It was a full moon, the sky was stunning, and there were many stars. Under the radiant moonlight, we were still outside the masquerade ball location, sitting on the bench we found outside the venue. Additionally, we were still tired of chasing and racing after each other like we were still children.
After having fun, she leaned over to my right shoulder and stared at me while we both struggled to communicate clearly from exhaustion. We continued to sit there on the bench, laughing at each other while doing nothing else, and we did not want to get up. We just sat there for almost ten minutes until she fell asleep on my shoulder.
Looking at her asleep makes my heart at peace. I caressed her head. I did not know what to do after that, so I just sat there, looking at the distance and at her sleeping face. Then I heard a sudden sound of footsteps from my back direction can be heard, getting closer. I could not see who it was until she walked in front of us. When I looked at the person, it was actually her aunt.
"Hey, I have a question to ask."
"What is it?"
"Tell me the real thing, everything about you, your name, your age, and what your true intentions are towards Mariane."
I think really hard, but I do not remember anything. I just ignore it because it might be caused by the fun we had.
"To be honest with you, I actually do not remember my name or my age, but I do know that I want to protect her."
She puts her left hand on her chest, and she straightens her other hand. She started chanting magic then a blue light flash out of her right hand that. Then my information about who I was, who I am, and where I came from was revealed.
"Okay, let us see who you really are."
She was shocked by what she saw in my information, so I also looked at it, but the name shown was not my name but rather the word "unknown". The birthday and the age were still there, but everything except for those two has disappeared. Even my information about my past and memories was not written on it. I was flabbergasted.
I tried remembering my past and the day before I got into this world, but I could not remember a single thing. The only inner memory I remember is the day I met Mariane.
"WHO ARE YOU!!?"
She cast a lot of ice magic, then surrounded me with ice spears, ready to kill me in one hit. I did not know what to do, and I also did not know how to react after realizing that I had forgotten everything about my past, my name, and my true identity. I could not even think straight, and I just kept looking on the ground, regretting that I had not noticed this whole time.
Then Mariane suddenly woke up and ran to protect me. She cast a lot of green wind barriers to protect me from the ice. She then stood in front of me while I was just standing there, staring at the ground.
"His name is Alfred!, he told me when we met, and he also lost his memory after we were attacked by the skeleton of the ruins in the forest where we lived."
"What do you mean?"
"We entered the dungeon that you told me not to go to, and that is how he lost his memory."
I am sure it was not the skeleton who did it, because if he was, then how could I remember the things before that.
"Why did you? Now look at what you have done to him."
"Forgive me"
"I will punish you later; it is already time for dinner."
Her aunty removed the ice magic, and then she walked away, looking at me like she was not done with me yet. Mariane removed the barriers, and then me and Mariane looked at each other in the eyes, and then she suddenly wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. Not wanting to let go of me.
"I will protect you even if my life is on the line."
Water suddenly came out of my eyes. I cried and cried, wrapped around her arms, thinking about what had led me to forget my past. And I was thinking of how I almost died. If I really died, then I could have regretted my whole existence because I could not be there for her anymore if it really happened.
Then, while sobbing loudly, I encircled her in my arms as well. Fortunately, no one was around to witness us. To help me relax, we sat on the bench once more. She held my hand for a while, and after that I started to feel better.
"Do not worry, Aunty was just testing us."
"I was thinking if I really died, then I could not forgive myself; leaving you alone would really be regretful."
"Stand up"
We stood up while we were still holding each other's hands, and then she suddenly ran, pulling my hand away. I had no choice but to run too. She brought me back to the table where we were assigned. It was a huge table with a similar red tablecloth that matched the place because the venue was themed with the color red. The table was also full of red, purple, and pink flowers. We were wondering why the table was different from the others. Then someone came and gave Mariane a letter. We opened the letter, and it was a note from her aunt.
"Sorry for earlier; I was just testing his reaction, but it was true that he has no name or history about his life written on his information." written on the letter.
"Sigh...."
It was almost time for dinner, and everyone sat down and prepared to eat. Suddenly, several waiters and waitresses came out and served each person foods such as bread, cheese fondue, and kebab. After they served the dishes, they poured wine into everyone's glass.
"Let us forget what happened earlier and let us eat for now; I have been hungry this whole time, haha."
"Yeah, me too; I have been getting hungry since this morning."
We did not hesitate to eat it immediately because it really looked delicious. We eat everything on the table until nothing is left. We knew from the beginning that they would serve tons of food, so we did not eat anything before we got here. After everyone in the room finished eating, the waiters and waitresses came back and cleaned our table. Then they served everyone ice cream for dessert. When we finished eating, they started awarding the people who had the nicest attire. We did not wait for it to finish, so we went home earlier than everyone else.
We could not ride the pumpkin carriage anymore because it was produced by the magic spell of her aunt, and her aunt was not there to assist us in going home because she was needed in the awarding. Luckily, Mariane has wind magic, so she can produce wooden brooms to fly us home. So we rode only one long broom because I did not know how to use it, so I sat at the back of the broom. Then the broom suddenly flew. It was my first time, so I suddenly hugged her, afraid I might fall.
"Do not let go of me; you might fall from how fast the broom is."
"Okay"
I did not expect her to be okay with it because she usually gets angry whenever I suddenly touch her. Then her broom suddenly dashed towards the direction of the forest. It was really fast, and I held on to her really tight. We flew from the city to the forest where we live. When we got near the house, she admitted something.
"I knew the real reason why you lost your memories."
"What is the cause of it?"
"Everyone who leaps through dimensions has to pay something, and I guess you sacrifice your past and identity."
"I see, Then I think there's a chance that I hated my past before I got here."
"I guess so."
"Since I lost my identity, then call me by that name you said earlier."
"You mean Alfred?"
"Yup,"
From today on, my name will be Alfred.