Academy Dorms, Capital

Early in the morning….a few hours before the current time….

Lear had fallen asleep on the bed with his back against the wall. There were several papers and files scattered across the room along with the map of the Capital and sewers.

'Uh….is it morning already….' Lear groaned a bit as he woke up feeling an ache on his back due to his sleeping position. The wall was not the best thing to be laying on after all.

His eyes suddenly fell on the diary in his lap, "Did I fell asleep half the way?''

He had taken a break and decided to look through it for a few minutes but it seemed that he fell asleep. Well, he had been sleepless for the last three days planning for an escape if it was needed. Max had already told him about his thoughts to attend but he still couldn't rest assured.

Lear picked the diary and got up from the bed before placing it in the drawer.

It was Lora's diary which Lear had taken from her room. He still hadn't finished reading due to everything going around but he was done with most part and clearly had an idea about it.

He didn't know what to do, even if he should do something or not. Was it even his place to interfere as a stranger?

'I should get going, it isn't a bad thing to get ahead of time….' Lear thought as he looked at the time, he had decided to stay near the Association until everything was over.

Within a few minutes, Lear got ready and locked his room before walking out of the dorms and carefully avoiding the security and jumping above the wall and leaving the campus.

He still wasn't allowed to leave the campus after all.

As soon as Lear got out of the alley into the street which connected the Academy gate to the main street, he bumped into Lisa who seemed to be on a workout.

"What are you doing here?" Lear asked in surprise. He didn't think that the princess would be doing something like that.

"Working out, a certain someone just won't leave me alone…." Lisa said with a painful face as she huffed and rubbed the sweat off her forehead.

"Yeah, how is Axel? I couldn't find time to visit him…" Lear inquired, he didn't have time after all.

"Umn...he was fine. I didn't visit him as well, even that day, I left a little after you.." Lisa replied, her voice seemed to be depressing and she didn't seem well.

'Hmm?' Lear suddenly noticed that her eyes were a bit red and swollen with dark circles.

"Did something happen?" Lear asked, he had seen her worried face back then. There was no way that she would leave so soon and wouldn't even pay Axel another visit and now her face, something must be up with her....

"No...nothing happened…" Lisa replied.

Lear wasn't going to force her, if she didn't want to say it then he would respect her choice.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked as she changed the topic.

"The same reason as you…" Lear replied with a smile. Max had refused already, it was his personal choice and he wasn't going to tell her, especially not after finding her in that state.

"Well then, I will get going…" Lisa said as she turned ahead.

Lear planned to leave as well when his feet suddenly passed at a thought appeared in his mind and he turned around, "I heard Lora and you used to be best friends…."

Lisa stopped hearing Lear and turned around to look at him, "Why are you asking that?"

"I want to know…." Lear couldn't find any other answer. Even he seemed to be realising that this wasn't his place to interfere.

"She doesn't consider me a friend, it was my misunderstanding all along…."

"What do you mean?" Lear frowned, if he went according to the diary. She didn't have any reason to hate Lora as she didn't even remember the event that Lora blamed herself for.

"This is between me and her…..I remember seeing her by your side in the hospital last time?" Lisa brows wrinkled at her next thought, "Did she tell something about me?"

"No...she didn't…I just heard from one of her friends that you two used to be best friends…" Lear lied trying to not make the situation any worse.

"Hmmn, best friends? I don't remember that…..Besides, she even had friends….I thought she wouldn't have one with that nasty attitude of hers. She is a scheming b*tch who likes toying around with people….she likes playing the good and weak...be careful of her…"

"Don't you remember, how she acted back in the hospital? Don't you think that I bullied her in the end too….even he thought that….."

Lear couldn't help but agree. He didn't know what had happened but from the way he looked at that time, Lora was left with her fist clenched while Lisa clearly showed her disdain. Even Axel had subtly spoken against Lisa back then…

"Be careful of her…..or may be not...I am the only one she does that too after all….it seems I am special…."

Lear looked at Lisa with wide eyes as she left.

'What in hell did happen?'

It seems there was something more here, something that happened after that incident, only then it would make some sense.

'I will think about it later…' Lear shook his head and proceeded on his way.

On the other hand, Lisa continued her run and entered the Academy ground as her thought continued to revolve around the topic from before.

"Best friends? They say that we used to be...but I don't even remember a single good memor-"

Lisa's words paused and her eyes went wide, she realised that the scenery before her had suddenly changed once again.

She found herself in the green field. She couldn't make out the things in the distance but the ones near her were a bit more clearer to her.

"This way!" A voice suddenly entered Lisa's ears and she turned her head to see a pretty little girl calling out to her. She seemed to be familiar...Lisa suddenly felt an awful feeling welling up in her. A sense of grief which she had no idea about. Her heart started to pound faster and faster….and tears started flow out of her eyes.

"Wher-" Lisa felt her vision go fuzzy as she tried to reach out to that girl but she fell half the way and saw another little girl with black hairs coming from behind and running towards that girl.

The words she heard next were unclear to her and before she knew, she was down unconscious on the ground.

….

A good while passed before she finally woke up.

The ceiling seemed familiar to her but she clearly remembered that she should have been on the ground.

"She is awake!!!!"

The scream scared her and she suddenly noticed her father beside her with teary eyes.

"Bang!"

The door suddenly burst open and Lisa's grandfather rushed in and kicked the Mage King aside as he held her granddaughter's hands.

"Are you fine, Dear? Is it hurting anywhere?"

"I am fine, grandpa. I just worked myself a bit too much." Lisa replied with a smile as she got down from the bed, "How did I end up here?"

"The staff found you when they went to clean the ground….I was really worried when I heard you collapsed dear…"

"Ah! It's almost time for the Academy….I need to go…." Lisa realized as she looked at the clock and pushed both of them out of her room.

"Should we let her go in this condition?" The Mage King said with a sigh.

"Didn't the Doctor say it was due to stress? It's better to let her be with her friends then spend the rest of the day here and end up getting even more stressed. She is worrying about that kid after all…."

The Mage King sighed again as he thought about it. His old man was right.

"I don't care what you do, save that kid. If you don't, I will take action myself and after it all ends, I will skin you alive….so you better don't fail….Mage King…"

The Mage King's face twitched, this wasn't helping him at all…..