Gesel shook her head as she looked at me. "Won't happen!" she said as she let out a sigh. "I am nowhere near being able to grow stronger anymore. I want to, but not until my child is old enough to do her own thing. I want to be a good mother."
I could understand that. Gesel really looked happy when she told me she was pregnant. I can only guess she had been wanting a child for a long time. "As the child's godmother, I will protect her with everything I have."
"I feel rest assured," Gesel replied with a smile.
We chatted for a little bit longer before I left to mingle with others. I could not just hang out with Gesel since I was the main host of this ball. I talked with my people making my rounds before returning to my seat, feeling a bit tired. The people here were all trying to flatter me, but I really could care less for the flattery. What I care about is how hard people work. As long as they are doing their jobs and doing them without violating any rules and still getting things done in a timely manner, then all is well. While I will not fault them for being late on some things due to unforeseen incidents like what has happened recently but during quiet times, I would expect them to do their jobs in a timely manner.
"You look worn out." Adel walked over and sat next to me. She took a glass of wine and sipped it.
"And you are right at home. As expected of a princess." I teased as she nudged her with my elbow.
"You will get used to it. It does take time. When I was younger, I hated coming to these kinds of events because everyone had eyes that were fake. They only wanted to make connections so they could rise up in society. But now that is not possible without proper hard work. I think the current system is much better, and this empire has you to thank for that." Adel smiled as she pushed her glass to my lips. I smiled helplessly and took a sip. It was sweet and tart.
"I was only doing what I could for everyone." I leaned back in my chair. I was not looking the slightest bit like royalty at this time, but well, it didn't really matter. After my display earlier, I am sure everyone knows I do not act like a noble. I was born a commoner. Well, a noble in name from what I understand but still a commoner in my eyes as we lived the same way as everyone else.
"It's because of you how you felt for everyone that things were able to progress the way they have. Faith, remember you have your family to back you up and handle things when you need to escape. You do not always need to shoulder everything on your own." Adel smiled at me. But as she smiled, her face suddenly turned sad, and the surroundings turned into a destroyed building.
I was still in the same place, this much I could tell, but the building had been destroyed. Rubble was everywhere. Blood and dead bodies could be seen here and there. And Adel stood in front of me while a sad expression. "Why?"
Tears rolled down her face as I looked down. In my hand was a sword. And the tip of that sword was sticking into Adel's chest. My mind blanked out. I knew this was a vision, but because everything was so real that I did not know how to react. I could only see Adel's face growing paler by the second as the blood that dripped from her wound pooled on the ground by our feet.
"Why did you? I was so faithful to you. I never thought of loving anyone but you. I killed my own father for you!" Adel's voice grew louder as the tears rained down faster. I watched as she grabbed the blade and leaned forward. She let the blade slide across her hand as it pushed deeper into her body as she looked up at me. Her bloodied hand reached up and cupped my cheek. Her face grew closer as she kissed my lips. "Even now…. I still love you…."
"Master!" Atollie's voice broke me out of my trance as I looked at Adel, who was hugging me, rocking my body back and forth. "Master, are you okay?"
"Ye-Yeah…." I slipped my arms around Adel and hugged her tightly. I can't believe I would witness such a scene. How could I ever harm the one girl who loves me more than her own life? I buried my face into Adel's neck. She was not speaking. But I felt something was off, causing me to push her forward. "Wha?"
"Faith…." Adel looked up at me, her eyes watering up. "I do not know what is going on."
Adel's white dress was now stained with blood in the same spot I just saw in my vision. I did not hesitate to cast a healing spell on her. But…. The blood kept flowing. "Atollie! What is happening!?"
"I am not sure! This should not happen." Atollie answered.
"Stop! Rewind!" I cried out, trying to use time magic on Adel, but this still did nothing. Time would not stop, nor would it rewind! "Atollie, do something!"
"I will try." Atollie walked over and tapped Adel's forehead with her finger. Adel's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed into my arms. The blood finally stopped flowing. "Master, I could only knock her out. I am afraid when she wakes up, this will continue."
"Why is this happening, though? Why is she receiving the wounds from my vision!?" I do not understand what is going on. This whole thing was making my mind a mess. I slipped my arms under Adel, and the eyes of everyone there, I lifted her up into a princess carry. "Atollie, follow me." With these words, I walked out of the ball without a word. Adel was precious to me, so I had to figure out a way to save her. But because of this, I worried about the other girls as well. Is everyone close to me going to suffer from the same fate?
