Chapter 33: A Princess’ Perspective (Part 2)

The same night that my mother was cured from her blindness, I had one of my usual dreams. I called them "usual" because I had them so often that even my maid Carli was aware of them. The problem was that they were different all the time. Sometimes, the dreams were warm and happy, and in others sad and depressing.

I found myself standing at the top of a tower, overlooking a city. All of the architecture that surrounded me was something I had never seen before, and we were so high up that the people at the bottom weren't even visible.

My clothes and my body were also different. I was much more developed physically and was wearing pants that were called "jeans", although I couldn't tell how I knew that name, and a white jacket.

My hair was completely different too. I could see my light brown-haired ponytail on the side of my shoulder, which only confused me more.

("This isn't my hair color…")

Next to me, holding my hand, was a man that was at least one head taller than me. I couldn't completely see his face, but I could make out a scar that ran from the side of his cheek. His arm was strong and shared some of the scars that were visible in his body.

"You were right, Melina… This truly is a great view…" said the man as he looked at me.

I didn't really know who he was, but the feeling of "deja-vu" and familiarity were eating me from the inside.

"I told youuu! Traveling with people makes it so much better, doesn't it!?"

(Huh? Was that me talking?)

It was as if I had lost control of my body, and my dream was just showing me what it wanted me to see. Right at that moment, the dream scenery shifted and I found myself walking side by side on a busy street, crossing arms with the man.

"Let's not get separated, Mel…" said the man, making me tighten my hold of his arm.

"Ohh? Are you scared of getting lost without me?" I said with a teasing tone, getting closer to his face.

"I-it's not like that! It would just be a hassle if we split up!" said the man while blushing, his face now more clearly visible to me.

("That face, full of scars… It's so familiar…")

We kept on walking through the sea of people and lights while my grip on his arm only tightened. I didn't know why, but I felt safe and secure as long as I could hold his hand. I glanced at him once again and he shot me a smile. ("Now I'm the one blushing!") I thought.

Just as I was able to finally discern the man's face, the dream scenery shifted once again, and I found myself sitting in the front seat of a car.

(T-this is a car… But… How do I know what a car is…") I thought, but the dream didn't give me enough time to ponder about the details.

"GPS says we should be there in a few hours…" said the man, who was in the driver's seat.

I nodded and laid back on the seat. We were on a dark road that was supposed to lead us to a new city that we had never visited before. It was late at night, so I was feeling a little sleepy.

"I'm excited… I heard the food is to die for…" I said with a tired tone as I got even more comfortable on my seat.

I was watching the other cars with their lights on pass us by, one by one, which made me feel sort of calmed and peaceful. Suddenly, it felt like the inside of the car was completely lit up, making me look ahead and notice the giant truck that was heading straight towards us with their blinding lights hitting us in the face.

I felt the arm of the man holding my chest back to cushion the impact, but all I could do was hold onto him with all of my strength and close my eyes.

After a void feeling in my stomach and a loud, crashing impact, I opened my eyes only to find the man next to me, crying as he held onto my body.

The car was totaled, the windshield was completely shattered with some of my blood splattered on it, and my body was so broken that I could barely muster the strength to say my final words.

("No… Why!?) I thought as I watched the entire scene unfold. ("This can't be how it ends!") I glanced at the man's face once again, but all I saw in him was a level of sadness and pain that I had never seen before.

"Ichiro… I hope we meet again…" I said as I held his cheek with my bloody palm.

I gasped. ("Ichiro…?")

At that final moment, I opened my eyes and found myself back in my room at the castle with my heartbeat sped up and sweat all over my body. A few seconds later, Carli walked in:

"Princess, everything okay?" she asked as she saw me exhaustingly breathing on my bed.

I nodded. "Yeah… It was just one of those dreams…"

Carli was aware that I had these sort of crazy dreams every once in a while. However, it felt different to me this time.

"It felt more real…" I said.

Carli closed her eyes in acceptance. "Would you like me to postpone your plans for today? I believe Your Highness has appointed a meeting with a mage that could potentially be your tutor."

"Hmmm…" I pondered on my different options. "No, cancel the meeting. I need to talk to my father today." I said with a decisive attitude. Carli bowed and left my room to make preparations.

A few hours later that day, I met with my parents during lunch:

"I heard that you canceled the appointment with the mage today… You know we are not going to be able to find a suitable tutor if you keep rejecting them like that, right Melina?" said my father pointing me with his fork.

"It's alright dear, she still has enough time to get a tutor. If she is not comfortable with one, then we shouldn't press on the matter." responded my mom, who still seemed to share the euphoria from yesterday after getting her blindness healed.

"Actually…" I Interrupted them. "I did have someone in mind…"

Both my parents and little sister stopped eating and put down their silverware to listen to me:

"I… want to meet that man named Ichiro!"

"Hmm? The master alchemist? I mean… we did want to meet him eventually, but what makes you think he would be a good tutor?" asked my dad.

"I've heard a lot of rumors about him. The same merchants that came here yesterday were talking about it too, how the same man defeated a wyvern and a goblin king!"

"Right, but those are just rumors, Melina. I'm not against the idea of meeting this man, In fact, I would like to thank him personally. But we don't know anyone that has made direct contact with him… Having a stranger tutoring you could be more dangerous than we imagine…"

My father was right. In a way, it was pretty dangerous for a princess to simply meet with a stranger and request them to be their magic tutor. But it was different for me this time, since I had a strange sensation ever since I heard his name in my dreams.

My confidence must have been clearly transmitted to my parents, because even after I stopped talking, they still discussed their plan on how to meet with him.

"Let's send a knight's order. I've heard the road to End Town can be pretty dangerous so it will be better if we send professionals to deal with monsters. However, Melina…" said my father as he directed his gaze towards me.

"We will meet with this man first and assess him. If he doesn't prove to us that he is worthy to be your tutor, or shows signs of being a dangerous individual, then we will not allow him to have any contact with you, understood?"

"Got it!" I said fervently with a smile on my face.

"Well then, I'll start the preparations today!"

__________

It had been two months ever since we sent the knight's order to fetch the man named Ichiro, and finally, he had made it to the capital.

My parents didn't allow me to be present at the first meeting in the throne room, but I was so curious that I still managed to listen to some of their talk from outside.

After the meeting was done, I planned on sneaking into the guests' wing of the castle to talk to him in private, but when I got there, I was told by one of the maids that he wanted to go "sightseeing" around the capital, and took Gina with him to show him around.

That same night, I was supposed to get ready to go to bed, but I just simply couldn't wait one more day to talk to him, so I decided to pay another visit to the guests' wing at that time.

("Surely he is in his room by now…")

"Carli, I want to meet this Ichiro guy right now. Let's go!" I said as I confidently opened the door and promptly made my way out with Carli reluctantly following behind

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