King Arias's gaze was lowered when he heard his sister. Though he knew that Mira often had a breakdown due to depression, she never went that far.
Yelling, throwing and destroying things, hurting herself; these were the common ones.
Princess Mira Astaze was well aware of the close friendship that used to exist between her younger half-brother and Elaine. She also knew that though Arias never said anything, he still cared for his friend.
"I'm sorry. I don't know -"
"It's fine, Mira," Arias Astaze muttered, making his older sister shut her mouth. Then he gently caressed her hair. "You can apologize to her later. Just have some rest for now."
The Princess nodded despite feeling bothered by her brother's lifeless and dull expression. Besides, he appeared so tired. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Though it wasn't easy, she eventually fell asleep after almost half an hour.
After he was sure that his sister was now sound asleep, King Arias walked out of the Princess's chamber. He quietly made his way to his chamber but... he changed his mind when what his sister said crossed his mind. Then he turned around and went in the direction of the guards' quarters. To be exact, the Captain's quarters.
It wasn't long before King Arias's found himself standing before the door to Elaine's quarters. He reached out his hand in an attempt to knock on the door but... he changed his mind.
It's already past midnight and she might already be sleeping. He knew how tiring the day was for her. As such, he only stood still for a few more seconds before he reluctantly retreated to his chamber.
* * *
Dreamland
A little girl was kneeling on the cold floor, weeping and begging for something. A figure that wasn't much bigger than hers hugged her, trying to stop her from witnessing the brutal torture that one man was currently suffering.
"P -Please! D -Don't hurt my father!" the little girl cried with her tiny voice.
Her begging and crying fell on deaf ears of the men who cruelly tormented her father. They were so far from showing mercy to the poor girl!
Just a few steps away from them was the dead body of a woman that was lying cold on the floor. It seemed like the woman was the mother of the girl. The dress worn by the mother and father indicated that they were nobles. The jewelry worn by the mother was also another proof.
When the little girl's eyes landed on the dead body of her mother, one of the men unsheathed his sword to land a final strike on her father!
"No!"
Just before the sword could strike the father, a hand covered her eyes, stopping her from witnessing her father's brutal death.
*
Elaine suddenly opened her eyes, tears rolling down at the side of her face. She was asleep for only a few hours but... she started having nightmares again.
The same old nightmare that she was well-familiar with now. After all, the same nightmare used to haunt her in her sleep, again and again.
The Captain slowly pushed herself up and her hands wiped away the sweat that covered her forehead. She let out a breath, feeling somewhat relieved that she was now waking up and not stuck in that nightmare hell anymore.
That nightmare... Elaine already had it countless times but... their faces were always blurred.
Was she that child from her dream? She had no idea at all.
No matter how much she attempted to regain her lost memories, it was futile. Ten years passed and she gave up countless times. However, whenever she had that dream, it made her thirst to know her forgotten past again.
She lost her ten years memories. It wasn't a small matter.
The Captain's case was strange. When her adoptive father found her in a forest ten years ago, he learned that she was without a single memory from the past. Taking pity on her, he took her home and decided to look for her family, in case someone searched for her. Ten years passed yet no one showed up.
It seemed like she wasn't from Araven. But why was she found in a forest located in Araven?
No one knew.
After adopting her, her parents took her to many skilled and famous physicians but... no one could solve why her memories were lost. It's not like she hurt her head.
Elaine sat still on her bed with her thoughts filled by the mystery surrounding her memory loss. Then it wasn't long before she sensed the presence of someone nearby. She instantly knew who it might be and she let out a sigh.
"Blaz."
As soon as she muttered the name, a tall young man dressed in all black emerged from the opened doors to the balcony. Well, Elaine kept them open for a reason. Two or three more seconds and Blaz was already kneeling beside her bed. "Captain," he muttered, keeping his voice low not to alert the other guards in the surrounding quarters.
The young man was one of the best shadow guards trained by her uncle's son, General Cayden Avary. He was assigned by her cousin to protect her and follow her orders.
The shadow guard was so skilled that at times, even Elaine also failed to sense his presence. She also doubted that apart from her or her cousin, the other guards or even the King would know that a shadow guard used to watch over her as soon as it became dark.
"Is there any progress?" Elaine asked the shadow guard, not moving away from her bed.
"I did as you instructed. Eleven years ago, there were three noble families around our kingdom who faced their demise, but... " Blaz's voice trailed off as he felt reluctant to continue.
"Carry on," Elaine simply said in a calm voice.
Ten years of failure and she wasn't having much hope anyway. This time, she admitted that her hope was raised a bit. Maybe because she recently managed to see their clothes. Until a while ago, everything was blurred to her, just like their faces. All she could know used to be the voice.
After confirming that the mother and father dressed like nobles, she told Blaz to investigate if there was such an incident around Araven eleven years ago. She already confirmed that there was no such incident in Araven.
Just who was she?