Part Six

The next day I snuck out again to go to the cave. On my way, Ethan stopped me. He asked me what I was going with a judging gaze worse than the one of disappointed parents.

I looked away and before I could say anything he told me that he was coming too. I refused, but he ignored me and said the others were waiting and we should hurry.

"I didn't say you could come."

"I didn't ask."

On our way, I first got an earful of Ethan. How I probably didn't think of the fact that this trip could go on for days, and people would ask me where I was. I hate to admit, but he was right.

Thankfully, he took care of that the other day and complained that I couldn't do anything alone. After all that nagging, I started to tell them what happened.

I started with the last mission day. I told them about the ball. About the training match. What happened at the bakery, the nightmares. Or more like that I had them because I didn't remember much. Even about Jack.

And lastly, I explained what happened in the cave. While I was talking, they all listened to me in silence. Without saying anything, not even reacting, just letting me speak till the end.

Even after that, only Cale said that now everything made sense. At least about my behavior, especially the night when I went to their doors. Nothing more was said about the situation, and we continued our way.

Arriving at the place where the cave should be, there still was just a wall. We looked around, and Amanda found monsters.

She was about to attack them when Cale stopped her, asking if she even listened to me. With an "oops," she put her weapon back.

The moment she put it back, the cave appeared behind us. We stepped in and found more monsters standing there as if they were waiting for us.

Even though it never worked, I tried talking to them again, and it didn't work.

I asked Harry if he could use his magic to communicate with them, but he told me he couldn't. Usually, that answer would have been enough for me to search for another way, but there was something strange with Harry.

Since the moment I explained everything, he stayed silent, deep in his thoughts. He looked scared, and his answer sounded like he was lying.

Looking him in the eyes, I asked him if he was sure. He couldn't answer and just looked away from me. He was definitely hiding something.

I didn't want to pressure him, but I was in a situation where I couldn't just ignore this. I stayed persistent and asked him again. He remained silent for a long time and then started crying, apologizing for lying.

I panicked and tried to calm him down while the others complained about how I made him cry.

After calming down, Harry started talking about the day he asked me never to abandon him. It wasn't like I thought the nobles he heard talking. He heard Jack.

He told us that one day the magic felt weird and that he just followed his instinct to find out the problem. He found a door that was never there before. The door led to a corridor which, on the other hand, led to a hall. There were many different things he didn't understand what they were, but he knew that the person there was the prince.

"It was the night before you guys returned when the magic around us felt… broken. It felt like the whole world was breaking. It was scary.

I was able to feel something and went in that direction. I don't know why, but I thought it was a good idea.

That weird feeling just lasted a moment, but I still knew where to go, and then I found a corridor I never knew about, which shouldn't be there in the first place. I know it was a dumb idea, but I still walked there. I was curious what kind of magic that was.

In the end, I found a big hall with a lot of strange things inside. They looked like magic tools or potions, but I couldn't identify anything clearly. There were also many symbols on the walls. I guess they were there to hide in the hall.

There was another person beside me, so I hid even though I thought the person would feel my presence.

The whole hall was full of magic coming from that person. It was the crown prince…

I didn't know what was happening. I never felt so much magic coming from him, and I still don't know if he didn't know I was there or decided to stay ignorant.

It was the first time I saw the prince with a frustrated face looking so scary. But what scared me the most was hearing his talk.

He was talking to himself, asking how this could have happened, how his magic could have failed since it was perfect. He said he couldn't lose him. He was angry, shouting and swearing that someone better not have remembered something because he would try to escape.

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I knew I had to get out of there, or something bad could happen. I snuck out and acted like nothing happened. I didn't know what he meant, but seeing you the next day, it felt like he was talking about you, and I was scared you'd leave us.

I- I'm sorry that I didn't say anything, but I was scared and actually still am. The prince looked so scary for a moment. I even doubted for a moment that it was him.

I thought if I didn't do anything, everything would stay the same as before. I'm sorry I should have told you from the start."

When he finished talking, silence reigned. My head started spinning, and all I could hear was the sound of tinnitus.

This can't be happening. It can't be Jack. I tried convincing myself that it was probably someone else, but it was useless.

It was obvious that Jack had something to do with everything. My heart broke into pieces. I felt betrayed and didn't know what to trust anymore. I wanted everything to be a dream but I didn't wake up.

I wished that someone would tell me it was probably not how I thought it was. That Jack wasn't hiding anything. That I was the problem and not him.

I desperately looked at Ethan and the others to tell me this, but they all remained silent. I started crying and walked to Ethan.

I begged him to come up with a theory of why this was happening. He surely could think of something that made sense. But all he did was say sorry and look at me as if he was telling me it was over.

I tried lying to myself, but in the end, I had no other option but to accept the fact.

The moment I did, I started hearing voices. I tried to calm down and concentrate. I knew those voices. They were familiar. I heard them before.

But where? What were they saying? Who are they? Trying to figure that out, I heard it. It was a female voice I had heard in my dreams. I remembered. It was her. She was real.

"Zane! It's me, Miranda!"

Miranda? I knew that name. I heard of it before. I remembered. She was the daughter of a duke, the fiancé of the Marquis's son, and the first friend of a prince. She was the girl from my dream.

I thought that dream was just a dream where everything was the same but different, a mirrored world. Ethan became Nathan, Cale became Cole, Harry became Henry and Amanda… became Miranda.

But now I was able to hear Miranda. She was here. She was real.

The moment I remembered the dream, I started losing consciousness and fainted.

When I woke up, I remembered everything.

.

.

.

My name is Zane, and I am the crown prince.