- Na Ri! Are you happy now, Na Ri?

- What?

I looked at Luther, his face had a perplexed expression on it.

"It wasn't Luther, I heard the same female voice from my dream. Could it be that someone is here beside the two of us?"

I looked around vigorously, but it would have been almost impossible to find someone in that huge library anyway.

- Miss Yoona, are you alright? Are you looking for something?

- Did... Did you hear a female voice just now? They called someone named Na Ri.

Luther looked around too and shrugged his shoulders.

- I would have known if someone was here, maybe it was just the wind? And who is Na Ri?

"No, I definitely heard a woman's voice, there was no way it was all wind. Wait, was it... a hallucination?"

My hands started shaking, I immediately remembered the doctor's warning about the symptoms of my cancer.

"So does it mean I still have it? Even though I am no longer in my old world? It probably makes sense since I'm still in my old body... Damn, maybe it WAS the wind? I should not rush to the conclusions."

- Miss Yoona, you're trembling! Are you cold? Do you want me to give you a blanket?

- No, I'm fine...

I did not realize that trembling had spread all over my body. I had no control over it, I was scared and confused. I couldn't understand why I started hearing things outside my dreams, and if they were really the hallucinations caused by cancer, did it mean that I can't live carefree anymore?

The Crown Prince ignored my words and ordered his butler to bring in another blanket and some hot chamomile tea. After I finished the second cup, I started slowly calming down, although I was still paranoid about hearing more voices at any time again.

- I had no idea you would get so cold in here, I know it's a drafty place but it usually takes quite some time before you start feeling it. I'm sorry.

Luther's face was seriously concerned, he looked guilty, if I were to draw two puppy ears on top of his head, he would look like the most depressed puppy in the world.

- It's okay, please don't feel bad, I just got a bit surprised cause it's summer right now and I did not expect to get cold so suddenly.

Luther fixed the blanket on my shoulders and smiled warmly at me. He sure figured out that my shivering was caused not by the draft only, but he was considerate enough to not ask me anything, and I was grateful for that. He leaned back on the sofa next to the wall under a huge bookshelf and started reading a book nonchalantly.

"I guess he is waiting for me to start talking first cause he doesn't want me to feel pressured. Right, why did I even come here in the first place?"

- Uhm, prince Luther?

- What is it?

- The reason I came here, aside from to admire your newfound beauty, of course, is that I wanted to ask you something about the book you gave me.

He placed his book on the coffee table between us and leaned a bit forward, showing me that he was all ears.

- The language was a bit too much for me so I barely understood anything... Can you please just tell me in your own words what kind of religion Arcadia has?

Luther scratched the bridge of his nose, he was silent for a while, all deep in his own thoughts, there was a moment when I thought that he completely forgot about my existence altogether. He finally looked at me with his shining eyes and asked,

- Why are you curious anyway? Are you a very religious person?

I wasn't very religious, that's for sure. The orphanage had its connections with the church, they needed to attract the charity organizations to support us, and the church was one of the means to do that. They kept telling us that God was watching over us but I never witnessed even the smallest bit of his kindness.

"They say God created mothers because he couldn't be everywhere at all times, so how come there are dozens of motherless children coming to the orphanages every year? If God was in the mother, then that God doesn't exist for me."

- I'm not religious by all means, but I want to know why prince Dorian is so reliant on the goddess named Ariana.

Luther threw a curious look at me and smirked.

- Alright, I'll try to explain it as simply as possible. The Arcadians believe that the world was created by the three goddesses - the goddess of the sky, Alida, the goddess of water, Akara, and the goddess of earth, Ariana. They created the seas, lakes and rivers, mountains, fields and forests, which they then filled with all kinds of living creatures. Ariana decided that she wanted to see more intelligent creatures, the ones that resembled themselves, that's how they joined forces and created humans. Since Ariana was the goddess of earth, they appointed her to take care of the humans and lead them to a harmonious and prosperous life.

Ariana was a whimsical goddess, she liked to experiment and be entertained by her own creations, that's how she introduced to humans hunting that was not only for food but also for sport. She enjoyed watching people hunt and kill the animals for pleasure and started wondering how far the corruption of the human spirit can go. One day she poisoned one of the cattle farms and made it look like the neighboring farm did it to sabotage their living. The owner of the poisoned cattle went berserk and massacred that whole family. That's how Ariana introduced the killing of their own kind. She kept making all kinds of scenarios to reveal the savage, cruel nature of the human beings and ended up creating the first war. Akara and Alida were shocked by Ariana's actions and warned her to stop meddling with human lives but she ignored their warnings and even created three nameless disciples to help her seek more reasons for greater wars.

When the Arcadian Empire was created, it was said to be the land of great warriors that were undefeatable in every war they participated in. Ariana noticed the Arcadians and decided to settle in their land and bless their warriors with her divine power, she thought of them as her descendants worthy of her attention. The Arcadians built a temple in the Northern Forest to praise her powers and bring sacrifices as they were gradually expanding their territory with bloody wars. Eventually, Ariana went mad from the bloodlust and savagery and the two other goddesses stripped her of her powers, destroyed the temple and buried her in that forest as a reminder for the Arcadia that the only destiny that awaits warmongers was death. Unfortunately, humans were already corrupted so much that it was impossible neither for Akara nor for Alida to help them, so the goddesses abandoned the world they created and left for the divine world.

Arcadians believe that the spirit of Ariana is still alive and watches over the great warriors and although she is powerless on her own, her disciples, who disappeared at that time, still take her orders and help Arcadia in wars.

Luther paused and looked at me with an intense gaze. I was so enchanted by his story that I felt like a child listening to a magical fairytale and did not even notice that he stopped talking.

- So how come Arcadians still worship Ariana after all that mess she has made?

- As much as I enjoy a good story, I'm far too educated to believe that gods created humans and not vice versa. People need to believe in something, and since Arcadia was an empire of warriors for a very long time, her wrongdoings have blurred over time and Ariana became a martyr who sacrificed herself to lead Arcadia to prosperity despite other gods being against her involvement. She is known as the "Guardian of Warriors, the Blessing of Arcadia."

- Hmm... So what about that golden set of armor in the Northern Forest?

The prince exhaled loudly, rolled his eyes and smiled at me as if asking me with his whole expression whether my question was serious at all.

- Just like barbarians slit the throats of their sheep in front of the temples, Arcadians replaced their precious livestock with golden armor as a symbol of the warriors who built this empire. I guess it has something to do with the fact that the stories do not say anything about Ariana's disciples who just disappeared after she had been stripped of her powers... They want to have at least someone they can "rely on" in desperate times.

As much as I was fascinated with Luther's story, I was more surprised that he was not a religious man as well. I used to think that religion was somewhat a "must" during older times, but this world was already quite different from anything I had imagined, and seeing noble "atheists" was both confusing and refreshing.

- Wait, prince Luther... So you knew I was not one of Ariana's disciples this whole time?!

He covered his face with his skinny pale hand and laughed half-heartedly.

- Well, I did know you were not the real deal, but I was curious about you so I played along. I'm sorry if it has offended you.

He smiled again and looked at the window to his right. Now that his confidence was back, Luther seemed quite arrogant, I was not sure if he was mocking me with his replies or if he was just comfortable talking to me like that.

We spent some time talking about all kinds of stuff - I told him more about my training sessions with prince Dorian and the knights, my knowledge in anatomy, health and nutrition, he told me that he likes reading botanical books and is quite knowledgeable in chemistry. We both had such a great time talking that I did not even notice that it was dark outside.

- Oh my, I should get going, I don't wanna miss dinner again, Marion will be so mad!

Prince Luther offered me to have dinner at his palace, but I did not want to impose myself even further, so I declined his offer as politely as I could. When I was about to leave the library, he suddenly called me again.

- Miss Yoona, prince Dorian might be not as intelligent as I am, but his education was as profound as mine. There is no way he did not know that gods do not exist and summoning is impossible, yet the fact that you appeared in this world proves that not everything can be explained scientifically. I don't know whether he pretends to believe that he summoned you or he indeed managed to summon you, but it appears that your being here was not a coincidence after all. I hope this chance will be fortunate for you as well.

I kept thinking about Luther's words the whole way back to Dorian's palace. I remembered the day I appeared in the Northern Forest, the fact that the location was a supposed burial ground of the goddess and the genuinely surprised looks on both Raphael's and Dorian's faces added up to the probability of the actual summoning.

"Hell, the mere fact that I am here is proof that magic is possible, there is no way Dorian would lie about something like that! And why would he lie anyway? There is no way he expected me to appear here, he never even suspected the existence of a different world, let alone my own existence."

I shook my head fast trying to get rid of the silly thoughts piling up when I realized I was already inside the palace, passing through the maids' wing. I did not plan to stop there but I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom next to the room Aurora was living so I paused and waited to see what was going on. The person inside was definitely throwing up and it got me worried. The door opened and I saw Aurora coming out, hiding her right hand and wiping her mouth with a towel.

- Oh, Yoona! You startled me. Are you coming back from somewhere?

She smiled somewhat awkwardly and covered her right hand with the towel. I looked carefully at her, she did not look sick, paler and a bit thinner, perhaps, yet the noise I heard was definitely vomiting.

- Aurora, are you okay? It sounded like you were sick in there.

- Yeah, I think I got food poisoning, I'll just go get some rest. The dinner can still be served, please ask the butler to deliver it.

- Wait!

I grabbed her by the right sleeve of her dress without thinking, she flinched and rapidly pulled her hand away. She definitely did not want me to see her right hand.

- I'm sorry, Yoona, I was just startled.

- It's okay... I just wanted to ask you what you ate so I avoid it.

I tried to fake a smile to cover my concern but she saw right through it.

- Ah, well, it was the chicken, but you can ask for something else, they will make a fresh meal for you. Please excuse me, I really want to get some rest.

- Alright, get well soon.

She disappeared into her room almost instantly as if she was running away from the scene of a crime. When I saw the palace butler Willard, I asked him to bring some food into my room and emphasized that I did not want any of that chicken with my meal.

- I apologize, miss Yoona, but we did not serve chicken today at all.

- Really? Even for the maids? Are you sure?

- Of course, miss, there is no way I would have missed this kind of information.

I sighed and covered my eyes with my hand.

"I was right. I hate it when I'm right."