They called the royal doctor to check on me in the morning. But first, a nice chat.

This time, I was already dressed and up out of bed before the maid arrived, so I was able to greet her properly.

- “I still don’t know your name, huh…!”

- “Loe. Though, you shouldn’t worry about a mere servant’s name, sir.”

- “You take care of the mess I am in the mornings, it’s the least I can do… I mean…! Thank you for your hard work.”

She bowed and proceeded to change the pillow covers. I observed her for a while so I could see how to make her work easier next time. She kept giggling, and occasionally pet me when she needed me to move. Once she was done with her morning work, bed as impeccable as usual, she bowed to say goodbye for now.

- “Have a nice day, sir.” - She smiled, ruffling my hair a little. - “I will come again in the evening.”

I was told to take it easy that day, so I decided to stay in my room until the doctor came - my introverted, anxious self needed a break from interactions. I found myself coming back to the folded plastic bag I left in the drawer, next to my old clothes. I wandered between the desk and the window, and then from the window to the door. Internally, I was waiting for Mizuen to show up. I opened the door just so slightly to spy.

- “Sir Von, good morning.” – Kiochery greeted me next to the door, it took me like three steps back to see his face.

- “Ah! Kio…chery. Good morning. Wait- How long have you been there?”

- “Since the morning rays, sir. It’s my job to make sure no one of distrust visits you.”

- “Y-You could just have come in, said hi or something-” - Mumble, mumble.

- “Hm? I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said.”

- “Ah- Uh…You could have said hi at least! Sorry, did I say that right?”

- “Ah, yes. Huh. It’s my job to be as invisible as possible. I don’t wish to bother you.”

- “…But. We are already stuck together, so let’s get along, yes? You can just call me Von. It’s fine.”

- “I can’t possibly-”

- “Why not?”

It felt like he struggled to answer. Was I pushing too much? I backed up and apologized, getting a bit nervous. Yet, I was somehow comfortable around him. Maybe it was because of how soft his fur was, or how caring he had been, or because I was yet to see him as a proper person - which I felt awful about - but I felt safe around Kiochery. He was tall, intimidating - but kind and respectful.

I knew this feeling. I wanted to befriend him really bad. His race was enough of a reason, I was incredibly curious about it; but also, sometimes it just hits you! Sometimes you see certain people and want to be closer to them. And that’s just how it is. Right!? Right!

Beating myself up internally for being annoying, I hid in the bathroom ‘til the doctor arrived. That done and gone by, I was actually just fine. All ok. Oki-doki. Just exhausted, underweight, too short, too pale, too weak, a lil’ blind- You know, normal stuff your family talks about during dinner.

I spent the rest of the day in the garden; lunch and dinner, just thinking while lying in the grass; Kiochery stayed close by, in silence under the shadow of a sakura-colored tree. It was a calm evening, aside from Arsamira’s sporadic visits.

And, night arrived, the blue fell from the sky. Daien kept me company, and showed me her favorite spot in the garden. We watched the golden fireflies fly away, in a solemn peace, until it got cold. Even in the dark, she shined like a fairy.

Far away from home, I found magic. Far away from home, the world wasn’t so bad. For now, at least.

I smiled to myself, wondering what my friends would think if I told them about this when I went back. The silly delusions of a traumatized hostage, they would think. I was never a very mentally stable person, after all.

Nights are always fuzzy; they go by in the mist. I missed being held, spending the night in someone’s arms. The dark ate me up, once again.

Rise and shine. Once again, too, I was planning to eat alone, not wanting to share a table with the mightiest of the country. Loe, the maid, clearly had noticed this tendency by now. Once she was done cleaning the room - as I apparently had a routine of waiting for her before leaving - she tapped on my shoulder, with that sort of excited smile you get when you have a good idea.

- “I’m so sorry if this offends you, but maybe you’d like eating with me in the kitchen, sir. My father is the head chef, but he’s a kind man outside of work.”

- “Oh the head chef- I’ve met him before. Really nice man, comes out a bit too strong sometimes, yes.”

- “Ah- Yes, yes he does.” – She laughed, while the three of us - Kiochery following, as his duty commanded - went through the hall. As we passed, they greeted the servants and guards around; they would, normally, stiffen up in my presence, but now eased down thanks to Loe’s attitude. Many of them were eager to introduce themselves.

I felt their eyes on me. We kept walking, me, myself, and I clearly surprised by that turn of events. Loe pet me, softly.

– “They are excited. After mister Io left, we were a bit disheartened, and the war wore our hearts down. We were afraid, many wanted to run away. We didn’t want to give our lives for this nonsense. You brought them hope, sir. Even more after yesterday’s event. The soldiers wouldn’t stop talking about how you will fight with us in the war.”

I think she saw the panicked look I had. I definitely couldn’t hide it.

We walked the rest of the way in silence.

The kitchen was one of the less condecorated rooms of the castle, to say. On the left corner, ceiling windows gave light to the growing herbs, next to the dishes. The rest of the room was an odd combination of cold and warm. While it felt like a cellar, the candles and the ovens, the smell of the burning wood and the sofrito made it feel homely and alive.

The team of six (6) that were in the kitchen at the moment were working slowly: washing dishes from the preparations of breakfast, peeling vegetables for lunch, boiling water for some tea for a little break.

As we appeared, they stood up and stopped, waiting for the head chef to greet us. I hadn’t met the morning assistants yet, so I shyly waved at them from behind Kiochery.

- “Loe! And the sonny from another world! …Aren’t you the prince’s bodyguard?” – Marke, the head chef, saluted Kiochery before going to hug his daughter. – “What can I do for you three on this merry morning? Does sonny need anything? The prince hasn’t left me any requests, if that’s what you are looking for.”

- “It’s not that, dad. Sir Von doesn’t seem to do well with multitudes, so I invited him to have breakfast with us in here. You got along well with mister Io, so- I mean. Maybe he’ll prefer a calmer morning.”

I unconsciously held Kiochery’s sleeve as we sat down. In the corner of a table normally used to knead dough, us three and some cooks sat down for a light meal. Warm tea and freshly baked goods. I had to mention how well the water tasted in this world. Once again, my attention got dragged away by the food, and I got myself a delicious bagel. Or it looked like one, at least.

- “Magic really helps us with all the knicks and knacks, ya see, sonny. Treating water, controlling fire, helping crops grow. I can’t use much anymore; I live a simple life now. But enough for me to be the head of the royal kitchen? Yah. I heard ya did a spectacle back then at the barracks, too. Ya gonna join the troops?”

- “…I-”

- “Dad! Shoosh. We aren’t allowed to mention that around him.”

- “He’s a man already, Loe. If he doesn’t like it he should say it.”

That didn’t sit well with me. I looked down and kept eating my (delicious) bagel in silence. A big paw on my shoulder reassured me that all was fine. Or as reassuring as Kiochery could seem after eating five sandwiches and going for the sixth, with shining eyes of happiness.

- “Debs sadwids ad-” - Gulp. - “…really good, sir. You should eat a bit more.”

- “I’m… I’m fine. I normally don’t eat breakfast, to start.”

- “That’s bad, sonny, you need more muscle on you. It looks like a breeze could blow you away.” – Said the chef, laughing a bit.

- “…It did.”

Silence again.

I kept doing it… Ruining the mood.

I tried to smile.

- “But it’s fine. I’m not a fighter. I wouldn’t be of any help in the war, as a mage or anything…”

- “Ah, I see... But sonny, you ain’t useless. You came here for a reason, no? Fighting ain’t on you, but there is more to the war than just fighting. I was part of the troops during times of peace, so I wouldn’t know - but my father, rest in peace, lived through that hell. Youngsters have it hard these days… That they have to fight to the death to defend our right to exist.”

- “…Why do people want to get rid of magic this badly?”

- “Ah, that. Well, ya see. Magic for us, the oldies, is kind of a connection with the world, and the gods who gave it to us. A part of their power, yes. The Winged King who founded our land, apparently, was a wise man who taught the people the Important Things, he led us and gave us light. Light that fought against the Great Evil, after years of darkness.”

- “Darkness? The world was dark before him?” – Of course, I assumed, ‘Hey, this is a magical fantasy world. Are there monsters out there or something!?’

- “Nah, nah. Lemme tell it right, aight. Long, long ago, we were guided by gods incarnate, apparently. Yah? Yah. So. One day they decided to stop carrying us around and left us. People ain’t very bright and suffered from many things.”

- “Those times were called the Darkness, sir. By us they are known as the Great Nine Hungers.” – Interrupted Kiochery, after finishing a seventh sandwich. – “Because you people kept accumulating food, animals, and land, and pushed us away. Because we knew how to live with nature, and you called that betrayal.”

- “As I said, sonny, people weren’t very bright. They thought they were betrayed by nature itself, aight. Their fear caused them to create some shit called ‘The Humanitarian Doctrine’ or something. Those assholes think humans have to advance on their own means and reject gods and stuff - and I’m like, good for them I guess, but they won’t leave us alone. The Winged King taught those who wanted to know. And here we are, the descendants. That’s all there is to it. We just want to live our way, enjoy the benefits of what we learnt.”

As I listened in silence, still finishing the same (delicious) bagel from minutes ago, it came to my attention how silent Loe had been, too. She said her goodbyes, that she needed to go back to work, and left.

Done with breakfast, I headed to the library, but it was closed. Strange.

I, followed by Kiochery, spent another day in the garden, then, thinking about this world.

Peaceful evening, for sure. A strange animal, like a squirrel, approached us. It sat between me and Kiochery, and then, after finding the source of the sweet smell of a magdalena I was eating, jumped to my face.

I’m used to a grumpy cat, so I didn’t scream nor anything. Just held the creature and slowly put it away. Kiochery took it from me with disgust.

- “Little critter. There are some of these things in the garden, I’m sorry I didn’t notice before, sir. Are you alright? Should we head in?”

- “No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine. Is it safe to give sweets to those things, tho?” - I asked him while I took the little creature and put it back down.

- “I’m sure they can eat pretty much anything. Normally they live on the sewers-”

- “…wait THIS CITY HAS A SEWER SYSTEM?”

Don’t ask me why I was surprised. I still am. I just don’t know why. I didn’t see aqueducts nor anything - but then again, I had never actually explored the city.

- “…Yes. Huh… Is it that you haven’t got one back in your world, sir?”

- “… No no, we’ve got many, I’m just surprised.” – I gave some bits of the magdalena to the squirrely-rat. I just… Really don’t fear rats, pigeons, all the dirty beings. I kind of find them cute, to their own extent. – “How does it work?”

- “Well, there are tunnels underground that lead to the river, but we’ve placed a kind of… dam? Specialized mages treat the water to make sure it's clean enough to be integrated back into the river without affecting it. They use temperature or something like that. That’s normally taught in the academy, I’m just a soldier.”

- “Magic sure has many practical uses huh… Never thought of that.”

- “How so?”

- “Well, back in my world, magic is a much more fantastical thing. Something you only see in fictional stories. And normally it’s really flashy and colorful and all. The magic here feels… a lot more natural. It’s like it was made to just work alongside the world.”

- “But that’s how it is supposed to be. Why would the world work with something that could damage it? It doesn’t make sense.”

- “Well, I suppose many things don’t make sense. Back in my world, if things didn’t call the attention, they were useless. And, well, we didn’t have magic. It adds up, huh. Such a thing wouldn’t work with… the modern… world…”

I had a realization at that moment. I had a reason to fight alongside them - alongside the people from Argatha.

And I needed to find a way.

Magic was part of the world, because it was as natural as breathing. Without it, the path of the humans will lead nowhere but… but back. Back to the ever-present uncertainty, back to the apathy of the masses, back to a world I’m terrified of.

Maybe I shouldn’t meddle in the affairs of another world; it was not for me to decide how their lives should continue. But I saw the future, I lived the future, I suffered the future. Yes, I wanted to go back home. I wanted to go back to my mother, my cat, my friends. But going back to corruption, to exploitation, to the loud cities and the dirty waters and the hoarding riches? Going back to a world that is trying to destroy itself? To a world that betrayed its people over the ego?

The negatives weight heavy on my shattered heart. I don’t want the land of gardens to disappear like that.