67 Dream in a dream

Surprisingly, the music they played during the ball was not limited to classical music. There were few songs that were upbeat and heavy for a formal ball. I guess King Sorin is really out of his mind, he's not letting anyone or anything define him even a formal ball can't be a normal formal ball.

Most of the guests were forced to dance to the weird music that was being played to please King Sorin, while some of the young ones had quite the fun and danced to the rhythm.

I saw Princess Tellusia and Prince Marin watching from the other side of the hall in silence. They were smiling while enjoying the ball, but I can see that they are restricted. They only talked to a few people and remained silent the hall time. Even Prince Arias avoided having a conversation with them.

It seems that everyone knew what happened in the Gathrin Kingdom about my disappearance, except me. Everyone here is afraid of King Sorin, and they're just here to please him and avoid getting in his way. Everyone's trying to kiss his ugly, despicable and nauseous ass.

Father and Mother tried their best not to think too much about what is happening, about what may happen, and about what happened. We all know that this was all planned since the beginning. King Sorin's plan is going smoothly.

After this ball, after being announced as a royalty, we know that something's bound to happen.

King Sorin's even preparing me for that. The whole week, all I did was study and train myself with my power. He was pushing me to see what's my limit. He wants to know how powerful I am.

But my thoughts lightened and I giggled when I saw Kai being teased to dance with a young girl his age. The young lady was stunning with her silver hair, green eyes, and plump lips. She was also embarrassed as the people around them pushes Kai to dance with her.

At least those old women have finally stopped roaming around my baby brother.

Mother and Father have joined the dance floor as well, they were all smiling together as Father finally got his shot to annoy Kai as they passed by each other.

Forest was right, he could stop King Sorin tonight. But, if he did, who knows what will happen to my family and other innocent people?

I, myself, can't even control my power that well. It only appears when I get too emotional or overwhelmed. It's still hard to summon fire on my own. No matter how powerful I am, if I can't even control it, it's better to stay away from any fight.

I took another glass of wine, which is starting to hit me, and stood in the same balcony.

I saw King Sorin flirting with the women with whimsical appearances like the others. Gerald was just a few meters away from me, watching the scene around us. He followed me towards the balcony but he stayed inside the hall.

The fresh cold breeze that dances with the moonlight gave me a calm state while I lean on the railings with my glass of wine on my hand.

If I go back a year from now, I wouldn't imagine myself in this place, in this world, with powers and all. I only wanted to be someone before. I only wanted to not feel alone. I wanted something exciting but not dangerous like the situation I am currently in. I did once hoped for a family, but it's not as huge as my thirst to feel what it is to be alive.

I just didn't want to be lonely.

But here I am with a family and power. If I was to be asked if I want to go back a year before and avoid all of these... I still don't know what to answer.

Would I prefer to have a normal life with that same heavy, cold and dark feeling or be in a weird place with a weird place and power but with a family?

I don't know. I want to be normal with a family. But that's not the case here. Even in anime, having a series only about good stuff is boring, and impossible too since where's the plot? That won't sell to viewers.

But hey, at least I have Forest. He's someone I am glad to meet in this world other than my family. I only know him as someone I love, and that's already enough for me to know that I have something to look forward to in this world.

As time passed by, and as the night grew heavy, one by one, the guests left. They all rode their carriages, some took the land way back home, while others flew with their flying carriages.

When I headed back inside the hall, I saw Forest talking to King Sorin. I froze, everyone else paused whatever they were doing and watched as the two converse. King Sorin shook Forest's hand with his disgusting eerie smile, while Forest remained calm and acted formally.

It seems like they are about to go home. That means Forest won't kill King Sorin, right? He'll leave the castle in peace and go back home to the Gathrin Kingdom. I stood frozen beside Gerald who was also staring at King Sorin and Forest.

After their handshake, Forest turned to the door, and without even glancing at me, he left with Regin. I felt my chest ache when the door closed, I wanted to run and follow him. I wanted to go with him too. I wanted to be home with him.

Mother and Father looked at me, even King Sorin and Gerald. I don't know what I look like now, I just felt my heart left with Forest. I suddenly felt numb and empty.

"Your Highness, is something bothering you?" Gerald asked with suspicion on his voice.

No, I can't act like this. If they found out I can remember who Forest is, King Sorin will rush to finish his plan. He'll grasp the moment he has while I am staying here under him to make me do what he wants.

"Nothing," I whispered as I maintained my composure and looked away from the door, "I was just wondering who that man was and why was everyone so focused on him."

Yes, Amy, pretend. You're good at that. Pretend that this doesn't bother you. Better play dumb than being dead. I walked towards my mother who was looking at me with sadness in her eyes. She knows. She knows what I feel.

"Everything will be fine," she whispered.

I wanted to cry at that time. I wanted to wail like a child who scraped her knee. I wanted to tell her how much I wanted to be with Forest. But I can't. I didn't expect to feel this way, the same way I did before, the feeling of being trapped and out of control.

The ball ended an hour after Forest left. Everyone said their farewell and went home. I was sent to my room by Gerald. The maids helped me prepare for bedtime. And as I lay on my bed, after everyone left me alone, I cried silently while staring at the ceiling. I cried hard and heavy until my eyes felt sore. Exhaustion has embraced me like a blanket then I fell asleep.

I dreamt of a weird dream. I was floating on air, surrounded by light. It felt as if it has happened before. There was a river below me and a huge woman was standing beside me, she looked like a fairy, but a bit scary. My body felt powerless, but it felt like euphoria was calling me. My eyes closed and everything went dark. A second after, I was inside a dream. A beautiful dream.

I was dreaming of waking up in my room in the human world, and when I went to the kitchen, Mother was cooking us breakfast while father and Kai were sitting down, waiting for the food. They all greeted me a good morning. It was the best breakfast I ever had in my entire life even though we only ate fried eggs and bacon with a toast. Kai went to school with me, but he later met his friends and decided to go to school with them.

As I was walking down the street I always took to the university, I bumped into someone while I was looking around. The man whose back is turned to me spilled his coffee on the ground and on his jeans. He wears a dark blue sweater which is why I can't tell whether he spilled it on his sweater too. I said sorry sincerely before he even looks at me. Some people were looking at us now, which made me feel uneasy.

I wanted to run away but the man turned around with a displeased look on his face. His dark fluffy hair and hazel eyes made my heart flutter. It's him.

"You're late, Amy, and you even spilled my coffee," he said and frowned.

Somehow, I already know him and he knows me in the human world. He just had his eye color changed, since no human has a violet eye color.

"I'm so sorry, Forest, I didn't recognize that it was you. You rarely wear a sweater," I said and tiptoed to give him a light kiss on his cheek, "I almost forgot that we're going to school together."

It seems that in my dreams, Forest and I are already dating, and I was supposed to meet him on my way to school. After he ordered another cup of coffee for both of us, we went on our way to the university with our hands holding each other.

It felt so real. The bacon and egg tasted so good. Kai's friends were kind. I can even smell the coffee that was spilled on Fores and his hand was the warmest and most comforting thing in the universe. I wanted to stay. This is what I want. But everything went dark after someone pulled me, then I saw Prince Arias. We were beside the river.

That's where my dream in a dream ended. I later drifted into a boring sleep, and when I woke up, I saw the maids standing beside my bed, ready to wake me up.