17. Reality or dream

Just when I thought the drama was over Daniel's cries fill the room. The former queen anxiously tries to give Daniel to me.

"Oh my it seems we have scared our little angel. let's give mommy a hug, eh?"

I take a step back, the last thing I'd need right now was touching that disgusting thing.

"N…No I just activated my powers, it can affect the child!"

'which was of course a lie cause one, I wasn't able to activate it to begin with and two, he has the same energy as me so nothing serious would happen to him.'

"please get him away from me your majesty!"

Seeing my reaction, she backs off a little confused but still understanding. Theodore holds his mother's shoulders with a smile.

"Why don't you take Daniel to the garden? kids love seeing new things right? He also gets to spend time with his grandparents!"

'a polite way of asking them to leave the room.'

*********************************

I wake up in the middle of the night. The memories and dreams get more and more difficult to distinguish from reality…

I had realized that I can no longer tell which is which…is this a dream too?

I listen to the silence of dawn, looking out of the window the sun hasn't risen yet. the guards are silently patrolling the area. This is how I know this is real…the calm… there is no single moment in her memories were I could hear the wind this calmly.

It takes a long time to fall back to sleep every time I wake up, so I have learned not to go back to bed right after it (which happens more than once or twice per night).

Luckily Marry always leaves a light on for me, I take the little lamp which is glowing with a mana stone from my table. I smile at knowing the name of the stone, it's price and efficiency without needing to think about it. It seems like I only see a small portion of Scarlet's memories and her common knowledge is being transferred slowly.

Opening my bedroom's door, the corridors are as lifeless as ever. Even though I have a lamp with me, I still hold on to the walls as I walk towards my office, fearing that I might faint in the middle of the hallway.

Half way through I see a shadow approaching me. It's Dame.Carlin, her cape floating in the air and looking like as dignified and confident as a warrior who had just defeated the boss.

She kneels on one knee, even in the dark she can tell it's me, I guess nobody else is crazy enough to walk around my palace with a night gown.

"Rise."

The words come to me naturally. I no longer feel shocked from my cold tone or sudden remarks that don't sound like me at all.

She soon stands and takes off her cape, putting them on my shoulders.

"It's quite chilly today your majesty please forgive my rudeness as I would hate to see your majesty catching a cold."

she continues after receiving no replies from me.

"Would your majesty allow me to escort you?"

I hold my hand out to her automatically, telling her my destination.

"Why are you awake at such an ungodly hour?"

Dame.Carlin holds backs her laughter, I could say we had become friendlier to some point. During my recovery she always made sure that no assassination attempts would take place and made lots of things more convenient than it could have been.

"It is my morning patrol your majesty. In order to ensure your majesty's safety, I check your wing at unknown times, checking whether or not the soldiers are doing their job well or are taking a nap, things like that."

To be honest I like our little conversations. Her usual professional look made me think that she was an upright person, turns out she can be very gentle and fun too, given the opportunity.

she holds the office door open and asks if I need anything else. Thankfully there are more lamps here so I tell her to leave.

It's finally time to look into that blood moon event Marry told me about.