RONA'S POINT OF VIEW
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, trying to sense his presence. When I opened them, it confirmed what I already suspected.
"Meithimnarillaza, huh?" I said with a serious tone. "This is the first time I've encountered someone like you. Looks like Father assigned me a rather... unconventional companion."
The grin on his face widened. "Was that a compliment? I'll take it. Thanks!"
"Please excuse my pracien, Princess," said the bird perched on his left shoulder. Its feathers were a deep indigo—the signature color of a meithimnarillaza. "He's naturally arrogant and a bit mischievous. That's just how he is."
I sighed, and with it, my sword vanished. I straightened my posture and shrugged.
"So, when are we supposed to prepare? Her birthday's almost here. Are we throwing a party or what?" he asked, laughing like it was all a big joke.
I shot him a sharp glare.
"Unbelievable. What were my parents thinking, assigning you as my assistant? You're clearly not right in the head."
He only grinned wider, as if my insult amused him.
"Princess," he said proudly, "I'm Dylan Wilder—the last surviving meithimnarillaza in our world."
My brows furrowed at what I heard. "And why is that? What happened to your clan?"
As far as I knew, they were still living peacefully in some faraway land. At least, that's what the book said. I hadn't been to the actual place myself.
In a flash, his smile disappeared.
"Other than me, only the king and queen are supposed to know. The princess is forbidden from learning the reason."
"Alright." I sighed. There was no point in pressing him for answers. After all, even if I am a royalty, it doesn't mean I can get everything I want.
"So what do we do now?"
I shot him another sharp look. "You're in such a rush. I don't even know if my father has approved my plan yet."
"It's already been approved," he said, pulling a rolled-up white parchment from inside his black leather jacket and handing it to me. "They asked me to give you this."
I quickly untied the white string and unrolled the parchment. At first, it was blank—but then, black letters slowly began to appear.
They used mnarill again.
A wave of unease crept over me as I read the words. Anxiety tightened in my chest.
"A warning," my companion murmured beside me, catching a glimpse of the message. His earlier playfulness was gone—his voice now steady and grave.
"There's a strong chance she will strike during the trial."
"What now? Are we changing the plan?"
I shook my head slowly. "Let fate decide."
RHEIN'S POINT OF VIEW
I woke up late!
This is so annoying. It's always like this. I'm a girl, but I sleep like a log.
I scratched my head.
"I'll set an alarm on my phone tonight—yes, that's it! Ugh, I'm so stupid. I should've done that ages ago," I muttered to myself.
I was currently on my way to Gonzales University, where I study. Well, not just walking—I was alternating between speed-walking and running just to get there faster.
I got through the gate easily since the guard had his back turned, busy talking on his phone.
Sneaking into the classroom, though? That was a different challenge.
The teacher was already in the middle of a discussion—it was already the second period. Great.
The guidance counselor's definitely going to scold me again. If I get caught, I'll probably be assigned to clean the library afterward. And that place is huge.
Luckily, the door at the back of the classroom was always left open, so I slipped in quietly, crawling a bit to stay low.
No one noticed me—my seat was all the way in the back anyway.
As I made my way to my chair, I noticed my friends whispering to each other.
But as soon as I sat down between them, they suddenly stopped talking and turned their attention to the teacher.
"You're late again," Xyrille said, eyes still focused on her notebook as she wrote.
"Aren't you used to it by now, Xyrille? Rhein's always late," Jean added, letting out a quiet laugh.
"Whatever." I sighed and pulled out my pen and notebook from my black backpack. "So, what were you two whispering about earlier?"
They looked surprised by my question. Neither of them met my gaze, and it seemed like they were both thinking hard about how to respond. They even glanced at each other, as if having a silent conversation—with me sitting awkwardly in between, completely ignored.
They looked so serious while talking earlier, and now my curiosity was eating me up.
After a few more seconds of silence, still no answer. So I flicked both of them on the forehead.
They turned to me with annoyed glares, but I just ignored it and looked straight ahead.
"Fine. Just tell me during break time."
A few minutes had passed since we started eating our snacks, yet neither of them had said a word. They looked restless, too, fidgeting as they ate.
"Spill it," I told them firmly. "You two were whispering so seriously earlier. Maybe you could let me in on it too?"
I tried to sound playful, but I couldn't. There was this strange sense of unease growing inside me, and I didn't even know why.
Xyrille was the first to speak. "You wouldn't believe us anyway."
"You'd probably think we're crazy, Rhein. Just... don't ask anymore," Jean added.
Their words stung a little, but I didn't let it show.
"I'm your friend. Whatever it is, I'll try to believe you. You have my trust—remember?"
They exchanged a glance, then sighed in unison.
"Okay. We'll tell you."
"Do you remember what we told you last Friday? That Xyrille and I were going to my aunt's house the next day?"
I nodded. "Yeah, you even invited me, but I said no because I went out with my sister."
"Well, here's what happened. Since the bus stop was still a bit far from my aunt's place, we had to walk the rest of the way. On the way there, we saw this big, old house. It looked so mysterious and, at the same time, enchanting. So I dragged Xyrille with me to check it out.
We thought no one was living there, so we went inside. The place was spotless—no dust, no clutter—until we ended up in this one room. That was the only part of the house that had furniture. But here's the strange part: everything—the bed, the chair, the cabinet, the table—was completely black."
Jean took a deep breath before continuing.
"But we didn't get to explore the room properly because we saw someone wearing a black cloak. We couldn't see his or her face. Then, suddenly, black flames started floating around them. That's when we panicked and ran for our lives.
Rhein, if you had been there, your hair would've stood on end too. We were lucky we got away without getting noticed."
Xyrille cleared her throat, and my attention shifted to her. "Believe it or not," she said, "we saw a witch."