… I don’t want you to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, princess.”

She keeps on sobbing.

“I don’t hate you.”

“I don’t want to be like that girl in your past.”

“Don’t worry, princess. You are nowhere near her.” I pat Princess Rhiannon on the head.

She sobbed some more, until she stopped eventually.

“Naoki?”

“Yes, princess?”

“Can you call me Rhia? Even if it’s just whenever we’re alone.”

?!

Does this mean that she considers me a close confidant?

“Rhia.”

She smiles genuinely and rests her head on my shoulder once more.

Despite our current circumstance, we felt peace. We enjoyed each other’s company, free from the problems of the outside world.

We both knew it would soon come to an end but even so, we smiled.

.

.

.

Soon after, the metal door to our fun little world opened.