I woke up with sunlight streaming through the curtain.

  I wasn't used to this.

  In Kitsumi, the room faced a wall. Natural light was a luxury.

  Here, there was a real window.

  I got up slowly. My body still ached, but less, much less.

  I walked to the window and opened the curtain.

  And I saw.

  Gardens stretching as far as the eye could see. Flowers of every color. White stone paths. Fountains. Statues.

  Perfectly trimmed trees. Bushes shaped into geometric forms.

  And beyond the castle walls, the city.

  Ursoft.

  Houses with colorful roofs. Streets bustling even early in the morning. Smoke rising from chimneys. People living.

  So different.

  So beautiful.

  Something tightened in my chest.

  Not pain, but something close.

  Longing? For what? I never had this before.

  Or did I?

  Memories surfaced. Fragments.

  Tokyo. Tiny apartment. Window facing a wall.

  Yuki.

  I was Yuki.

  I'm Sekire now.

  But the memories were still there.

  I shook my head.

  Not now. I don't want to think about this now.

  I put on yesterday's clothes, still clean, still smelling of floral soap.

  I opened the bedroom door.

  The corridor was empty.

  Silent.

  I stepped out.

  Exploring

  The castle was a labyrinth.

  Corridors splitting into more corridors. Stairs leading to more stairs. Doors I had no idea where they led.

  I passed empty rooms. Halls with covered furniture. Libraries with shelves reaching the ceiling.

  Everything enormous. Everything impressive.

  Everything intimidating.

  I felt small.

  More than I already was.

  I turned a corner and nearly ran into someone.

  "Whoa!"

  A familiar voice. Cheerful.

  Mabel.

  White disheveled hair. Still in her nightgown. Bare feet.

  Purple eyes shining even though she'd just woken up.

  "Sekire! Good morning!" She smiled widely. "Are you lost?"

  "No."

  "Liar." She laughed. "Yes you are. I am too. This place is way too big."

  Wait.

  "You live here and you get lost?"

  "Obviously! There are like five hundred corridors. Who remembers them all?" She shrugged. "Besides, getting lost is fun. You never know what you'll find."

  She grabbed my hand.

  "Come on! I'll show you the cool places!"

  And pulled me along.

  Chaotic Tour

  "Okay, so THIS is the training room. Or it was. Or will be?" Mabel looked around, confused. "Wait, no. This is the pantry."

  Shelves full of canned food. Sacks of grains. Barrels.

  "How do you confuse a training room with a pantry?"

  "I don't know! Everything is big and has a door!" She left. "Let's go."

  Next corridor.

  "AH! This one IS the training room!"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Double door. Heavy.

  Mabel pushed.

  Inside, enormous space. Polished wooden floor. Weapons on the walls. Training dummies.

  And someone training.

  A magic knight. Young. Maybe twenty years old. Sweaty. Practicing movements with a sword.

  He saw Mabel and froze.

  "Y-Your Highness!"

  "Hi, Marcus! Keep practicing! You're improving!" Mabel waved cheerfully.

  "Th-Thank you, Your Highness!"

  We left.

  "He's cute. Very serious, but cute," Mabel commented.

  We continued.

  "Library! This one I know!" She opened another door.

  Empty room. Just a statue in the center.

  "Not the library."

  "I noticed."

  "But there IS a cool statue. Look. It's my father's great-grandmother. She was incredible. Killed like a hundred enemies alone in one battle."

  Mabel touched the statue reverently.

  "I want to be that strong someday."

  Something in her voice, not playful, serious.

  "You're already strong," I said without thinking.

  She looked at me, surprised.

  Then smiled differently, more softly.

  "Thank you."

  Inner Garden

  Eventually, after three more wrong doors, we found the inner garden.

  Smaller than the outer one, but more intimate.

  Rare flowers. Stone benches. A small fountain in the center.

  Mabel threw herself onto a bench.

  "Phew! Walking is tiring."

  I sat beside her, keeping distance.

  Not too far, but not too close.

  Mabel noticed but didn't comment.

  We stayed silent for a moment.

  Then she spoke.

  "You don't like people much, do you?"

  I looked at her.

  "How do you know?"

  "Your body tenses when someone approaches. You always leave an escape route. And you avoid eye contact." She shrugged. "My mother taught me to read body language."

  Pause.

  "So, you don't like people, or are you afraid?"

  "I don't know."

  And it was true.

  Mabel stayed quiet, just looking at the fountain.

  "I used to be like that too, when I was younger."

  I looked at her.

  "Really?"

  "Yes. Like, WAY worse than you." She laughed without humor. "I wasn't afraid of people. I had contempt. Thought everyone was useless. Weak. Pathetic."

  She looked at her own hands.

  "And I was cold. Impassive. I didn't feel anything when I saw someone getting hurt. When I saw someone crying. It was just empty."

  "What changed?"

  "People were afraid of me. Not of my power, but of me, of who I was." She paused. "I thought everyone only talked to me out of obligation, or interest, or because they were forced to, never genuinely."

  She looked at the sky.

  "And I was right, most of the time."

  "So what changed?" I repeated.

  "An idiot boy." She smiled, small and genuine. "He swore he'd be my hero. That he'd protect me, even though he was weak, even though I despised him."

  Pause.

  "And he kept trying, even when I was cruel, even when I belittled him, he didn't give up."

  Her eyes shone differently, softer.

  "Eventually I realized he was genuine, that he didn't want anything, he just cared."

  "And that changed everything?"

  "Not immediately, but gradually." She looked at me. "He showed me that some people are real, that friendship can exist without self-interest, that I don't need to be cold to be strong."

  Something trembled in my chest.

  "And are you still friends?"

  "More than that." She blushed slightly. "But I won't go into details. It's embarrassing."

  I laughed, small, but I laughed.

  Mabel blinked, surprised.

  "You laughed!"

  "I didn't laugh."

  "YES YOU DID! I saw it! You have facial expressions!" She stood up excitedly. "This is progress!"

  Something warm rose to my face.

  "Stop."

  "I won't stop! This is important!" She spun dramatically. "Sekire smiled! The world is healed!"

  "Mabel."

  "Humanity has hope!"

  "MABEL."

  She laughed loudly, genuinely.

  And something inside me relaxed.

  Just a little.

  Lunch

  Fuyumi and Hinata found us in the garden.

  "Your Highness. Sekire." Fuyumi bowed. "Lunch is ready."

  "FINALLY!" Mabel jumped. "I'm starving!"

  We went to a smaller dining room, not the main hall.

  Table for six people. Food already served.

  We sat down.

  Mabel started eating immediately, without ceremony.

  I picked up the spoon slowly.

  "You don't need to be afraid," Hinata said, gentle but direct. "The food is yours."

  "No one will take it," Fuyumi added in a softer tone.

  I looked at them.

  Then at the food.

  And ate.

  It was good, very good.

  Soup again, but different from yesterday's, lighter, with herbs.

  "Do you like it?" Fuyumi asked.

  I nodded.

  "The chef will be happy," Hinata smiled, small but genuine.

  Mabel chewed noisily.

  "You eat like a pig," Hinata commented in a dry but not cruel tone.

  "And you complain like an old lady," Mabel retorted.

  "I'm thirteen years old."

  "Exactly. Old."

  Hinata sighed but was smiling.

  Fuyumi laughed softly.

  And I observed.

  The way they interacted, familiar, comfortable.

  Without tension, without fear.

  Just friendship?

  Something hurt.

  Memory - High School

  I was in the classroom. Yuki, not Sekire.

  Lunch time.

  Everyone in groups, talking, laughing.

  And I sat alone in the corner, eating in silence.

  Not because no one tried to include me.

  But because when they tried, I refused.

  "Want to have lunch with us, Shimizu-san?"

  "No, thank you."

  Always the same answer.

  Always the same loneliness.

  Why?

  Fear. Of being rejected. Of not belonging. Of being too much or too little.

  So I chose not to try.

  It was safer that way.

  Or was it?

  Memory - Ash Courtyard

  Children playing near the shrine.

  "Come play, Sekire!"

  A boy called out, wide smile, glazed eyes.

  "I don't want to."

  "Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

  "No."

  He insisted, pulled my arm.

  And when I refused again, his expression changed.

  "You're weird. That's why the Master doesn't like you."

  The others laughed.

  "Weirdo."

  "Different."

  "Wrong."

  And I learned.

  Trying to make friends hurts.

  It's better not to try.

  Back to the Present

  "Sekire?"

  I blinked.

  Fuyumi was looking at me, worried.

  "You stopped eating."

  I looked at my plate, still half full.

  "Sorry. I got distracted."

  "It's okay." She touched my hand lightly. "Eat at your own pace."

  Hinata stood up, went to the sideboard, came back with dessert.

  Cake, small, covered with something white and sweet.

  "Trying this will make you feel better," matter-of-fact tone.

  I looked at the cake.

  "May I?"

  "Of course. It's for you."

  I picked up the fork, cut a piece.

  Put it in my mouth.

  Sweet, soft, creamy.

  Delicious.

  "Good?" Hinata asked.

  I nodded.

  "The chef will make more if you like it," Fuyumi said.

  Something warm rose, not much, but enough.

  "Thank you."

  "You're welcome." They both smiled.

  Sincere.

  Mabel watched quietly but smiling too.

  Afternoon

  After lunch, Fuyumi and Hinata took me back to my room.

  "You need to rest," Fuyumi said.

  "Your body is still recovering," Hinata added.

  "But if you need anything, just call."

  They left.

  And Mabel stayed.

  Leaning against the door, hands in her pockets.

  "They're nice, aren't they?"

  "They are."

  "They've worked here for two years. They're sisters, orphans my parents took in." Mabel looked at the ceiling. "They're important to me."

  Pause.

  "And you can be too, if you want."

  I looked at her.

  "Why?"

  "Why what?"

  "Why are you being kind to me?"

  Mabel thought, really thought.

  "Because I saw your future, and it's incredible." She smiled. "And because you seem to need kindness, so why not?"

  She turned to leave.

  But stopped at the door.

  "Oh, by the way, my parents are coming back tomorrow."

  My stomach tightened.

  "The king and queen?"

  "Yes. They'll want to meet you." She looked back. "Don't worry. They're annoying but kind."

  She smiled mischievously.

  "Like REALLY annoying. My father will want to know EVERYTHING about you, and my mother will try to make you laugh. It's unbearable."

  But there was affection in her voice.

  Love.

  "Rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."

  And she left.

  Closing the door softly.

  I was alone.

  I lay on the bed.

  Looked at the ceiling.

  The king and queen.

  Tomorrow.

  Fear rose.

  But also something more.

  Curiosity?

  I closed my eyes.

  And tried to rest.

  Preparing.

  For what was to come.