[POV Liselotte]

  The afternoon sun was already casting long, golden shadows over the stone walls of the training courtyard. My body felt like an overheated block of lead; the intensity of the session with King William had left my muscles vibrating in a mix of exhaustion and adrenaline. After the news of the heroes’ arrival, the King looked at me with a seriousness that allowed no argument.

  "Go back to your room at the academy, Lotte. You need to clear your mind and get yourself in order. Sweat and ice are not the best attire to receive the Church’s envoys," William said as he wiped his sword with a silk cloth. "Return to the castle this evening with Leah. I want all three of you present in the hall. Don’t let the weight of your mana overwhelm you; rest."

  I bowed, feeling my joints creak, and began the walk back. Walking through the academy corridors allowed me to process the King’s revetion. Lava. My mana wasn’t simply "impure"; it was a force so dense it needed absolute cold to keep it from consuming me. It was a strange metaphor for my own life: an intensity that frightened others and forced me to build walls of ice just to survive.

  When I reached our suite, the silence was comforting. I went straight to the bathroom, desperately needing the touch of hot water to dissolve the tension. I sank into the bathtub, letting the steam fog the mirrors. I closed my eyes, and for a moment, the noise of Lyre disappeared. But silence always brings memories.

  After getting out, wrapped in a white silk robe with my green hair dripping over my shoulders, I went to the dressing room to change into the academy’s formal uniform. I was fastening my shirt when I felt a familiar presence near the half-open door. A shadow moved clumsily.

  "Leah? I know you’re there," I said with a small smile, without turning around.

  There was a deathly silence, followed by a small frustrated whine. The door opened fully and Leah entered, her cheeks slightly flushed and an expression that tried to be innocent, though I had clearly caught her spying.

  "I just… I just wanted to see if you had already come back from training with my father," she stammered, pying with a strand of her blonde hair. "You looked really tired this morning."

  "And to check that, you needed to peek through the crack in the door?" I joked, finally turning to look at her. The warmth I felt when I saw her erased any trace of fatigue. She stepped closer, helping me with the buttons on the colr of my uniform that always resisted me.

  "Lotte…" she said, curiosity shining in her fiery eyes. "I was thinking about what you told me a few days ago. About your… other world. Do you remember that party we organized a couple of years ago? The one you called ‘Christmas.’"

  I nodded, remembering everyone’s surprise at the red and white outfits I had ordered and how we decorated a fir tree in the academy hall.

  "I had a lot of fun that time," Leah continued enthusiastically, her hands stopping on my chest. "Especially when we were with your family, Cire and the others. Everything felt so… different, so warm. You told me those customs came from an old book. But… now I think that wasn’t true…"

  I sat on the edge of the bed and gestured for her to sit beside me. The atmosphere became intimate, a bubble of confidentiality amid the political storm that was approaching.

  "You’re right, Leah. Those customs come from Terra. There, Christmas is the most famous celebration. It’s a time when families gather, exchange gifts, and seek peace, even if only for a few days," I began to expin, watching her absorb every word like a sponge. "But there’s something that will be hard for you to imagine: in my world, magic doesn’t exist. There are no light stones, no teleportation circles, no people who control the elements."

  Leah’s eyes widened in shock. "No magic?! But Lotte, how did you do anything? How did you light your nights or travel long distances?"

  "We managed thanks to something called science," I replied, letting out a mencholic ugh. "Instead of magic, we use knowledge of the ws of nature. We invented cars, which are like metal carriages that move on their own at incredible speeds. We have airpnes, gigantic machines with wings that can cross entire oceans in hours, flying higher than any bird in Lyre. And in our homes, we have appliances: boxes that keep food cold without ice spells, or devices that cook with invisible waves. Although experts created those things, I just enjoyed using them."

  Leah fell silent, processing the image of a world of metal and machines. "It sounds like a pce full of wonders, Lotte. Almost like a world of gods if they could do all that without a shred of mana. But… if it was so advanced, what was your life like there? Were you happy as Edward?"

  The question struck a nerve that was still exposed. I felt the cold of my mana try to manifest, but I held it back. Mencholy seeped into my voice, making it heavy.

  "No, Leah. My life there wasn’t a wonder," I whispered, looking at my hands. "Edward Celium wasn’t a hero. He was a pretty ordinary boy, maybe too sensitive for the environment he lived in. I had a friend… a girl I liked a lot. I thought we had a real connection, that she understood me. But when I finally had the courage to confess my feelings and got rejected… things became a nightmare."

  Leah squeezed my hand, sensing my shift in mood.

  "She didn’t just reject me—the story spread. The whole school started mocking me. They ughed at me in the hallways, pyed cruel jokes on me. I felt small, invisible, and at the same time, the center of everyone’s ridicule. But the worst came after. That day when my entire css disappeared… I was the only one left behind. The only survivor of an event no one could expin."

  A chill ran down my spine as I remembered the loneliness of those days.

  "People are cruel when they’re afraid, Leah. They started calling me ‘The boy of misfortune.’ They said I was a bad omen, that I must have done something for everyone else to disappear. Even my family in that world… distanced themselves from me. They couldn’t bear the weight of suspicion and pain. I ended up living alone for years, isoted from a society that pointed at me. Edward died in a fire, completely alone, with no one coming to rescue him. That’s why, when I woke up here as Liselotte, I just wanted to go unnoticed. I never wanted to be the center of anyone’s attention again."

  The silence that followed was thick, loaded with the pain of a life that no longer existed but still left scars. Leah stared at me, her expression shifting from surprise to horror, and finally to a compassion so pure that it forced me to look up.

  Without saying a word, Leah threw herself at me and wrapped me in her arms, burying her face in the hollow of my neck. I could feel her warmth, the steady beat of her heart against mine.

  "Lotte… I’m so sorry," she murmured, her voice vibrating against my skin. "Those people in Terra were blind. They couldn’t see the beautiful soul right in front of them. But listen carefully to what I’m going to say, Edward… Liselotte… my Lotte."

  She pulled back slightly, taking my face in both hands so I couldn’t look away. Her fire-colored eyes shone with fierce determination—the same one she used to defend the kingdom, but now directed solely at healing my past.

  "That loneliness is over. In this world, in this life, you’re no longer ‘the boy of misfortune.’ You’re the woman who saved my life, the one who protects this kingdom, and the one who makes my heart beat like this. Now we have each other. You have Chloé, who would bite anyone who tried to mock you. You have your family here—Carl and the others—who love you unconditionally. And you have me, and my family, who see you as the noblest warrior in existence."

  Leah pced a gentle kiss on my forehead, a gesture filled with an eternal promise.

  "Here, you’ll never be alone, Lotte. If the past tries to chase you again, we’ll face it together. It doesn’t matter if you were Edward or if you are Liselotte—what matters is that your soul found its way to me, and I’m never letting go. In Lyre, you are loved. Always remember that."

  I felt the knot in my throat finally dissolve. The tears Edward had never been able to cry in Terra, the ones he had kept bottled up for years of solitude, finally rolled down my cheeks—but this time they weren’t of sadness, but of absolute relief. I clung to Leah as if she were my only anchor in the universe, feeling that, at st, the fire of my past life had completely gone out.

  We stayed like that for a long time, simply breathing in the air of the room, letting the bond we had strengthened st night settle even deeper. Mencholy transformed into serene peace.

  "Thank you, Leah," I whispered, wiping my face. "Really… thank you."

  "There’s nothing to thank me for, idiot," she replied with a mischievous smile, returning to her usual tone. "Now finish getting ready. We have a castle to go to and some heroes to put in their pce. And remember… I’m a very demanding princess when it comes to my reward tonight."

  I ughed, feeling strength return to my limbs. The weight of Terra was still there, but it no longer dragged me down; now it was the foundation upon which I would build this new future. We finished getting ready amid light jokes, and when we left the room, ready to face the Church and its envoys, I knew there was nothing in this world—or the other—that could separate us.