Ch 8: A new world

Camelia underestimated the human race's growth potential in a century, let alone a few centuries.

It had felt slow to her before because she had been living with the changes, but the contrast between the past and the present was truly astonishing.

So, Camelia was not surprised whenever a new item or magic was introduced to the public. After all, she had seen that magic be thought of since its inception.

But this? This was a revelation for her.

The towering buildings that looked like they would never end, the thousands of lights displayed all over the city, and even the big screens that advertised moving pictures felt monumental in their scale of change.

There were spells to make this all happen back in her day, but they had never become this widely accessible for everyone to use.

"Are you alright? You are looking outside the window as if this is the first time. What are you thinking about?"

Zayne's voice brought Camelia out of the trance she was currently under. She blinked a few times to clear her mind before noticing how close the other person had gotten to her.

Camelia abruptly moved her shoulder, causing Zayne to dodge her attack or receive a print of shame on his face.

The male chose the latter, allowing Camelia's hand to hit his face and leave a noticeable print behind.

"What are you doing? Stop looming over my shoulder like a threat. I don't like your trying to cower in my space like this."

Camelia spoke, not willing to admit that she had accidentally hurt the man in front of her.

Because she had not…

Her shoulder had moved as intended, and Zayne was the one who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that was his common habit.

The older male was always hovering over Camelia's shoulder, trying to one-up her. He would retaliate at any moment, causing Camelia to…

'Huh? Did I not get attacked back? How weird. Zayne never held back, no matter who hit him.'

Only after Camelia looked at his young and bashful face did she recall that this man was not the person she remembered. 

"Wait, sorry. This one was my fault. I did not mean to hit you in the face. Can I help you out in some way?"

Camelia asked as she looked at Zayne's face.

She had not held her strength back, but his face was already healing from the mark she had made. This made Camelia feel both glad and irritated.

"Huh? This mark? I am fine! Don't worry about it. I get small marks like these all the time. Besides, you will repay me for this soon enough. As my finance and guide, you are the only one I can depend on when my situation gets tough…did any of that make sense to you?"

Zayne stopped speaking halfway, and his face had a puppy-like look.

Looking at that expecting expression made Camelia look at the side. A small blush also crept over her face, causing Camela to frown.

Her neck and hands tingled from where she had touched the other person. It was almost as if some spell had activated as soon as the pair touched.

But it had not been a spell that caused harm. Rather, it felt a little too pleasant….

'I need to snap out of it. Whatever magic that was, I should not take it so lightly. I need to learn from my past mistakes.'

Camelia noticed Zayna sneaking closer to her from the corner of her eyes, and she raised her fist unconsciously to stop him.

Zayne flinched and quickly sat back down. That gesture made Camelia's stomach flutter pleasantly.

'I…did not mean to do that, but it works. I need to get used to this body soon. I don't like the new sensations that I am suddenly feeling.'

The more Camelia stayed away from Zayne's look-alike, her body returned to normal. At this point, she could only guess that whatever she felt was because of him.

So, she decided to maintain her distance from that man. She did not want to get caught up in any impulse and end up with a problem she could not handle.

Thankfully, Zayne also behaved himself for the remainder of the trip as he drove the weird machine he called a 'car' back to his home.

Camelia had just started to relax when her eyes caught another familiar-looking face on the giant screen.

A pink-haired girl was holding a small tube in her hand as she fake-smiled at the audience. 

Her features looked similar to Rem's. It was almost like the young girl had grown up, and someone was now showing Camelia her portrait.

"..."

Camelia opened her mouth to ask a question but quickly bit her lip in agitation and decided not to speak up.

She did not want to get her hopes up. And more than that, she did not want to give Zayne any reason to come toward her and talk to her.

Her feelings could not handle such a thing.

After driving a few more minutes, they finally reached one of the tallest buildings, and Zayne drove into the basement before he parked his car and opened the door for Camelia.

She ignored his extended hand as she stood up and looked around.

The whole building was concrete, and the basement had several cars. Many spells were also woven in this place for protection, to the point that it would have put the royal palace to shame.

"Where are we?"

Camelia asked, not suddenly on high alert.

She felt the Zayne look-alike approaching her, and she was ready to defend herself. But he did nothing but place his forehead on Camelia's shoulder as he suddenly collapsed.

Camelia touched his body and hissed as she found him burning up.

"You…what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being like this?"

She asked as she felt her energy being sucked into the other male from where they were touching.

"Just a minute! Just give me a minute here, and I will pull myself away. I need your help."