Thief of Time

“…The interior of the palace’s changed,” Dia muttered. “Father, why did you renovate the palace?”

“To create a lot of escape routes.” Her father shook his head. “Your brother was quite paranoid, now that I think about it. Shortly after he saw that future, he handed over a lot of money and told me to make this place into a fortress that would allow everyone inside to flee if something happened.”

“Flee? From what?”

“I’ll tell you once we’re in a quieter place.” Her father patted her head. “Well, why not introduce your friends to me? Hearing about them from your brother’s Future Sight is one thing, and hearing about them from you is another. And I believe you owe them a very big apology. In fact, Risti there seems to be a bit pale. Or embarrassed.”

“Um…”

“Right, the apology can wait until we’re in the room, so tell me about your friends first. I am told that Mister Schwarz is a good bartender. I’ve been desiring a drink ever since I heard about his masterpieces.”

“Y-you flatter me, lord duke.” Schwarz thought for a moment. “From whom did you hear this from?”

“My son, naturally. He tells me that I should be careful, though, and not drink the ones that the Holy Son of the Black God drinks,” her father added. “I’m now very intrigued. How good is my alcohol tolerance compared to that of the Holy Son’s?”

“Uh…” Schwarz shot a look at Dia, and she immediately knew what he wanted. However, there was no reasonable way to dissuade her father from carrying out such an act of stupidity, so…

“Father, where did brother run off to? I thought he would welcome me back or something. I’ve been wanting to see him forever.”

“That’s…a good question. I’ve been sending people out to look for the kid, but he seems to have vanished or something,” her father replied. “I’m sure he’s safe, though. He’s probably the most paranoid person I’ve ever met.”

“Wait till you meet Claud,” Dia muttered. “Anyway, he’s…not home?”

“Don’t be sad. At most, you can beat him up later,” her father replied.

Farah choked out a cough, and everyone turned to her. Clearing her throat a few times, she patted her chest and said, “Sorry. Just an accident. Do proceed.”

“Indeed. Countess Farah. It’s an honour to meet you. I heard about what happened to you two decades ago. Your parents were quite a piece of work, weren’t they? I am glad that you managed to turn things around. To be frank, I’m very impressed with how you handled things. It’s a shame that you’re the younger Istrel’s vassal, or else I would have pulled you over in a heartbeat.”

“I’m honoured by your praise,” Farah replied. “I do take pride in how I turned things around, and if there should come a time that I need to find a new superior, I’ll consider you with all my heart.”

“Indeed.” The duke paused. “Still, I cannot quite imagine the good Count Nightfall tolerating your presence in the Seekers of Life. Did you really not tell him about that fact?”

Dia blinked, but before she could fish out the oddity in her father’s words, Farah said, “It was pretty much bad timing all around. That said, Count Nightfall is a generous and open-minded person. I do not believe he would mind my actions.”

Considering that Nightfall had sent her, Risti and Nero to harass Count Daybreak back then, Dia didn’t quite know how to react to such words. She exchanged amused glances with Risti, before Risti hurriedly turned away in a fluster.

Clearly, she was feeling very awkward. Dia couldn’t blame her either, though, but…

She didn’t like how Risti was attempting to flee, so after making sure that Farah and her father were chatting nicely, she slowed down to walk beside Risti.

“Sorry,” Dia began. “It’s my fault for not telling the truth.”

“You did tell us,” Risti replied quietly. “And no one believed you, that’s all. There’s really…nothing you should apologise for.”

“And I want to thank you too. For protecting me when I was younger,” Dia added. “Sure, it’s a bit odd to be spied on, but you aren’t the only one. You, however, were the one who helped informed the knights whenever I ran out…by right, I should be angry, but that’s because you were worried that something would happen to me.”

“Really?” Risti perked up, and then wilted once more. “There’s no need to be this nice to me. I know I’m…weird. I must have scared you when you first heard about it.”

“I thought I said I wanted you as a close friend. And that I forgave you a very, very long time ago,” Dia replied.

“We also heaped all sorts of expectations on you,” Risti continued. “I remember that you were once burdened by all sorts of expectations. Now, I realise why you were so distressed. We were not seeing you as you were, but we simply attached all sorts of values and assumptions, each too heavy to bear.”

Dia looked at her, and then nodded. “I won’t lie. It was…hard to carry such words. I mean, if you had such high expectations, and then saw me…it would have disillusioned you, right?”

“Mhm. I’m sorry for that too.”

The two lapsed into silence for a while, before Dia said, “Well, I did find the fact that I had fans very comforting, though. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I saw that there were other people who wanted to look like me because I represented something great, but there was definitely a measure of comfort in it. Especially since I was on the run back then. It was no different from finding allies. If we hadn’t met up the way we did back then, I would never have gotten this far for so long.”

Dia paused. “I’m probably rambling. Sorry. But…I have a request to make of you and Farah.”

“Of me too?” Farah walked over. “What request.”

Dia took a deep breath. “I would like you two to stop being my fans. And be my friends instead. Of me, as the princess and as the Dia you knew.”

Risti froze, and Farah smiled. The two of them exchanged glances, before nodding together.

“Not fans, but friends…” Farah smiled. “Well, I would love to call myself a friend of Princess Dia…especially since you’re our Dia too. But there’s no need for this question. We’ve always been friends. Isn’t that right, Risti?”

“…yes.” Risti took a deep breath, before removing a ring. Her long hair turned red, and a set of crimson pupils looked at her. “As your highness commands, I suppose?”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” Dia took their hands. “Friends, right? And friends means that you don’t speak to me in a stilted manner. I’m Dia first and foremost, not a princess of the Lustre Dukedom. And I’m intending to withdraw from the right of succession anyway.”

“Don’t decide on that so hastily,” Farah replied. “Anyway…I’m glad we got all these things off our chest. I believe I’m still processing the shock that you’re the actual princess, though, so don’t be surprised if I show delayed reactions during or after the meeting.”

“It does feel like a dream,” Risti added.

“You two idiots.” Dia rolled her eyes. “Come on. Let’s catch up. They’re waiting for us.”

“Considerate, aren’t they?” Farah quipped.

Schwarz chuckled as they hurried over to him. Dia looked at her father, who was smiling at her gently, and then at Schwarz, who was bobbing his head sagely.

“We’re done, I suppose.” Dia looked at them. “Shall we continue on?”

“Sure…”

After walking for a few more seconds, her father led everyone into a small room. There was a huge table in the middle, and a map that was inscribed with gorgeous words and lines was laid out on it.

“This is…a strategic map of Grandis,” Farah muttered.

“Yes,” Dia’s father replied. “I call this place the War Room. We were doing our main strategizing from here during that half-assed fake war…never mind. Pardon my words. I’m still stewing from how that imbecile Istrel was handling things.”

He took a deep breath. “Alright, I will now inform everyone present of what is going to happen in the near-future, courtesy of a letter from my son. The main threat he saw back then are the Distortions, which have been popping up all over the place for unknown reasons. Most importantly, however a Distortion of immense scale will appear, for the briefest of moments, in the Nightfall county capital in three weeks. It will mature and manifest into the real world within a single day.”

“Manifest?”

“Into the real world?”

“Correct.” Her father breathed out heavily. “It will have the power of a hexa-folder at birth. Licencia would fall under its onslaught. According to my son, very few people survived. They would eventually assimilate the Moonlit and the Moon-touched, transforming into an army that would sweep through the rest of the Istrel Sovereignty.”

“We’re screwed, then.”

“No. There was a solution,” her father replied. “And it’s you. Dia. The power of the Salvation Star rejects all corruption. He also said that there would be some powerful folders that would attempt to put up resistance, and that they nearly succeeded. These ranks would include Nero and Risti, but…”

“I failed?” Risti asked.

“Presumably, seeing as how the entire sovereignty was reduced to ruins. The Moons wrested back control by a stroke of luck…and no one’s sure what happened afterwards.”

“So all this…”

“Was to ensure that you became the Salvation Star, yes.” Her father lowered his head. “I apologise. For putting you all through this. But…I have millions of people to protect. I can only apologise. I’m sorry, daughter.”

“Father…”