ã€ŠA Magical Life: Ink Swanã€‹


 Dust in the Library: 01

    On a cloudless day, the wind lifted a few strands of light-brown hair framing clear blue eyes. With a hand and a wondrous expression, Lisa reached out and caught a pink petal floating around in the wind. Without pause, she put the soft petal on her lips. It tasted sweet.

    ¡°Lisa! Hey~!¡±

    The petal began to float again after Lisa opened her lips while turning her head. A small smile graced her face while she looked over at the duo waving at her from within a passageway. The most energetic, Marie, jumped up and down trying to get her attention. Her long blond hair danced in rhythm with her little skit.

    Walking over, Lisa reached the passageway connecting the two main lecture buildings quickly.

    ¡°There, there Lil'' bunny.¡± Lisa stroked the bouncy girl''s head to calm her enthusiasm. Being quite short, she really easy to pet. Lisa lost herself in the satisfied expression of Marie and continued to rub her small head without much thought. At least till a cough, a minute later, brought her back.

    ¡°We''re going to class, you want to come with us?¡± Eric said, his hopeful black eyes were almost hidden behind his semi-long black hair. He was one the taller side and currently carrying two bags, with one of them being brightly colored in rosa and decorated with various accessories. Evidently, it didn''t belong to him. Lisa chuckled at the sight, as Marie had likely forced him to carry that, as she would often do.

    ¡°Sure,¡± said Lisa while stopping her spoiling of Marie, ¡°I was only waiting for the break to end anyway.¡±

    The trio turned and started walking through the passageway into the school building. Marie promptly occupied one of Lisa''s arms and began to talk with her usual vitality.

    ¡°Lisa~, Tomorrow we want to make a small picnic in the second break. You come with us right?¡± Marie''s blue eyes shone as she shook Lisa''s arm.

    ¡°Can''t.¡± However, Lisa shook her head as she curbed Marie''s pleading and said, ¡°I already promised Sarah and Diana to have a meal with them. Next time, oke?¡±

    Although unwilling, Marie conceded and started to chitchat. While walking through the corridor a gentle breeze passed the chatting trio. On the sun-filled day, it was met with an appreciative sigh from the students.

    The three of them walked up the stairs and met a few students running past them with laughter. A male teacher quickly followed. He, however, wasn''t as pleased as evident by his shouting for them to stop.

    Lisa and Marie giggled at the sight while Eric shook his head and mumbled, ¡°What did they do yet again¡­¡±

    On the second floor, groups of students livened up the scene. A few talking with a teacher, some others having fun with their phones and of course a couple or two enjoying each other''s company.

    Stopping before a classroom, Marie let go of Lisa''s arm and went before her with a pleading expression.

    ¡°On Saturday we''re going to go shopping, you''ll come with us right?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Lisa chuckled and said, ¡°If nothing comes in between, why not.¡±

    ¡°Yaay~¡± Marie happily skipped into her class while humming after saying her goodbyes.

    ¡°I''ll come with you to your class. Have something to talk with Finn.¡± As Lisa was about to turn and walk towards her own class, Eric stopped her. He had at some point rushed into his and Marie''s class to put the bags away.

    ¡°Sure,¡± was the terse reply from Lisa.

    A step ahead of Eric, Lisa strolled towards her classroom. Her own classroom was almost on the other side of the building and on the third floor. Although it was inconvenient to use a detour like this, she always liked to walk through the school halls so she didn''t mind. The lively atmosphere of it never failed to make it enjoyable to observe. Just like now, as a group of boys were carrying balloons filled with water around. She didn''t know what they were up to, but her imagination had fun with the pranks they could pull.

    ¡°Ehm... Eh, Lisa...¡± While Lisa was focused on the boys that passed them, Eric tried to speak up and brought her attention back. Glancing at him, Lisa hummed in acknowledgement. She could guess what he wanted to talk about, but still just smiled her usual reserved smile and strolled on.

    The two of them already climbed the stairs to the third floor when Eric mustered up his wits and asked as he always did every year.

    ¡°Are you going to the Festa in the summer break, Lisa?¡±

    ¡°Don''t think so,¡± without stopping in her steps, Lisa answered a few moments late, ¡°I don''t plan on going this year either, at least.¡±

    Eric only sighed in defeat. It would be fruitless to try to convince her to go, so he didn''t say anything else. However, he couldn''t help but let some of his frustration out.

    ¡°You really make it hard¡­¡± Lisa only hummed with amusement in response.

    The classroom, filled with about half of the students, was lit by a lively atmosphere. As soon as Lisa entered, the big eyes of an almost crying girl captured her attention. The girl was staring at her intensely with pleading eyes, and after letting out a light laugh Lisa nodded to her. The girl smiled big and quickly took Lisa''s bag, as they sat next to each other, and fished a notebook out. As usual, she began to copy today''s maths homework.

    Used to it, Lisa sat down on her seat beside the girl. She let her vision roam while resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. As one of her favorite past times, Lisa loved to observe others. On a nice and clear like today, feeling the refreshing wind while watching the lively faces of her fellow students, Lisa felt satisfied. It wasn''t perfect and certainly not as exciting as she would have liked but at least it was not the worst option.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Minutes passed and in her relaxation, Lisa felt the heaviness of her eyelids. Not fighting it, she soon felt the world before her going black.

    ---

    Rays of Sunlight filtered through the clear glass and shone onto a bed. On it, a girl was turning slowly around, refusing to wake up. However, the morning wasn''t so kind and soon she sat up as she was unable to fall asleep again.

    After brushing a few strands of hair aside, Lisa rubbed her tired eyes. Once done, she took a cursory glance throughout the room and tilted her head in confusion.

    The unfamiliar room had an old closet covering the wall to her right. A large desk with dusty books atop it stood to her left. A few meters opposite to her was a closed wooden door. Moving around a bit, Lisa felt the fluffy bed underneath her. Covered in a soft-blue bedsheet and with quite a few pillows, it was exceedingly comfortable. She almost wanted to lay down and go back to sleeping but resisted that urge for now.

    Overall, Lisa could only say this old room, with dust flying through the air, was certainly not hers.

    As Lisa moved to stand up, a few strands of blonde hair came into her vision. Taking a handful of hair into her hand, she rose an eyebrow. The last time she checked, she was pretty sure she had light-brown hair. Now, with the foreign room and hair, Lisa was officially confused as to what is going on. Especially, since she remembered being in her classroom before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

    All of a sudden, her nose twitched and her attention was drawn elsewhere as the scent of freshly baked food entered the room. Amidst the scent of food, she also could smell something else. Something she couldn''t quite put the finger on what it was, but began to crave it nonetheless.

    ¡°ugh¡­¡± Lisa groaned and bend over while clutching her stomach. As if her body only now just realized it, a deep feeling of hunger spread through her body. She craved for whatever created that scent. Barely having gotten awake and suddenly attacked by hunger, Lisa didn''t think long.

    Standing up, she made her way to the door on shaky steps. Shelves filled to the brim with books were the first thing she saw after she opened the door. Then tables standing with their long side to her were the next. After that, her eyes zeroed in on a plate filled with buns resting on one of the tables. Driven by hunger, Lisa walked wobbly to the table.

    The fuzzy warm feeling of a freshly baked bun spread on her palm as she took one off the plate. Driven by hunger Lisa took a light bite without thought. The taste of bread and raspberry-jam filled her mouth as she did. Closing her eyes in delight, Lisa swallowed. Soon a feeling of unnatural fullness spread through her body, while weird energy began to flow through her body and gather at her chest. Lisa tilted her head in confusion but didn''t question it, as it seemed to be safe and she was desperately hungry.

    Anyway, as long as her hunger is sated, she is fine with it. While taking another bite and feeling the fullness spread again, revitalizing her, Lisa took a look around.

    A long, wide corridor filled with bookshelves and desks in the middle was before her. Comfy leather chairs and unlit lamp sat by the wooden tables. With the occasional stray book laying beside them. The floor was made out of a dusky brown carpet.

    On the long wall to her right, she could see the room she came out of. A bit further down the wall, she could also see a few other doors with bookshelves in between them.

    Two hallways leading to the unknown were spread out on the left wall. Spiraling staircases were right next to the hallways. They gave access to the open second floor. The roof made mostly of glass panels let in enough sunlight to see despite the lack of lit lamps, and through the rays of light, she also could clearly see dust floating around. As with the room she woke up in, everything in here was covered in a fine layer of dust, displaying the abandonment of the building.

    Strangely, however, the table where she found the food was spotlessly clean.

    Not bothered too much by it, Lisa turned around while taking another bun to eat in hand. A wide wall consisting mostly of glass was now some paces before her. Through the glass, she could see a terrace and a red and white city.

    As far as she could see, white walls and red roofs filled the scenery. Buildings reminding her of the old Victorian style were sprawled across the horizon. Yet, the city was by no means even, as it went higher and higher to her right side, like a gigantic staircase. Every step of it was filled to the brim with the red and white buildings. An exception to this, however, were small rivers flowing through the city, as they split it into several pieces, like a badly cut cake. They created scenic waterfalls by flowing down the city-layers and its walls. They amassed into a glistering lake at the ground layer to her left.

    As the biggest layer, it also held something else eye-catching; an enormous, white palace standing at the edge of the city with an ocean behind it. Lisa could only guess the size of it as it seemed to dwarf everything around.

    Finishing the bun in her hand, Lisa''s eyes twinkled with an idea. After she carried the plate in hand, Lisa walked to the wall and opened the door in the middle of it. Now, standing on the white terrace, she took a deep breath of fresh air with a sigh. A quick glance later, she sat down on a white metallic chair near a table. Of course, she began to take small bites of the buns again.

    While eating, Lisa enjoyed the sight of the sprawled out red-white city. Although she preferred sitting in a caf¨¦ near a busy walkway and observing all the people living their own stories, a beautiful sight like this is not one she would decline. With her trademark small smile, she lost herself in relaxation and munched on the buns. The warm air on her skin along with tasty food made for a wonderful passing of time.

    When the sun, that was much redder in complexion and had one additional small sun following, rose to its highest, and her plate was almost empty, the door behind her made a noise. Pulled out of her daydreaming, Lisa glanced at the woman stepping onto the terrace. Her smile couldn''t help but sink.

    Lustrous blond hair pulled to a bun and glowing blue eyes devoid of any imperfections. A black ball gown covered almost her entire body, apart from translucent black lace around her neck area and hands. Tall in stature and with graceful steps she walked up to Lisa''s table while her dress flowed in motion. An amused expression on her face, as she sat down with an obvious smirk.

    Lisa, however, could only stare at her with the look of a parent looking at their problem child in helplessness. This, as it always did, only served to fuel the woman''s pleasure.

    ¡°So it really was your doing, Era,¡± Lisa broke the silence and said with a sigh.

    ¡°That would not be entirely correct,¡± with a chuckle and a melodious voice, Era said while propping her chin up with a hand. ¡°This time I only lend a tiny bit of assistance. For it would have ended in failure without. Although, even I wasn''t certain of the success knowing the particulars of your world and the uncertainty of souls.¡±

    A distrusting gaze was all she got from Lisa in response. Lisa didn''t believe that Era was only a ¡®tiny bit¡¯ involved in this as it would be quite hard for anyone but Era to mess with her world. She didn''t linger on it, however, as it would be useless to argue with that mean-spirited girl.

    ¡°Fine. If you say so.¡± Lisa said. Eating these buns was much more enjoyable than bothering with Era''s antics.

    ¡°haha,¡± Era let out a laugh as she saw Lisa ignore her to eat. Used to such treatment from her, Era let Lisa eat in peace and sat in silence with a smirk.

 Dust in the Library: 02

    Even the glaring suns high in the sky didn''t reach this small alley. Doused in shadows, like a blanket, the individuals conversing within the alley were hidden away from the rest of the city.

    Standing at the center of the black-clad group was a man in his early thirties. Unlike the others, he wore a bright outfit, with a pastel blue dress shirt and bright pink trousers with leather suspenders. Over his shirt, he wore a white vest. Furthermore, every single piece of clothing had the same rose pattern on them. Not a single corner was spared.

    Evin ignored the schadenfreude of his colleagues over his attire and twirled the object in his hand. An oversized needle, dark bronze in color, was slowly rotating between his fingers. It was about a meter in length and just two centimeters wide at its base.

    The shadows coating the alley seemed to bend with the rotating needle and sometimes even reached out as if to devour the needle. If it weren''t for his grip on the needle and his ridiculous attire, Evin wasn''t so sure he could keep this thing here.

    A while later, the conversation of his colleagues stopped and he stopped playing around with the oversized needle. He smirked and said, ¡°Time to punish a careless puppy.¡±

    The shadows vanished with a swipe of the needle and along with them, his companions also disappeared. Glancing up at the small second sun, Evin couldn''t help but laugh.

    ----

    The midday air slowly blew away the fog rising from the cup filled with hot chocolate. Lisa took a spoon in hand and twirled the drink. She glanced at the seat where Era previously sat and let out a sigh.

    She will be able to admonish the original owner of this body later at night, but regarding Era, she could only sigh with a bit helplessness. Especially, because it seems she is going to stay permanently in this body as Era wasn''t so sure they would succeed a second time. If Era told the truth is another matter but all she really could do is accept it and go along with it. Maybe, this wasn''t even so bad as she could now experience a plethora of new stories and find new spots to lose herself in.

    Taking a sip of the hot chocolate, Lisa calmed down and restored her usual smile. At least she can keep her name. Her name means a lot to her.

    Another sip of hot chocolate and Lisa shifted her attention to an exquisite silver ring, engraved with strange patterns, sitting on her left pinkie. Era had given it to her as it belonged to the original owner of this body. They had taken it off before the experiment so it wouldn''t interfere. If she had to describe the ring in a short-expression it would be ¡®a multi-purpose tool¡¯.

    It served as a storage ring, a key to this library, a catalyst, a defense, and other functions Era kept quiet about. She should find those out herself, Era had told her.

    With a curious expression, Lisa put her left hand atop a small bag sitting on the table. Era had also given this to her as an ¡®allowance¡¯. Inside were coins made out of a material she didn''t know. How much there was, she didn''t know, but she shouldn''t have to worry about money for the foreseeable future according to Era.

    Her hand on the bag, Lisa imagined it disappearing and reappearing in a wide, empty space. Some tens of seconds later, the coin bag started to dissolve in a myriad of particles. While leaven colorful trails behind them, the particles floated into the silver ring and disappeared.

    Out of curiosity, Lisa imagined the reverse. It took her a few tens of seconds before the glowing particles reappeared from the silver ring. They floated under the spot where her hand was and began to grow. Moments later the bag filled with coins was before her again. Fascinated, she began to repeat the process over and over again with a  smile. The spoon and cup of hot chocolate weren''t excluded from becoming her experimental subjects.

    By the time her curiosity was fulfilled, the hot chocolate wasn''t so hot anymore and she was able to shorten the time it takes to store an object or take it out. When she gets more used to it, she should be able to use the storage function instantly, she thinks so at least.

    Satisfied, Lisa drank from the cold chocolate while leaning back in her chair. Her vision roamed the city scenery while she relaxed. The shimmering lake at the center of the ground reflected the high sun with its little sibling following. Such sight really showed her the magical difference in this world from her old one.

    Thinking of magic, Lisa zoned in on a tower standing near the lake. It stood out from its surroundings by being significantly taller. Other than its height, there didn''t seem to be anything special about it as it was pristine white-colored like most other structures in this city. To Lisa though, the tower would be her destination for learning, according to Era.

    She couldn''t help but widen her smile in anticipation.

    Lisa finished the rest chocolate drink leisurely before standing up to walk back into the library. After taking the cup into the kitchen further down the hallway, Lisa went back into the room she woke up in. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The room unlike before was now clean to the tops. She had asked Era earlier to clean the buildings of all its dust as a favor. She hadn''t expected much but Era actually complied, and in barely a second the Library was as clean as it could be.

    Walking in her new bedroom towards the wall closet, Lisa lightly opened the two largest doors in the middle. Some ten-odd outfits hung readily available within. Two of them were fairly complicated dresses, suited for formal occasions, the rest were more casual in nature. Lisa, alas, didn''t look too deeply and rather looked into the full-body mirror embedded into the left door.

    The girl reflected within reached out to feel the silky, pale blonde hair going down to barley below her shoulders. Next to her face, which was a bit rounder than her old, then to her eyes.

    If Lisa had to describe the blue of her eyes it would ¡®mellow¡¯. The soft yet intense blue shimmered with the warmth of a last embrace. The embrace of a long lost presence coming back to reassure you. As she hugged you, she leaned into your ear and whispered with that usual smile in her voice.

    Lisa abruptly shook her head with a sigh to dispel those thoughts and feelings. Looking back into the mirror, she pulled on her clothing. A loose grey shirt and shorts were her current outfit. The weather was refreshingly warm so, despite her loose clothing, she didn''t feel too cold. Rather, she enjoyed the breeze grazing her exposed skin every now and then.

    Wriggling her toes a bit, she smiled wryly as she hadn''t realized till now she wasn''t wearing any shoes or socks. Thankfully, there wasn''t anything sharp on the ground.

    After she took off her clothing, Lisa began to contemplate on what outfit to choose. Aside from the gowns, the rest of the clothes didn''t differ much apart from color and details here and there. Most outfits were empire-waist umbrella skirts ending just above her knees along with a sleeveless blouse. Not wanting to fret too much about it now, Lisa picked a grey skirt with a white blouse as well as some black thigh-high socks from one of the drawers.

    Done dressing and putting some brown boots on, Lisa made her way out of the bedroom and down the wide corridor. She ignored the rest of the building for now, for the sake of magic. Anyway, there would be enough time to explore the two hallways and the door in between them later.

    The double door leading outside opened and Lisa came to face with a small, adorable street. With only a few passersby going on with their life it was relatively quiet. Although, she could hear the bustle of a city not too far off to her right. Closing the doors behind her, Lisa saw her silver ring shimmer for a second before dimming. Era had told her about this. The ring would also function as a key to this house, so no one but her can access it. How it worked was beyond the current her.

    Walking a few steps on the street she turned to look at her new home. The building, also white and red in color, seemed to be the same size as its interior would suggest. Lisa was a bit disappointed as she hoped it would be one of those famous space-bending buildings.

    With a shrug and a small smile, Lisa began to walk towards the city noise she could hear. She wasn''t sure how she should get to the tower, as big cities can be more difficult to navigate than labyrinths, but she is just going to follow the bustle for now. Finding a busy place shouldn''t be a bad place to start. Maybe there even is a map posted there or she could ask someone for directions.

    The paved street was in a surprisingly decent state. She couldn''t see any real wear down coming from any sort of carriage. Although, this street is probably just too small to allow a carriage pass through.

    It made her a bit wonder what this world''s technology level is. From what she has seen so far from it, she has absolutely no clue what it is. She also can''t pull up any references as she is completely and utterly inept at history! Art was always more up her sleeves. Anyway, the existence of magic and such should direct the development of technology in a bit different way than that of her old world.

    As Lisa walked down the small street, a few passersby greeted her with a smile and a nod. She returned the greeting with a small smile but didn''t linger.

    The bustle of activity coming nearer, Lisa passed a few other small streets before she reached a large street. The boulevard, as she better call it, stretched on to her left and right and was filled with a myriad of people. They strolled through the boulevard to relax and shop in the countless stores lining the street. Bakeries, boutiques, cafes and other various stores could all be found on a single glance here. There even were shops of nature she couldn''t quite understand.

    It was certainly a busy day as the citizens of this city went on with their shopping, outings and dates. There were also market stalls, that were set up near the lush trees lining the boulevard on both sides in an orderly manner, adding further to the bustle. They sold the products of their corresponding shops in a much more accessible way. Or even ¡®limited timed¡¯ products. Lisa resisted the urge to go on a shopping trip of her own in this new world. She''ll have time later for this, so for now, she just ignored all the unknown and interesting stuff.

    With a small smile, Lisa turned left and strolled towards a wide plaza she could see not too far off. Of course, she passed a multitude of stores and people while she walked. As she did, a few stores ahead of her, a girl nearly a head shorter than her left a store with an ice cream cone in hand. Her long reddish-brown hair went down the back of her short white-black dress.

    After savoring the taste of the chocolate ice cream, the girl turned in Lisa''s direction and began to walk. When she lifted her head to see properly, Lisa came to face with two wide honey-colored eyes. The, to Lisa, sugar-coated eyes widened as both of them met eyes.

    Lisa smiled at her with warmth and a tilt of her head. The girl, however, almost dropped her ice cream while she stared into Lisa''s blue. With an abrupt turn and a blush on her cheeks, the girl walked across the street while only glancing once back with dazed eyes.

    Not minding the scene, Lisa chuckled with a hand before her mouth. Whose presence did she feel while looking into her eyes? It made her a bit curious. A shame she ran away, she was really cute.

    Passing the ice cream shop named Mevila''s Refresh, Lisa came to a still again. The suns are still going strong and she still has a long journey before she will reach the tower. In this heat going without something to cool her body down would not be very wise.

    A few minutes later, Lisa left the shop with a familiar chocolate ice cream in hand. After tasting it, Lisa could only say that while it''s certainly sweet, those honey eyes were much sweeter.

 Dust in the Library: 03

    The fountain continuously spewed crystal-clear water out of its top, creating a tiny rainbow in its way. Lisa stared at the scene with eyes twinkling like the water droplets in the air. She nibbled on the rest of her ice cream cone while sitting on the edge of the water fountain.

    After the rainbow faded, Lisa let her eyes roam the plaza she was in. Filled with various cafes and other stores of great variety, it made for a great hotspot of activity, as all kinds of people strolled through here. She fell in love with this place as soon as she arrived here. Not to mention the beautifully engraved fountain depicting knights triumphing over evil, the myriad of people coming and going were enough to entertain her for hours upon hours.

    For example, a duo of knights, dressed in pure white light armor, helping out a little lost child. It was adorable to watch them try to pacify the crying kid. That black-haired knight seemed to have an exceptionally hard time, unlike his colleague. There also was a very tall couple, with their height well exceeding two meters, trying to enter a shop with an unsuitable entrance. Eventually, the owner came out apologizing on repeat before they bought the items they wanted from outside the store. Lisa felt a bit bad for chuckling at the sight.

    Or there also was that sweet and cute girl with those lovely honey eyes roaming around, munching on her ice. Lisa couldn''t help but follow the girl with her eyes before their gazes met. While Lisa smiled sweetly, different from her usual small one, the girl stood dazed for a second. Then, becoming red in the next second again, she turned and walked into one of the stores.

    Leah only chuckled but didn''t further bother with it. Finished with her own ice, she stood up. She is coming back later this evening to sit in one of these cafes but for now, there is something to do.

    The officer knight, Cale, wiped some sweat off his forehead and sighed. He really wasn''t good with children unlike his partner Yan. Fortunately, the parents finally showed up to get their lost child. Of course, they couldn''t just let them go like that as Yan was currently admonishing them. As Cale was about to stop his partner''s rant, so they can continue their patrol, a mellifluous voice called out to him.

    ¡°Ehm, mister knight, I am sorry to interrupt but could I occupy a minute of yours.¡±

    Cale turned and came face to with a gentle star shining on a clear night. Unlike her highness who was like a glaring sun almost blinding, the girl before him was like a single star sitting beside the moon. It might be overshadowed by the brilliance of the moon but never forgotten. Especially those blue eyes invoking a feeling he couldn''t understand but was lost within nonetheless. With a cough, Cale regained his composure befitting a knight quite fast.

    ¡°Of course, Miss. What is the matter?¡± Cale said with a serious face.

    ¡°I need some directions,¡± Lisa said with a small smile, ¡°How do I get to Ibrahim''s Tower? I only recently moved here, so I don''t know most of this city.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the old mage''s tower,¡± Cale put a hand on his chin and contemplated. A few seconds later, he answered while pointing at one of the four streets, ¡°If you walk down there for about five minutes you come upon a train station. Then take the line 2 train there to the Jewel Boulevard Station. You can reach the tower within ten to twenty minutes of walking from there. Simply walk in direction of the tower from there, Miss.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Lisa said with a small bow of her head after she memorized his instructions, ¡°Thank you for your trouble, Mister Knight.¡±

    ¡°No need to, miss. This is the responsibility of us Sacred Knights, it is important to help civilians,¡± Cale put a fist under a sun-like emblem engraved on his left chest-plate as he said heroically, ¡°And you can call me Cale. If there is ever any need for help in the future you can come to me or my colleagues. We are always patrolling through these streets, after all.¡±

    ¡°Then don''t mind me bothering you if there is something, Mister Knight,¡± Lisa responded with a small smile while Cale''s lips twitched just the smallest amount.

    ¡°Come on, lecher, hurry up we''ve got a case,¡± a voice all of the sudden called out to Cale from behind. The other knight had finished talking with the family and was now walking up to them while keeping a hand on his ear. With a mix of impatience and annoyance, he said, ¡°There''s someone important gone, so we gotta go and meet up with the others. Seems to be a pretty big deal.¡±

    ¡°If- argh!¡± Cale was about to speak to Lisa again when his colleague pulled at his collar. ¡°No time for your romances,¡± the knight said while dragging Cale away. While walking he turned to Lisa briefly and said, ¡°You can find this idiot for the next few days here in the area, if you want missy.¡±

    ¡°Hey- wai...argh!¡±

    ¡°Quiet.¡± The knight didn''t bother with Cale''s protest and dragged him along. Cale could only stare wrily at Lisa, who was waving goodbye with amusement.

    Once they disappeared along a street, Lisa also went off into the direction Cale had mentioned. Walking down the busy street while not thinking of anything particular, she reached the train station quite fast.

    The station itself was just a small platform with a few metal benches placed on them. After looking at the timetable hung on a wooden board, she sat down on one of the benches not occupied by a couple. It seems not even in an alternate world, she could escape the boring wait for the train.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    While waiting for the train, a problem came up in her mind. Does she have to pay for a fare? She couldn''t see anything to buy a ticket or so around here. Maybe she has to pay for the distance when she enters the train? Just to be safe she should ask.

    Turning to her side, Lisa was about to speak to the other person on the bench when her words got stuck. Her eyes widened seeing an all too familiar face. The woman beside her lifted her gloved hand and tucked a few strands of black hair behind her ear. The dangling ring on her ear swayed as the woman''s purple eyes shifted their attention from the book in her hand to the rude girl staring at her. Yet, the woman lost herself in the mellow blue as memories overcame her.

    The two stared at each other for a minute, lost within memories when the woman reached out a hand to grab Lisa''s chin. She curved her lips into a sweet smile, a smile holding hearts captive, a smile threatening to tear those hearts out to play with them. Yet, her eyes didn''t share the same sentiment.

    ¡°Now, now, little girl,¡± the woman leaned in while keeping Lisa''s chin captive and whispered in a low, velvet voice, ¡°What is one like you doing here, so far away from home, hmm?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know what you mean, ma''am,¡± Lisa calmed the turmoil in her heart and said evenly. She showed a small smile and hid her surprise at the women''s face. With a soft and apologizing voice, Lisa continued, ¡°I only wanted to ask something if I-¡±

    Interrupted by the women closing her mouth forcefully, even Lisa couldn''t help but let her eyes twitch with a bit of annoyance. Her smile widening, the woman was obviously pleased with getting a reaction out of Lisa.

    ¡°Call me Veronica, dear, and what I meant was-¡± Veronica brought her face closer and whispered like a lover expressing their fondness to their significant other, ¡°what is a little princess doing here under the glare of that temperamental, insufferable, clammy midget, and even so far away from the confines of her home, hmm?¡±

    The daylights shone on the train station as Lisa stared into Veronica''s purple eyes after she finished speaking. A breeze slowly lifted the hair framing her confused eyes and mixed her blonde hair with the black hair of Veronica. Other passengers on the station glanced at the two of them but only chuckled as Veronica brought her face even closer, their noses brushing against each other.

    ¡°You have no idea what I just asked about, dear?¡± Veronica whispered as her lips became dangerously close. She loosened the grip on Lisa''s chin and after the girl shook her head, let her chin go. Veronica stared a few seconds into the mellow blue of eyes of Lisa before backing off, leaving a soft rosy fragrance behind. ¡°What is your name, girl?¡± She asked as she leaned back.

    ¡°Lisa¡±, Lisa replied as she brought a hand to her chin.

    ¡°Hmm, and your last name?¡±

    ¡°Fane,¡± Lisa began to stroke her chin after she answered. Although Veronica controlled her strength it still hurt a bit. The one responsible for it on the other end only lightly laughed, her eyes bending with amusement, as she saw the grievance in Lisa''s mellow blue eyes. She reached out to cup Lisa''s cheeks and began to knead them.

    ¡°I am sorry, I lost myself for a moment after I looked into your eyes. Apologies, my dear.¡± Veronica felt the soft skin beneath her fingers while she spoke in a half-whisper as if she was trying to coax a grumpy teen or an upset lover. Perhaps to Veronica, both applied here as her eyes melted seeing the slight pout on Lisa''s face.

    ¡°It''s fine. I felt similarly disturbed when I first looked into them through a mirror,¡± Lisa said softly if a bit disgruntled. It was too late for any pretense now anyway, so she didn''t bother to hide it. She looked at Veronica and clenched her hand hard to soothe herself.

    ¡°Indeed, your eyes can have quite a particular effect on someone, yourself Included,¡± Veronica still had her hands on Lisa as she affirmed with a soft voice. As if not bothered by the implication of Lisa''s earlier words she asked, ¡°Now, tell me, what do you want to ask me, hmm?¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to ask if I had to buy a ticket for the train or something similar, nothing more¡­¡± Lisa''s voice trailed off at the end because Veronica had taken her warm hands off her cheeks and began to laugh rather unrestrained. Her melodious laughter rang out causing Lisa''s lips to twitch just a bit. Her calm facade long broken, Lisa turned away and pretended to not see her.

    ¡°hahaha, just because of that, I see, haha, all of this haha drama haha..haha¡­.hahaaa¡± It took Veronica a few moments to calm herself. Once she stopped giggling, but still had a grin on her beautiful face, she said with mirth, ¡°No, you don''t have to, dear. Every train here in Rivanel is free for everyone to use. The only exception being the aristocrat''s carriage upfront on every train.¡±

    Veronica wanted to say more but she saw Lisa sulking and stopped. It was such a difference from when she looked so calm earlier, that Veronica really wanted to tease her a bit more to see how she would react. But, for now, she''ll stop it and reserve that for later dates.

    ¡°Dear, I''m sorry, don''t be mad. I shouldn''t have laughed over something so silly,¡± Veronica put an arm around the pouting Lisa as she tried to soothe her.

    ¡°I''m not mad,¡± was the short reply.

    ¡°Yes, you are.¡±

    ¡°I''m no-¡±

    Lisa''s voice disappeared because Veronica leaned in and blew air into her ear. With a low, bewitching voice she whispered, ¡°Yes, you are mad, darling and I''m very sorry, so forgive me, okay?¡±

    Without waiting for a reply, Veronica pulled Lisa to stand. Right on time, a train rolled into the station. It looked very similar to the old locomotives Lisa saw in her old world, with the only difference being the missing chimney. Of course, the complete train was painted in white and red.

    ¡°Let''s continue to talk on the train.¡± Not giving her a chance to protest, Veronica dragged Lisa into one of the train''s wagons. After finding a spot for themselves, the duo sat down on the rather comfy seats, and as Veronica had said earlier, the two began to chat. Or rather, it was mostly Veronica telling Lisa about all kinds of gossip. Like the story of a little girl predicting the future in a rural village or the drama of a missing relative of a Queen.

    As if the exchange earlier never happened, Veronica held Lisa''s hand and spoke warmly to her. Lisa, on the other hand mostly listened in a daze, barely participating in the conversation. Veronica''s actions and familiar face simply had rattled her too much.

    At least, until Veronica began to talk about the stores she should visit someday, preferably with her company, of course. Lisa couldn''t resist asking about shops selling quality art supplies. This, of course, provided someone something to pull her into actually talking rather than just passively listening.

    The two talked in such a manner, with Veronica convincing Lisa to make a promise to paint a picture of her, effectively securing herself another meeting or date as she called it.

    Their antics continued until the train was about to stop at the Jewel Boulevard Station. After a short goodbye, Lisa stood up to leave when Veronica pulled her back down again, right on her lap. Veronica embraced her and began to whisper in her ear again.

    ¡°Be careful of the Mirael Kingdom. It would be best to stay away from anyone coming from there If you value your freedom, my dear.¡± Leaving these words, Veronica pecked Lisa once on the cheek before pushing her off.

 Dust in the Library: 04

    A wide promenade paved with white stones stretched out before her once she left the train. The broad walkway made for a beautiful setting, with lush trees standing beside benches lining it.

    Lisa, however, was in no mind to appreciate it, as she stared in a daze at her left palm. Other people leaving the train went around her, glancing at her confused before moving on. Lisa didn''t mind them and touched the nail marks on her palm with her other hand. The touch caused her to wince a bit. It really hurt¡­

    Earlier, as she had talked with Veronica, she had dug her nails into the palm to keep herself calm, even if it didn''t really work. The result, in the end, was only some really hurting marks on her hand, while she still lost most of her calm. She just couldn''t help it as Veronica just looked way too familiar, apart from her eye color.

    With a sigh, Lisa let the hand drop, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Exhaling, she opened her eyes again and smiled a sweet, small smile. Her usual reserved smile.

    A semblance of her normal composure restored, Lisa exited the small train station and walked towards the tall tower she could see not too far away. Just like Mister Knight had said, she only needed to walk in the direction of the tower, as the promenade seemed to go directly there.

    While walking along the promenade, Lisa tried to clear her head of everything she doesn''t want to think about. Especially not about the familiar face she didn''t want to see. A face she didn''t expect to see in another world. With a shake of her head, she threw those thoughts away and instead focused on the scenery while she walked.

    The tall trees provided shade for those sitting on the benches enjoying the peaceful afternoon. They enjoyed the view of the glittering lake beside the walkway, the same one she had seen earlier from her new terrace.

    Others also strolled through the promenade, a peaceful expression on their faces as they either walked in silence or conversed with their accompanies.

    Of course, there were also families having picnics on the grass patches scattered throughout the promenade. The laughing kids and playful pets along with their smiling parents just added to the nice atmosphere.

    However, Lisa thought the majority of those going about here were couples. At least, from what she could see. While basking in the sun, they held hands, whispered sweet nothings to each other, and generally enjoyed each other. She even saw some couples of the same gender having dates and relaxing together.

    It kinda made her glad for them, that they could be so open about it. The fact that this world was seemingly accepting of such relationships made her a bit happy. It sadly isn''t a given everywhere.

    Even though she would have liked to continue observing the scenery and people, her stroll eventually came to an end. Now before her stood the very tower she had marked as her destination, and Lisa could only raise her head at it in fascination. The pure white tower engraved with runes glowing ever now and then seemed to be endlessly tall, as if she would never be allowed to climb the top it the tower stretched on endlessly.

    Strolling towards the doors of it, Lisa felt as if the majesty of the tower bore down on her. The closer she got, the more it pressed on her, making her feel as if she had to crawl to the entrance, to show awe and respect. At least, until the silver ring on her left hand pulsed with a dim light and the pressure vanished.

    Lisa stopped to stroke the silver ring and muttered a quiet ¡®thank you¡¯. It seems she had discovered another function of this all-purpose ring.

    Of course, Lisa didn''t let this stop her and walked forward to the doors of the tower. Era and Veronica both had called the owner a grumpy old man, it really made her curious. How could two people of so different dimensions have the same disgruntled description of someone?

    Coming closer, the lack of any guards or anything similar perplexed her a bit. Even the passersby seem to take a detour around this tower. Just what had the owner done to draw such behavior?

    A small smile still on her face, Lisa didn''t linger on it and slowly opened the ornate wooden door to come to face with an old man standing inside a small hallway. Dressed in a long brown robe while leaning on a wooden cane, the old man stared at Lisa with exasperation. He snorted once and opened his mouth to speak. However, Lisa was faster, and with a smile as well as a tilt of her head she softly said.

    ¡°Good Afternoon, Master~¡±

    ¡°Hmpf, I don''t remember taking any unruly disciple in, especially one who comes in at such an hour and disturb their master''s nap!¡± The old man snorted again and hit the ground with his cane. A shockwave traveled from the cane to Lisa, as if it wanted to push her out, however, the silver ring once again pulsed with dim light and kept her from harm. The old man narrowed his eyes at the ring before switching to Lisa''s eyes. His eyes visibly softening for a moment.

    ¡°Say what you have to say. Since that unsatiable Queen decided to sacrifice her own relative by sending you to this country, I will at least grant you the pity to speak your mind,¡± The old man leaned on his cane as he said with grandeur. He looked with a hint of pity into Lisa''s mellow blue eyes and waited for her to speak.

    ¡°Master, aren''t you confusing your dear disciple with someone else?¡± Lisa said with a calm yet somewhat mirthful voice. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    The old man wanted to get irritated again at her words, yet, when he looked at the demeanor of Lisa, his atmosphere softened and he stopped. She stood at the entrance with fingers interwoven before her, a tilted head with a natural smile on her face as she spoke softly with a melodious voice.

    ¡°Master, forgive me for the earlier joke but I really don''t know what you meant. I just arrived here in this world this morning. So, If there is something bothering you about this body, I apologize, but I really don''t know anything about it. This world and body are both completely foreign to me and as accepting as I may am, I''m still confused.¡± Lisa''s voice softened as she spoke, barely a whisper at the end.

    A breeze came through and slowly lifted a few strands of the blonde hair framing Lisa''s face. Her smile and round eyes with their special attribute invoked a feeling of leisure and comfort. The old man''s expression loosened up at least until he narrowed his eyes at Lisa again.

    Lisa wanted to speak again when she felt a weird energy trying to enter at her chest area. At the same time, the silver ring on her pinkie lit up and tried to expel whatever the energy was. However, with a snort from the old man, it quickly became quiet and docile.

    Without any obstruction, Lisa felt the weird energy enter and course through her body. Unlike the one from when she ate those buns earlier, this energy felt much more refined, much less raw, but she couldn''t linger on it as it disappeared the next moment.

    Coming to her senses, Lisa found herself staring at a white empty scenery. Then, the next second, the scenery shifted and she saw the terrace, Era, and the buns. Then, it changed to the school with her talking to her friends. Then, it was her sitting alone at home listening to music. After that, it went on repeat. At school, at home, at school, at home, or at occasion out with her friends. It went on and on endlessly, showing her repetitive life, as it had never changed for years.

    Until it showed the memories of long ago, those she never looked back to. She saw herself, a bit smaller, clutching her sister''s body as it slowly faded out of her grasp. Then it was her in the warm embrace of her sister. Then it was both of them living a peaceful life. Only the two them happily together as a family. She saw the years she spend with her sister, till the scene faded to black and she saw a very small her sitting alone in the dark. Her sister before her looking down at her with those lovely grayish pink eyes. She reached out a hand and from then on the two were a family.

    Lisa stared at her memories with a serene expression on her face. It really has been a long time. She had already cried herself numb to these images long ago. Any other feeling, she had hidden deep within herself, locking them up leaving only the usual calm and easy-going Lisa. Although, just like in the case with Veronica, a bit of the wrong stimulus and her calm facade begins to crack.

    While she was in a bit of a daze, the memories began to change, as if someone had poured a bucket of water on a fresh painting, the colors began to fade. They left leaving only the white empty space, she had seen earlier, behind.

    Then, one last time, her vision shifted and she was before the old man again. Like before he stared at her with pity. This time, however, it was a different kind of pity. It was more direct and stung much more. She really disliked being stared at with such eyes.

    ¡°Master, do you now believe your dear disciple?¡± She said with a soft voice, breaking the quiet while smiling just a little. The old man looked her once over and then turned around.

    ¡°Follow me. And close the door!¡± Leaving behind these words, the old man began to walk through the short hallway and disappeared into a wide room.

    After closing the doors and taking a deep breath, Lisa followed the old man leisurely. As the hallway was quite short, she reached the room at the end of it quite fast.

    Now standing at the entrance of a wide circular-shaped room, Lisa opened her mouth a bit in shock.

    Similar to her new home, the walls of the building were filled with bookshelves along with a staircase going all the way up to the top of the tower. Wide windows occasionally in between the bookshelves illuminated the interior of the building, giving just enough light for comfortable reading.

    However, what caused her shock wasn''t the scenic and somewhat peaceful view of such a grand tower-library, but rather the messy state the building was in.

    Books scattered across the furniture and ground. Papers and random glass objects littering everywhere. Lush green plants growing on the walls, climbing them up and down. There were even colorful birds flying in and out of open windows. If it weren''t for the only clean path leading to the stairs and the old man, Lisa would have thought this building was abandoned a long time ago.

    ¡°What is taking you so long, hmph?!¡± The grumpy old voice sounded from above, urging her. Reigning her surprise, Lisa walked along the only empty path to the stairs.

    While climbing the long staircase, Lisa let her eyes follow a   red-colored bird flying around. It flew with grace throughout the building, stopping here and there to peck at something, before taking off again. Eventually, it settled on a nest built on a vine growing near the wall and began to work on expanding it.

    Lisa thought this could be quite the picturesque view if it wasn''t so sad that someone actually lives here.

    She wanted to take her time and enjoy the weird isolated environment while climbing the stairs leisurely, however, someone wasn''t so patient. Lisa suddenly felt as if she was forcefully displaced and a blink later she found herself standing in a spacious, circular room.

    Walls entirely made of glass showed the scenery of the white and red Rivanel City. In the middle of the room stood various furniture such as a table, a few sofas as well as shelves filled with books and drawers. The rest of the room was empty aside from a white cat strolling about.

    Looking behind her, she saw a staircase very similar to the one she was climbing up. In fact, it was the same as she could the rest of the tower from up here, but instead of being at the bottom looking up, she was at the very top glancing down.

    This was the kind of magic she came here to learn! Turning around with a refreshed smile, Lisa walked towards the old man. He was at the moment placing some unlit candles down on the only table in the room. As she got closer he waved at her to sit down on the sofa near the table.

    ¡°First tell me your name,¡± the old said after he had finished arranging the four candles on the table.

    ¡°Lisa Fane,¡± replied Lisa a bit perplexed.

    The old man glanced at her and lightly harrumphed. ¡°I only saw the images of your memories, nothing more, so of course I wouldn''t know your name.¡±

    ¡°I see, Master. Then can I know your name?¡± Lisa tilted her head as she asked.

    ¡°Hendricks, more you don''t need to know and Master is enough for you anyway.¡± Hendricks took his cane and walked up to a different sofa to sit down on it. The white cat also jumped up and settled down beside him.

    ¡°Thank you, Master~¡± Lisa rested her elbows on the table and put a cheek on one hand. A monologue was surely up next, so she made herself a bit comfortable.

    The afternoon lights of the two suns filtered through the glass while a comfortable breeze came in from an open window and eased both of them. Even the cat purred with satisfaction as Hendricks began to speak in a much less grumpy tone.

 Dust in the Library: 05

    ¡°Alright, where to begin...¡± Hendricks stroked the cane in his hand while he pondered. The cat beside him on the sofa lazily scratched his robe with its claws. Lisa smiled a bit at the sight as she waited for Hendricks to gather his thoughts.

    The refreshing breeze and white-red scenery all around them through the windows made her patient enough for every delay. She was only missing a nice chocolate drink. Nevertheless, Lisa felt finally relaxed, the earlier turmoil out of her mind, as she leaned her cheeks on the palms of her hands while resting her elbows on the table before her.

    ¡°Firstmost, there are some things you should understand about magic itself,¡± Eventually, the old man Hendricks hit the ground with his cane to gather Lisa''s attention and spoke up. ¡°Magic, or rather the ability to turn essence into mana is an inborn talent. An ability not creatable or changeable by human hand. Even if those old fools tried to with their nonsensical experiments, it would still be useless, hmpf!¡±

    Finished, Hendricks looked over at Lisa, his wrinkled forehead becoming even more distorted as he frowned.

    ¡°Of course, a special case like yours bends the rule of that by a large margin.¡± Hendricks eyed Lisa for a moment before deciding not to bother with her leisurely posture and continued his monologue. ¡°But there also lies the problem with you learning magic at the moment.¡±

    Lisa quietly listened to the old master''s explanation and although she was rather comfortable sitting on the sofa in a relaxing positing, something was just missing. She could already hear how this would take a while, so it would be better for her comfort to ask before it''s too late. Even if it was a bit rude to interrupt him when he had just begun.

    ¡°Master~¡± Lisa interrupted Hendricks, who was about to speak again. He thought about shushing at her to quiet her down, however, seeing her face forming a small smile as she leaned on the table, he changed his mind. His long sleeves swayed with the waving motion of his hand, gesturing for Lisa to speak her mind.

    ¡°Do you mind if we could get something nice to drink while we talk? Like a hot chocolate or so,¡± Lisa said with a bit of a pleading voice. Even if her small lazy smile didn''t show any of it.

    Hendricks thought for a moment and nodded eventually. He hit the ground with his cane once again. In the wide-open room, one of the shelves with drawers began to rattle. With a sudden plop, a drawer opened and from within three mugs and three spoons flew out. Another drawer followed and a brown package floated out from it, tailed by a white canister. They gathered by the table in the middle of the room and slowly sat down before Lisa, who was observing everything with fascination.

    Then, the brown package opened and took to the air again. It flew over a mug and poured the fine black powder into it, then it repeated that process at the other two mugs. Lisa could clearly smell the chocolate scent of the powder as it the packaged sat down on the table again. Then the white canister began to fly. It poured milk into the mugs before settling down on the table again.

    Next were the spoons, as they floated into the mugs and began to twirl the drink. The smell of hot chocolate slowly began to course throughout the room, while Lisa could see the air above the mugs become hazy.

    Lisa leaned back and waited for the drink to finish warming up. Her favorite drink prepared in such made her anticipate it even more. She could even see the cat staring at it with eagerness. It also made her realize as to why there are three mugs instead of two. So the third one is most likely for the cat, but it also made her wonder if it is okay to give the cat hot chocolate. Probably not as she remembered that chocolate is the same as poison to cats, but then again, this is another world so maybe cats were different here.

    Her musings were quickly answered as the cat faded from Hendricks''s sofa. The next second, it was already on the table, it''s tongue tapping into the hot chocolate. Lisa reached out and tried to pat the pat the teleporting cat. The cat only lazily glanced at her before continuing to drink. Taking it as acceptance, Lisa lightly brushed the white fur. The fine hairs felt so very soft beneath her fingers.

    With her other hand, she took the only other mug left on the table and took a sip of her own. The comfortable heat and sweet taste of hot chocolate lingered in her mouth after she gulped. Lisa let out a sigh of satisfaction before taking another sip.

    One the other sofa, the old man also sighed after he drank from his mug. However, he was also stealing glances at Lisa the whole time. Of course, Lisa saw them as she looked over to him and smiled sweetly. His eyes practically begged for praise.

    ¡°Master~, That was a wonderful display, and the chocolate tastes just as fantastic,¡± Lisa said softly while she smiled. The old man harrumphed once and muttered a quiet acknowledgment. His subtle embarrassed expression caused Lisa to giggle. It seems the old man really loved his chocolate.

    While enjoying the serene atmosphere and the scenic view of the white-red city, the two of them plus one cat sipped at their warm drinks.

    Eventually, some minutes later, Hendricks remembered and coughed lightly, garnering Lisa''s attention. He quickly took another sip before he began to speak again.

    ¡°So, where was I¡­ ah yes, your problem and the nature of magic.¡± Hendricks looked over at Lisa, who was stroking the cat while drinking from the mug in her other hand. ¡°Magic, as I said, is an inborn talent, and it is impossible to artificially change this. The problem you now face, however, lies not within your innate talent but your soul. The body and soul work deeply together to form the ability to use magic, and without the soul providing the essence and the concept for your own magic, you can''t make real use of your magic talent. Of course, your standing here fine as you still have your soul, so what is the problem?¡±  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Hendricks stared deeply at Lisa after he paused, his eyes gleaming with starry light. It felt to Lisa as if everything of her was laid out before those eyes. The feeling faded the next second when Hendricks looked away and took a sip of his warm chocolate. Lisa copied him with a small smile while stroking the cat.

    ¡°Souls were never a metier of mine, so I can only speculate.¡± After a sigh, Hendricks continued his explanation, ¡°but from what I witnessed within the confines of your memories, your soul was forcefully taken from your old body and squeezed into your current body. However, this body does not belong to you originally so it should normally reject your soul. Why you can still use this body or why your soul didn''t vanish during that process, I am not clear off, but it was probably the doing of that intolerable woman, hmpf!.¡±

    Lisa listened quietly while she relaxed. She didn''t comment on the matter regarding souls even though she could faintly guess the reason for it. Of course, as Hendricks said, Era had probably also a big role in this.

    While tilting her head, Lisa twirled the chocolate drink with the spoon in her right hand. The soft fur beneath her other hand felt heavenly and along with the breeze grazing her skin, even a long monologue became bearable.

    ¡°For now, all this old man can tell you to do is to wait. Wait for your soul to become accustomed to your new magic talent and let it settle in until your body longer rejects its new soul. Perhaps, if those reckless younglings from the Mirael Kingdom were here, they could help you out. They have always been well versed with souls, but it would probably be in your best interest to shy away from them if you value your freedom.¡±

    Blinking her eyes a bit perplexed, Lisa didn''t know what to make of this. This was already the second time she was advised to stay away from the Mirael Kingdom. It really made her curious as to what the original owner had done to warrant such advice.

    ¡°Regardless of that, there is still a way for you to practice some sort of magic while we wait,¡± Hendricks said. After he finished his explanation, he took a big sip from the mug in his hand and let out a long sigh.

    The next moment, Hendricks let go of the mug in his hand but instead of falling down, it began to float beside him. While leaning on his cane, He stood up and walked to the table Lisa and the cat had nestled themselves on or in. Both of them eyed him curiously for a moment before they sipped from their respective mugs again.

    Hushing at Lisa to make some space, he sat down beside her on the sofa. After he made himself comfortable, Hendricks took the mug in his hand again. Lisa smiled at the sight of the old man sitting beside her drinking some hot chocolate. Along with the purring cat under her hand on the table, it really made her feel part of it, despite only knowing them for a short time.

    Lisa let go of the white cat and leaned back against the sofa. It was a shame, she couldn''t pet it while leaning back as her arms were a bit too short for that. However, It seemed the cat also felt so as it meowed in protest after she stopped stroking her. It glanced at Lisa and a second later jumped on her lap. Just like with Hendricks, the mug it drank from followed by floating behind it.

    Once it settled on her tighs and she resumed stroking it, the cat began lapping away at the coca drink again. A chuckle escaped Lisa as she looked at the strange scene of a cat drinking from a floating mug while being petted willingly. She doesn''t remember cats being quite like that in her old world.

    A cough from her side caused Lisa to focus on the important matters at hand again. She looked at Hendricks beside her and waited for him to speak.

    ¡°A method for you to practice some simple magic is to force essence from your soul through your body, till your body converts the essence to magic,¡± Hendricks said while he eyed the unlit candles still standing on the table. ¡°First you''ll do a simple practice of creating a flame. As long as you succeed here, the rest will become easier.¡±

    Hendricks waved his hand at Lisa and all of a sudden the cat and its mug, as well as Lisa''s own mug, began to fly away. They floated down to one of the shelves and sank down on it. The cat meowed once in protest but didn''t do anything else and just laid down.

    ¡°Put your hands on the table under the candles. Let them rest on it while having their palms face upwards, towards the candles.¡±

    Although Lisa had some questions, she still followed her master''s instructions. She leaned forward and let the back of her hand rest on the table, right near the candles.

    ¡°Close your eyes and look within your heart. Imagine essence flooding your body from within the depths of your heart. Imagine it filling every part of your body. And when the change to it comes, and the essence has become mana, wish for it to light aflame the candles.¡±

    Lisa closed her eyes to Hendricks''s confusing instructions. She tried to look within her heart but only found the steady heartbeat of it. Beat after a beat she felt, as her heart pulsed in a hypnotizing rhythm. It continued on and on, becoming stronger after every beat.

    On and on it went as she felt the heartbeats grow. From her heart to her whole upper body to her entire body. In that same steady rhythm, her heartbeats pulsed throughout her body.

    And every beat became stronger than the next. As if tremors of an earthquake, the pulsing of her heart traveled through her body, shaking her up.

    She couldn''t tell how long it had been when her body began to cry out. It hurt her so much. Every beat that came threatened to tear her open, and every tremor that followed further pushed against her body from within.

    Then, suddenly, the darkness before her eyes began to fade into white. Lisa raised her head and stared at the familiar white scenery. The pulsing within her still continued, yet she didn''t care at this moment. There was only a single thought in her mind as she stared dazedly at the white canvas.

    She really wanted to ink it black.

    Lisa opened her eyes and stared at the candles before. As her senses slowly returned, she felt the ink flowing through her veins. Even faster than the heartbeats, it began to fill her up. When her body reached its limit, cracks began to form on her exposed skin. Ink began to leak from within those cracks.

    Unable to move due to the pain, Lisa could only stare ar the candles before. Then she remembered the instructions of her master. Wish for it to light aflame the candles he had said, and she did.

    Lisa''s face illuminated by the flames burning the candles began to smile, a wide proud smile. From their base to the top, the candles caught fire and within second become nothing but dust. Lisa turned her head to the side but instead of saying anything she only smiled warmly.

    Her master was half laying on the sofa, snorting a bit as he slept. She wanted to chuckle but rested that urge. From the looks of it, it took her quite a bit of time to succeed. Her guess was further strengthed when she looked around and saw the sunset filling the room.

    Through the many windows in this wide room, she could see the two suns already on their journey to rest, as they slowly were going down the horizon. The beautiful sunset doused the city in violet and orange.

 Dust in the Library: 06

    Lisa carefully stood up from the sound. Her body ached all over making this quite hard. She doesn''t want to wake up Hendricks so she''ll have to make do with doing this slow.

    Once she finally stood, Lisa began to flex her limbs a bit. It took her some minutes till the ache became bearable to a degree she could mostly ignore. She looked over to her snoring master and smiled warmly.

    After a quick scan across the room colored by the sunset in violet and orange, she walked slowly to the other sofa in the room. On it was the white cat laying down on a folded black blanket. The cat stared Lisa when she saw her approaching and adorably tilted its head in confusion.

    When she reached the sofa, Lisa softly pushed the cat off the blanket it was laying on. Of course, the cat began to meow in protest, however, a shush gesture from Lisa made her quiet down.

    Lisa patted the cat and muttered a quiet thank you and then walked with quiet steps back to where her master was sleeping. She put the blanket on him with care.

    ¡°Goodnight and thank you,¡± Lisa said with an almost inaudible voice. She smiled a bit and took a step back.

    A sigh escaped her as she stood still. Although she endured it so far, her body really ached and even if it had gotten a bit better, she still wished for a warm bath to relieve the pain.

    Looking over her shoulder, Lisa wanted to mouth goodbye to the cat. However, she didn''t see the cat on the sofa. Perplexed, she looked around the room and found the cat licking its paw while sitting near the staircase. It stared at her with those black feline eyes.

    Lisa showed her usual small smile and walked to the staircase. She endured the aching pain and bent down near the cat to stroke it. While feeling the soft fur beneath her fingers, Lisa whispered a goodbye into the cat''s ears. She heard two very quiet meows in return, causing her to smile quite warmly.

    Having enough for now and wishing for a warm bath, Lisa eventually stood up. Yet, when she walked to the stairs going down to a dark abyss, a long sigh escaped her lips.

    Smiling wryly, Lisa began walking down the endless stairs. However, when she took her first step, her vision suddenly distorted and the next second she was already down at the bottom of the stairs. The mess of a tower before her again, Lisa fell into a daze.

    A meow to her side caught her attention and she saw the cat standing beside her with a wildly wagging tail. It must have been the one who had helped her down the stairs.

    ¡°Thank you, dear,¡± Lisa said with a sweet voice. After petting it once, she walked out of the tower. The cat for some reason followed her but she didn''t mind. If it follows her home maybe it''ll let her hug it when she goes to sleep. Hugging a cute cat to sleep was something she always wanted to do.

    A cool breeze grazed her exposed skin as soon as she left the tower. It wasn''t too cold but with her aching body, having even a bit cold air didn''t really help. Furthermore, her white blouse didn''t have any sleeves so her arms bore the most brunt of the cool air. At least, she made the right move and chose to wear black thigh-highs.

    With a shrug and small smile, Lisa walked in the direction of the train station, the white cat following her every step.

    The promenade leading to the station was still as popular, now even more so with couples. With the ongoing sunset that really wasn''t a surprise to her. After all, she also wouldn''t mind having an outing or date here.

    However, Lisa spared the visitors on the promenade only some cursory glances and moved towards the station in a steady rhythm. She would have liked to sit down and enjoy the scenery but a warm bath is calling for.

    Luck seemed to be on her side as she and a train arrived at the station at nearly the same time. After a quick check on the schedule-board to make sure she didn''t take the wrong train, Lisa entered the white train. The cat still followed her and promptly jumped on her lap after she found herself a seat.

    Lisa stroked the soft fur lightly, inciting a low purr from it. The shadows of the windows moved fast past them as the train hurried through the sunset towards its destinations.

    Lisa observed the other passengers also bathed in the sunset colors and as her hand moved atop the cat she thought of Veronica. While they were talking on the train, Veronica had told her about the most random of things. She even made her agree to meet up with her in a few days.

    She sighed a bit at the trouble that woman would bring her, but it also made her think of the store she had told her about. A fine art store was not far from the plaza near her new house.

    Perhaps, she should see if the store is still open and buy some utensils. Her body still ached, and she honestly felt quite exhausted but if she does this now, she can spare herself the trip tomorrow.

    Lisa scratched behind the white cat''s ears on her lap and knew she had already made up her mind.

    The train eventually reached her destination and still under the sunset she left stepped out of it. Lisa glanced at the two suns going down the horizon and felt it to be quiet odd. Sunsets usually don''t last so long, or at least she didn''t remember them taking over thirty minutes to pass.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Not too bothered by something different in a different world, Lisa exited the train station with the cat in tow. Under the light of lamps, she walked on the street leading to the plaza. Even the street lamps light was in white instead of the more yellow color she is used to. This city really loved the colors white and red.

    While walking, Lisa kept her sight on the stores she passed. As her vision roamed across the street, she suddenly saw the knight Cale rushing through the street. An impatient almost angry look was on his as nearly ran across the walkway. It made her wonder a bit about what happened, but since it is not her business she didn''t linger on it.

    When Lisa reached passed a store called Vimar Exquisites, she walked into the small street beside it. According to Veronica, Selena''s Daily Colors should be just down this street.

    A few minutes later, seeing the open sign on the store and the lit light within, Lisa was relieved. Without pause, she and the cat strolled into the store, a jingling sound coming from the door as Lisa opened it.

    As soon as she entered, Lisa saw the counter with a woman sitting behind it, lazily resting her cheek on her palm. Her long black hair had white highlights running through it. Some of her long hair was tucked behind her left ear, showing the exquisite silver accessory on it.

    However, Lisa thought the most striking aspect of her were those deep red eyes eyeing her with interest. She quiet visibly narrowed her eyes as she looked at her face.

    ¡°Good evening,¡± Lisa said with the usual small smile on her face. She unhurriedly went on to see the store''s selection of art supplies. She always liked to paint, especially after her sister had gone through the trouble to teach her it.

    ¡°Good evening, dear customer,¡± The woman said to her with a husky voice.

    It took Lisa quite a bit of time before she finally decided on what to buy. Although she hesitated a bit, she eventually also decided to buy some things for an ink painting.

    At the counter, the woman was still staring at her, a lazy smile on her refined face. However, once she went up to her to pay for her selections, the woman quickly went to her work and in no time told her what she had to pay. Having no clue if it was expensive or not, Lisa just gave the necessary coins from Era''s allowance.

    ¡°Thank you for your patronage, Miss?¡± The woman said with a tilt of her head, clearly asking for her name.

    ¡°Lisa.¡± Not shy, Lisa answered.

    ¡°Lisa, huh. A nice name. My own is Eleanor¡± Eleanor said with her husky voice. She gave Lisa her change and after pushing the items to her, she lazily leaned on her hand again. With a lazy smile, she said, ¡°If you have something for your paintings to buy again, be sure to visit us again. I would certainly be pleased with it. Anyway, Hava a nice evening, Lisa~¡±

    ¡°I will if there is something, and a nice evening to you too, Eleanor.¡± Lisa showed her usual smile and stored the things in her storage space within the silver ring. She wondered for a moment why Eleanor didn''t pack them up but instead just pushed them to her.

    Leaving the store after a quick goodbye wave, Lisa felt the evening directly. The suns had finally gone to rest and the silver moon began its work. The air was also slowly turning chilly, making her almost shiver. While she loved things like the night or even the winter, she has always been the type to stay at home during such times and drink hot chocolate. She just can''t handle the cold.

    Lisa was about to quickly make her way back to her new home with the cat when the silver ring on her hand began to vibrate. Looking at it, she saw its engravings lighting up.

    She stroked the engravings and suddenly felt a pull coming from somewhere. As if something pulled on her hand with the ring, urging her to go in that direction. The cat meowed at her in confusion but Lisa was too focused on the ring. Every second the pull became strong and more irresistible.

    Lisa glanced at the cat before she decided to give in and follow that pull on her hand. If anything happens the cat could just teleport them away, so it should be safe.

    With a sigh at the loss of the bath that seemed so close, Lisa walked along the direction she was pulled in. A turn into an alley here, another turn into that street, she walked with a relaxed pace through the maze-like streets and alleys.

    Eventually, as she was about to turn around a corner and the pull on her finger became almost painful, the cat bit her shin. Lisa paused and looked down at her leg. The cat had dug its teeth into her thigh-highs and tried to pull her back.

    She crouched and petted the cat to make it stop but instead it bit her hand lightly and pulled on it. The strange behavior caused Lisa to frown and turn back to look at the corner she almost had walked around.

    Her frown only deepened as she couldn''t see anything, at all. All around her the silver moon brought enough light to comfortably see as the moon was in its full glory up in the sky. Yet, that bit she could see around the corner was just black and nothing else. There was only nothingness.

    ¡°If something happens you''ll get us okay directly, okay?¡± Lisa whispered to the cat after a moment of thought. The cat nestled it''s against her hand and meowed quietly once.

    Taking it as acceptance, Lisa stood up and put her back against the alley wall to the corner. When she had walked to the corner along the wall, she bent her body a bit so she could see barely around the corner.

    First, she couldn''t see anything as there was only a dark abyss of shadows before her. Then, her eyes twitched for a second and the shadows began to fade. Once the darkness faded enough for her to see, Lisa opened her eyes wide.

    ---

    Doused in shadows again, Evin looked at the girl near his feet. It certainly wasn''t a pretty job, robbing a young girl such as her of sanity and life. Nevertheless, he didn''t really mind as long as he could achieve his goals. Even if he had to sacrifice some innocent girl along the way. Although, he felt it to be a bit of a pity.

    Well, she only had herself to blame anyway, he thought. If she would have just stayed confined within her home, then she could''ve lived her blissfully ignorant life a little longer.

    Evin turned his hand around a bit, causing the brown-haired girl to cry out. The oversized long bronze needle twisting within her chest as she had her back to him. However, it didn''t draw any blood.

    But it''s not like he couldn''t understand her feelings. Who would want to live like her, after all? Caged in a tight schedule, no freedom of self, always guarded, like a dog on a constant leash.

    Evin wanted to push the needle deeper in her chest when it began to vibrate all of a sudden. He was about to suppress the unruly needle when it spoke to him. Under its laughing ringing in his ears, Evin looked up to see mellow blue eyes staring at him from a corner.

    No, they were staring at the impaled girl before him. He smirked and twisted his hand, causing another cry to come from the girl.

    ¡°Liking the show?¡± Evin said, ¡°Hiding like this, aren''t you embarrassed as someone holding an artifact?¡±

    His abrupt words caused the eyes to disappear. He almost wanted to laugh when someone walked out of the corner.

    Even he had to narrow his eyes at the youthful, almost breathtaking appearance of the young woman coming out from behind the corner. Her long blonde hair danced with her every step as she walked up to him with a small calm smile on her red lips. A white cat followed her.

    ¡°Good evening, mister evil guy,¡± Lisa greeted the middle-aged man stabbing the lovely honey-eyed girl at his feet.

 Dust in the Library: 07

    The middle-aged man dressed in the multicolored rose-patterned attire glared at her with a bit of surprise. Although she wouldn''t mind chuckling at his clothes, the fact that he had that oversized bronze needle within the honey girl, made her unable to laugh.

    ¡°Ah, a good evening to you too, missy,¡± the man said with a low voice. ¡°If you wouldn''t mind, I am-¡± he twisted the needle again while he spoke, inciting another cry from the girl, ¡°rather occupied at the moment. So, how about you continue your stroll on this wonderful night?¡±

    He stared at her with a grin, waiting for her to decide. Lisa still smiled a small, calm smile and shifted her attention from the man to the lovely girl. The girl was pleading with those honey-colored eyes for Lisa to save her. Her cute face smeared with dirt and tears. Her clothes were torn at various and an ominous long needle impaled her chest.

    Lisa lost her smile and sighed, causing the middle-aged man to narrow his eyes and the cat to crouch low, an uncharacteristic growl escaping from it.

    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± said Lisa, breaking the silence. She looked at the girl in that misery state and then at the middle-aged man with a smile, ¡°I have become quite fond of her, so walking away would leave me with a night of rather bad sleep.¡±

    The man gripped the needle tighter while the cat growled once again and the girl cried even more.

    Lisa and the man stared at each other. Neither moved till the man turned the needle again. This time, however, the girl only gasped as a dark shadow began to crawl from the needle onto her. The shadow began to dye her body, causing the girl to clutch her head and scream.

    Not caring for her misery, the man put his foot on her back and pushed the girl off the needle. Instead of blood, only liquid colored in black dropped from where the needle has been. The girl fell down on the ground, clutching her heard as her face distorted. Shadows still crawled all over her body, like moving black tattoos.

    ¡°Ah, that is indeed unfortunate, missy,¡± the man said to Lisa while he twirled the meter length needle in his hand. The darkness surrounding him and Lisa bent with the movement of the needle.

    It rotated in a slow-motion between his fingers. Then, in one motion the man gripped it tight and swung down the oversized needle. Shadow-like tendrils appeared from within it. They rushed towards Lisa. She took a few quick steps back at the same time as the cat jumped before her.

    A high-pitched ear-grating sound came from the cat once it landed, followed by a shockwave destroying the shadowy tendrils before they could get anywhere near Lisa. The darkness blanketing the alley was also swept away by it. The shockwave, however, didn''t harm any of the people in the alley.

    The scream traveled further through the air for some seconds before it quieted down. In the now moonlit alley, the cat stood between Lisa and the man with an arched back. It growled while its fur began to lengthen and harden. Slowly, it began to move toward the man.

    Clicking his tongue, the middle-aged man backed up. The long needle in his constantly vibrated, sending violent thought in his head.

    ¡°A rather interesting creature, it seems, for you to want to eat it up that much,¡± the man muttered and then looked around the alley. The light of the silver moon had already returned after the darkness was swept away by the cat. It shone onto the alleys guests and seemed to especially favor the girl before him.

    Her blonde hair glittered under the moons glow. She had a hand behind her back while the other one was just below her calmy smiling lips. On that hand, sitting on her pinkie, he could see an exquisite silver ring. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the ring and brought his vision up to her eyes.

    Mellow blue glowing eyes stared right back at him with abnormal calm. Silver moonlight shone on them, their glow deepening with it, and with it grew an inhuman cruel intent in them. He couldn''t help but widen his eyes. He hadn''t expected this.

    ¡°Ah, what a shame. This night isn''t it, huh. Well, it doesn''t matter if now or later,¡± the man said abruptly. He relaxed his posture but still kept a firm grip on the shaking needle. ¡°Well, missy, it was fun playin-¡±

    With an abrupt change in expression, the man dissolved into darkness. Not even a second later, a white light struck the ground where the man had stood. Once the dust cleared, Lisa saw a white sword purely made out of energy sticking out of the ground. Then, the sword exploded in a small pillar of light.

    From within the pillar, a knight in white light armor holding a white sword stepped out. He first looked at the brown-haired girl lying on the ground, clutching her head while a shadow slithered all over her skin. She had stopped moving at some point. He frowned and then looked at Lisa, confusion, and uncertainty filling his eyes. However, a look into Lisa''s twinkling blue eyes and the cat behind her the uncertainty.

    Lisa nodded at Cale, a bit of surprise in her heart to see him appear like this. However, she didn''t linger on it and walked over to the girl on the ground rather hurriedly. Cale, in the meantime, followed her with his vision before he glanced at the white cat trotting behind Lisa. He pondered for a moment and then disappeared in a flash of white light.

    Once she reached the girl, Lisa sat down beside her and lifted her head up. The cute, pleased expression she had when she tasted that ice cream was gone, replaced by tears and dirt. The honey-colored eyes that had been so lively and shy at that time were now so hollow and dark.

    Lisa caressed the girl''s face and wiped away some of the dirt. However, the shadow still crawled all over her skin and couldn''t just be wiped away by her hands. Even if she rubbed her skin all red, the shadow continued to grow.

    She looked into the honey eyes that had been staring at her this whole time. As if a candle about to go out, the light within the girl''s eyes began to dim. Hollow darkness filled them, causing Lisa to pause. Then, she brought the girl close to her and hugged her. She squeezed her even tighter when she felt her cold breath.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    She stroked the girl''s long brown hair, kissed her forehead softly, and then leaned near her ear. With a tender, warm voice she whispered to her words she had once been told. Words that had brought light into her life in the form of her sister.

    ¡°It''s fine. If you''re cold, I''ll hug you and keep you warm. If you''re afraid then I''ll be your safe place and keep you from harm. Don''t worry and live,¡±  Lisa whispered, again and again, the words her sister had told her once, while tightly keeping the girl within her arm. However, the girl only stared with hollow eyes at her. Without realizing it, her words changed as she saw the light still fading.

    ¡°It''s fine, I am here, you''re safe. Fight and live, don''t disappear, please, don''t leave me,¡± she whispered with pleading in her voice. As her fingers ran through the brown hair, the ring on her pinkie began to emit a gentle light. A soft light began to surround them. It danced around them and left silvery sparkles in the air.

    Then it began to curl around the girl in Lisa''s embrace. That''s when Lisa noticed. She frowned and looked at the silver ring on her hand. The stream of silver light was slowly flowing out from it.

    The silver stream curled around the girl and began to graze her skin. Everywhere it passed, the taint on her skin was cleansed, leaving only her fair skin as if freshly scrubbed.

    Lisa relaxed when she saw the light cleanse the shadow and dirt of the girl. However, no matter how much the light cleansed, the girl still sat unresponsive in her arms and looked at her with those dark hollow eyes.

    The silver glitter reached her face and cleansed all the dirt and tears on it. The last shadows on her skin hurried into her eyes, hollowing them even further and causing Lisa to squeeze her even tighter. The silver light followed in its steady pace and obscured Lisa''s sight of the girl''s eyes.

    Seconds passed, and under Lisa''s stare, the silver light suddenly retreated back into her ring. She didn''t care where it went and just looked into the honey-colored eyes.

    The candle that was about to go out earlier was now lit again, as the girl''s eyes began to light up with life. Then, the girl started to blink again. She blinked a few times and then looked up into Lisa''s glowing blue eyes. Tears welled up within her eyes as Lisa put a hand face, and stroked her skin.

    ¡°Welcome back,¡± Lisa whispered with a warm and tender. She smiled deeply at the girl in her arms and kissed her forehead. After, she hugged her tightly to her chest and felt the tears rolling down the girl''s face on her clothes. She whispered again, with a soothing voice, ¡°You''re safe now, so don''t worry and cry. I''ll keep you warm throughout the night if you need it.¡±

    Lisa held her close and stroked her silky brown hair as the girl sobbed. The moon was by now high up in the sky and shone a gentle light on the two sitting in the alley. The cat beside them stared at them with curiosity while it licked its paws. Lisa glanced and muttered a quiet thank you, getting a getting return.

    She continued to caress the girl''s head while tightly hugging her. Her tears still flowed as she felt the wetness her clothes, however, she didn''t care. She just soothed her but stopped speaking so she could cry as much as she wanted. Lisa only felt that she could now understand how her sister must felt when she had helped her back then. Having a cute girl in your embrace as she trusts you and cries within your arms is quite a fulfilling feeling.

    Eventually, the breathing of the girl in her arms steadied and her sobs stopped. She must have fallen asleep from all the mental exhaustion. Lisa still stroked her hair and looked down at her with warm eyes. She felt glad, really glad. Glad that when she tried to be like her sister again, the one she tried to help this time didn''t disappear.

    Metallic footsteps suddenly rang out in the quiet alley. Lisa looked up to see Cale returning with a calm but somewhat annoyed expression. His white sword already sheathed by his side. He opened his mouth to speak but Lisa brought a finger to her lips, to indicate for him to be quiet.

    ¡°How is Her Highness doing?¡± Cale asked with a whisper, causing Lisa to glare at him. He smiled wrily but still waited for her to answer.

    ¡°She is fine, just sleeping from all the exhaustion,¡± Lisa whispered in an equally quiet tone. She brought her vision back to the girl addressed as ¡®Her Highness¡¯ and asked Cale, ¡°Her Highness? So she is royalty?¡±

    ¡°Correct, The Third Princess of Rinel, Her Highness Felicia Vanessa of Rivanel, to be exact,¡± Cale said in a quiet voice while he looked at Lisa. Her mellow blue eyes directed at Felicia in her arms caused him to sigh. Although he was a bit disappointed, perhaps this could be an opportunity for the princess. ¡°What is your relationship with the old man from the tower, miss?¡±

    ¡°I''m his apprentice,¡± Lisa said without looking up. She saw how he had looked at the cat, so he probably knew where it came from. She parted some of the brown hair concealing Felicia''s face and began to caress it. With a whisper, she said to Cale, ¡°Call me Lisa not miss, and thank you¡­¡±

    ¡°I said it, didn''t I? To help anyone in need is a Sacred Knights duty, but still, glad to help, Lisa.¡± Cale put a fist under the sunlike emblem on his chest as he spoke. He smiled confidently but to his dismay, Lisa''s eyes weren''t on him. ¡°Anyway, since you''re a Towers Apprentice, it would maybe be a good idea for you to take care of Her Highness for a few days.¡±

    Lisa hesitated once she heard his suggestion. She wanted her to be safe, to hold her, and keep her warm, but maybe she would be safer within the palace. If she were to just taker her home, wouldn''t that also create problems for Felicia? And if she were to upset someone in her family by doing this, perhaps this would only create more problems for her¡­

    ¡°Her Highness would be in better care with you, Lisa,¡± Cale said abruptly. Lisa looked up and saw him gazing at her with confident eyes. ¡°Her highness is not exactly welcomed within the palace with His Majesty, The King gone on his outing. Additionally, as an Apprentice of Ibrahim''s Tower, anyone would hesitate to make a move on you. It would also keep away that man and his companions.¡±

    Cale''s eyes were calm and confident as he locked eyes with Lisa. He spoke with a steady and sure voice. To Lisa, he looked so much different from his look earlier today. So unlike from a simple knight patrolling the streets.

    Lisa let her head drop and gazed at the peaceful and cute sleeping face of Felicia. Her steady breathing felt a bit tingly against the hand stroking her face. In the end, she could only sigh. She was again acting reluctant to decide on something. Just like in her old world, when she ignored all problems around her and just lived on the spot after her sister died because of her.

    She sighed again and then smiled warmly. She was now in a new world in a new body. Maybe trying to change a bit wouldn''t hurt. Furthermore, she really wouldn''t mind taking a cute girl home on her first day in a new world.

    ¡°Fine, I''ll take care of her for a few days,¡± Lisa said after she had made up her mind. She moved Felicia within her arms around a bit, trying very carefully not to wake her up. Although she didn''t even wake up with them talking the whole time.

    Once she had her in the right position, Lisa stood up and lifted Felicia up, carrying her in a fitting princess carry. Lisa frowned as she felt the lightness of Felicia. She decided to make sure Felicia would eat a bit more.

    ¡°Should I carry Her Highness instead?¡± Cale asked while he observed Lisa steadying herself with Felicia in her arms. He only got a side glance in return, causing another wry smile to appear on his face. He shook his head and followed Lisa walking down the alley.

    Under the silver moonlight, her beautiful silhouette walking before made him feel even more disappointed. But at least, he could try to help her out a little so she can have a happy ending since it was the first time he took a liking to someone.

 Dust in the Library: 08

    Under the glow of white streetlamps and the moon, Lisa with Felicia in her arms left the alleys she had walked into. She now stood at the street with Eleanor''s Art Store in it, again. It was already quite late so only a few passersby were on the street. Even fewer shops were lit and open. From what she could see along the long street, most of the lit buildings were bars or restaurants.

    ¡°What happened with that evil guy?¡± Lisa asked abruptly. She looked at Cale who had stopped beside her and was overlooking the street. He stood with a relaxed posture but still had a hand on his sheathed sword the whole time.

    ¡°He escaped with the help of that dirty needle,¡± Cale answered with mild irritation. If it weren''t for that thing he was sure he would''ve caught that man.

    Lisa began to walk again after Cale spoke. She hugged Felicia in her arms a bit closer as she walked. She felt it to be a shame that he got away but maybe so she can get her hands on him herself.

    With Cale beside her and the white cat behind her, Lisa walked across the street towards the plaza. She took the whole time care to not accidentally drop the precious girl in her arms.

    The few passersby she met glanced weird at them but the sacred knight''s attire and emblem on Cale dispelled any doubts quick. Lisa saw how their eyes changed when they looked from her to Cale and could only wonder at the trust these people have in the Sacred Knights.

    It didn''t take them long to reach the wide plaza. The fountain in the middle was still spouting water from its top. Only now the water glowed with shimmering white and red colors.

    Despite it being already some time into the night, the plaza was still bustling with some activity. Couples sat near the fountain and had a relaxing time enjoying each other''s company. Groups of friends sat within the open cafes or bars and talked, laughed, or relaxed in silence. It was overall still very lively despite the time.

    Looking at the vibrant night plaza, Lisa made up her mind to visit it at night tomorrow with Felicia. Although she wanted to do so today, she wouldn''t mind doing so tomorrow if she could go with Felicia.

    Lisa didn''t linger too much on observing the lively scene and walked across the plaza toward her new home. It wouldn''t be wise to delay getting back home with Felicia''s rather torn and dirty clothes. While walking, a few glances were once again directed at her but like earlier Cale''s presence helped her out regarding that. Even the other knights patrolling the plaza only nodded at Cale but didn''t do anything else.

    As she left the plaza, Lisa thought for a moment and said to Cale, ¡°What had that evil guy planned?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I''m not so sure regarding that, I only know for sure who he belongs to but nothing else,¡± Cale answered. He looked at Lisa and after she nodded at him, he continued to explain, ¡°That man, Evin, is a known member of the Cef¨¦s Cult, an organization in acceptance of the Abyss. They follow the words of The Formless, with many members of them being of the Formless profession. They have been abnormal quiet in recent times, so them appearing in the Capital is surprising, to say at least.¡±

    Lisa quietly listened to Cale''s explanation while walking under the glow of streetlamps. She could only sigh at the trouble that could hit her but looking at the cute and adorable face leaning against her chest, she wondered if she could reject helping Felicia.

    Lisa shook her head and stopped thinking about the future. She walked a few bigger steps and stopped before the double doors of the library she now lives in. Turning around, she smiled her usual calm smile at Cale.

    ¡°Thank you, Cale,¡± she said softly with genuine warmth.

    ¡°Always happy to help you, Lisa,¡± With a light bow, Cale said. After, he straightened and smiled with a bit of regret. ¡°I will deal with the royal family, so don''t worry about them for now. My Mentor should be able to give you two some breathing room too. Anyway, I won''t hold you up any longer, good night, Lisa.¡±

    ¡°Good Night,¡± Lisa returned. She watched him walk away for a few seconds before she turned towards the doors. Walking up, she leaned against them causing the ring on her pinkie to light up for a short moment.

    With a light push, the doors opened and she entered her new home with a cute girl in her arms. The white cat quietly followed her in.

    While hearing the door close behind her, Lisa walked through the big corridor filled with bookshelves and the open second floor. Moonlight shone through the glassy roof, providing her enough light to walk past the tables without bumping in them.

    Once she reached her new bedroom, she carefully opened the door with her elbow. The modest room before her again, she didn''t pause and walked in. The cat still followed her into the room and quickly jumped onto the sizable bed opposite the door.

    As Lisa reached the bed, she hesitated to put Felicia down on it. Felicia still had her torn and dirty clothes on, so laying her down on the bed would just dirty it. And as far she knows, there is only one in the building.

    With a sigh, Lisa turned and walked out of the room again. The cat eyed her curiously but didn''t follow and just laid down on the bed.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    In the huge corridor again, she walked up to one of the couches standing near the tables. Careful in her movements, Lisa laid Felicia down on the couch. She felt a bit of regret at not having her in her arms anymore.

    Staring at the peaceful face of Felicia, who still hasn''t woken up through all of this, she was a bit unsure. She had laid her down to change her clothes but¡­ just changing them while she''s unconscious felt a bit off.

    She took a few glances at the brown-haired girl. The white-black dress she wore had tears and holes all over.  The soft skin she saw beneath and had felt when she was in her embrace made her doubt her reasoning for her hesitation.

    Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After she opened her eyes again, she put her hands on the hemline of Felicia''s dress. More slowly than she needed to, she pushed the dress up revealing slender thighs.

    A few seconds later, Lisa further pushed the dress up. She tried very hard to ignore the frilly white that she uncovered and just pushed the dress up Felicia''s waist. Not that the belly-button wasn''t as equally distracting.

    Powering through the temptation to squish the soft waist, Lisa pushed the dress further up, past her chest and the frilly white covering her modest breasts. She had to take a deep breath after the movement of them after revealing them.

    After setting Felicia''s arms in the right direction, she began to carefully take the ruined dress over her head and past her straightened arms. Once done, she threw the dress away without a care and stared at the person responsible for the nearly uncontrollable desire she felt.

    Her sleeping expression of a cute and adorable airhead. The slender neck hidden partly by her long brown hair. Her fair bosom, that rose and sank with each of her steady breaths. It really tempted her to just take it in hand as she guessed it would perfectly fit.

    Then, her slim waist with that adorable belly button above the cute frilly white panties. She really wanted to knead her belly, feel the small button, and plant a kiss right under it.

    Lisa raised her hand to get a feeling of what was before her. However, when she touched Felicia''s waist and felt the cold skin underneath her fingers, her desire recessed. With a sigh, she stood up and put her arms under the unconscious girl.

    Carrying the honey eyed girl in a princess carry again, Lisa felt strangely content. Not lingering on it, she walked back into her bedroom and laid Felicia down on the wide bed within. Taking in the sight of her barely clothed form, Lisa felt her fingers twitch.

    Resisting her desire, she turned and walked to the closet wall within the room. After rummaging for a while she found two white shirts suitable for sleep and easy to put on. Lisa returned to bed and with careful motions put the open shirt around Felicia. Then she put her delicate arms in the one from the shirt.

    Once she finished putting the shirt on Felicia, she only fastened a button in the middle, so the shirt wouldn''t stay open the whole time. However, she still left enough space for the frilly white bra and the small belly button to peak through. And while the shirt was a bit too big for Felicia l, it didn''t completely cover her panties, leaving also anything below open. Lisa felt as if the shirt made her understand the phrase ¡®less is more¡¯.

    Another sigh escaped her and after pulling a blanket over Felicia, she took a step back to walk to the closet wall again. She began to loosen her grey skirt before taking it off, leaving her in only her blouse, black panties, and thigh-highs of the same color. As she began to unbutton her blouse, a rustling sound came from the bed.

    Looking over, she could see Felicia moving around the bed with light movement. She moaned with the discomfort of a bed sleep and opened her eyes.

    An unfamiliar wooden ceiling illuminated by silver light came into her view. Felicia blinked a few times in confusion. She felt too exhausted to move and didn''t know where she was. She only felt a soft bed beneath her and the weight of a blanket on top of her. Then, suddenly she remembered. Remembered how that man pushed a long needle into her chest. How someone screamed in her head. How it crawled over her body. How it-

    ¡°It''s fine.¡± A warm palm found it''s way to her cheek to these words. Felicia turned vision a bit to stare into mellow blue eyes. The same blue eyes she saw when that man tormented her. ¡°It''s fine, you''re safe.¡±

    The warm hand on her face wiped away the tears she didn''t realize had begun flowing. A warm smile on her face, as her blonde hair seemingly glowed under the silver moonlight. With a tenderness Felicia hasn''t felt in a long time, she stroked her cheek, all the while she whispered words of comfort with a soft voice.

    Felicia couldn''t help it and let her tears flow. All the injustice she felt flowed right out of her. The pain that man had done her, her lonely feelings accumulated from years of neglect. All of it flowed right within the palms holding her cheeks, as they wiped them away.

    The moon traveled for a bit while Lisa comforted the girl on the bed. Her eyes crying out all the grievances she felt made her heart soft. With patience, she held her cheeks and spoke sweet words to her.

    When Felicia''s crying turned into quiet sobbing, Lisa wiped away the last tears spilling from her honey-colored eyes.

    ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± Lisa said as she stroked Felicia''s face and looked her into the eyes.

    ¡°mhm, I''m¡­fine¡­¡± with a hoarse voice and a nod, Felicia replied.  Her eyes still had a glistening effect from the tears while her face under Lisa''s touch had long become red.

    Lisa caressed the adorable face a few more times. She looked with warm eyes at Felicia causing the girl to close her own, a few more crystal drops escaping them.

    ¡°How about we go to sleep for now, hmm?¡± Lisa asked once she had enough pleasure. Her comforting presence only seemed to grow under the gentle light of the moving moon. The natural warm smile just added to it.

    ¡°mhm,¡± was the response that came with an adorable nod. The small head of Felicia just above the blanket, staring at Lisa with blinking honey eyes.

    ¡°I will change first, so wait for me, Dear~¡± With a smile, Lisa winked at the blushing Felicia and stood up from the bed to walk to the closet wall.

    Before the open closet again, Lisa took her time undressing her blouse. Not minding the stare she felt on her, she unclipped her bra and stretched once to get rid of some of the stiffness. It had been a long day indeed. Of course, she also pulled down the thigh-highs. Since she was so exhausted she also took her time with it.

    After putting on a similar shirt to the one Felicia now wears, Lisa walked back to the bed where the girl had turned away from her, hiding her expression. Although, her red ear peaking out of her brown hair gave a hint about it.

    Lisa climbed on the bed and nestled herself under the same blanket as Felicia''s. She reached out and caught the shy girl with her arms. With a light pull, Felicia was quickly brought into her warm embrace. Neither said anything and just like that, close to each other as Lisa had an arm around Felicia''s waist and under her head.

    Minutes passed and the breath of the two began to steady. As they were about to fall asleep, Felicia muttered a quiet and soft, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight,¡± Lisa returned and fell asleep along with Felicia in her arms.

 A Morning spent Painting: 01

    Lisa put a hand before her mouth and yawned. It had been a long and rather stressful day and now she had to deal with this too. With a tired sigh, she looked ahead at the familiar sight.

    A white scenery seemingly endless stretched out before ber. However, different from before, ink-like droplets dripped from the white sky into the white ground. They left behind ripples wherever they landed as if the white ground Lisa stood on was just water.

    This was the first time she saw a change like this within her inner soul. It should have something to do with the moment she tried magic for the first time. She''ll have to ask her master for some more specific details, though.

    Lisa didn''t bother too much with it and turned around with a small smile to see herself staring impatiently at her. Or rather, to see her old body standing with crossed arms opposite her.

    ¡°Finally done yet?!¡± said the same voice she had been hearing her whole life with grievance. While gazing at those familiar blue eyes and light-brown hair, Lisa proceeded to walk up to her. The girl in her old body saw she had Lisa''s attention and began to rant, ¡°What took you so long! I waited and waited, and you just don''t show up!?! Really anyone acquainted with that woman-¡±

    Lisa grabbed on the girl''s cheeks mercilessly, causing her to stop talking. She pulled, stretched and distorted her old face all the while smiling calmly.

    ¡°He-uwi-stah-¡­be,¡± deformed speech was all the girl could let out while Lisa attacked her face with her hands. ¡°Wha¡­st..hop...hak¡±

    Lisa didn''t care for her protest and just continued her work. She tilted her head to the side and said with a small smile, ¡°What did you think when you started all this, hmm? Just going around playing with souls, hmm?¡±

    She still wrecked her old face while talking, causing the girl to become even more visibly annoyed. With an abrupt flailing of her arms, she got rid of Lisa''s and took a quick step back.

    She put her hands on her red cheeks and massaged them lightly. Of course, she didn''t forget to stare at Lisa with a mix of anger and frustration. Lisa didn''t move and intertwined her hands before herself. The white scenery with the black droplets falling onto the white ground behind her.

    ¡°Since you''re so knowledge regarding souls then you should also know the risk they pose. Just experimenting around as you did, what would have been if you made a mistake and caused unrepairable damage to your world?¡± Lisa said after the two had stared at each other for a while. She gazed at her old body and felt the whole thing to be quite uncanny.

    ¡°Only because of that you assault me!¡± The girl cried out after she had softly rubbed her face a bit more. She crossed her arms and with a half red face pouted while she complained, ¡°So what if I did?! Nothing happened, so who cares? Besides, if something would have happened, Era could just fix it, as she did with yours! And you''re not one to lecture me about this!¡±

    By the end of her small rant, the girl had put her hands on her hips and stood with a haughty expression on her face. Lisa stifled the eerie feeling at seeing her old body behave like this and peeked into her old now arrogant blue eyes.

    ¡°Besides, is it not better with what I have done? You were the only thing keeping your world from moving forward! So I have done you a service by removing you from it! Furthermore,¡± The girl smirked and opened her eyes as they begin to change as if someone was coloring them anew. Lisa''s eyes opened wide as she saw the greyish pink filling her eyes. Pleased with her reaction, the girl said arrogantly, ¡°Unlike you, I was seen worthy and chosen! Your own world thinks of-¡±

    A sudden ringing sounding through the white scenery made the girl stop. Lisa recovered her calm with a sigh while the familiar alarm sound caused the girl to look left and right.

    ¡°You better wake up,¡± Lisa said with a small smile, causing the girl to look doubtful at her. ¡°That is your alarm. In other words, it''s time for you to go to school.¡±

    ¡°hmpf,¡± the girl snorted and crossed her arms again. ¡°Why should I-¡±

    Lisa flicked her finger at the girl''s forehead causing her to stop in the middle of the sentence. ¡°oww, what are you-¡± Lisa flicked her forehead again, this time making her gather small tears in her greyish pink eyes.

    With a sigh, Lisa put a hand atop her head and gave it a rub. She said with a calm voice, ¡°Wake up and go to school, okay?¡±

    The two stared at each other with the girl slowly beginning to pout under Lisa''s head pats. However, she averted her eyes from Lisa''s calm ones that stared at her with a smile.

    ¡°Fine!¡± Eventually, she gave in and accepted, albeit visibly reluctant. The next moment, like a drawing being erased she began to disappear from her feet upwards. Before she completely vanished, she said to Lisa in a warmer tone than before, ¡°See you~¡±

    ¡°Have fun,¡± Lisa returned while she watched the girl disappear.

    A few seconds after the girl left, Lisa let out a deep sigh. She really hopes the weight of what she has been chosen for will plant some sort of responsibility in her. Although, she doubts that is going happen. Another sigh escaped her.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°What a problem child.¡±

    ---

    The midday light of two suns, one big and one small, filtered through the glass onto a bed occupied by two sleeping girls and a white cat.

    Lisa slowly opened her eyes to see brown hair before her. She looked at the adorable head nestled within her bosom for a few moments with glazed eyes. Eventually, she yawned quietly and took her hand off Felica that was on her waist. She rubbed her eyes with that hand to bring some life into them.

    Once she could see a bit better, Lisa took a look at Felicia clinging at her. The girl had her head on her chest, that was barely covered by an open white shirt, and drooled a bit on it.

    There was also the fact that Felicia''s small head laid on her other arm, and probably had done so the entire night as she couldn''t really feel that arm. It made her a bit worried about it.

    Lisa smiled with a bit of wryness and stroked Felicia''s silky hair. The girl made a few happy noises in her sleep while she smiled with the feeling of an air-head. Lisa couldn''t help it and let her expression warm-up with a genuine smile.

    With careful movements, Lisa slowly freed her arm from under Felicia''s head. After making sure she didn''t wake up, Lisa moved her arm around slowly. The prickly feeling from a limb waking up again made her eyes twitch. It really never feels pleasant. Looking at the peacefully sleeping Felicia, she had a feeling as if she had to get used to that.

    After her arm felt relatively normal again, Lisa propped her head up with that arm and continued to stroke Felicia''s head.

    Felicia''s small change in expression as she dreamed about whatever made the girl happy and the small trail of drool on her mouth along with the clutching hands on her shirt made Lisa feel as if she is never going to get bored of this.

    She really wouldn''t mind waking up every day with a numb arm, if she would see this as the first thing in her morning. It suddenly made her feel glad for ignoring the desire to get a quick bath and instead follow the urging of her silver ring. If she had ignored it, she would have missed the adorable girl.

    Remembering the bath, Lisa let out a sigh. She had totally forgotten to take a bath. Although she felt a bit better after sleeping nicely, a bit soreness still annoyed her body. Furthermore, Felicia should also take a bath as she was quite mishandled yesterday.

    Lisa smiled very warmly as she looked at the peaceful Felicia. Since they both had to take a bath, then they should just save water and have one together. It certainly would be fun to see the shy girl in that situation. Seeing all of her would certainly be fun.

    She admired Felicia for a few more minutes and then slowly pried her small hands from her shirt. She would have liked to stay like this the whole day but her mouth felt really dry, making her carve for something to drink.

    After freeing herself from Felicia''s grasp, Lisa sat up with careful movements. She climbed out of the bed while trying to make sure the lovely girl doesn''t wake up.

    Yet, when her feet landed on the ground, mutterings came from Felicia''s delicate mouth. Lisa turned and saw her eyes moving under her eyelids. Slowly, they opened and then began to blink.

    With a warm smile, Lisa stroked Felicia''s head and said with a relaxing voice, ¡°Go back to sleep, Honey~¡±

    Under Lisa''s warm touch and soothing voice, Felicia closed her eyes soon again. Lisa stood beside the bed and stroked Felicia''s head for a few more minutes until she was sure the girl was sleeping again.

    After stretching her body a bit she walked to the door and out of the room. She had already decided to not put on any more clothes for now. It was warm enough, anyway, and only the two of them were here so it wouldn''t really matter. Lisa looked down at the cat following her and corrected herself. Felicia, her and the white cat were the only ones here.

    Lisa chuckled lightly and walled down the wide corridor filled with tables, sofas and bookshelves. While humming a relaxing tune she walked past the bathroom door and stopped next to the door a bit further down.

    With a creak, the ornate wooden door opened and the well-furnished kitchen came into her view. The relaxing tune still on her lips, Lisa walked towards the tall white metal block standing in a corner.

    Opening the refrigerator, all kinds of food cake into her view, many of which she had never seen. She took the milk standing within and closed the door again. The cold air of the refrigerator and her lack of clothing aside from a shirt and panties didn''t go well together.

    The cat still followed her as she went up to the counter and placed the milk ontop. After searching for a while, she found a pot to pour some milk into. Once done she put the milk-filled pot into ontop of the stove.

    A quick turning of a wheel and the cooktop directly heated up to her desired temperature. It really made her glad that she didn''t have to wait anymore for it to heat up.

    Some minutes later and Lisa walked out of the kitchen with a steaming cup of milk in hand. With leisure steps, she walked towards the direction of her new bedroom. After looking into it and seeing Felicia still sleeping soundly, she smiled and walked towards the terrace bot far from the room.

    Opened the door to it, the refreshing breeze made her shiver for a moment. She took a quick glance around and sat at the same spot as yesterday. The white cat following her jumped on her lap as soon as she sat down.

    Lisa didn''t and took a sip of her warm milk. She couldn''t help but sigh after the milk flowed down her dry throat. She drank a few more times from it before leaning back, and while stroking the cat she enjoyed the scenery of the white-red city.

    All things considered, while her previous day had been filled with all sorts of incidents, she didn''t feel too bad about it. Especially with the addition of Felicia to her new home. The thought of the honey eyed girl made her smile grow a bit. She really took a weird liking to her as even the thought of her made her happier.

    The thought of the coming days with Felicia and the scenery of a wide and tall city with a glittering lake before her relaxed her to no ends. She sipped at the warm milk and felt the soft fur of the cat beneath her fingers.

    Not even the blonde-haired, dressed in black Era that had sat down opposite of her could ruin the peace she felt at the moment.

    She continued to drink from the warm milk and didn''t say a word. Era, in the meanwhile, rested her otherworldly face on the palm of her hands and stared at Lisa with a smirk.

    ¡°Happy are we?¡± the melodious voice of Era asked. Lisa didn''t answer and just relaxed while enjoying the breeze coming through. Era didn''t mind and chuckled. ¡°Such a busy day you had yesterday. Even bringing home a cute girl at the end of it. Your sister would be proud of your conquest.¡±

    Lisa''s lip twitched at the comment. She had to sigh as she could totally see her sister becoming obsessed with Felicia. Her own love for cute things came for her sister, after all, and her sister was far above her in terms of being smitten with cute stuff. Way, way above her.

    A pleasing laugh came from Era as she saw the exasperation on Lisa''s face. She laughed for quite some time before she stopped. When she was finally done, Era settled her elbows on the white metallic table and held her head up with both hands. She stared at Lisa and waited for her to ask.

 A Morning spent Painting: 02

    Lisa moved the cup of milk around on the table. She followed it with her mellow blue eyes as the cup moved left and right over the table. The sound it created wasn''t the most pleasing so she stopped again after a few moments. With a sigh, she looked over at the scenery visible from the terrace.

    ¡°What was the meaning of that, Era? Did you have a hand in that? Why would she get chosen? Why would the world choose again in the first place?¡± Lisa asked Era directly, while she stared at the glittering lake on the ground level of the city. The waterfalls flowing into it from the higher levels of the city created scenic rainbows here and there. It would really make a good painting.

    ¡°Do you really need to ask that, Lisa? You should know better,¡± Era tilted her head as her eyes dimmed a bit. The disappointment in her voice was obvious to anyone listening. She let one of the hands holding up her head fall down on the table and began to tap it. ¡°You really should know better, Lisa. Being in denial even after you have come to a different world, even for you that is quite unpleasant. You should really start to move on, Lisa.¡±

    Lisa brought the cup of warm milk to her lips and took a sip. The warm and tasty liquid flowed down her throat causing her to let out a sigh. She placed the cup down on the white table and glanced at Era''s empty seat.

    As soon as Era had finished talking, she vanished. She always does this, disappearing whenever she loses interest in something. Lisa had already become used to her wilful behavior as Era had done this to her a number of times already, and it was always when this topic came up.

    Rotating the cup of milk on the table, Lisa lost herself in a daze. The milk cooled down while Lisa turned it around again and again, almost hypnotized by it, she focused only on it. Round and round it went on the metallic table, screeching against it.

    She continued for minutes on until a sound came from the terrace door. She turned her head and her face lit up with a warm smile. At this moment, she felt as if it didn''t matter anymore what happens to her old world.

    Standing at the door, Felicia rubbed her honey-colored eyes while she tilted her head. Her long brown-hair flowed with the motions of her head and the shiver of her body as a breeze grazed her body. She still wore only the white shirt and the undergarments. The button on the shirt had long become undone, exposing the small navel of hers.

    Lisa let go of the cup and waved at Felicia to come over. She smiled with affection as she saw Felicia coming over with a dazed expression. Still not quite awake, Felicia trot over to Lisa and was promptly swooped into her arms.

    Now with Felicia on her lap, Lisa stroked her silky brown hair with one hand and hugged her waist with the other. She looked into the sleepy eyes of Felicia and said with a loving tone, ¡°Good Morning, sleepyhead.¡±

    ¡°Morning,¡± Felicia mumbled with a yawn. She leaned into Lisa''s bosom and seemed to almost fall asleep again.

    Lisa reached out and pinched Felicia''s cheek with some force. After letting out a cute squeal, Felicia shook off the pinching hand and rubbed her cheek with a pout.

    ¡°How are you feeling, Felicia?¡± Lisa ignored the grievance-filled eyes and asked with a small smile.

    ¡°Really tired and sore, and tired, really tired,¡± Felicia yawned again after she answered. She stopped her pouting and leaned into the warm bosom again. With a blushed face she played with Lisa''s open white shirt.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Lisa played with Felicia''s hair as she pondered. She raised her head to see the two suns already past their zenith. She didn''t mind the awkward time and looked back at Felicia who focused on playing with her shirt. She smiled as she said, ¡°How about we take a bath and then eat something?¡±

    ¡°mmm,¡± Felicia made a sound in acknowledgment while everything under the shirt distracted her. Then, she blinked and looked up at Lisa with an open mouth. ¡°We?¡±

    Lisa chuckled and didn''t answer as she put Felicia down from her lap. She stood up, held Felicia''s hand, and pulled her back into the house. Still dazed, Felicia followed docile.

    The two walked under the glass roof through the wide corridor. Their barefoot stepping onto the comfortable carpet covering the floor. Past the furniture in the middle of the corridor and past the bedroom, Lisa dragged Felicia to the room next to it.

    After Lisa opened the door to the room, a white and large bathroom came into their view. Standing out the most within was a spacious bathtub large enough to be comfortable for four to five people.

    ¡°Can you fill-up the tub?¡± Lisa turned to Felicia and asked. She had a red blush all over her face as she nodded softly. Lisa smiled and tucked some of Felicia''s hair behind her ear. While looking at the shy girl she said, ¡°I''ll pick some clothes for us while you do that, okay?¡±

    After she got a nod from Felicia, Lisa left the bathroom and went into the bedroom. Standing before the closet wall, Lisa pondered about what clothes they should wear. The size shouldn''t be too much of a problem as Felicia was only a bit shorter than her. She hasn''t planned for them to go out today so there was also no need for anything to fancy.

    Lisa tapped her lips with a finger as she thought about it for a few moments. Then, after a shrug, she rummaged through the closet to fish out two simple long sleeve shirts and two brown shorts. Along with knee-high socks and some white panties, the stay-at-home outfit was completed.

    Satisfied, Lisa walked back to the bathroom with a small smile. When she entered the doorway, the sight of Felicia unclasping her frilly bra with a dreamy expression greeted her. Lisa stopped and let her eyes roam the side profile of Felicia. A faint hot mist obscured barely what she had dreamed about tonight.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The bra fell on the floor causing Lisa to nearly drop the clothing in her hand too. Without giving Lisa a chance to calm down, Felicia bend and began to drag down her panties.

    Lisa closed her eyes and took and breathed in and out deeply. When she opened them again, She saw the nude Felicia peering at her with a flustered expression, the mist rising from the filled bathtub behind her making the scene phantasmal.

    Lisa smiled at her warmly, her intense eyes making the girl even more flushed. She put the clothes down in a basket near the wall and took off the loose shirt that was barely covering her upper body anyway. After that, she dropped her panties down and walked up to the shy girl.

    ¡°There is no need to be nervous or shy, Felicia,¡± Lisa said with a chuckle as she began to play with the brown hair of Felicia. She brought her mouth next to Felicia''s ear and whispered with a warm voice, ¡°Besides, it would be better for you to get used to it. It will happen a lot more in the future, after all.¡±

    With a chuckle, Lisa passed Felicia after she finished and walked up to the bathtub.

    ¡°And, I went often bathing together with my sister. It really is not too much of a problem once you get used to it,¡± Lisa further said as she dipped a hand into the misty water. The warmth of it really surprised her. She wasn''t that long gone to pick clothes and yet the huge bathtub was already filled with warm water. The wonders of a different world, really.

    Lisa turned around and led the dazed Felicia by hand to the showers. Under the shower heads, Lisa fumbled a bit around before she found the right knob to turn on the water.

    The water splashed directly both of them, drenching them and causing Felicia to shake in surprise. With a giggle, Lisa didn''t mind and washed her body with deliberate movements. Felicia copied her soon after the water had cleared her head up a bit.

    The two washed for a few minutes before Lisa turned the showers off. She turned to Felicia whose expression had mostly returned to normal. Aside from a faint blush on her cheeks, but whether that came from the warm water or not is debatable.

    ¡°Feeling a bit better?¡± Lisa asked with a pleasant voice.

    ¡°Much better, ehhh,ehmm, ehhh-¡± Felicia stuttered and became flustered again. She looked at Lisa with embarrassment. Lisa, meanwhile, only began to laugh.

    ¡°haha, I totally forgot,¡± Lisa put a hand before her mouth as she laughed. The sight at Felicia stuttering and trying to find a way to call her seemed way too amusing. She laughed a few seconds and then flicked the adorable girl''s forehead.

    ¡°Lisa, or Sis or even Darling, if you want,¡± leaving these words behind Lisa walked to the bathtub with a smile. She confirmed the temperature once again with a hand and then carefully climbed into the wide tub.

    A sigh escaped once she sat fully within. All the stress from the last day escaped her as the warm water enveloped her and relaxed her body. With a dreamy expression, Lisa turned her head to see Felicia walk over with a shy smile.

    Without hesitating, she also climbed into the bathtub, directly beside Lisa, and sat down. A soft seeling grazed Lisa''s skin as Felicia leaned herself close to her.

    Felicia than raised her head to stare at Lisa and with a small smile of her own and a sweet voice she called out, ¡°Thank you very much, darling~¡±

    Lisa opened her mouth in surprise as Felicia held her arm and looked with a proud yet shy smile at her. Felicia also began to laugh lightly while Lisa could only blink with further wonder. She really didn''t know what had suddenly got into the girl.

    ¡°I am really thankful, Lisa,¡± Felicia said after she stopped laughing. Her voice was sweet and affectionate as she spoke in a quiet tone. She leaned in close and hid her face from Lisa by leaning onto her shoulder. ¡°For saving me and taking care of me. I can get really easily flustered and disoriented, so I''m sorry if I cause any troubles to you in the future.¡±

    Lisa looked down at the half of Felicia''s face she could see and smiled warmly. Despite her calm words, her face was all flushed. Lisa patted her head but didn''t say anything. She just enjoyed the soft and bouncy feeling against her arm while relaxing within the warm water.

    The mist slowly rose from the bathtub, obscuring somewhat the sight of the girls bathing within. A few sighs here and there escaped them while they relaxed in the water, the soreness of a stressful last day fleeing their bodies.

    Lisa wasn''t sure how much time had passed when she felt the water cool down. She ignored it for a few more minutes so she could feel the comfortableness of a soft body next to her a little.

    Eventually, she sighed with regret and poked Felicia''s cheek. It took the girl a few moments to look up into Lisa''s mellow blue eyes with glazed honey-colored eyes. Her breath stopped for a second as she saw Felicia.

    With a dreamy expression, Felicia looked up to her while the rest of her body was beneath the water. The water blurred the delicate curves of Felicia. Somehow, a phrase from last night came into her mind again; ¡®Less is More¡¯ and this time she felt it to be true for different reasons.

    She caressed Felicia''s face while bringing her own closer to the delicious treat before her. When her lips brushed against the ones from the girl beneath her and their noses bumped against each other, Lisa stopped. Felicia still stared at her with glazed eyes but Lisa instead brought her lips up and kissed her forehead.

    With a sigh, Lisa stood up and brought Felicia out of her daze. Felicia followed Lisa with her eyes as she climbed out of the bathtub and then turned to her.

    ¡°The water is getting cold. If you want to get a cold then you can stay a bit longer in,¡± Lisa said with a chuckle. She then walked to the wall with a few shelves containing towels and such.

    Felicia sat in the bathtub for a few moments longer. She stroked her lips a few times while observing Lisa drying herself unnecessary slow. With a sigh of regret, she stood up and also climbed out.

    The two girls dried themselves, each caught up in their own thoughts. Once done, Lisa smiled at Felicia whose long hair was still wet and stuck to her body. Felicia glanced every now and then at Lisa, while barely covering her own body with a towel.

    ¡°I picked a few simple clothes for us as we don''t need to go out today,¡± Lisa said and picked up the clothes from the basket near the door. After she handed Felicia her share, Lisa began to put on the long sleeve shirt and the brown shorts.

    Once both were dressed, Lisa chuckled at Felicia fiddling with a towel to try to dry her long brown hair a bit further. Hers had also not dried yet, but Felicia''s hair was simply much longer than her. So obviously it would be much more annoying.

    ¡°How about I do that for you on the terrace, hmm?¡± She asked Felicia. The girl in question nodded and with a shy smile handed the towel to Lisa.

    Lisa also grabbed the hand of Felicia and guided her out of the bathroom. From then on she directly went to the terrace, only to stop in the doorway leading out to it.

    Felicia tilted her head in wonder and peeked out from behind Lisa. On the table, the two had sat near, steaming dishes were placed on. Two plates with various types of cutlery sat next to each other beside the dishes. There also were a steaming cups of some sort of drink next to them.

    Felicia blinked her eyes in surprise. She wanted to ask when she spotted a maid standing at the edge of the terrace. With graceful movements, more exquisite than even the maids serving her in the castle, the maid bowed towards them. From her blonde hair pulled into a bun a few strands fell on her otherworldly face.

    ¡°Dinner is ready, Mistress~¡± Era said.

 A Morning spent Painting: 03

    The warm tea flowed down her throat and eased her full stomach. With a sigh of content, Lisa stroked the white cat on her lap and leaned back into the bench. She glanced at the brown-haired head leaning on her shoulder and smiled warmly.

    She took another sip from the chamomile tea. Era''s dinner had been fantastic as it had always been whenever she ate it in her old world and the two of them made it disappear quite fast. Now, after the empty plates had vanished under Era''s hands and she gave them a tea to drink, relaxing was in order.

    The early afternoon''s breeze dispelled some of the warmth of the two suns traveling in the sky. Lisa took a last sip from the tea and placed the cup down. She reached and stroked the brown hair of the girl beside her.

    Felicia looked up to her with sleepy eyes and let out a satisfied sound. She pressed her head against Lisa''s stroking hand and closed her eyes in comfort.

    Lisa smiled and pleased the purring cat all she could with her head rubs. A cry from her lap made her smile wryly. She shifted one to the white cat and stroked the hair of the two pleased cats.

    The soft feeling beneath her fingers and the purring from the two cats made her even more so gentle. A few minutes later, however, her hand felt quite exhausted and she stopped to the protest of Felicia. The other cat had already fallen asleep on her lap, miraculously.

    Felicia beside her stared at her with glazed eyes in a mix between tiredness and dissatisfaction. The honey color bobbed up and down with her head on the verge of sleeping and made Lisa reach out. She cupped the soft cheeks and gazed the lightly with her thumbs. Felicia let her eyes fall to the warmth and her breath slowly steadied.

    The sleeping face making her stop, Lisa let her eyes roam Felicia. The long eyelashes quivering ever so slightly at the still unsteady sleep. The cute nose sitting over the small yet desirable lips. It made her remember.

    Remember when she had stroked her face after she woke up yesterday night. Remember when she had leaned into those lips. When she had instead raised her head and kissed her small forehead. Remember how she had changed her clothing and made her remember the dreams she had that night.

    Lisa let a thumb stroke the red lips and began to lean in slowly. Her forehead pressed against Felicia and she looked at the closed eyes.

    What had gotten into her ever since she met Felicia, she didn''t know and now didn''t care. She moved her chin and tasted something different. A bit warm. Very sweet. Tasty. Like a cherry petal.

    Lisa lost herself in the feeling and explosion within her head. The divine feeling of the soft and delicious treat before her making her just as heated as last night. Her tongue probed for an entrance yet with Felicia sleeping she could only let it roam the lips.

    After what felt like an eternity to Lisa she removed her lips from the sweet treat. Her breath warm and a bit rushed. She looked at Felicia and her flushed cheeks. Her eyes moved under the closed eyelids causing her to grin.

    She leaned in and kissed those lips once again. This not with the desire from the night. Not with the want to taste the cherry. She just shared her indescribable and overwhelming feeling she felt for the girl.

    The honey eyes opened and revealed something similar to Lisa. Their mouths opened turning the kiss into something more heated.

    ¡°It really is a shame to interrupt such a passionate scene,¡± the melodious voice of Era suddenly disturbed the loving of Lisa and Felicia.

    At this moment, Lisa felt the urge to hit that woman more than ever. She looked with regret and feeling into Felicia''s eyes and separated their lips.

    ¡°What is it, Era?¡± Lisa asked after she sat straight again. She glanced at Era standing near the terrace entrance. The blonde-haired woman had a hand over mouth and looked at her with interest.

    ¡°If you would pay attention to your precious little ring, you would know that you have visitors, and I guarantee you, you won''t like what they came for,¡± Era laughed after she said this.

    Lisa lifted her hand and saw the silver ring pulsating with a gentle light. As she focused on it, the information of someone standing before the building and knocking on it entered her head. An image of Cale knocking on the double doors with a tense expression soon followed, causing her to frown.

    With a sigh, she put the cat down from her lap and stood up. Felicia stared at her with confusion. The expression on her face made it clear she was still rather dazed. Lisa patter her head and smiled at her warmly. From Era''s words, she could guess what the visitors were here for.

    ¡°Sorry, Felicia, but it looks like we have to end this here, it seems Cale couldn''t stall your family longer,¡± Lisa said with a sadness she didn''t quite understand herself.

    She saw Felicia blink a few times when realization dawned on her face. Felicia looked into Lisa''s regret-filled eyes and bowed her head, hiding her face. However, she still stood up and moved towards the terrace door without waiting for her.

    Lisa followed her quick, too much caught up within her own emotions to notice any abnormality. Each within their own world, they reached the double doors leading outside fast.

    Felicia stopped before the doors and stood still with a bowed head. Lisa could only go around her. She put a hand on the door handle but didn''t press down on it. She heard the slight knock from outside, but instead turned around and crouched before Felicia.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    From her lovely honey-colored eyes tears were flowing down her cute face. Lisa raised a hand and wiped a few of those tears away. The adorable girl looked at her with a mix of emotions. Sadness and fear are what Lisa could read definitely from the eyes.

    She wiped any tears away that flowed down Felicia''s face but didn''t say anything. She didn''t know what to say. The girl should fear that they would never see each other again, but the words to promise her they would see each other just wouldn''t leave her mouth. She couldn''t promise her something she wasn''t sure of herself, not with how weak she was.

    ¡°Let her go with those knights,¡± an old voice resembling Hendricks entered her head out of nowhere. The voice echoed through her mind a few times making her grimace. She didn''t want to but else could she do, however, the next words of Hendricks echoing through her head made her pause. ¡°Don''t worry, she will still be able to visit you. Come later to my tower if you want her to reside with you at some point.¡±

    Lisa sighed at her own stupidity before she smiled at Felicia with warmth. She rubbed the face flushed from tears and then leaned in to kiss a surprised Felicia. She ignored the knocking behind and just tasted the lips she couldn''t get enough from.

    When the two separated, their breaths had already quickened fro the lack of air. Lisa held her forehead to Felicia''s and spoke first.

    ¡°Visit me as often as you can okay?¡± Lisa asked and after she received a short nod from the blushed girl, she leaned in and kissed her again before she said, ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll try my best to take you away someday.¡±

    With a giggle, Lisa stood up and led Felicia by hand to the door. Opening it she saw Cale stopping his hand mid-air. She smiled at him with a hint of regret, which he returned. Behind him on the street not far away, she also saw a few knights dressed in white full body armor. On their chest, a crest similar to the one Cale has on his chest.

    ¡°I am sorry, Lisa, but I couldn''t keep my promise for long,¡± Cale said with a bow of his head. His voice was clearly apologetic as he explained, ¡°However, while my mentor could stall even the Queen, His Majesty, the King had suddenly returned overnight. It was then tomorrow midday, my mentor ordered to take Her Highness back to the palace.¡±

    His head remained bowed after he finished. Lisa sighed and understood. He had promised her after all, but it was understandable as to why he couldn''t keep that promise.

    ¡°It''s fine, you probably already tried you best.¡± She smiled at him and then turned to Felicia, who was clutching her hand quite hard. The girl still wore the long sleeve shirt and brown shirt along with some knee-high socks. Lisa laughed a bit and said, ¡°First we have to change though.¡±

    Without waiting for an answer from Cale, she dragged Felicia back into the house and through the large corridor into the bedroom. She loosened her grasp on Felicia and began to busy herself with choosing an outfit that would fit the slightly smaller girl. All the while she hummed a nice tune.

    It took her a while to find a cute white skirt along with a loose black pullover. She also took out the boots Felicia had worn last night and turned around to notice Felicia.

    Standing in the middle of the room, Felicia stared at her with tears flowing down her face while she smiled broadly.

    ¡°Crying again?¡± Lisa walked up to her with a  smile of her own and placed the clothes down beside her. She wiped once again the tears away and kissed her. Not giving Felicia time to say anything she directly began to unbutton the girl''s shirt and shorts.

    Over the next few minutes, Lisa changed Felicia''s clothes herself and with very throughout touches. She felt every inch of the soft curves of Felicia. By the time, Felicia was fully dressed, her breath had become hot and ragged. Lisa kissed her on the forehead and whispered in her ear, ¡°I really can''t wait till you sleep here once again. The next time¡­.¡±

    She trailed her last words and let Felicia guess what she meant. Taking the small hand, she led the fantasizing girl out of the bedroom.

    While the two walked back to the double doors, Lisa thought about her own rapidly changing emotions today. It really had been a long time since she had felt such a plethora of emotions. It really made her feel as if she''s alive and not just rotting away.

    Standing before the wryly smiling Cale again, Lisa chuckled and stepped aside to let Felicia walk towards the group of knights. The girl kept on glancing at her but didn''t stop. The white knights saluted her with a bump to their chests and directly escorted her away.

    Lisa followed Felicia with her eyes and didn''t register the words Cale said to her before he too left. When the group left her sight, she sighed and walked back in. She closed the door and strolled towards the bedroom.

    While choosing an outfit for herself, she pondered a bit. Just a single day and she experienced so much. It really made her carve for some peace. At least, Felicia should be able to visit her, soothing her a bit. She had taken a liking, no, fallen in love with that girl so fast, it made her completely throw away her calm. She had really surprised herself quite a bit with her behavior today.

    She chuckled and dressed in a similar outfit to yesterday. Once done, she didn''t bother to search for Era and walked to the entrance once more. With a tune on her lips, she glanced at the white cat suddenly standing near the door and walked out of the building.

    With the cat following, Lisa strolled the same path she went yesterday to the plaza and then the train station. The walk loosened some of her nerves and she slowly restored her calm little smile as she watched the bustle happening on the shopping street.

    Eventually, she reached the train station and sat down on a bench to wait for a train. She let her eyes all the people coming and going. Even the clothes of the people had some sort of white in them. Near all of them had an element of white mixed within their outfit, making her giggle at this city''s love for that color.

    ¡°What are you giggling so happy about, darling?¡± a low and seductive voice reached her and the next moment she felt arms embrace her from behind. The face of Veronica popped up from over her should. ¡°Care to let me in on the fun, dear?¡±

    ¡°I was just observing the love for white in this city,¡± Lisa said with a calm tone. Seeing the grinning face of the woman and her warm purple eyes, she unconsciously relaxed further.

    ¡°Indeed the citizens have a rather strong love towards anything white and red,¡± Veronica said with a giggle of her own. She removed her arms and stepped back to walk around the bench and sit down beside Lisa.

    Lisa didn''t mind Veronica embracing her arm and the soft feeling, bouncy feeling that followed. She stared at the scenery of a big city and kept quiet. Her mellow blue eyes causing some people to avert their eyes after she accidentally locked eyes with them.

    ¡°Is something wrong, dear?¡± Veronica asked a minute later. Lisa looked at her to see the woman staring in her eyes with an interested and concerned gaze. Veronica held up a hand to her eyes and stroked along contours of it. With her voice capable of heating up ice, she said, ¡°Your eyes not only reveal the soul of those you look at but also very easily do so for you, darling.¡±

    Lisa looked at the caring and charming eyes of Veronica and let out a sigh. For some reason, she didn''t hide anything and told about her events with Felicia and her feelings. She didn''t know why she trusted her so much but also didn''t really care and just let it all out.

 A Morning spent Painting: 04

    The wagon rattled as the train began to move. Sitting on a bench within, Lisa felt the steady vibrations on her butt. She readjusted her sitting position and leaned against the backrest. Not that she could move much with the cat on her lap and Veronica embracing her arm. The decent-sized cushion she felt making her not want to move anyway.

    A smile on her lips, she looked at Veronica to her side. The bewitching woman had long black hair framing that familiar face as she looked at her thoughtfully.

    She had been staring at her for a good minute now. That thoughtful look on her face ever since she finished her recount of what happened with Felicia. Veronica didn''t say anything, she just stared at her and she could guess why. After she listened to herself speak about what happened, she realized how silly her unfounded worries were. She just needs to become stronger for now. Felicia should be safe with her father, the King now back in the capital.

    Lisa sighed and patted the white cat a few times. She was thankful that Veronica listened to her little story, at least. She really needed that. Her time ever since she arrived here had been quite packed after all, and Veronica''s consideration helped her quite a bit. The woman held a surprisingly warm side, underneath her seductive ways.

    ¡°So, my little darling has little love problems, huh? How cute, agonizing over your recent crush. To be young again, ah!¡±

    She takes that back. That succubus was just mean, after all. It was her mistake to think Veronica would be any different from her sister. They look so similar, of course, they would be similarly mean. She was already like that yesterday, just a mean tease.

    Lisa turned her head to the side and didn''t bother with Veronica anymore. The other passengers were much more interesting, anyway.

    ¡°haha, don''t be like that, dear, it was only a joke. Just a small mockery. Don''t be mad at me, okay? I do whatever you want to forgive me, haha~¡± Veronica chuckled and said. She put her hands on Lisa''s cheeks and turned her face to around. The small smile on Lisa''s lips causing her to giggle suddenly.

    Looking at the amused Veronica that massaged her face as she laughed, Lisa widened her smile. Even if Veronica was just a mean tease, she had a charming laugh like no other and in her presence, it was easy to just let go of any worries. Doesn''t change her mean streak though. Although It kind of reminded her of the dear times she spent with her sister.

    ¡°Ah, are you thinking of anything rude, darling?¡± Veronica stopped laughing and narrowed her eyes at Lisa, who only responded with innocent eyes and a smile. Veronica shrugged after a staring contest of five seconds and put her arms around Lisa''s neck. She leaned forward, giving Lisa quite an enjoyable view down her cleavage and said, ¡°I am quite jealous, though. Dear Lisa fell in love before I had the chance to do anything. I wanted to keep the cute you all for me but it seems that will not be possible. Makes me quite sad.¡±

    With a wronged look and a pout, Veronica leaned closer and closer to Lisa. Her arms interwoven behind Lisa''s neck locked her in place. When their noses bumped against each other, Veronica stopped and smiled. She stared into Lisa''s blue eyes, that had been darting between her bosom and her face the whole time.

    ¡°Will darling abandon me now? At least spent one last afternoon or night together with me before that happens? Just you and me, hmm?¡± Veronica whispered as her lips closed in on Lisa''s lips. However, just as she was about to taste the sweets, Lisa turned her head and the kiss landed on her cheeks instead. Witha wry smile, Veronica distanced herself a bit from Lisa and waited for her to speak.

    ¡°I''m sorry. I wouldn''t mind playing a bit nor deny myself a treat. However, a kiss is not something I can give you,¡± Lisa said with a sigh and smiled faintly at Veronica. She looked at her and lost herself.

    Her sister had only ever kissed one person, no matter how many girls she brought home. A trait she had continued after her sister passed, no matter with whom she had slept in her old world. She looked ahead, avoiding Veronica''s eyes.

    The train still rattled as it moved in-between stations. The wind from the open overhead windows lifted the hair of the two. All around them were people, going about their lives as they waited for the train to arrive at their station. Amidst that plethora of people, they sat close to each other, lost within their own world.

    ¡°Hmm~ Is that so, what a shame~ But then-¡± Veronica mumbled as she put an arm around Lisa''s waist and pulled their bodies against each other, not caring for any curious glances from the other passengers. She looked at the face in her embrace that seemed to only alternate between a calm smile and a pouting expression. It really made her want to see how it would look all flushed and panting. She whispered, ¡°you wouldn''t mind spending an afternoon or even night with me, right? You said it yourself, you wouldn''t mind playing around a bit~¡±

    Lisa felt the delicate yet curvy body of Veronica as she was pressed against her. She saw that face resembling so much that of her sister. There was an inquisitive look in her warm purple eyes but a charming smirk on her lips. And she felt the warm breath on her ears as Veronica whispered to her. She really is a temptress. A temptress so similar to her sister, it made her feel a bit weak.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Sure, I wouldn''t mind a date,¡± said Lisa with a slight smile.

    ¡°Haha, then let''s go on a small one right now~,¡± Veronica said with happiness in her voice. She looked down at the white cat that was unhappily squished between them and smirked. ¡°Go back to your master, I''ll occupy her for now. She''ll come later to him.¡±

    The white cate growled low for a few seconds but in the end, still disappeared from Lisa''s lap. Lisa only glanced curiously at the two but didn''t bother to comment. Veronica meanwhile pulled her even closer, almost on her thighs, and stroked her waist.

    The train continued on with both of them silent in an embrace. The fast-moving scenery of a white and red city constantly before them along with the influx of people whenever the train stops. Along with the lively conversations held, Lisa felt as if she had returned back to her old world. She had always liked to take the train to experience such a scene.

    She leaned on Veronica and sighed. However, she felt a bit guilty about going on a date right after she promised Felicia to make the girl her own. But it''s just some fun, just some harmless playing around, so it should be fine. She did enough of that in her old world. Still, she can''t wait to see Felicia again and have her in her embrace.

    Eventually, with the announcement of the Milar Street Station, the two stood up and walked out of the train. Lisa overlooked the scenic boulevard again and smiled. From the elevated platform, she could see the bustle just like yesterday. Couples and Families enjoyed the afternoon on the wide street.

    The greenery scattered across the paved street, the glittering lake beside it, and the tall tower at the far end. Along with the lively atmosphere, it really made for a picture-perfect scene.

    ¡°Let''s go get something to eat and then let''s relax near the lake,¡± Veronica took the lead, and with their arms interwoven, they went down the platform.

    While walking they stayed mostly silent. Just enjoying the afternoon on the boulevard. The surrounding bustle made for enough noise for the two anyway. Also providing the occasional short talk should something interesting happen. Like a dog almost jumping over the railings into the lake.

    After a few minutes of Veronica leading, they arrived at a well-visited stall standing on the boulevard. There were quite a few scattered across the street, with this one being barely any different from them.

    Obviously, like any other, they waited admits the line till there turn came to buy. Once Lisa got a good look at the food Veronica recommended, she chuckled with humor. The so-called creme Wraps prepared cutely and presented with a sweet scent were really just crepes.

    ¡°I''ll have a vanilla blueberry one, and my darling here a chocolate blueberry one please,¡± Veronica said to the man in his forties preparing the crepes. Lisa glanced at her as she didn''t even ask for her opinion but didn''t say anything. She would have chosen chocolate anyway.

    With a pretty chocolate crepe or creme Wrap, in hand, Lisa walked with Veronica across the boulevard to a bench that and sat down with her. The wide and glittering lake before them, the two relaxed close to each other on the bench.

    ¡°The stall is quite well-known for its superb sweets. Every day they have something different making it a sweet experience,¡± Veronica said and took a bite of her blueberry one. She closed her eyes as she tasted the sweet creme and blueberry sauce. Lisa followed her suit and took a small bite of her chocolate crepe.

    She couldn''t help and also close her eyes in the delight of a delicious creme and the sweet chocolate. She quickly took another bite to taste the masterpiece of a crepe again. The fluffy creme feeling like a cloud watered with chocolate in her mouth.

    She opened her eyes to see Veronica staring at her with a proud look. Smiling at her, Lisa said, ¡°It really tastes delicious, thank you.¡±

    ¡°hehe, I can see that my dear,¡± Veronica returned with a chuckle. She reached out and wiped some cream from Lisa''s and put the finger with it in her mouth. ¡°It really tastes great.¡±

    Lisa didn''t mind and smiled at the sight. She held her own crepe before Veronica and said, ¡°Want to taste mine and I taste yours?¡±

    Without a word, Veronica reached her own out and they both took a bite. At the same time, they closed their eyes and enjoyed the fluffiness of the creme and the sweet taste of chocolate and vanilla blueberry. Opening their eyes, they both chuckled at the sight of their mouthes lined with white creme.

    After wiping their mouths for each other, Lisa and Veronica went back to eating their own in a slow, relaxed pace.

    While eating, Lisa decided she is definitely going to bring Felicia here one day. The afternoon sun and wind along with the picturesque view of a lake with the rising city behind it made for a great dating place. She can''t wait to bring the adorable girl here.

    She smiled and finished the rest of her crepe. Snuggling a bit closer to Veronica, she looked at her and said, ¡°Thank you, Veronica.¡±

    ¡°Anytime again, darling. And a piece of advice from me; don''t worry about the princess too much, focus on what you gave to do, for now, she''ll be safe with that king protecting her now,¡± Veronica said. She then leaned and pecked Lisa on the cheeks. Leaning then near her ear, she whispered, ¡°If you want too we even can spend a night together the next few days, I''ll be in town only for a few more days after all.¡±

    ¡°I''ll consider it,¡± Lisa said with a calm smile. She had gotten quite used to her ways so she wasn''t too fazed by the hot breath on her ear. Not that it meant8 she won''t accept that proposal.

    ¡°Hmm, well, I won''t hold you up any longer. I''m sure quite anxious about getting stronger with a goal in mind,¡± Veronica kissed her once more on the cheek after she spoke. After she stood up and with a light twirl of her dress she said, ¡°It was a fun small date, Lisa, See you~¡±

    ¡°See you,¡± Lisa said while she winked at the leaving Veronica. Once the woman resembling her sister a bit too much disappeared from her sight, she stood up and stretched.

    She overlooked the busy boulevard once more and then walked towards the tall tower belong to ber master. Feeling much less tense, she strolled with a small smile along the paved street.

 A morning spent Painting: 05

    Disordered breaths echoed throughout the tower without a top. Heavy footsteps followed. With every step her feet took, louder those two became. A huff and Lisa slid down the railing. Her tired arms on her lap, she looked up into the endless darkness.

    The stairs spiraled into it, disappearing from her eyes. The bookshelves reached out to it, hiding within the endless tower top. The windows'' light faded and failed to illuminate it.

    Just why was she climbing such a desolate tower? To learn magic? Why? Because Era told her to? Because Magic is fascinating? Because....she can save Felicia with it?

    Felicia... Just a random girl she encountered in distress. A coincidental meeting. A pure chance meeting. They hadn''t even stayed together for a day yet...yet she promised to take her back from the royalty....from her supposedly family...from whatever took them apart.

    The darkness up top began to drip. Like wet ink on a canvas, it dripped down and dyed the tower. Her mellow blue eyes stared into the ink. The soft glow on the blue radiated warmth as it reminisced. The glow filled the eyes and then drew on the ink. A black canvas painted on with a blue so faint, it resembled ice.

    A morning sun through a glass ceiling was slowly painted on the canvas. Under the glass, she stood before the small girl. Her honey eyes looked into hers. Those lovely eyes were stained with tears. Her hand reached out and wiped the tears away. Her mouth moved.

    "Next time....I''ll make you my own."

    Lisa spoke the words for the silent painting. Spoke the words she had left to guess for Felicia.

    The painting finished. Under the sunshine, in the old library, she held Felicia''s cheeks and smiled at her. In Felicia''s, a spark shone as she looked at her. Manifested eternally on the black canvas, painted with a blue oh so soft.

    Lisa gazed at it and could not take her eyes away. Even as the ink dripping from the painting soaked her clothes. Even as it filled the tower and submerged her. Her eyes pierced through the ink ocean she drowned in and only looked at the painting.

    At that time, for the first time in her life, because of that girl, she decided on something for herself. Something she will grasp with her own. Something that is entirely her own...

    "Lisa, one day....one day you will have to write your own story," her sister said. That familiar warm smile on her lips.

    "Even if I can''t be in it. Even if I can''t take part in it. Even if I am not the one making you pick up the pen and write, I look forward to reading it~"

    The hand of hers reached out and stroked her cheek. Her sister brought her lips closer and kissed her for just a second.

    Lisa opened her eyes to a stone ceiling. Red and purple dyed it. She tried to push herself up, yet only moaned softly. Her body ached. Every bone, pore and muscle cried to her, spoke of the abuse they had received.

    "It would be best for you to continue sleeping."

    She turned her head. Hendrick''s sat on the sofa and while stroking the white cat sipped at a cup in his hand. The sunset behind him outlining his silhouette. It had a faint majesty to it, Lisa thought.

    She let her eyes follow the serene movements of her master. A purr reached her occasionally from the satisfied white cat. The hot chocolate''s smell intoxicated her nose. Till gradually her soft blue eyes closed and wandered off.

    <hr>

    This time the familiar white scenery opened up before her eyes. Along with a very familiar girl humming and dangling her legs off a cliff.

    A cliff? Lisa looked down and only found endless white. In this white space only they and the dripping black ink brought change to it. With a shrug and her usual smile, she walked over and sat down beside the girl possessing her old body.

    Before them, a drop fell after another down from the sky onto the white scenery. The ink splashed out as it landed, dyeing the monotone white.

    "It''s greater than before," Lisa''s old voice said to her. She then tilted her head and leaned on Lisa''s shoulder.

    "How was school, Thea?" Lisa asked. Another drop of ink splashed on the white. Just as she had said, every drop was almost double in size than from before, when they both had been in here. From a marble to a small ball.

    "Boring." Thea''s curt answer made Lisa laugh. While Thea glared at her displeased, Lisa put an arm around her and began to stroke the light-brown hair, soothing the girl.

    The white continued to be pushed back by the ink drops in the distance. Drop after drop the two observed it, Lisa''s caressing hand never stopping. The two spend minutes to hours just like this. Only occasionally gossiping about Thea''s new school life. At least until the alarm rang again.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "Time to wake up," Lisa said and looked down at Thea. She laid on her lap and had already put on an unwilling face. Her smile further grew as she pinched her old body''s cheeks. A weird feeling at the back of her mind, all the while...

    Thea could only give in to the merciless pinching. Yet, within seconds of standing up, her disgruntled expression disappeared. She bubbly smiled at Lisa and with a smirk kissed Lisa''s cheeks. In the next moment, her presence had already been erased from this space.

    Lisa could only smile wryly at where the girl had vanished. Indeed a problem child.  She sighed and looked ahead, at the endless spill of ink. At the mana dyeing her soul. If she were to walk under it, what would happen?

    Another sigh and she fell on her back, laying down on the fluffy white. The white formed around her and gave her the comfiest bed she had yet. As if floating on a cloud.

    Her breathing evened. Her eyes turned dazed while the smile faded. Why was her soul white? Why was it empty aside from the mana?

    ...because she had no story of her own painted yet?

    <hr>

    The stone ceiling greeted her again. The sunset colors had long vanished, replaced by a warm gold. She turned her head to see Hendrick''s reading a book. Candles stood all around the wide-open room. The night was illuminated by their warm light.

    A groan escaped her as she tried to move. Even raising her upper body brought her great discomfort. At least, she felt better than before and could sit up.

    A tempting scent came suddenly up to her nose. She looked ahead and saw a hazy Hendricks turning a page on his book. The fog of a fresh mug of hot chocolate obscured him ever so slightly. Lisa mumbled a thank you and without further ado took the mug out of the air.

    The taste lingered on her tongue. The warmth traveled through her body. Just the right temperature to take a few sips without burning the tongue. Just the right blend to not be too sweet and overwhelming.

    In the candlelight, on the couch, before the night scenery of the city, Lisa sighed in content and savored the hot chocolate.

    Eventually, however, the last drop was gulped down. The warmth had already rejuvenated her much, so Lisa stood up. A bit wobbly on sleepy legs, she almost fell while walking. As she sat down the mug on the table with familiar three candles, she felt a soft fur on her legs. The white cat was rubbing its head on her legs. She smiled and bent down to pet it.

    While she did so, a soft clap sounded. Followed by a cane hitting the wooden floor. Moments later, a pair of black shoes stood before her. Hendricks with the closed book in hand looked down on her.

    "Since you feel better, let''s continue your lessons," he said in his usual wizened voice. He lightly pushed the cat away with his cane, to which Lisa could only chuckle.

    "Understood, master~" Lisa responded. She stood up and turned towards the three candles standing on the table.

    "The same as before; light up the candles without burning them down," Hendricks said while he stroked his cane. His eyes hovered on Lisa''s ring as he continued, "However, this time do not just focus on wanting to light them. Instead, ask yourself; how would you create the flame?"

    Lisa blinked a few times and processed what he said before she nodded. She stretched out her arms and laid her hands, palms up, on the table as before. The sore feeling in her bones out of her mind, she stood solely focused on the candles.

    Her eyes closed and she listened. Listened to the beat in her chest. To the hypnotic rhythm. Beat after beat, as the sound of heart echoed through her body, pulsing blood through it. On and on, the steady beat grew stronger. Louder as it rang in her ears. And more painful as it pushed against the boundaries of her body.

    "How do you want to create the flame?" The old voice sounded in her head.

    How?

    Her eyelids opened up. The mellow blue twinkled ever so slightly. The soft color in the eyes accenting the blonde her framing them. The mind of the owner dazed as she lifted a hand. From within her beating heart, a flood of ink flowed out. It pulsed through her body like blood.

    "I would paint the flame," she whispered.

    And so she did. Raised her left hand. As if a brush in her hand, she swung it above the candle. Left and right, up and down. The ink flowed out her fingertips. Energy came alight at the tips of those slender hands. Till the ink in her veins recessed as its task was done.

    Lisa blinked. The ink flames on the three candles danced before her. She brought a hand close to the flame not emitting any light. Even as she pinched it, she didn''t feel any heat. Instead, it felt like thick water, like the ink she normally used to paint. And it dripped just the same as fresh ink.

    From the bottom of the ink flame, small droplets fell and dyed the yellow candle black. The same for the other two. One by one, from the dancing unsteady flame, the ink droplets fell. One by one, the flames shrank. One by one, till only the ink that dyed the candles and part of the table, was left.

    Lisa let out a long sigh. Once again, her body ached, and just after she felt better from earlier. If she had to endure the tsunami of ink every time...

    "Well done for now," Hendricks announced while he stroked his grey beard. "About the Mana Flood, you can do nothing but practice enough to limit your mana draw enough for your usage. You should have felt how most of the mana recessed back, right? You did not put a limit on it, which is why it came in quantity beyond your limit."

    After his long explanation, Hendricks turned and walked back to the couch. His cane''s sound echoing beside his next words, "For now go back and sleep. This time try to arrive at home peacefully."

    "Goodnight then, master," Lisa answered with a wry smile. She then thought of something and said, "I will try to not run in a cute and lovely girl in distress again~"

    A chuckle on her lips, she turned towards the stairs, the cat in tow. However, before she could step down the stairs, the old voice called out again.

    "Tomorrow midday go to the Guild and inform them that you are being taught by me. It will be useful in the future. The feline can lead you. Now, go."

    Before she could answer, she already stood at the tower''s entrance. After forming her usual small smile, Lisa nodded at the lovely white cat and walked out of the tower.

    Under the twinkling night and the white lamps, Lisa took a stroll across the boulevard. With slow steps, she walked to her station. Taking in the reflecting sea and people doing the same as her. A quiet melody escaped her lips every now and then, and she even bent down at one point to take the cat in her arms. The fresh cold air grazing her skin, refreshing her till she eventually reached the train station.

    As she sat down on the train and stroked the cat on her lap, Lisa looked through the window. The moving scenery of the city layered like stairs still lively under the stars. A proper night date strolling through the boulevard with Felicia is something she will one day surely do. For now she already can''t wait to see the lovely honey eyes again.

    Her smile widened as she imagined every part of the girl she saw so far.

 Theatre in another World: 01

    A bird''s chirm came from outside the window. With its grey wings, it landed with proper grace on the window sill. Another chirm and it began to peck on the glass with its white beak. It poked the window again and again with a merry swing.

    Under the window, on a fluffy white bed, Lisa curled and turned within the warm blanket. The hearty sunlight shone just right onto her face. The pecking sound reached her exposed ears perfectly.

    She grimaced and frowned, opening the mellow blue eyes just a crack. Her mushy sleepy mind was greeted by a tiny white and grey bird outlined by the gold of the sun. Such majesty further dazed her.

    Suddenly, a white shadow jumped, sending waves through the fluffy bed. it landed on the window sill. A swipe and its claws met the glass. A shrill sound echoed through, making Lisa groan. The white cat growled at the escaping bird before it froze up the next second.

    It turned its head. Its pupils dilated as it met Lisa''s glowing blue eyes. It shrunk under the freezing glow and shuddered. The white ears drooped low????.

    Lisa sighed at it and brought a hand to her cold half-closed eyes. A light massage later, she moved with the grace of a sloth to stand from the warm, comfy and fluffy bed. She pushed away the snuggly blanket that would keep her perfectly protected from the morning cold.

    She glanced once back. Back at the tempting bed ready to embrace her once again. Yet its size made her miss the one soft person not present and such she began to walk.

    The white shirt fluttered while she moved out of the room and towards the terrace. The floor had just the right cold to feel comfortable and made her curl her toes a bit. Meanwhile, the scent of freshly made toast and hot chocolate led her to the open terrace.

    On the table now before her, a ready and ample breakfast of toast, eggs, cereal and more had already been prepared. Also, a ready steaming mug of hot chocolate stood at the side, with a kettle sitting on a metal plate beside it. Without questioning it, Lisa sat down at the seat with the mug and a plate plus utensils.

    ??The morning wind made her shoulder-length hair float occasionally. The two suns, one big and one small warmed her enough in that wind. The open terrace gave her a perfect view of the red and white city and its glittering lake. The curious bird from earlier chirmed a melody from the railing. The toast filled her stomach, and the hot chocolate made her sigh in content. Till she set aside the empty mug and the terrace door opened. Lisa didn''t bother to check and instead ate her toast while watching the bird hop around the railing, teasing the disgruntled white cat.

    "Has it been to your liking, Mistress?~" Era whispered closely into Leah''s ear. Part laughter, part alluring.

    "It was tasty. Thank you, Era," Leah answered. She glanced at the beautiful blonde woman dressed in her exquisite black gown.

    "Glad to hear~," Era said while forming a sweet smile with her lips and eyes. She walked over and sat opposite Leah down on the table, resting her chin on her hands. Her head had a slight tilt, making the blonde bangs flutter above piercing crystal blue eyes. The look of a child looking at a toy still in those, like it always had been. "What do you have planned for today?"

    "Master told me to go the Guild to register," Lisa replied while pouring herself another mug of hot chocolate from the kettle?. A slight smile on her face. "Other than that, exploring the city a bit more is also an idea..."

    Her words trailed off as she thought about what she should do for today. Meanwhile, she placed the kettle down and brought the mug to her lips, blowing at it a few times to not burn herself. The registration shouldn''t take too long, so she should have some free time, and it felt like Hendricks didn''t want her to come to practice today. So, other than exploring, maybe she could try painting a bit or...

    "How about we go on a date while doing that?" Era said abruptly. Her gem-like blue eyes blinked a few times, while her lips formed a beautiful curve. A curve bent almost to an alarming smirk.

    The question made Lisa pause the sip she wanted to take. Still held up before Lisa''s lips, the hot chocolate fog obscured their gazes on each other just a bit. The different blues in their eyes reminiscing the same memories. Memories of years back when one had cared for the other when both took pleasure in the other''s presence. When one questioned the reason of the other.

    "Fine," Lisa said with a sigh, knowing it would be useless to say ''no'' to the mean-spirited woman. She took a sip and brought her gaze to the white and red city scenery once more. She added with a teasing smile, "but you can''t wear that... it''s way too conspicuous."

    Era laughed with a hand before her mouth. The melodious sound ringing from behind her translucent glove-glad hand. She currently wore the same black gown, she always liked to wear and had on when she greeted Lisa on her first day here. A long, ornate black gown much more fit for a ball than breakfast on a terrace. As beautiful as the terrace with wooden railings and overgrown plants may be.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    <hr>

    A familiar hum echoed through the two-storied library. Sunlight from the ceiling made mostly out of glass brought enough light to comfortably read and enjoy during day time. At night, the lamps aided by the moon and stars provided the light for such.

    Lisa strolled towards the entrance through the long and wide corridor that is most of the library. The countless books stacked high on the shelves on the two open layers begged to be read. It made her smile a bit. She''ll try to read a bit later today after coming back. While letting a finger grace the various pieces of furniture, Lisa made her way to the entrance and waited for Era to arrive.

    The clock above the double doors leading to the small street ticked in a steady rhythm. A familiar bird chirm cam from outside the doors, making the white cat at Lisa''s feet growl. She crouched beside it and lightly stroked its head and ears. Its growl changed quickly to a low purr.

    Approaching footsteps caused Lisa to turn her head while patting the white cat. She paused her motion and took in the wonderful sight.

    An old library with exquisite wooden carving behind her swaying long blonde hair. A clear pair of glasses on her small nose, tucking away one side of her hair behind her small right ear. Suited on the ear, a silver earring matching her silver necklace that had a blue gemstone attached. It sat on the sleeveless white pullover that had a black belt at the waist. To protect against the cold, she also wore a blue coat going down to her black pants.

    "What do you think?" Era asked while she pushed up the glasses with a hand. Her sharp eyes narrowed at Lisa, while a smirk showed itself beneath her nose. Her mature face and graceful pose bearing majesty and arrogance like no other. Yet, the next second, she suddenly skipped over to Lisa merrily and crouched before her.

    Her smile, expression and entire atmosphere excluded warmth exceeding even the two suns high up in the sky. The blue in her eyes glittered with a love melting any resistance. Crouched before Lisa, Era grabbed the sleeve of the black jacket over her white blouse and with the sweet voice of a childhood sweetheart asked, "Is this better, Lisa? Ne, you like this type..so would you like m-?"

    Before she could finish, Lisa flicked Era''s forehead with a nonchalant smile. A cute sound escaped Era''s lips as her head moved back a bit.

    "mouu...," while making such a sound and rubbing her unhurt forehead, Era looked at Lisa with hurt eyes. Her understanding and loving smile implied she would accept whatever her love would do, like a faithful childhood sweetheart.

    "It looks very beautiful on you, Era," Lisa said while keeping the actual words she would like to say for herself. What a problem child. With a sigh, Lisa straightened from her crouch, making her knee-length skirt flutter, and reached out to Era with her usual small smile.

    <hr>

    A little stop at an ice cream parlor, a little tour through the clothing shop there and a little pat on the small dog having a stare contest with the white cat. Past the white fountain, onboard the train, strolling through the boulevard, admiring the glittering lake. Lisa and Era took their time, and ever so slowly made their way to the highest layer of the city.

    Lisa leaned on the small stone wall and overlooked the white and red city. The sound of water flowing in her ears, the fresh scent of it in her nose and her eyes, in the distance, the royal castle stood imposingly before the sea leading downward to the lower realms with endless waterfalls. Its size and glamour dwarfed all around it. The faint runes that glowed now and then gave the castle the proper fantasy air, or so she thought. In those numerous towers, where would Felicia be currently?

    "Here," Era''s voice, still soft and loving like a sweetheart, whispered suddenly from behind her. Then a little chocolate stick arrived near her mouth. She glanced back at the sweetly smiling Era and after a shake of her head, she took a bite. Indeed, it looks and tastes like a pocky.

    "Sweet, aren''t they?" Era said while she ate the rest of the stick. A happy expression bloomed on her face and it almost seemed as if flowers did so too all around her. The cheerful atmosphere caused bystanders to forget all else and focus solely on the beautiful girl in bliss due to the ''indirect kiss'' she received. Lisa said and took a step closer. With a small sweet smile, she flicked that forehead again and walked past Era, ignoring the "oww...".

    After their extensive stroll to here, they arrived at the Second Plaza, a wide plaza second only to the one before the royal castle itself, hence its name. Although such could also because of the two important buildings here.

    One being the tall cathedral she could see a bit farther away. Countless spires shone in white under the light of the suns in the sky. Even from the distance, she could make out the purple insignia engraved above the sizeable entrance. A flower domed by glass. Such was also engraved on the immense golden bell hanging for all to see in the tallest spire.

    A sudden finger tapping on her cheek brought her out of her daze. Lisa glanced at the smile laced with meaning and amusement of Era. The next second the distorted expression melted into loving again and Era held her hand.

    "Don''t think too much about it for now," Era said while closing the distance and leaning into her.

    "Fine, fine," Lisa replied and with her usual smile let herself be led to the other important building near this plaza. Just how long does she intend to play ''childhood sweetheart''? Really such a problem child.

    If she had to describe the Guild''s branch, it would be grand. Its size certainly set it apart. Not so much in height as in length. Even such it still stood at 5 stories tall. Yet, what made it stand out, even more, wasn''t the exquisite marksmanship rivaling the cathedral or the sheer bustle surrounding it, but rather the grey color it had been painted in. Unlike nearly all other buildings in this red and white city.

    Lisa felt the warmth of Era''s hand as she led to the wide entrance. The bustle from people of all kinds surrounded them. Out and in they all went or browsed the various stalls surrounding the branch. On the balconies and near the countless windows people stood visibly in discussions, thought or just to relax for a minute. All kinds of animals also accompanied many visitors.

    Such liveliness made Lisa smile with interest. Such a scene is something she always liked to observe. Although it''s a lot more fantasy than what she is used to. A chuckle escaped her at the thought, making Era look over confused. She just shook her head with another chuckle and this time led Era, through the entrance.

 Theatre in another World: 02

    A wide hall sprawled out before them. At its center stood multiple counters that served as the reception. Guild personal dealt with every matter of the Guild members and guests. All around it, all kinds of people brought great bustle to the guildhall. A small bistro to the right also was put to full use by these. While on the left, people left and entered small numbered rooms. Multiple boards also stood scattered around, containing tasks and requests for anyone to fulfill.

    While she let her eyes roam the hall, Lisa ordered herself into a line to a counter. Meanwhile, the white cat rubbed its head on her legs and Era happily hummed a tune while holding her hand, perfectly playing the loving sweetheart. Lisa didn''t mind, as it was still better than how she can really be, and instead observed the myriad of people.

    Like a group arguing over the plan to raid a ruin compromised by a corrupted monster. A woman crying silent tears at a man leaving with an armed group. A guild staff, dressed in the formal grey uniform, taking a paper from the task board with a regretful sigh. A quiet girl devouring ice cream at quite the pace, an exquisite chained golden spear by her side. Her white eyes met Lisa''s mellow blue ones. Lisa smiled at her to which she received a tilt of her head as response.

    "Welcome to the Guild. I am Vina. What can I do for you?" A polite voice asked from her side suddenly. Lisa turned her head and saw a woman smiling at her. Her red hair ended a bit above her shoulder. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat before her lively green eyes. She wore the same grey uniform as the other staff members. The crest of an eye behind a scale on her right chest. A tug at her hand, along with Era''s pout, made Lisa chuckle. Such a perfect actor.

    "I would like to register," Lisa said to the receptionist, whose smile had taking a somewhat predatory feel. Yet as their eyes met, Vina paused a few seconds. Her green eyes clouded for a moment as she was lost within memories. The next second she caught herself and coughed.

    "Ehem-. Then let me welcome you to the union of all profession in Fylakie, The Guild," Vina bowed as she announced. She straightened her back and with her index finger swiped across the in a straight line. Wherever her finger slid across, symbols lit up in a brilliant blue. From these symbols, the blue light flowed through the desk like water, forming a vertical blue rectangle before Lisa.

    "Please lay your hand on the runes," Vina ordered, to which Lisa followed placing her right hand on it. Her normally used left one had the silver ring on it and would just interfere with it.

    As she came into contact with them, the symbols, or runes, felt tingly on her hand. They tickled her, before slowly running over her skin in chains. She glanced at Era who just observed it all with amusement.

    "I will ask you various questions for your application in the meanwhile. If you do not feel comfortable, do not hesitate to state so," Vina spoke while readjusting her glasses. Seeing Vina unbothered by the runes crawling over her skin, Lisa decided to not worry and just take in the spectacle.

    "May I know your name?" Vina asked.

    "Lisa Fane" The rune chains sprawled now from her shoulder to her upper body. She could feel the tickle of them in a few more uncomfortable places.

    "Age?"

    "...17," Lisa hesitated a bit as she was unsure if she should use Thea''s physical age or not. She still decided so as this is now her life.

    "Profession?" Vina''s green eyes gleamed with even more interest as she said. All the while she also noted Lisa''s answer quickly down on a small piece of paper.

    "Magician," Lisa''s adorable face lit up in blue while she said. The rune chains now traveled over almost her entire body.

    Vina paused in the midst of writing. "hoo...," her alluring voice let out. "A magician huh?" She mumbled while she looked over Lisa, illuminated by the blue runes. Her gaze took in every curve of Lisa in great detail, staying on her eyes for a while longer before she smiled at the girl a bit red from such an intense gaze.

    "Teacher?" Vina asked a few seconds later.

    "...Hendricks"

    "Of course...who else..." Vina mumbled again while noting down the information. She asked a few more questions in regards to her marital and familial status which Lisa answered mostly in curt replies.

    Meanwhile, the rune chains had now slithered over every part of Lisa''s body. In the next second, they sank under her skin illuminating faintly all under it before the light vanished as if they never had been there in the first place. Yet, she could still feel it. The movement of those runes on her bones, through her blood and the magic they bore. She looked at Vina and awaited an explanation with a frown underneath her golden bangs.

    "The Guild''s registration progress also includes a test to see if you meet the requirements to be an official member of the Guild. The test is usually tailored for the profession in question, such as an artificer creating an item. How long it takes to complete is up to you. However, until you complete it you have to pay a monthly fee to the Guild and it is not a small sum," Vina explained directly, clearly used to the circumstances. "In all honesty, this clause only exists to take advantage of nobles and the like wanting to be part of the guild but not willing to complete the test, so the sum is fairly hefty."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "I see, that''s why the runes stayed..." Lisa said. She pinched her skin with interest yet could only feel her usual soft flesh. Era by her side chuckled at her antics, while Vina smiled slightly.

    "Correct. The runes will verify if you were the one to complete and not someone you hired. Furthermore, it also records your soul''s wavelength, which will be used to ensure no one can for example steal your guild card and use it as their own." Vina further added to her explanation. In the meanwhile she sorted through various documents stored beneath the desk until she came upon something making her smile. "just perfect..."

    Lisa tilted her head cutely at the unnerving excitement in her voice. Era, in the meantime, had returned to occupying a hand of hers and playing with it. The loving and soft air that would make flowers bloom all around her again.

    "Your task will be to retrieve a certain item from Theodore''s Theatre. It is located at Messian Street in the second layer and has been abandoned for a few years now," Vina explained while she placed a few papers on the desk before Lisa. "At the high of its popularity, a murder happened during the final act of a performance, killing the owner and actor Theodore. The culprit, Annabelle, another actor committed suicide directly after. One the same day, a [Door] opened, releasing corruption, which killed various staff members and transformed the theatre into a ghost house. The Guild has kept the theatre mostly untouched to test a new magician such as you, Lisa. However, if you have problems with this task you can always request another one."

    Lisa glanced over the documents while Vina talked. Everything Vina explained had also been noted in there along with some extra information. Such as various maps, that visualized how to get to the theatre from various points as well as more information about Theodore and Annabelle.

    Theodore Lesono. Age 34. Former successful actor and owner of his theatre. A picture of him showed a mature man with an understanding smile and clear royal blue eyes. More information had not been provided. Same for Annabelle.

    At age 22, she had been a central actor at Theodore''s plays and a prot¨¦g¨¦ of him. A beautiful and energetic smile. Her photo showed her dancing as if clouds were below her feet. Her elegant white hair and white eyes sparkled under the stage light.

    The white eyes made Lisa turn her head to a table where now none sat. She glanced around a few times yet could not find the girl with the chained golden spear. She had white hair and eyes just the same. With a sigh, she returned her attention to the papers, yet midway Era made her pause.

    Era had her index finger''s nail on her lips, while those formed a wide smile. Her perfect royal-blue eyes glowed with such interest and amusement. Those unsettling eyes of a child that had found a new toy stared at Annabelle''s picture. With a laugh, Era turned to Lisa and with the sweetest smiles whispered.

    "Ahh, certainly, this will be a pleasure to watch."

    Lisa lost her usual calm smile and glared at Era, which just further fueled her joy. She closed in on the unamused Lisa, letting her lips almost touch Lisa''s ears.

    "A corrupted puppet playing a lonely play and a lonely girl often nothing more than a puppet at the words of others. How interesting~," she whispered in a low and exciting voice.

    <hr>

    "Are you still mad?" Era said. Her voice hurt yet affectionate all the same. Like a sweetheart willing to do all to earn forgiveness for their wrongdoing.

    Ahead of her, the blonde hair ending below the shoulder waved with every step Lisa took. On the sides of the street, all kinds of entertainment made the atmosphere lively. A few played instruments, some sang. The second layer of this city, the entertainment district. Of the three layers above the ground, this one perhaps is the most lively and loudest.

    "I''m not," Lisa turned her head back at Era. She had her usual calming smile on her face. She spoke with a soft voice to the sweetheart acting Era, "I''m used by now to your ways."

    In response Era only tilted her head with a joyful smile. Not to be bothered by it, Lisa focused on the map in her hand. Earlier, after she had asked a few more questions, Lisa left the Guild with Era in tow.

    At that time, Era''s words had rattled her for a few moments, yet here she was, walking down the streets towards that ridiculous task with a small smile. How long is she going to bottle this all up? It is not like Era had been wrong. But...things are a bit different now. She had Felicia now.

    With a sigh, she tossed that into a hidden room in her mind and turned around a corner. Not paying attention to the small constant tug at her sleeve, or the cat tail on her left leg.

    Even though the red roofs and white walls scenery of the city had its charm, a certain monotone feeling couldn''t be avoided. However, on these streets, Lisa could see the creativity of the people in full. Whether it''s the design, engravings and decorations of the building lining this street, all seemed unique and interesting in their way. Even despite the monotone color scheme, this district had its unique charm. The various eccentric people here just further added to it.

    She has already decided to visit this place a few more times, preferably with Felicia and just have an entertaining time watching all these performers.

    However, for now, she had to focus on the tall building sitting in a unusual quiet street. As far as she could tell, only Era, her and the white cat, that had been rather quiet for a while now, were present in the street. Unlike every other street in this district, a stillness laid in the air.

    The reason for this, for the abandoned shops all around it, for the hollowness of this space, seemed to be the theatre in front of them. Theodore''s Theatre. The grand sign atop of the entrance was without any damages, despite the years of abandonment. Neither did the dark windows or walls show any of it. Almost as if just a few hours later, the lights would spring on, and the theatre would play its latest drama.

    As she laid her eyes on it, she felt like she could see them. The memories of what had once been a great theatre. The memories of those lively white eyes looking from the window high up there down here to all the guests coming just to watch her. And the emptiness now in them as she stared at Lisa from that window.

    Lisa blinked a few times and the cold feeling in her mellow blue eyes recessed, turning the building and all around it colorful again. She sighed and walked up the three stairs to the entrance.

 Theatre in another world: 03

    Lisa laid a hand on the golden handle. However, her arm stopped mid-motion of pushing down and she turned around. Before the three steps, Era stood and waved at her with a smile. Behind her unneeded glasses, the perfect blue eyes had narrowed with uncanny anticipation.

    At her feet, the white cat tried to claw something at the stairs. Every swing of her claw created sparks in the air. Yet, none reached the stairs, as if something blocked it. Again and again, it tried. A low growl began to emit from its throat. Until Era picked it up by its and made a "shhh" gesture.

    "Only you are supposed to enter it seems. So, have fun Lisa~" Era said after the white cat quieted down in her arm. It trembled every time the woman stroked its fur.

    Lisa glanced between them a few times before she pressed down on the handle with a sigh. It made sense that a barrier is in operation around this place, to stop others from going in and things from going out, but Era would never be stopped by anything. That ill-mannered woman just wanted some entertainment by seeing her potentially suffer.

    Although, she didn''t mind this time as it was an opportunity to grow for her. However, she still would''ve liked to have the white cat as a companion but she to do without it seems. The guild''s papers had mentioned that nothing dangerous should block her way to the item. Lisa waved once at the duo and then pushed down on the handle.

    With a creak, one door made way for Lisa. The first thing to reach her was the smell of mold and rust. Then, she saw the broken glass on the ticket booth, a wooden puppet behind it. Besides the booth, stood another puppet with its arms raised. Another stood and held a broken broom in hand. Some other puppets leaned against the walls or walked up the staircase to the right. One sat on a chair as if to take a break.

    The wide lobby seemed almost lively. Yet, the walls looked rundown and molded. The lamps were shattered, leaving the windows as the only light source. The plants had since long died. Most chairs had broken down and glass pieces laid all over the floor. The clean and complete front outside just a lie, a facade.

    She let go of the handle and a second later heard the door close behind her with a soft click. The sunlight shone a faint path before her. Dust floated past the rays, making them visible. A long sigh escaped her. The wooden puppets stood forever frozen in motion in this desolate theatre.

    Lisa walked slowly towards the ticket booth. A glass piece cracked beneath her feet as she passed the puppet that seemed to sweep the aged floor with its broken broom. Like the other puppets, it wore a black and red uniform. And like those others, its bowed head had no face either. Just smooth wood, free from corrosion unlike the rest of the theatre.

    A few moments later, she arrived beside the ticket booth standing in the middle of the lobby. The puppet in it leaned forward, its faceless head concentrated on the coins and faded ticket before it, as if it counted them.

    With a spark of curiosity, Lisa reached out to the puppet''s hand holding a coin. Her slender fingers almost touched the wooden hand, yet she stopped midway. A thought, a voice, a scream echoed through her mind. Don''t touch them. Don''t interfere. Let it be.

    Over and over again. It whispered one second. Then it screeched. As if to burst her eardrums, yet it was only in her mind. It pleaded the next moment. Begging her. A whimper now.

    Lisa retracted her hand and it vanished from her mind. Nothing had changed, as if just an illusion. The few sunlight beams still made the dust and decayed lobby visible. Just as before the puppets were just puppets. Still, quiet and solemn.

    With a shake of her head, she abided by the voice''s plead and kept away from the puppets while she strolled through the lobby.

    Whether the puppets leaning on the wall, walking up the stairs or the one sitting on the chair, neither appeared stiff like a wooden puppet would normally be. As she observed them up close or from afar, they looked so lively. Even in this desolate theatre. The cold feeling in her eyes increased as she looked at them over and over again. Yet, they just became even more vibrant.

    Only some time later did she have enough and decided to walk to the main stage. Maybe in another day, she''ll explore the other floors.

    Quite a bit past the ticket booth stood a grand double door with two hallways to its left and right. As she reached it and leaned into the left hallway, she spotted a few more puppets along the curved way. A difference between those, from the staff puppets, was a pair of puppets. One adult and one child. The adult puppet had an exquisite long creamy dress on. While the child wore short trousers and a shirt. The adult puppet crouched before the small and had a hand on the child''s blank head.

    Lisa tilted her head at the scene and smiled. The surrounding walls and decor were in the same state as the desolate lobby, yet here she saw this scene. The warmth she saw in the mother''s chest shone so softly and calming. This pair looked to her just so lively, as if she could see the mother rubbing her boy''s head with a loving smile. However, all that stood before her were the faceless wooden puppets.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Another, much longer sigh escaped her and she turned away from them. A quick peek into the hallway to the right of the doors just showed one puppet in the theatre''s uniform standing in it. Nothing else for her curiosity, Lisa put both her hands on the two doors. With a push, the main stage showed itself.

    Rows and rows of seats extended down before, ending a distance before the elevated stage. At the walls, countless booths for premium guests went up to the ceiling. Yet, she didn''t marvel at the sheer size. All of them, in all the seats and booths, puppets filled them. The entire theatre had been filled to the very last space with all kinds of differently clothed puppets. And every single faceless head was focused intensely on the stage.

    Under a light still shining onto the stage, a long doll stood wearing a grand white and red dress. The white hair stopped just below the waist, while it framed her equally pristine white eyes. Those eyes focused, with a tearful agony on a black dagger. A dark dagger, dyed red by blood as she stabbed it into her own chest.

    Lisa, just like the puppets, couldn''t take her eyes from the lifesized doll. From the blood bearing a stark contrast to the pure white. From the tears that rolled down the face. From the milky eyes that looked up to her. She couldn''t look away as she began to walk. Walk towards the stage and the dagger she is supposed to retrieve. Yet, at this moment, she didn''t care for the guild, she just wanted to draw this dagger and free the doll of her agony. Even as a beautiful voice pleaded with her, telling her to turn around. She needed to remove the dagger.

    A step after step down the stairs. Past the puppets filling the seats. Past the heads that turned her way. Onto the stairs, a few steps up, as now all heads focused on her. The wooden stage creaked beneath her. The doll''s white eyes cried before her. Her voice begged her to stop. However, her fingers curled around the red-dyed dagger. She felt the cold material of the doll''s fingers, the wet sensations of tears dripping on her hand.

    Lisa looked into her milky eyes. The pure white stained by sadness. As her hand pulled, Lisa felt like she could see the scene of Annabelle stabbing herself with the dagger, of the pain she felt till now. She felt like she could see the agony she received till now. Yet, as the dagger left her body, all she saw in Annabelle now was sadness.

    With the weight of the dagger in her hand, Lisa opened her mouth, yet Annabelle pushed her suddenly. As she flew down the stage, as a black, purple-rimmed door opened behind the doll, Annabelle spoke.

    "Run."

    Her voice was full of pain and sadness. She looked at her with such eyes too. Lisa didn''t care for the stinging pain on her back as she landed on the floor. She could only helplessly look at Annabelle being swallowed by the door. Second after second passed as she stared at the door on the main stage, when a rattling caught her attention.

    She turned her head around. Everywhere, the puppets rattled and shook. Their limbs creaked as their faceless head turned and swiveled. The lights all around lit up. It illuminated all puppets, and the lone Lisa laying on the floor before them.

    "Run."

    The tragic beautiful voice echoed in her head once more. She gripped the red-dyed dagger tight, glanced once more at the door, and said, "Wait for me."

    An indescribable sigh sounded in her head as she stood up and ran up the stairs. The echo of her steps drowned out by the puppets, by the theatre that sprang alive. She sprinted past the hands that grabbed at her. Avoided those that stood up and lunged for her. And rammed into the door leading to the lobby.

    Yet, it didn''t budge. As she pushed and pushed, it stayed still not giving way. The clatter behind her got louder and more intense. She pushed with all her might. Suddenly, the two doors opened up before her. She stumbled and rolled on the ground into the lobby. The door closed behind her with a loud sound.

    She barely caught her breath, when it came again. The rattling and creaking. She turned, yet something pushed her down. Cold woold grabbed her hands. Restricted them. A faceless wooden head came close to her eyes. It stared into her very being, as it almost crushed her wrists. It pressed down at her. Her breath shortened every moment. Its weight on her torso, while its head began to press onto her head. As if it wants to crush her skull.

    She struggled. Struggled and struggled. Yet, it was no use. It budged, but not enough. As her mind became dazed, her breath weakened, a flame came up in her mind. A black, dripping ink flame burning candles down. Her heart raced, the pulse echoing throughout her body. Like a bell ringing louder and louder. On her last breath, as her skull seemed to creak like the puppets, her words released her.

    "Burn."

    And so it did. And so it screamed. And so the black ink engulfed the puppet, burning the wood. The next second it had already vanished. Becoming nothing but ink on Lisa''s clothing and the ground. As her thoughts returned to her, as her body recovered at a fast speed, Lisa stared at the ink. The pure scream of agony sounded through her mind again and again.

    Yet, she had no time to think, as the rattle reached her ears again. The lobby''s puppets spared no thought about the puppet burned by an ink flame and reached for Lisa with slow movements.

    Lisa grabbed the dagger tight, her wrist aching from it, and stood up. She stood up. With pain in her entire body, from the puppet and magic, she stumbled to the door. She glanced at the puppets that moved in slow-motion and opened the door.

    With a sigh, she slid down the closed theatre door. Even as a minute has passed, no puppet tried to open the door, or even ram against it. It seems they can''t exit the theatre. She hoped the guild''s barrier would.do such, which is why she just sat down before the door.

    Another sigh escaped and Lisa looked up. Before the theatre''s steps, the white cat paced around while it stared at her. She smiled at it, even as her body screamed in agony.

    However, as she looked at its side, she caught her breath. Her eyes widened while her hands pained from her tight grip on the dagger. Instead of Era, a girl in a black, white and gold outfit stood. At the side of her short skirt, she held a chained golden spear. However, Lisa didn''t focus on her pleasant figure and instead looked into her pristine white eyes, framed by white hair. Just like the doll, Annabelle.