Volume 4, Chapter 41 – The Bizarre Dream

A floating sensation, as if falling through clouds.

It felt like being drunk, yet also like standing on the deck of a ship in a sea breeze. Her soul was dizzy, and at the same time, there was a warmth like being bundled up in a blanket with a fever. They were two uncomfortable feelings, but when combined, they created a dreamlike and exceptionally pleasant state.

Gradually, her vision changed from pitch black to a scene of countless jumbled colors, as if several pigments had been violently thrown onto a transparent canvas. Then, this canvas began to ripple like water. The hazy, unsteady scene made one lose their sense of direction and time, to the point where the contents of the mind spun, and a strong wave of nausea forced one to close their eyes.

This is a dream.

Fia quickly became aware of her surroundings.

Logically, a dream should be in black and white, or have an overall yellowish tint. Yet, at this moment, Fia could clearly recognize the colors on this trembling canvas—no, that’s not right. It wasn’t that she “saw” them with her eyes, but that her mind thought a certain color was red, and so she perceived it as red. In reality, what her eyes were seeing were still just the three colors of black, white, and gray.

How strange.

Fia opened her eyes and looked at the constantly trembling world before her. In her past life in the Human Alliance, she had never dreamed. Although this didn’t make sense—everyone, even cats and dogs, dreams—Fia was certain that she had never had a dream. That was why seeing one now felt so novel.

Is this a lucid dream?

Normally, if a person realizes they are in a dream, they will soon wake up. But Fia was still in the dream. Only something called a lucid dream would behave this way.

I should be able to control this dream, right?

As if reading her thoughts, the wavering world gradually stabilized. The pigments splashed across the canvas condensed together as if they had a will of their own, finally forming a blurry, inhuman figure.

This golden figure, which burst forth with a strong golden light like the rising sun, was exceptionally large. However, because it was quite far away from her, as if standing at the end of the world, Fia could see its outline without having to look up. It looked somewhat like a starfish with slender arms extending to the left and right. Its soft, seemingly boneless body swayed gently, reminiscent of seaweed drifting with the waves. Its head was as slender as its arms, appearing incredibly strange from any angle.

If an ordinary person were to see this, they would surely be gripped by megalophobia and turn to flee, treating it as a nightmare. But in Fia’s heart, there was only curiosity. She had never seen such a creature. She could feel that it was a conscious being, and that it was releasing goodwill and a plea. It was asking for her help.

It’s a dream, after all. There’s no logic to it.

As Fia was thinking this, a voice filled with a strong sense of weakness suddenly sounded throughout the world.

“My child… I am waiting for you here…”

Hm? It actually spoke?

Fia was a little surprised, but she didn’t answer. Since she knew this was a dream, nothing that happened would be strange.

Without waiting for a reply, the giant, humanoid starfish spoke again. This time, its voice was more distant and ethereal, as if it had little strength left.

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“Only you can help me… my child… help me… I will give you everything you desire…”

Give me everything I desire?

This piqued Fia’s interest. It wasn’t that she wanted it to grant her wishes; wishes are things that can only be fulfilled through one’s own efforts. Relying on others is just a fleeting illusion. What interested her was that it was displaying such humanity, making the ethereal nature of a dream seem real and dramatic.

If a dream could be like this, it was no wonder some people liked to indulge in them.

Thinking this, Fia finally asked.

“Who are you?”

“I am… here… waiting for you… my kind… child…”

As if it hadn’t heard her words, the golden figure with its slowly swaying, giant limbs just kept emphasizing that it was waiting for her, its voice growing fainter and fainter, until, a moment later, it gradually melted into the air, leaving Fia all alone in the world.

The world once again became unsteady, the jumble of colors making Fia sigh.

It seemed dreams weren’t so wonderful after all.

It’s almost eight o’clock. I should get up.

The Fia in the dream closed her eyes. And then, the Fia lying in bed slowly opened her subdued, red eyes.

Consciousness returned to reality.

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

Almost simultaneously, a maid’s morning greeting reached Fia’s ears, along with the sound of footsteps as they bustled about preparing clothes.

Maids? When did they come in?

Just as she was about to get up, Fia’s body stiffened. She subconsciously pulled the blanket tighter and looked in the direction of the voices. There were a total of four elf maids of varying ages in her field of vision. Two had their backs to her, preparing clothes, while the other two stood by her bed, bowing in a salute. Fia had seen these four before; they were all servants exclusively assigned to the Eldest Princess.

“…Good morning.”

Although she didn’t know what was happening, Fia responded to their greeting immediately. Then, she saw all four of them freeze at the same time, especially the two who were getting the clothes. Their movements became noticeably stiff.

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It’s probably because the former princess would never have responded to their greetings, and now that I’ve suddenly answered, they are both surprised and alarmed. From this perspective, this could be a good prank to pull in the future.

For example, I could hide and pretend to be a ghost to scare them, and then, after they had recovered, take off the mask. When they realized it was me, the expressions on their faces would surely be priceless—but considering they might look at me with eyes that said “the princess became stupid after losing her memory,” it was probably best not to put it into practice.

“What are you doing? I remember you weren’t here last night.”

“W-we are performing our routine duty of waiting on you to rise and dress. You had locked the door for the past two days, so we did not enter. But last night, you did not lock the door, so we waited for you to wake up, just as we did before you lost your memory.”

One of the maids explained cautiously while peeking at Fia’s expression. Fia’s sudden greeting had terrified her, almost making her think she was dreaming.

So it was routine.

Fia breathed a sigh of relief. Come to think of it, it had been quite late when she returned to her room from the library yesterday. She hadn’t used the pendant, and she was still properly wearing her pajamas. Nothing unusual would be discovered now.

Composing herself, Fia got up with the movements she imagined a princess should have. As she had the experience of being dressed by Anastasia, she didn’t feel uncomfortable having the maids help her. She walked to the mirror and asked the maid who was about Anastasia’s age.

“Has the morning meeting already begun?”

“Yes. You instructed last night that you would not be participating today, so the noble lords did not wait for you.”

The maid knelt down in front of Fia to untie the sash of her nightgown. As the white gown fell from her body, the maid behind her quickly helped her into a bodice. Then, the close-fitting top that served as the inner lining of the formal dress was soon slipped onto her flawless, white torso. She didn’t even feel a chill during the whole process. It was clear that the maids were already very skilled at dressing the princess.

Although the bodice made her chest feel a little tight and uncomfortable, it was the normal thing to do. Besides, as the Eldest Princess of the kingdom, she couldn’t go around without one forever. If the maids found out, a scandal would surely spread sooner or later, so it was better to get used to the feeling from now on. It should be said that she had already put on underwear before going to bed, so she didn’t need the maids’ help in that regard.

Maintaining an expressionless face, Fia continued to ask.

“Did they have any particular reaction when you informed them?”

“No particular reaction. It is normal for you not to attend the morning meeting. The kingdom does not always have important matters to deal with. the Prime Minister is sufficient to handle daily affairs.”

“I see.”

Her not participating was intentional. Letting the noble council’s topics drift for now was only beneficial.

It had been two days since she had summoned Erin Slate and Colita. The forces Prince Schain had planted in the city were being cleaned up by the Imperial Guard. Those nobles who were hiding weapons wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. According to Erin Slate’s feedback, Loca had already suggested the idea of uniting with Godley to Count Reinhardt, and he had accepted the proposal with a grave expression and relayed it to Prince Schain. Things were progressing faster than she had imagined.

The only regret was that she had checked everyone in the Royal Castle and still hadn’t found the person who could have killed Greyan. The Blind Maiden had given another answer: perhaps the person who killed him was of a lower rank, but possessed the ability to manipulate the armor to kill him, which was why he had died. It was like a summoner type magic caster, whose own combat power was not high, but the monsters they summoned were astonishingly strong.

Although that was an explanation, it was hard to be convinced.

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“What color clothes would Your Highness like to wear today?”

“The usual is fine.”

“Then would you like to pair them with black stockings or white ones? A new batch of white stockings made of pixie silk arrived two days ago. An occasional change in color scheme would be more charming.”

White silk stockings…

In the past, because Anastasia had said she liked black, she had always chosen between black over-the-knee socks and black garter stockings. Now that she thought about it, a change in color wouldn’t be bad.

Fia nodded at the mirror.

“Alright, the white ones then.”

Soon, her expression became delicate.

After she had nodded in agreement, the maids had quickly brought a chair for her to make it easier to put on the stockings. However, she hadn’t expected that even this would be done by the maids. This made Fia feel a sense of shame—she hadn’t felt anything when they had put on the bodice, but to have her foot placed on a maid’s lap, and then have her pull the stocking from her slender toes to her ankle and all the way up to her thigh, made her feel embarrassed.

Although she was certain that because of the nanomachines, there would be absolutely no odor on her body, to place her bare foot on someone else, and to have the sole of her foot held in the hands of a beautiful elf maid, still made her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles. Subconsciously, she felt it was very dirty.

Of course, only Fia was embarrassed. The four maids continued to coordinate as if it were routine. Two stood at the ready behind her, while the other two were responsible for putting on the white stockings. Not only that, but they also took the opportunity to praise her.

“Your Highness’s nails are as beautiful as ever, and your skin is so white it’s enviable. Who knows how many people in the palace secretly admire you. To have the opportunity to serve you is truly our honor.”

“And there is always a faint fragrance about Your Highness. If you wished for it, there would surely be countless nobles lining up to pursue you.”

Hey, hey, I can understand wanting to get a promotion by praising the princess, but what’s with this intentional-or-not exposure of your chest? And is inspecting my toes and nails also routine? Don’t you think it’s dirty?

If not for her self-control, Fia would have already pulled her leg back. Come to think of it, Anastasia had also seemed to want to put on her socks for her in the past, but she had refused at the time because she felt it was too shameful. The result was that Anastasia had looked lost for the rest of the day, with a lot on her mind.

Now that she thought about it, if this was routine, then when she had refused Anastasia, she had probably interpreted it as her distancing herself from her.

So that’s how it was.

But it was just putting on socks. Was it worth being so dejected? A normal person should feel relieved, right? “How lucky today, I don’t have to do the dirty work of putting on that person’s socks like a servant.”

She really didn’t understand the maids’ way of thinking.

Fortunately, their movements were very measured and exceptionally swift. As if they were handling a fragile and precious item, they held the soles of Fia’s feet and methodically put on the stockings and shoes. The whole process took less than a minute.

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Fia really wanted to ask if they wanted her to use [Cleanse] to wash their hands, but they didn’t seem to think it was dirty at all, but rather acted as if nothing had happened. After the other two maids had prepared the washing utensils and saluted together, they left the room in sequence. As they were leaving, she even noticed that they seemed to be in a good mood.

Incomprehensible.

If it were her, her first thought would surely be to find a place to wash her hands and secretly curse this damned, troublesome princess.

“Hah, in any case, I finally have some time to myself.”

Dressed in white stockings and a black formal dress, Fia looked at herself in the mirror. Just as the maids had said, after changing into white stockings, the princess’s feeling had changed. Although she was still a cold ice queen when her face was expressionless, overall she had a bit more cuteness and allure, bringing to mind words like pure, delicate, and soft. The combination of black hair and red eyes was charming from any angle.

Mmm… admiring myself in the mirror like this, isn’t it a bit narcissistic?

It would be bad if an outsider saw this. Fia cleared her throat twice and pretended that nothing had happened as she walked away from the mirror. According to the plan, today was the day to make Prince Schain make up his mind. She had to act naturally, that is, to just do some random things.

I’ll go see Mizuki after breakfast. Communicating with the Elf God is my ultimate goal.

At this thought, Fia looked out the window, where the translucent Holy Tree was emitting its golden glow. And then, her magnificent, ruby-like eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of suspicion in them.

For some reason, she felt that the Holy Tree was very similar to something. Logically, she had seen it countless times these past few days and should have long since gotten used to its existence. Yet she felt that today’s Holy Tree was a little different from before.

It was as if this tall, golden figure with its giant branches could jump out and talk to her at any moment, and even beg her for help. The bizarre premonition made Fia put down her towel and walk to the window, staring at the golden tree that took up most of her vision for a good while.

At this close distance, she could clearly see the texture on its bark. This sickly-looking tree no longer had many leaves, and its lonely branches gave off an oppressive feeling of old age and desolation.

Suddenly, she realized the reason why the Holy Tree was different from before.

It was this morning’s dream.

That golden, shimmering, weakened figure that had swayed like a humanoid starfish.

Although one was a tree with many branches and the other was a humanoid starfish, Fia felt they were so similar that it was impossible to ignore it as a coincidence. Even now, she could still recall the plea and urgency it had conveyed, and the promise that it would give me everything I wanted if I helped it.

“I remember Mizuki said she could feel the call of the Holy Tree. This thing doesn’t actually have a consciousness, does it?”

Her brow furrowed slightly.

In any case, she had to go and see the Holy Tree today.