A boy was standing with a light smile that could be mistaken for a schemer. His snow-white hair hardly fluttered even when the breeze hit them. And two golden orbs that reflected the Princess's face stared quietly.
Niveus Albus.
He clearly had no ill intention. But the Princess somehow seemed frightened.
'Just what did I do for her to be like this?'
Niveus was confused. All he did on that particular day was have dinner because the Queen invited him. He had a brief talk with the Princess about why he still wore a mask. Eventually, he had to eat his dinner in the room provided for him.
But before he could even touch his dinner, Niveus noticed someone, which was the Princess, fell outside his room and looked frightened when seeing him.
'Why?'
Why, indeed.
What actually caused her to be like that? Obviously, it was the memory's influence.
Clearing his throat, Niveus spoke carefully but bluntly, "Umm, Princess. Are you afraid of me? If so, may I ask why?"
Slapped by the question, senses began returning to Aurum. But, she didn't answer immediately.
'Why? Why am I afraid of you?' she thought. 'Because you will kill me in the future? But the memory isn't proven yet.'
Aurum swallowed her dry saliva and tilted her face upward, making eye contact.
She asked for Niveus's name, but her voice was too low. Niveus mentioned it to her.
So, she repeated herself. This time, the voice was caught by Niveus's ears.
"Your name, what is it?"
"Niveus Albus."
"..."
Aurum paused for a moment.
"Which is your real face? This one or..."
At that question, Niveus had a thought. It was the thing that had been on his mind.
'As I thought, it's because of my face.'
But that was what made things even more puzzling.
What was wrong with his face? Everyone else was either mesmerized or shocked, but only this blonde Princess felt frightened.
'Should I answer truthfully or lie?'
Niveus did not take long to decide. The answer was clear from the beginning. Especially when he had to fulfill the Queen's request.
'She needs to trust me if I want to stand by her side to protect her.'
With that in mind, Niveus spoke, "I assume you're asking this question because you have seen my face at that time?"
Receiving a nod from Aurum, Niveus continued.
"Then, what you saw at that time is my real face."
The bomb had been dropped. Now, what would the reaction be?
Aurum frowned. She seemed to have fallen deep in thought.
'They're the same person. The name, face, and voice... What's left is his power. But it would be rude to ask him that. Anyway, if the memory turns out credible, I could also prevent him from becoming the person he is in the memory, right?'
On the other hand, Niveus...
'It's been on my mind since I got my old memories after bumping into her. Especially when that particular memory becomes the most vivid and memorable of all things.'
It was a memory of Niveus (Rey) with his friend, Clara.
Among the memories that returned back then, those stood out the most.
Because of that, Niveus could not help but become curious about the Princess.
Why? Because her actions were suspicious.
She was hiding her identity when buying the ring from that jewelry shop.
Why? Sure, it might have been one of those undercover episodes in the game, but as far as Niveus knew, there was no episode related to a jewelry shop. Moreover, it was now a reality. He wasn't sure if the game's storyline even existed.
Also, it might have been normal because maybe the Princess was sneaking out of the palace secretly.
But...
A few days later, the shop was closed. The reason was the owner had no stock left to sell.
Although that was true, Niveus felt something was missing. Indeed. When he investigated the store, he found that the reason was that the palace had bought out all the stocks under the Princess's name.
For what reason? Niveus wasn't sure. But he had a guess it must be because the Princess knew something about the ring. Or, it might have been the Queen's Clairvoyance.
So, to find out the answer, Niveus...
"Princess, do you know something about the ring?"
He intended to collect information directly from the source.
"What... do you mean?"
"I actually am on a mission here to investigate something that has been recently happening in Chrysantheus. One of them is about the ring with an unknown gemstone."
"Something that has been recently happening...?"
"Yes. Especially in the north, something strange has happened."
Niveus briefed Aurum about what had happened in Glacend.
After listening to his explanation, Aurum covered her mouth in shock.
'I have no idea about Frozen Swarm, but that Double Monolith... that is something I saw in the memory!'
"If you know anything about the ring, please tell me, Princess."
"Huh? Ah? That... why don't you ask mot—her majesty, The Queen, or the Young Dragon?"
Niveus shook his head, already anticipating the Princess would give a response like that.
"No. I'm sure you are expecting no one to realize your involvement in all this, but my investigation led me to believe that you're the one who orchestrates the entire situation."
"By that, I mean it's not only what happened in the banquet earlier. You're also responsible for the closing of the jewelry shop."
Aurum was not the type who could control her expression. If she was, she would not openly show her fear when she faced Niveus. This time, her face was also tense after getting exposed.
Secretly gritting her teeth, Aurum tried to speak calmly, "Looks like the rumors about Sir Niveus aren't exaggerated," but Niveus could easily spot the crack in her voice.
'She's frustrated.'
Realizing he might have offended the Princess, Niveus quickly apologized.
"I'm not blaming you. You did a good job. It's just..."
Aurum stopped speaking. She refused to elaborate. Her Princess's dignity was returning.
Encouraging herself, Aurum looked at Niveus in the eye. She didn't waver this time.
"Fine. I'll tell you about what I know."
Soon, the Princess disclosed the information regarding the ring based on the memory engraved within her. What she told was on a surface level, leaving the details such as where it originated.
However, that didn't matter because Niveus was only testing her. He wanted to confirm something.
Everything Aurum shared about the ring was the things Niveus already knew. But Niveus could not help but be surprised.
Not because of the information. But by how Aurum phrased them.
How Aurum talked about that reminded Niveus of Clara. Word by word. The resemblance was crystal clear.
'Is it really you?'
Niveus still had a bit of doubt about the Princess's identity being his old friend, Clara.
Aurum Chryseus was a legitimate character who existed in the game, after all.
In contrast, Niveus was a nameless character.
What are the chances of someone being reincarnated and possessing a character who's alive?
'Wait...'
Only then did he realize that Aurum Chryseus was a character that was supposed to be dead unless the player put an effort to save her.
Meaning that the possibility of a soul from another world possessing her body was high.
And if that was true...
'She could have reincarnated as the Princess!'
Once he realized that, everything became blurred. He lost composure, which caused him to be unable to think clearly and rationally.
His thoughts were filled with Clara.
It was understandable.
Niveus had been living in that world for almost 20 years.
Considering he was born with an incomplete memory of his past life intact, one could only imagine how difficult it must be for him to have an existential crisis from a baby.
That also caused him to be detached from the world and the people surrounding him.
Niveus was alone.
However, he was fortunate to have a sibling who cared for him. Thus, succeeded in breaking the wall he had put on himself.
Although it was distressing when he lost his sibling, Nono appeared in his life when he was in his very low.
With all the support Nono had provided Niveus with, she quickly became an irreplaceable existence in his life, like his sibling, Nix.
But before those two, it was Clara.
Niveus, having fully regained his memories and knowing that Clara might be alive in this world, was happy.
Absent-mindedly, Niveus grabbed Aurum by the shoulders. His grip made her groan.
"W-what are you doing?!" Aurum snapped.
But Niveus couldn't hear her.
He was only staring at her with his mouth open and his gaze wavering.
Then, when he was about to pull her into a hug and speak, something happened.
Woooosh...
Thraaawww...
Vrrrrmmmm...
A deep, unsettling rush of air echoed through the space as something occurred in the sky.