Hakuren heard the slap before he even opened the door. He stepped aside too, just in time for the door to burst open and a woman from inside to come running out.

"I will never come back!" She yelled over her shoulder, sobbing and trying her best to arrange her clothes as decently as she possibly could.

Ah, it seems he should've waited a little longer.

His older brother Hakuyuu then exited his room, rubbing the side of his face where a red handprint was. He was just as disheveled as the woman from earlier and he had a slight scowl on his face.

"How many has it been already, dear brother?" He asked, snickering under the other's glare towards him.

"I don't keep count."

"Surely you'd remember those who slapped you though?"

He rolled his eyes at that, refusing to answer (because he damn well knew how many it had actually been) and instead focusing on arranging his clothes. "Why are you here?" He asked, going back inside his room to find something to tie his long hair with.

Hakuren peeked from the window, slightly distracted by the dark room and the messy bed on one end.

"Well, our Nemurihime just woke up and caused trouble for the soldiers."

"She went outside again?"

"Yep," he answered, then paused. I should probably mention that no one was hurt. "And no magic was used too. So don't be too worried."

Hakuyuu glanced at him on the mirror, working on making himself presentable.

"I'm not."

"Sure."

Sighing in irritation through his nose, he turned to glare at his brother who was leaning in his doorway, arms crossed. He reeked of irresponsibility if you didn't know him like he did. It was one of the reasons why he's always annoyed with him at times.

And that woman too. What had she been thinking suddenly going out of her room again after being attacked the last time she tried? Was she really that idiotic?

"What else happened?" he asked his brother, who shrugged his shoulder uncaringly at that. He watched his face as he paused in thought, before adding,

"...Hakuei may or may have gotten a crush on our guest?"

Hakuyuu felt a migraine was on its way.

"How?" He asked, massaging his temples as he collapsed on a nearby chair. "Of all things, it just happened to be a crush. On our most dangerous guest, as well."

Hakuren had a grin on his face, watching in amusement as his older brother was overcome by troubles. "If it makes things any better for you, I did warn her to be careful."

Hakuyuu was already giving him a look of distrust the moment the other opened his mouth. And he was right to do so. Because what came next from his brother's mouth just made something snap in him.

"I just hinted that you're interested in her."

The imperial crown prince of Kou had to restrain himself from losing a sibling at that moment.

---

It was a boy.

With long black hair tied in a sectioned ponytail, narrowed red eyes, and red garbs that looked similar to what the young girl from before wore. He reeked of importance and arrogance that were out of place in such a young face.

Esher didn't know what to do, especially when her eyes caught the thick mass of black Ruhk surrounding him.

He said something then, jumping down beside the bed and pointing a small wand at her.

Alarm bells rang as she watched the tip of his wand grow brighter, and the temperature of the room decreased further.

Who was this kid? And what does he want from me?

"Please leave me alone."

Her hand touched the bedframe from behind her and activated her magic.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

She had closed her eyes instinctively, and when she opened them, the thick branches that covered her form were pierced by ice shards. Her eyes widened, touching the things, and feeling the cold Ruhk that it has.

Magic.

"You speak Torran?"

Hearing the voice made her gasped and she looked over to the boy beside her. He has a scowl on him, the tip of his wand still frosty from his earlier spell. Was he the one who spoke?

"C-Come again...?" She asked him, hesitantly. Her heart was hammering in her chest from nervousness. She didn't know whether the child really was the one who spoke or if she was only hearing things.

But nonetheless, she hoped.

His face morphed into confusion, "Ha? Are you deaf too?"

Turns out, she was not hearing things. She hadn't even cared that he had just insulted her. Esher was just happy that finally, someone can understand her.

She slowly crawled to the edge of her bed, her magic retracting and trying her best to keep her voice steady to keep herself from crying from relief.

"You can speak my language, boy." She told him and he looked a little uncomfortable. All tension hadn't left him yet, but Esher cared little about getting hurt.

"...w-what about it?" He looked at her with distrust as she answered him what she truly felt, being alone in that unfamiliar place.

"No one else can speak like I do. And I cannot understand them, as well." She clutched the front of her dress as once again, she was reminded of reality. "I wish to go back, but I am unable to do so."

"You're not from here?" He asked her, placing down his wand hesitantly. His Ruhk calmed down, unlike earlier when it had been really hostile. He was just wary at most, now.

"No... I have never seen a place such as this before."

That was the truth. And he turned skeptical, as if he hadn't believed her.

"Really? You've never heard of the Kou Empire?"

Esher slowly shook her head. She was afraid to ask. But was that what this place was called?

"How about the Parthevia Empire?"

"No..."

"Reim?"

She shook her head.

"Balbadd? The Dark Continent? The Kingdom of Gou?"

Esher didn't know what to do aside from muttering, "I have never heard of those before." The more the boy listed all these places, the more she realized that she was far, far away from home. It was all unfamiliar.

The boy leaned away from her, frowning. "Then where are you from?" At that, he noticed the mark of a third eye on her forehead and he stared. "Are you from a Torran tribe then?"

She was confused. "Torran... tribe?"

He inspected her face, then took her sleeve so that he can look at her hands closer as well. She watched him do so, waiting for him to explain. It was the first time she heard of 'Torran tribe', but from how he had looked like as if he had guessed close, it might lead to some of her questions to be answered.

"I've never heard of those tribes before." She told him honestly, just as he dropped her sleeve.

"Aside from the third eye in your forehead, that's all you have in common with them." He told her, crossing his arms at her. "You're not tan like them, nor do you even have the same dialect as they do."

"Oh..."

He peered up at her face as she looked solemnly at her hands.

"Where did you even come from?"

It was such a simple question, but she was reminded of the home that she had gotten accustomed to for an entire decade. The hot and humid air, the deserts that went on for miles, the rifts scattered about, the sweet fruits, the three suns, and the most obvious of all, her family, the Resistance Faction.

"We haven't a name for it, but we have three suns," Esher told him, the obvious difference between that world and her's. She hoped by starting with that would narrow down his guesses as to where she had originated from.

But watching as his face morph into something that shows he hadn't understood, the hope that had bloomed in her chest immediately disappeared.

"There's... no place like that here, I assume?" She asked him, smiling ruefully at him. "It's alright. Thank you for trying."

He looked uncomfortable. But nonetheless, he nodded his head at her in response.

An uncomfortable silence washed over them then, both not knowing what to say. One was standing by the bed, shifting his weight from one foot to another while the other sat in it. That is, until Esher's thoughts went back to the magic spell the boy showed her earlier.

She had wanted to ask. Looking closely at him now, he barely had any Magoi in his body but he easily casted the spell from before.

"Where did you learn magic?" She asked him, making him look at her initially in distrust, until she added, "I was just impressed that you can do Ice magic at such a young age." She smiled at him, making him a little embarrassed as he looked away.

He looked a little flattered.

"O-Of course! I'm a great Magi, after all!"

She grinned slightly at him as for the moment, she was a little happy that she finally has someone she could talk to. That, and her weakness are kids. She was often one of those back at home who often played with the children and taught them magic as well when their parents are out on the battlefield.

Being with the boy elated her.

Esher continued to talk with him, and he did the same to her. She found that his name was Judar and he found that her's was Esher.

And before she knew it, they've talked non-stop and she appreciated having a proper conversation for once.

---

When the crown prince had entered the room, he was surprised at what he was witnessing.

For some reason, their young 'Magi' had found his way inside their secret guest's room. And currently, he was also talking to her. He used the same language as her, not some jumbled words he made up on the spot as the woman continued to respond to him. So he threw out the argument that the boy was merely pretending to understand her.

But he still didn't know how to feel about it, as he waited for either one of the two to react to his presence while he watched by the door. (He also motioned for the maids that accompanied him to leave before they called out to the two.)

Ever since Judar was brought in the Palace all those years ago, he knew not to associate with him. Anyone that their mother brought there, he knew not to trust. It started with a bad feeling when their mother started acting weird. Until one day, she turned completely into a different person but with the same face.

Then started the questionable things that she had done.

One of those was when the priests that accompanied her everywhere suddenly brought a baby to the Palace. That was Judar. And he still remembered the night that he was brought there. His cries echoed in the night, until suddenly, it stopped.

The dread had been stronger then.

Now, years had passed, and that same baby was this boy in front of him, whose mere presence foretold danger.

What had happened that he ended up talking with their dangerous guest?

As he was deep in thought, the woman finally took notice of him and she froze, making the boy stop talking as well to turn to where she was looking at.

Immediately, the smile he had in face turned into a scowl.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded of him, and the prince shook his head at him.

"I should be the one asking you that." He walked towards them so that he stood imposingly at the edge of her bed, crossing his arms and pointing a calm but distrustful look towards the boy. "Were you not taught not to barge in on a woman's room uninvited?"

The boy made a disgusted look at him. "I should ask you the same thing, pervert prince."

It took Hakuyuu quite a bit of effort not to pinch the cheeks of that boy for being so cheeky. Nonetheless, it seems that he sensed the annoyance in his smile as he blew a raspberry in his direction before sharply turning his head in the other direction.

Hakuyuu inwardly snorted to himself about how he was exactly like a brat then and there.

The woman said something to the br—boy, something that was akin to telling him off and he said something back in return, snapping. He imagined he was telling her some nasty things but she was merely smiling patiently at him.

After a moment of back and forth, she was able to get through the kid and he huffed, jumping off the bed.

"Fine."

Then without so much as another word, he opened the window and flew out.

Just like that, he was gone.

He heaved out a sigh, the tension in his body leaving as he relaxed. Judar was troublesome, and every time they see each other, he was turning worse and worse. It was a miracle that he had left with such little fuss than normal.

In any case, he was now gone and he can now do what he had come for in the first place; warning her to stay away from his sister. It would be hard to communicate seeing as the only middleman that can translate for the two of them is a reluctant and bratty Magi, he figured that he'd show the woman instead.

"Come," he motioned for her to follow and turned.

He heard sheets move and then—

THUD!

He paused in his step, then turned back to see the woman sprawled on the floor, as if she just fell off of her bed. He watched silently as she grabbed the bed post and dragged herself to a stand. They stared at each other, Hakuyuu merely waiting.

Realizing that he was waiting for her, she took a tentative step and left her support.

...only to fall down on the floor again.

As he watched her look at him helplessly, he realized that communication may not be a priority at that moment.

He sighed, and called for the maids to enter.

---

Esher didn't know how things ended up the way they were.

She was just in her room and talking with Judar, then the man from before came and made the boy leave. Then here she is now, currently being held by her arms by two women and was being prodded to walk.

It was harder than she remembered, especially when she's very heavily reminded that she's currently incapable of doing the action on her own. But even with assistance from these women, her legs shakes whenever they let more weight than she can handle.

Meanwhile, the young man found a place to sit by a gazebo, water from the pond surrounding the background. He merely watched from his perch, sometimes giving what sounded like instructions to the two women.

But even when she's currently suffering, she knew that it was for her own good. She's useless without the ability to walk, and it would even take all her muscles to recover to the point that she can start training her body again in preparation for casting spells.

It was for her own good.

So even if the other was watching her in amusement as she struggled, she still appreciates the thought.

Her foot got caught in small stone and she nearly tripped, if it weren't for the two beside her who caught her fall.

...she wanted to cry.

---

"Father, are you sure you don't want to meet Nemurihime?"

"I'm sure she's lovely."

"I have a feeling that you don't fully believe that she exists in the first place." Hakuren accused, rolling his eyes playfully, the marches of the maids, retainers, and soldiers of his father echoing behind the two of them.

The older man smiled at him. "...It might be a bit hard for me to absorb the fact that a young woman stayed alive for almost a thousand years and she speaks a foreign language."

Ah, well that makes sense.

"I don't blame you," He agreed, nodding his head sagely. "If someone else told me that, I wouldn't believe them either."

"Then you know where I stand in this matter."

His father concluded, always so patient when speaking to him even with all his mischievous antics. Even so, it was disappointing that he held no interest in meeting Nemurihime. You would think that their father who is very much fond of adventures wouldn't pass up such an opportunity to see someone who may have come from a world that was long gone.

"Not even a peek? My men worked hard to bring her back after all."

As you can see, Hakuren can be pretty stubborn. But the emperor remained firm with his last answer.

"I'm quite alright Hakuren, my boy. Trust me."

Hakuren let out a sigh, giving up for now. "Sure."

Comfortable silence settled between them then.

"Hakuren," the emperor called out to his second son.

"Father," the second prince then answered.

The older man stopped walking and turned to his son. His face was serious and grave. Instantly, Hakuren straightened up.

"I will be heading for the battlefield in three days. I would like for you and your brother to accompany me."

He was surprised to hear that. It wouldn't have been a week before he has to leave again. And he wasn't afraid to voice that out to his father.

"Oh, so soon already? I just came back, too."

"The more Kai gets cornered in Mukuge, the more they would get aggressive. I would like there to be minimal casualties as much as possible."

Suddenly, he was brought back to the bloody battlefield once more. All the corpses, all the blood, all the wounded that survived, and all those who hadn't. The endless cycle of blood wouldn't end unless the war does. His father has a point with saving as many as he could.

"Does Yuu already know?"

"He does. And he expresses interest in bringing along your cousin Kouen so that he may observe."

"Ohh, well, I see." He smiled slightly. "Things are about to get interesting, aren't they?"

The emperor merely smiled mysteriously at him as well.

---

It was late afternoon when the young man had ordered for the women to stop. At that point, she was exhausted and she can barely take another step. Adrenaline really was the only thing that helped her before.

But even so, it felt good to feel exhausted after doing something productive for once. Being bound for most of her time in her bed was souring her mood a lot. She wanted to feel as if she's not a burden to these people like now.

And as soon as she can walk again, she wouldn't mind helping around.

Esher watched as the women left, bowing their heads to the man. She was uncomfortable then, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Should she leave?

She stayed sitting in the grass where she was left by the others, until her attention was caught by the plants near her. She remembered that they had been different than the ones she grew up seeing. But her curiosity stayed with her and she wanted a closer look.

It was a little ways away, and she doubt they'll care if she goes off a few feet from her last position, so she crawled for a bit until she was at the edge of the bushes.

As she held the leaves in her hand, she couldn't help but marvel at how green they are. It was a stark difference to the dull green and sometimes light brown colour of those back home. They would grow a light green but never quite get the same shade as these.

It was intensely hot then and it would change the colour fast.

She can appreciate just how different these are compared to those. Even the flowers there had nice shades of purple, white, and pink. It was so elegant to look and very pretty as well.

Then she noticed a lone bud in the see of blooming flowers. It was blocked by leaves from getting sunlight and unlike its sisters, no one would bat an eye towards it; a late bloomer.

As she brushed the leaves clear from the hidden bud, she heard footsteps approach her. Esher turned to see who it was and found a curious look pointed at her by the young man. He said something to her, praised as a question and she thought that he was asking about what she was doing.

She motioned for him to come nearer and he did, ignoring the worried voices from behind him.

He crouched beside her and looked at the bud. He looked confused.

"Look," she told him as she held it between her fingers and Magoi flowed from her fingertips. The bud slowly bloomed, showing hundreds of petals like its sisters.

He looked amazed at that, and she noticed that a small genuine smile flew past his lips for a moment, and then it was gone.

He muttered something to her, then rose to his full height, offering a hand towards her.

She stared at it for a moment, before tentatively taking his offer and allowing herself to be pulled to a stand.

---

She was escorted back to her room after that. It was a quiet and slow trek, as the sun started to make its way down in the horizon and bathing everything in an orange hue.

When she got back, she found the table inside was filled with different kinds of meals; ranging from meat, to vegetables, to deserts. It was elegantly prepared, and she was a little intimidated by it. Was that how other ate there? Always so extravagantly.

The people who took her back left her to do her own thing, and then, she sat there eating on her own.

The taste faintly reminded her of the meals she used to eat. The flavour was faintly the same but had much more to them just a simple salty, sour, and sweet. It was as if flavours were mixing together and it worked really, really well.

Different. But... well, she liked it really.

There weren't a lot she could use to eat though. There was a spoon-like thing in there that made for tasting the soup easier. But aside from that, she couldn't use it to cut meat or ever scoop them up with it. It seems that it wasn't made for that.

There were also two sticks but for the life of her, she had no idea how to use them aside from stabbing the meat with it and hoping it wouldn't slide off before she could take a bite.

Also, funnily enough, a familiar girl entered her room after an older woman opened the door for her.

There was silence, as Esher froze in the middle of her eating to see the others staring at her. It felt like they were judging her harshly for what she was doing but merely stayed oblivious to it.

She only realized when the girl giggled at her and told something to the women behind her. Which then led to them coming over Esher and showing her what the proper posture was and how to eat using those sticks she was misusing.

She was a little wary of them but found that they merely wanted to help. So, she relaxed slightly and let them do what they were told.

By the end of it, even though communicating through gestures had been hard, she found that she's not supposed to sit crossed legged on the chair, her back needed to be straight, and the sticks weren't for stabbing but for picking things up.

...she never would have figured all of that all on her own so she muttered a grateful "thank you" to them even though she knew none would understand.

She just hoped that at least her gratitude was understood.

Later, as the plates of food were taken out of her room, Esher realized what the girl was visiting her for. She held a scroll with her and sat beside her on the table, opening it up to reveal their language in written form. There were drawn illustrations besides the odd and intricate letters that hinted that the girl might be there to help with the language barrier.

It was... very kind of her. She needed all that can distract her and learning a new language would be a good thing to do instead of being lost in her thoughts again. If she can use it to someday communicate with these people properly in the future, then she was more than happy to learn.

Esher listened quietly, smiling, as the girl started pronouncing the letters.

---

It reminded her of back then, when she had been little and refused to learn how to properly read.

For her, as long as she can read the formulas in magic circles, then that was all that mattered. Of course, Arba had disapproved and she was very determined to teach her.

"Esher, reading formulas would be the bare minimum for us magicians. But there's a lot more to learn in our world than magic circles."

She had a point there, but being only ten, she had been stubborn. Unfortunately, Arba was even more stubborn than her. So try as she may to run whenever their paths crossed, or even just seal herself in another tree, the woman wouldn't hesitate to run after her or chop the tree she was in down.

It was scary, she remembered.

But that was what had her interested in plants in the first place. She was tasked with taking some books to Setta from Arba's library and one of them had been about plants. She had been curious, so she took a look and instantly fell in love.

She had always been able to use plants at will, but she never once sat down and tried to understand them and how they were the way they were.

She had disappeared for a whole day then. Everyone spent a long time looking for and she had heard later that Arba threatened to destroy their base if they don't find her. Fortunately, they were able to do so before the woman makes do on with her promise.

Setta, the recipient of the books, was actually the one who found her on a deserted hallway. She was laying on her stomach in the ground, the book about plants that she had liked was still open and the pages were softly swaying in the wind.

She fell asleep.

He had to take her back and when she woke up in Arba's arms, the woman had been very upset with her. She didn't know why but thinking about it now, she must've been worried sick.

Nonetheless, she remembered smiling to Arba even amidst her angry nags and telling her excitedly about the book she liked. Everyone was surprised, especially as they had known how much she previously hated to read and now here she was, rattling off what she could decipher on Setta's book.

Arba had been less mad after she had talked non-stop about it, and she hugged the girl to her.

"A-Arba?"

"Nothing, Esher. I just wanted to hug you."

"Oh..."

A snicker then followed from their lightning magician, Ithnan.

"She can be sappy too, see?"

Someone was hurt for that comment. But it was one of those moments she fondly looked back on.

---

If... if she couldn't find a way back...

She wouldn't mind if she stayed here and found someone who would often listen to her about plants. That would be... well, that would be wonderful.

---

A/N: Hello! back at it again with another update. I've been having a lot of fun writing lately since my tablet pen's charger went missing. I found it again so I can get back to drawing my life away but I still wanna write aaaaaa

So here you guys go!

Also, since my charger has been found, and a reader from Fanfiction said they wanted to see a full body of Esher, I drew my girl! Properly and not sketchy this time hahaha!

Also, I just realized that her hair length changes every time I draw her but that should be close to what I originally had in mind!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and tell me what you guys think!

I'll see you at the next one!