Roman stood in his balcony, staring at the withering Old Sage.
He went to visit it recently and it isn't doing so well, not since Lillian disappeared. How did this woman disappear also? Didn't she say that this is a desperate situation?
One minute she is there, the next she is gone. Then she appears again all bloodied and disappears . . . again.
"She's testing me."
He ran his hands through his teal hair, ruffling it. Pulling his hands away, they fall back on his forehead.
found you
Startled, he whipped his head around. Seeing that no one was there, he entered inside his room.
"I'm going crazy."
Your Highness!
His head started to throb as that voice resounded throughout the room. But he knows that voice. Running to the mirror he saw his reflection show a different face.
"Lillian?"
"Oh, thank goodness. I'm finally able to teach you. I've been trying for over three hours."
"What are you doing in my mirror? How did you get there?"
"Mirror? I'm in your mind. I think the reflection is just a way for you to see me. Interesting. What's with that look on your face?"
Roman looked disgusted staring at the reflection.
"What are you wearing?" He asked in disbelief.
Lillian stood there with her curtain of a dress and sheep's wool of a hair sticking out in all directions.
"Don't you think it's neat?" She did a twirl. "I wanted to be comfortable after wearing that awful pants the whole day. And! I made it." She grinned.
"Yes . . . I can see that. Your workmanship is very . . . evident."
"Why do I sense a hint of sarcasm?" Lillian moved closer to the mirror, eyebrow raised.
"What are you doing in my head? Should you not be here?" Roman quickly changed the subject.
"Oh yeah!" She hit her palm to her head. "Could you tell me what happened after I fainted? Did anyone cast any kind of spell or something?"
"I am not entirely sure." Roman went quiet, thinking. "I do remember Margaret panicking out of her wits and ordering for the best doctors to be called immediately. She told the servants to carry you to the room and tended to your wounds herself."
"Aww~ She's really an angel. Anything else after that? Anything done relating to my dress?"
" Well ... Geno did suggest to Margaret that she should get you out of your filthy dress. We left to give you some privacy. Margaret screamed. We ran to check on her and you were gone. So was your dress. Margaret has been in her room ever since then. But why the importance on the dress?"
"Your highness. I am the Fairy Godmother and if you remember, the tree summoned me. Meaning, I'm not from this world. That dress is the reason I can stay here. Now listen to me. Someone, I'll not name him but he has purple hair and eyes, a close someone you know, PURPLE SOMEONE, doesn't want me here."
Roman turned his mirror to face the bed and sat down on it. "Why would someone wish to do that?"
Should I tell him? Ugh, I wanna tell him so bad. Things in novels always take a turn for the worse when they keep secrets. I should tell him. But he seems close to him.
Did he not get the hint though? Seems fairly obvious.
I'll just tell him.
Lillian paced back and forth in the mirror, unsure of how to say it to him.
"Your Highness. What I'm about to tell you may sound unbelievable. But you have to know that I have no bad intentions, just that I am wor-"
"It is Geno, right?"
Lillian halted in her tracks and did a slow turn to Roman. "You knew?"
"Of course. You were giving, not very, subtle hints." He leaned against the pillows, a smirk on his face.
"And you believe me?"
He shrugged, "Geno is just like that."
Lillian's eyes widened in shock. " 'Just like that' ?! He's the reason the Duchess wants to lose her child and become barren!"
" . . . What are you saying?" Romans face turned serious as he sat back up.
"When the Duchess made her wishes she said something along the lines of, 'I won't ever give him a child'. So, I'm guessing this has something to do with him."
"Why would she say that? Of everything he has done, I let them slide because I believed that she is happiest with him and he is the cause of this?"
Roman's face became neutral but Lillian still felt scared. Something about his expression told her never to make him mad.
"What do you need?" His icy cold eyes sent shivers down her spine.
"There are many more things I need to find out, your highness. The Duchess is leaving the day after, right? I only have until then to try and find the answers I need. This may be asking too much but can you make sure the Duke gets nowhere near the Duchess the entire day? Oh no."
The sun rose around the horizon, bathing the room in a warm, golden light. A new day has dawned and she only has twenty-four hours left.
"You don't even have to ask me, Lillian. He's not going anywhere near her room. Do what you have to do. If you need anything, ask the servants."
He got up from the bed and briskly walked to the door.
"Wait!"
"What?"
"You have to pull me out to this world."
"Pull you out? Do you not have your dress?"
"Yes. But because of the Duke, I can't use it at the moment. If I am to come there, you need to pull my consciousness out of your head."
"You do remember that I do not have any experience in magic."
"That doesn't matter, you have to try. You're the only one I can rely on at the moment. Please hurry. We're wasting time."
"Ok. Ok. How should I do this?"
"I don't know. Just try closing your eyes, envision pulling me from your mirror to here. If that doesn't work . . . we'll think of something else."
"Ok."
He walked up to his mirror again, taking another look at Lillian in the reflection and closed his eyes. Imagining the mirror as a portal, he touched the cold surface. Searching for any sign of her presence in the vast emptiness.
He saw a glimpse of a hand and quickly grabbed it, pulling as hard as he could. Giving it his all, he felt her body press against his as they collapsed into the ground.
Opening his eyes, Roman saw no one there.
"Lillian?"
Was he unable to pull her out?
"I'm here."
That voice came from a small and long furry creature that looked like it was made of stars.
It inspected itself, swinging its tail from side to side as though it's also as confused as Roman was.
"Lillian?" Roman furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her from side to side.
Ferret Lillian sighed. "Yes. Guess this is me . . . for now. Hopefully."
"What are you ?" Roman was still on the ground, his dressing gown flowed all around him as he repositioned himself.
"Currently. I'm a ferret. Though-" she floated to the mirror. "-I look more like the fancier version of a ferret. Ooooohh~ look, I have stars in my body that twinkle and . . . galaxies."
She looked from the mirror to see Roman smiling at her.
"No sarcastic comments or retorts?" She twisted her body towards him.
"I like you more like this. Why don't you just stay like this forever?"
Lillian felt more chills run down her spine when he's like this than when he's mad. Shed prefer him mad any day.
"No thank you." She dramatically turned her head back and floated to his back, pushing him up from the floor and towards the door with her little body. "Come on now. We have to get to work. Even the birds are warning us of the passing of time. Go."
"Ok. Then, I will see you in a bit. Be careful." With a smile, he walked out the door.
Ferret Lillian shook her head. "That man is a piece of work. Now." She looked around the hallway to make sure no one was there. "To the Duchess's chambers."