Usually, children awaken their magic abilities at the age of 3 to 12, whereas nobles awaken earlier than some potential commoners at a later age.
But Anastasia was different. She was born with high magical potential and was already casting several high ranking spells at five.
She was undoubtedly a prodigy of her generation, but there was just one problem.
She had an unknown disease that she couldn't say to anyone or, rather, no one ever believed in her.
Demons possessed her.
Darkness enters her room every once or twice a month and chokes her to death. But the next day, she would be found alive and fine. Sever doctors and magicians were summoned by Duke Tsar none found any abnormality. In the end, everyone started to ignore like for trying to attract their attention.
In the end, no one came to her aid.
"Help!"
Again the same phenomenon was happening with Anastasia. Same darkness was trying to devour her body, her existence, and no matter how much the child struggled, nothing ever worked.
"Prince Arthur! Save me!"
With tears in her eyes, she tried calling her only partner and the person who should come for her aid, but like each time, he never came.
"Please, someone…"
She pleaded. She looked at the ceiling of her room as another person's image appeared in her sight, a person with dark hair and purple eyes.
'Mi…la…dy….'
He was an annoying, disrespectful and rude person. He was also a filthy commoner who raised his voice on her. She hates him!
But he was also the person who had saved her by risking his life despite her apparent lies and rudeness and was on her side right to the end.
Today, Anastasia raised her hand to the boy in the heat of the moment, but she later realized her mistake. She wanted to stop him but didn't know how to. For some reason, her heart sank in depression, leaving her side, so she attacked him. She wanted to scream not to leave her side, but she couldn't.
She thought he would kill her, but he showed no such thing again and only smiled. She felt apologetic to the commoner, and her desire for him to be on her side grew strong.
Yes, she could save her, right? But what was his name?
"Ivan!"
Just as she called the name, she abruptly opened her eyes and found herself in her room. She was drenched in sweat, but there was no darkness in the room.
"Milady, are you okay? What happened?"
She turned around and found the person she had called: Ivan, her butler. With shaking hands, she touched Ivan's soft cheeks to confirm the boy was Ivan.
"I…Ivan…?"
"Ah, yes..."
It was him!
Without a single ounce of thought, she jumped and hugged him!
---
It was a chaotic day where I had to face the mini villainess head-on. Thankfully she wasn't in her right mind, or she would have frozen me in my place. Shin also didn't report to the duke, and I was alive for now.
While in pyjamas, I was in my room, reading a history book.
Even though I hated history in my previous life, it was not the case now. It was an unknown world with mysteries and magic ruling the laws of human order.
I wanted to understand if the lore provided by the game and actual history is any different. It turns out that both of them are similar. I discovered some new aspects, but the main lore and legends were the same.
Anyway, since my Life Force is a little higher than a normal person's, I was not sleepy.
Just then, I felt something ringing in my head as someone needed help.
"Who…?" I carefully poked my head outside, but I didn't see anyone. It was a dark endless hallway with moonlight rinsing from the open windows.
What? I am not scared of dark places or ghosts. As a soldier who had carried out duties on one of the most haunted places in Afghanistan, i.e. the Outpost of Observation Post Roc in Helmand Province, I became obvious to the paranormal. Seeing the souls of dead kids or people was a daily routine, so I wasn't afraid.
After looking around and hearing the person calling for help, I went inside my room after finding no one.
"Weird, why I am feeling like this…?"
My tummy was fine, so it was defiantly not the warning of an upcoming toilet explosion, so what was it. It was like… Anastasia was calling me.
It was a feeling when I saw her confronted with the assassins on the first day and a feeling of desperation that I felt today.
I tied my dagger around my waist, picked up a lamp and ran towards Anastasia's bedroom. Her bedroom was on the third floor while I was on first, but it was not hard for my frail body to sprint towards her room.
As I reached the door, I carefully pushed it. Her room was equipped with a defensive magic system, but I had a crystal that acted as a pass and allowed me to enter Anastasia's room.
"Milady!" I entered and called her, but I found her soundlessly sleeping on her bed. I slowly walked toward her bed, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
She looked very cute in her sleep. I can't believe such a charming face was cursing me today. Her silver hair was like glimmering snow in the presence of moonlight. She was sleeping straight with her hands gently placed on her stomach like a sleeping beauty.
However, I was still feeling the same altruistic sense toward her. I noticed that she was breaking cold air and her skin was a little paler. It might have gone unnoticed, but I knew that something was wrong.
"Milady! Oi, Ann! Wake up…!" I tried to call her, but she didn't respond.
Since she was sleeping in the middle of a queen-size bed, I had to crawl over to her position to wake her up.
"Milady, Ann…! Are you okay?" I called her again, but no response. I was reluctant if I should touch her since she might misunderstand and freeze me into ice cream or, worse, place harassment charges.
Ah, to hell with it! I will see what happens.
I grasped her hand to observe her nerve, and as I thought, her nerves were getting slower.
I gently pressed my palm on her cheek and called her name, "Anastasia!!"
Just then, she abruptly woke up and started panting. She slowly turned her head and looked at me like seeing a ghost.
Crap, she is going to freeze me.
"I-Ivan…?"
"Ah, yes…"
Just as I answered, she jumped and hugged me tightly.
It was the first time I realized how developed she was for a 12 years old girl, and I also started hearing FBI sirens in this world.
5 minutes later.
She calmed down and explained to me her story. She was reluctant at first, but child stubbornness is usually short live.
'It was in the lore…!'
Hearing her story, I realized there was indeed something like that in her lore. She used to see demons in her nightmares and always called Prince Arthur for help. Although he never came to her aid, which was expected since the guy was living in the Capital, her obsession grew stronger for him, which became the basis of the plot.
It was also never explained the real cause behind her nightmares, but I think I had a gist of the real problem.
"I think it is called sleep paralysis."
"Huh? What is sleep paralysis?"
"Well, it is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. Usually, you sleep straight with the same posture on both sides or hands-on stomach/chest."
"Really?! When did you learn this?!" She because excited and crawled closer to me.
Ugg, why I am reacting like a shy boy in front of a child?! She looked awfully cute in her pyjamas.
"Yes, it was common knowledge in my village. I also faced this once, so I know it is horrible." I said, and just then, tears began flowing in her eyes.
"I… sniff* I have been facing this for so long, but no one believes in me… I felt so pathetic…."
"Oi- I mean, Milady, calm down. I am still unsure about your condition. I am…"
"Nn, I feel like I have found the answer… Whether Ivan's advice was correct or now, I want to believe in him..." She said and beamed a beautiful smile with rosy cheeks and tears of happiness.
I sighed and rubbed her eyes with a handkerchief. I then gently caressed her cheeks, making her smile more, "Now that I am here, you can sleep at peace."
"Hehehe~! Ivan's hand is soft and warming~." Anastasia giggled and rubbed her cheek against my palm.
I realized I was getting touchy with her. This might escalate things in the wrong direction. I didn't know what kind of sweet potion she took to act all cute and make my heart beat faster even though I was 12 years old, but I had to move quickly.
Just as I was about to retract my hand, she stopped me. "Stay with me for tonight!"
Oh no.
"But I have…."
"No butts!" She whined and pushed me onto the bed. She then comfortably lay her head on my arm and closed her eyes with a smile.
I wanted to avoid the dangerous route, but I didn't have the guts to break her smile. Her smile healed my heart.
I would leave once she fell asleep, so I decided to abide by her orders.
"Ivan?" She opened her ruby red eyes and called me.
"Yes, Milady?"
"No, call me Ann when we are alone!"
"…Alright."
"Why are you so nice to me?"
Ah, the famous anime question.
"Am I…?"
"I hide the existence of the treasure you were looking for. I also hid my identity and was also rude to you…. And today I…."
"It's alright, Ann."
"No! I need to know. Why you are helping me?"
I also had the same question, why was I helping her?
The answer was…
"I don't know." I spoke, "I don't know why I am like this. I also get annoyed whenever you speak ill to me or throw tantrums but… something inside me tells me to help this troublesome girl and show her the right path. Maybe I was born to deal with troublesome."
"Stop calling me troublesome, humph!" She said and puffed her cheeks, making a cute pout.
I chuckled silently and yawned. Oh crap, I was getting sleepy.
"Ivan?"
"Yes?"
"I…I am sorry for today…."
"Its…okay..."
"And also, thank you."
"Ah… umm…"
I didn't know why I was blushing like a maiden in love. It must be the young hormones of this body.
Whatever happened next, I forgot since I fell asleep.
---
Anastasia noticed that Ivan was fast asleep. She first thought about making some distance since she was a noble and he was a commoner, but she felt immensely comfortable. She didn't think much and crawled a little more before placing her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes.
Her love for Prince Arthur aside, she wanted to dive in Ivan's embrace for this moment.
---
A few minutes later, another figure, wearing a three-piece suit, entered the room.
"Yare, yare~, children are so troublesome." Shin shook his head, seeing two small figures sleeping comfortably in each other's arms. "Isn't that right, Musume-san?"
Kasumi also followed her father, wearing a nightie. "It is called character development, Oto-san."
"Are you still on about living in a fictional world?"
"Hui! It is a fact."
Shin sighed and decided to take Ivan to his room. The poor thing might suffocate by Anastasia's strength in his sleep.
"Let me pick him up."
"Nope. First, you need to leave your habit of checking young boys' pants in their sleep. You won't find any good husband like this."
"Humph. It is called cultural checking, and that's how I will find my partner. They would grow up with big PPs and then be indebted to me. Hehe, they wouldn't have any choice but to take me as their queen. And then, hehe…."
Shin ignored his daughter and carefully separated his new son from young lady Flareottems' gasp. He then left the room with the boy in his arms.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg for what you will face in future, my new son. Enjoy your cozy sleep while you still can." He opened his eyes, looking somewhere far in the distance and grinned, "Fun hasn't even started yet, kekeke."