(Late Hours, In Lezlie's Room)

I was brushing my hair, and was putting it in a proper shape, in front of the mirror with a sour expression on my face. Looking for a reason in my thoughts. It was just about the conclusion we all reached after the loss that we all were aware of.

My mistakes, have been, and were such an embarrassment, in front of the people that were way ahead of talent and hence determination, to just even be condemned with my own personal problems and have no sense of essential teamwork in the work we did.

I had even lost my consciousness halfway through the battle that we were fighting, I was just thinking about it every time I was alone.

And although we only traveled in monthly processes, we achieved a few of the things that Ryuu wanted to achieve. I was, of course, in mixed thoughts about how I would feel about this, but his satisfaction was restoring the tone that the whole team should have. That's why I was immersed in my thoughts in quite warm feelings.

But that was until the absence in my heart made me feel myself once again.

Was this really the future that my mother saw for me?

I thought to myself. The endless suffering in my heart was a forest of unquenchable flames, because it was the topic of the scariest to me. It was something I avoided thinking about even beyond my absence and now I had many problems with it.

As I should seriously think, was this really the case that my mother wanted to leave behind for me, or was she leading the way?

Fighting endlessly in an endless war. Watching them die like we and they, are dragging all these people to the brink of death. Just to know they wouldn't have another way of surviving? To know that we cannot heal those cruel people's atrophied hearts?

Was that the result?

But no. It was maybe the decision that I picked out of misery and sad emotions, but not that was the case. I was sure that this wasn't something to think about with the emotions that I, nor she had at the edge of her last breath.

It was something more.

And every time I opened myself to think about it, I felt there was more to it than that. The only reason my mother wanted me to go with Ryuu and the others was not only to end the war, but also to shed light on my future and the possibilities I could cause. The experience I could have with them. The more I can understand the bad and appreciate the good. She wasn't only forcing me to grow up in the most daunting and illogical way. She must have done all of this, just for me to find a better, than the worst that I could have if I didn't leave.

As she was the brightness of my past, Ryuu was the person who could pick that up, where my mother left, it, and carry it till the end.

That was why we all decide to trust him. That is why I could have been understanding. So that was the thing that I picked to do at that moment and continued to dwell on my thoughts in precise ways.

I wonder what kind of future was waiting for me? Was the only question I asked myself before I left. I was quite excited after all and was curious about what kind of possibilities we would face in the future. The dove of yesterday brings the knowledge of the present, but the inspecting and news-carrying birds of the future cannot migrate to the past. Just like mom said.

So, knowing this, I completed my preparation and stopped by the room where my friends were, giving Ralph, who was in my bag, small carrot slices.

The sun was hitting the palace from outside. The temperature was warming the floors slowly, and the weather outside was being kept informed by the slow warming of the climate. It was quite a beautiful and delicate smell, and there was such a calm around that a person could even hear his own thoughts. I could also hear the sounds of birds coming from outside, and flying freely above the sea at these times, as a different kind of feature of the location where we are located above the sea.

Seagulls, as if celebrating the arrival of a new era with the flapping of their wings, freely floated above the vast sea, putting an even more beautiful melody into the person's eyes. They were chirping, as if they were singing like the wind going round and round. It was such a lovely feeling for me to experience something like this. But although the elegance of this view is not a valid reason for me to be late, I accelerated to avoid being late, and after quick steps from the corner of the hallway, I came back with another way for me to walk.

But unfortunately, I hit myself hard something like wall, after the second I put my feet in front of one another.

When I looked up, there was a tall, long-haired man standing in front of me. He had grabbed me by the arm to keep me from falling, and was holding me in the position I was in with a strong grip of his. He looked into my eyes as if time had stopped, and he just stood there, pulling me into his eyes. But the interesting thing is that when I looked into them, his eyes were shining. They were like two different jewels, and their brightness of them reminded me of many other things. For the first time, I was repeating my words quietly, not knowing what to say.

What did I need to say? What was I going to say and what kind of words that was going to be pointed at him? Was I just going to stand there and accept our silenced introduction or meet up with proper gestures?

I had never experienced or felt such emotion before and was confused.

But the silence between us, had been broken when the man's lips were opened.

"Are you all right?" He said with a calm tone.

Then I replied, trying to be polite,

"Yes... I-I am. Sorry, I was in a hurry."

"It's not important. After all, I had a place to get too."

Our conversation would have continued if I had stopped there, but I couldn't keep the others waiting. So, without prolonging the conversation, I quickly got back on track. And turning my head to him before leaving, I said,

"Again, I'm very sorry! I'm in a hurry!"

He was standing there half confused, but didn't care much since I left. And did the same too.

I had just left there and was trying to move quickly. I need to have my only goal in mind at that moment, and I was trying to be even more careful because of the regret I felt in the morning. But interestingly, I felt something different. It was something I hadn't felt before. It was a complex, finite feeling about that person that I couldn't come to a conclusion about. But even while I was thinking about it thoroughly, after a short time and a few corridors, I arrived in front of the door of the room mentioned.

So I refocused and tried to go into the room.

But surprisingly, the man was there too.

Just the man that I met minutes before, was standing there, lying his back on the wall while he connected his arms. He was just waiting and looking at the wall blankly. It was like he was waiting for something in front of the door. It was that when we saw each other before and said that he was in a hurry after all. But did he come here for a purpose, or was he following me? Sooner or later I started thinking like that. But I was still moving slowly, trying to figure out what it was, who it was.

And when I approached the guy, I talked first out of curiosity,

"Excuse me, are you following me?"

However, the man was now looking at me as if he were trying to understand me.

"I don't understand what you mean?"

And how he has done his hand moves, was pretty understandable at convincing the other side of a quality conversation. But by a thoughtful lesson that my mother told me, it wasn't that much of a man to fool around and act dumb on things they knew.

So I remembered that and got angry at him,

"What I'm trying to say is, Have you been following me the whole time?"

"No? Why would I do something like that?"

And still, he acted like he didn't know.

"I don't know. You tell me."

"I'm just looking for the king. That's all."

"Are you a dangerous person or somewhat close to it? I really don't sense good in your eyes."

"You're too annoying for a sorcerer, too. A lot indeed. And it's pretty annoying that you judge people without any explanation."

"A sorcerer? How could you-"

"You carry a small bag which your people generally use to carry potions and needed instructions for a medical spell or something that carries much more importance. You wear cloth that is very much fancy but still have the embroideries of your people. And that which is a horseshoe with three dots inside of it. You also smell a lot like Epheiqraire, a rare plant that only grows near here this castle. You probably decided to collect some of those to use them later, and since you were here for a while, you weren't shy about taking your time."

"But what-? how in the possible-?"

I was quite angry with him at that moment. And I felt like I was going to be pretty rude to him. I was far from the reality that I was normally such a quickly getting angry person, but the fatigue, mental pain, and sadness left by the previous moment were showing me that even brute force was a more relaxing solution at that moment. That's why I tried to push him out of the way. However, at that time, my foot got stuck on the long red carpet on the floor and I lost my balance again and leaned on the guy once again. And while he couldn't even react to the absurdity of the situation, he leaned against the door to keep his balance and tried to stop the fall of both of us. However, at that time, the door suddenly opened and we fell into the room.

I hadn't taken any damage or hit myself, from falling on the guy, but I was crimson with shame because of the sight I encountered. Ryuu and the others were sitting in a common seat, waiting for me, when they suddenly saw me like this, they looked at me with surprise, and the king was sitting on the other seat, and when he saw me like this with a man, he was secretly having a sincere laugh.

And first to talk, Babu quietly bowed his head to Ryuu and Hiroshi, and whispered in a hearable tone,

"I think Lezlie made another friend without us."

I quickly got up from him and tried to explain the situation,

"Sorry, I'm late. I could not come to such a reception with proper preparation, but I am sorry that this was the case when I was aggrieved."

"Oh, you sure look like! But looks like you had a little fight there with my son too!" said the king still laughing.

After these words of the king, we looked at the man who was lying on the floor with a mad expression, surprised at me like the others, and we looked at him with wide-open eyes and an excited structure.

"King's son!?"