"Grace, hold on! Please fight! Don't give up!" This was all I could say. I could not do anything else but keep injecting a steady flow of my mana into her body. I could only hope that Grace could make it through this. Otherwise, I will need to deep freeze her body until I figure out a way to help her.
As the hours passed, I stayed steady and firm as I continued injecting Grace with mana. No matter how tired I felt, I forced myself to stay awake, knowing that if I faltered even once, she might just die. Sophie, Sei, Adel, and Sally all stayed at my side, not leaving me once. Everyone else would keep checking in on me to make sure I was okay while scouting the surrounding area. They were afraid of any monsters appearing out of nowhere. Even with the barrier up, they wanted to keep watch just in case. It had been ingrained in their daily habits to check their surroundings, which made sense since we have been doing it for a while, day in and day out.
"Faith, it's been three days. Are you okay?" Sei asked in a worried tone. I could see she was worried about my well being. While my eyes were droopy due to lack of sleep, there was nothing else wrong with me. "I am fine. It's thanks to you that I can still eat and drink, so I am okay. Just tired is all."
Sei smiled softly at me as she put her hand on my head and rubbed it. "As long as you are feeling okay. If you need a break, let me know. I will take over. I may not look it, but I do have quite a bit of mana."
"Mmm… Thanks, Sei." Sei is like an older sister. She worries about me and is even willing to suffer along with me. Out of everyone, she is the only one who has stayed awake this entire time. While the others slept, she would talk with me quietly. That is not to say that the others did not try to stay up as well. Adel and Sophie made it a day and a half, while Sally made it two days. Only Sei has stayed up this entire time. I am not sure if she feels partly responsible for what has happened since she knew more than Adel about blood seals or what, but it did not matter, what happened still happened. No one knew that Grace had a bloodline in her that would clash with my own.
So no one can be blamed for this, really. All except for me, who wanted this contract in the first place. But even if I did not have anything to do with this, I would still help Grace no matter what to save a friend who I hold dear.
Two more days passed when Grace's temperature finally lowered. I quickly removed the ice that was encasing her body, causing her to fall back into my embrace. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Sei walked over and checked her pulse, and let out a sigh of relief. "She will be fine. Whether or not her bloodline was awakened or not is another story. We won't know until she wakes up. So for now, you sh…."
I didn't get to hear the rest of Sei's words before I passed out….
"Hmmm?" I looked around to find myself in an unfamiliar bedroom. "This place is?"
"Your Majesty, are you awake?" A voice rang out at my side. I turned to see Grace standing there. "Grace?"
"Is there something this humble servant can do for you?" Grace asked with a smile. But I was very confused. Why was she acting this way? I, for one, know I am not the kind of person to go and enslave my friends. So why was she acting in such a manner? "Grace, why are you calling yourself a servant?"
"If I am not a servant, then what am I? Your Majesty, are you not awake yet? What will the citizens think if they see their Queen half asleep and mumbling crazy things?" Grace sighed as if she was exhausted from my actions. But I was now even more confused because she was calling me Queen and saying something about citizens. But now that I am taking a good look at her, while she is definitely the Grace that I know appearance wise, just about five years or so older, she also has two sets of horns and a small white halo on her head.
I looked across the room and saw my reflection in the large mirror that covered a good chunk of the wall. I was kind of shocked to see that I looked much older. Even my proportions had grown, which kind of made me happy. I have been worried quite a bit about the size of a certain area on my chest. Although this was definitely a dream, and this could just be me imagining the perfect me, I had to say I was quite cute.
"Your Majesty?" Grace called out to me once more. I still did not understand why I was dreaming about being some kind of Queen, but, well, I will just play along for the time being.
"Sorry, I was still half asleep." I slowly crawled out of the big comfy bed and stood up. I went to stretch only to find myself suddenly standing there naked and Grace holding the nightgown and underwear I was wearing in her hands. I blushed and quickly jumped back onto the bed and wrapped myself in the blankets. "Wha!? What are you doing!?"
"What else would I be doing but changing you, Your Majesty? Why are you acting like this is two hundred years ago? Your Majesty, you must really be asleep still." Grace chuckled as she placed some clothes on the bed. And then walked over to me and pulled on the blankets, ripping them right off of me. "Now, please allow me to do my job!"
And within a matter of minutes, I was wearing a white dress with a red cloak with a fur collar wrapped around my shoulders. Grace then pulled me to the mirror and began brushing my hair, getting all the bed headedness out of it. Within thirty minutes, I was completely redone, and to be honest, I have no idea who the person is in the mirror staring back at me.
