A few weeks later, Kye’s mother took the older girls to Alcanus. It was a few days before the start of the academy term. Their primary goal was to visit the palace to acquire a weapon capable of withstanding Kye’s white mana, but before that Layla took the girls to see the city.

As with other large cities in this world, this one spans hundreds of miles. This is the City of Arslade, capital of Alcanus and my mother’s home.

They were standing in front of a small café with a sign that read “The best pastries in Arslade!” Layla gave the girls a grin and led them inside.

“Welcome!” a waitress said. “Please sit anywhere you’d like! Would you... Oh! Lady Layla! And you’ve brought three cute girls with you!”

“Oh, my,” came a voice from a nearby booth. “Fancy meeting you here.” Layla and company glanced over to the source of the voice. A woman with blonde hair that reached her knees was sitting at a nearby table with a young pink haired boy.

Oh my god, he’s so cute. How is it possible for such an adorable boy to exist?! I want to dote on him. I want to pet him! Kye had stars in her eyes, but Liliana and Aliana kept her reigned in.

“Ah, Astraia! It is good to see you,” Layla said.

“Likewise, Layla. I am happy to finally meet your daughter, though I must say I did not expect it to be so early. What happy happenstance that you visited this café at the same time!”

“Indeed.” Layla glanced over at the pink haired boy sitting with Astraia.

“Alethea, introduce yourself. You may use the short version.”

Alethea nodded, stood up, and bowed. “Greetings, I am Alethea Atlantis of Terra. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I am Layla Barrett of Alcanus.” Layla gestured for the girls to introduce themselves and stepped aside. “You may use the short greeting.”

Kye nodded and said with a curtsy, “Greetings, I am Kye Akari of Nippon Sekai.”

“I am Liliana Venturi of Nippon Sekai.”

“I am Aliana Venturi of Nippon Sekai.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” they said together.

“It’s my pleasure as well. I am Astraia Atlantis of Terra.”

The waitress was standing nearby watching the exchange between the royals with stars in her eyes. “Oh my, what proper young royals! And incredibly cute, too!” The girls curtsied and Alethea bowed for her.

“Water for all of us, please,” Layla said as she sat down at the table next to Astraia.

“Coming right up!” The waitress left menus on the table and disappeared into the back room.

The girls perused the menu, each looking for their favorite pastry.

“Please have it...” Kye mumbled as she flipped through the pages. Liliana and Aliana were hurriedly flipping through the menu as well. Astraia and Alethea watched with curiosity.

“Princess, I found it!” Liliana said. “It’s here, on the second to last page.”

Kye quickly flipped to that page and confirmed it. Alethea curiously opened the menu on their table to see what Kye was interested in. “Shortcakes?”

Kye looked over at the pink haired boy. “Yes! Specifically, the chocolate shortcake.”

“Hmm.” Alethea’s eyes were glued to the page.

“Chocolate is the greatest thing in the world! Especially when in cake or ice cream form. Or better yet, in ice cream cake form!” Everyone could see the stars in her eyes.

Liliana smiled and added, “Our Princess is quite taken with chocolate pastries.”

“I see. I prefer vanilla pastries myself,” Alethea said.

When the waitress returned with the water, the girls ordered their pastries.

“Chocolate shortcake, please!” Kye said, not bothering to hide her excitement.

“I’ll have the same,” Liliana said.

“I’ll also have the same,” Aliana said.

“I am not ordering anything,” Layla said.

“Coming right up!” The waitress disappeared into the back again and brought out their pastries a few minutes later. Kye excitedly accepted hers and began eating right away.

There’s something familiar about her, Alethea thought. But I’m not certain what.

“You certainly do like that type of pastry,” Astraia said. “Do you like milkshakes, too?”

“Oh yes! Oreo milkshakes are the best!”

“Kye,” Layla said.

Kye realized what she was doing and immediately changed her demeanor. “My apologies. Excuse me.” She slowed down, eating in a way that was unmistakably manners of a noble or royal. Liliana and Aliana smiled dryly as they watched the quick change.

Suddenly, Kye froze. Layla looked out the window at the same time with a glare that could pierce anything. Astraia sensed the disturbance as well but didn’t as much as blink. Instead, she immediately unleashed a golden shroud of aether that filled the café and generated a barrier around the outside of the building. Alethea, Liliana, and Aliana were surprised at the sudden release of power, but Layla and Kye had their attention glued to the disturbance.

“What’s going on?” Alethea asked.

“Convert: Katana.” Liliana and Aliana had quickly moved to protect Kye with their weapons transformed from their bracelet state to their katana state. Alethea began to do the same, but then Kye sensed a spike of mana and disappeared. Layla stood up and disappeared just as quickly.

“The rest of you may remain,” Astraia said. “Layla is more than powerful enough to deal with it. I suggest the staff wait in the back room until I lower my barrier.”

The staff hurriedly rushed to the back room as Astraia suggested. As suddenly as they vanished, Kye and Layla reappeared. Kye returned to her pastry as if nothing had happened.

“They teleported. That was the spike in mana that Kye chased. They were already gone when we teleported to the scene,” Layla explained. “I’m guessing it was just a scout.”

“They’re quite brave to even watch here in Arslade,” Astraia said. “There are always quite a few formidable people here, especially this close to the start of the academy term.”

“They’re gone now.” Layla kept watching out the window, though she wasn’t watching with her eyes. She was focusing her mana to sense the entire city. “At the very least, they’re not in the city.”

Astraia dispersed her barrier of light aether and called out to the staff, “You may come out.”

The waitress came out first and approached the group asking, “What happened? Is everyone okay?”

“Nothing to worry about!” Layla said. “Lady Astraia’s display of divine mana scared them off.”

Having noticed a band of silver colored metal around Kye’s neck, Alethea asked, “Is that a necklace?”

“Oh, yes. The important piece is the pendant. The chain is just a generic chain.” Kye pulled the pendant out from under her top and showed it to Alethea. It was a circle with the kanji 真哉 imprinted on it. “It’s a name.”

That’s my soul name! Alethea couldn’t hide the surprise on her face for a moment, but quickly recovered hoping Kye hadn’t noticed. It has to be a coincidence.

“It’s a beautiful name, too! Maya. It has special meaning to me, but that meaning is my own little secret.”

Alethea gave Kye a smile, “I see. I think that’s lovely!”

“Thank you!”

Is she a reincarnation? She has white mana like me, so perhaps... No, Elysia and I are the strongest souls. There’s no way Lady Eve would send us to the same world. I shouldn’t get my hopes up. If this is any more than a coincidence, this girl must be a soul that has met Elysia.

“May I have another?” Kye asked with an empty plate in front of her.

Layla nodded and the waitress said, “Coming right up!”