I was afraid to turn around because I thought he was the guy in the black hoodie. Until I heard the sound I was always used to hearing,

"What are you doing here! Mila!"

It was my mother's comforting voice. I was extremely relieved when I heard her voice, but I still didn't want to turn my head. Because she was probably going to scold me for walking around the castle alone.

But then I remembered that, compared to my father, her anger was nothing compared to him, so I slowly turned my head and said,

"I was just looking for my room, mommy."

She gave me a suspicious look and said,

"Good trick, young lady. But you don't think I'm gonna buy that trick, don't you?"

Then I bowed down my head and said,

"I know that. I'm sorry, I was just wondering why my dad called people, that's all.."

My mother reached out her hand to me, to hold her hand and said,

"Since you didn't ask me that question, I think you heard your father speak."

I held my mother's hand and said,

"Yeah, some of it."

Then my mother gave me another suspicious look like she knew everything. I got scared and said,

"Okay, I heard it all."

As my mother held my hand, we slowly walked through the corridor. While we were walking she turned her head to me, smiled, and said,

"You shouldn't do things like that, Mila. You're too young to listen to these things."

"I know, mom, but I want to be a warrior and strong, just like my father!"

She asked me,

"Then tell me, why do you want to be strong?"

"To protect you from evil in the future and to be a good princess."

"My dear girl, ruling the kingdom is not just about power. A princess must also be smart to figure out the situations and has to be fair among everybody."

"Like you, mom?"

"Oh, No, no. You'll be a better princess than I am, I'm sure of it."

"Really!"

"Sure. I and your dad are counting on you. All you have to do is believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you'll be the strongest among the princesses!"

I smiled and said,

"Thank you. Mother!"

Of course, what my mother said made me happy. But there was a lot of emotion gnawing at me. Who was that person? What was my father talking about? Are we in danger? All of them consumed all my energy in a separate way.

Then my mother, seeing the pensive facial expressions on my face, turned her head to me and said,

"Mila, Do you have something on your mind?"

"I was just thinking about my father. They said that "the war" would be difficult...

"Come on, what did I tell you? Don't worry about it, I've seen your father fight harder battles many times. I'm sure he is going to get through."

"And, Mom, I saw a scary ma-"

Just as I was about to finish my word, we came to the dinner table. And as soon as we stepped in, I saw Margarita approaching us,

"My Queen, I'm sorry you asked for me and I'm late. but now I'm here."

When Margarita saw me, she turned her head to me, and said,

"Mila! What are you doing here!"

My mom knew understood that I lied so I could just get rid of her. But she didn't do anything. Besides, So that Margarita or my father wouldn't be mad at me, she said,

"Yes, I called you, but I took care of the problem. I don't need help anymore. Also, I took my daughter out of the room, so you don't have to worry."

She took a deep breath and said,

"Oh thank goodness. I thought I lost you."

After her words, my mother gave her a scary look,

She immediately stood up and said,

"Forgive me, my queen! I will get the tables ready immediately!"

The dining room was quite a big room, and there was a huge table in the middle of it. We usually used this table when visitors come, and it was very suitable for this situation. Other than that, a lot of people came to the Palace today, from my father to the generals to the people we were friends with and including the people, we're allied with.

After a short time, many generals, couples, and families, including my father, came to the room. My father sat in the head seat and welcomed his guests. And I had to sit at the children's table with the other children.

I was getting quite bored, but the evening ended very quickly.

After dinner, everyone left early. It was obvious that they were going to prepare for tomorrow's battle. On the other hand, after I left, I was very tired so I decided to go to my room and sleep. So I went to my bed in my room and waited for my father to come to say good night to me. A short time later, the door to my room opened, and my father walked in with slow steps, and he said,

"Where's my little girl?"

After he said that, he always would have tickled me and I couldn't stop laughing.

After he approached enough, he said,

"Here's my girl!"

And started tickling me.

I couldn't help but laugh, albeit unintentionally. But I liked it anyway. Because I barely saw my father during the day and because he was a king, he was neither always busy or he would have to do something "important". My mother was like my father, I almost never saw her during the day too, but at least I could see her a little when she finished her duties.

After getting tickled for a minute, I said,

"Ok! Ok! Stop! Please!"

My father stopped, smiled, and said,

"Now you feel better, don't you!"

"Dad, I've enough grown-up for things like these."

He sarcastically said,

"You have? Where was I?"

"Haha, very funny, Dad!"

Then he bowed down his head and said with a serious tone,

"I spoke to your mother today and she told me something about you."

Hold on a second. Did she say something about me? Or did my mother snitched me out to my father by telling him I was listening to them?

I looked at my father nervously and said,

"Is that so?"

Then he smiled and said with a happy tone,

"Yes, She said that you want to be strong just like me. That is my girl!"

"Can I be as strong as you?"

"What are you saying! in the future, when your powers come out, you'll even beat me!"

"Then take me to the war too, Dad! Let me come with you!"

He then becomes serious again, and said,

"For that, It might be early for you to go along."

"Please!"

"But you know that while we're not here, someone has to take care of the Kingdom and your mother. And you know there's no one who can do it better than you."

I asked curiously,

"So you want me to protect them?"

"That's exactly it! It's a pretty difficult task, can you do it?"

I said excitedly,

"You can trust me, Dad! I will protect my mother and the kingdom!"

My father kissed me on the forehead, and said,

"That's my girl. Never grow up and never change, okay?

"Why dad?"

"So I can love you as much as I can!"

Smiling, I put my head on the pillow and slowly fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I heard the strong voice of the war pipes. It was like the sound they usually made on a celebratory. But it was rather bizarre. How could they return so fast? I quickly got out of bed and made my way to the palace hall. But there was nobody around. It was like I was the only one in the whole palace.

I was walking around nervously, on my own. Until I heard a voice behind me. It was as if the sound had appeared somewhere at first and was getting closer and closer to me. When I turned around and looked back, I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was the man in the black cape I saw yesterday. His face wasn't visible, just like last time, and he was slowly approaching me. I was taking slow steps backward, to avoid something bad from happening.

After approaching for a bit, the man suddenly stopped and started talking in a thick voice,

"The last heir of the fourth generation of the sea Kingdom, daughter of Arthew Skylien. I came here for a reason."

"What do you want from me?"

Then I said,

"Did you come here to kill me?"

"No. On the contrary, to warn you."

Then he said,

"One day you will make a decision, and that decision will change the fate of the world. But don't forget, you have to make your decision very carefully and you must remember, every decision has its consequence. Keep that in mind."

The man in the black cloak turned his back, and said,

"Don't forget my words, and listen to your mother if you want to live."

I didn't understand the last thing he said. I thought it was pretty weird. But just as I was about to ask him why, I started shaking, and suddenly everything went dark. After everything shook for seconds, I suddenly opened my eyes. I realized it was all a dream that I was having. And as soon as I woke up from my dream, I saw my mother directly in front of me. She was shaking me hard and fast, and she said,

"Mila! Mila Wake up! We gotta go!"

I looked at my mother all dizzy and confused, and said,

"Mom, what's going on? Where are we going?

My mother nervously grabbed me by the hand harshly and lifted me out of bed in a snap. I wanted to find out what happened to my mother, so I started to talk with her, but louder this time,

"Mom! What's going on! Where are you taking me!"

"The palace is under attack, and we must get out of here as soon as possible!"

"What? The castle is under at-"

While we were walking, she suddenly covered my mouth with her hand and said,

"Be quiet, dear. We can't let them hear us."

After my mother said that, I was more scared than I ever was. Did someone enter this castle, where we live safely every day? And where was the Margarita? Where was Dad?

With shivering with fear, I asked my mother half crying,

"What do we do?"

"They've surrounded the palace, and it's pretty dangerous, so we have to hide."

Immediately after his words, a dozen soldiers began to approach us. My mother grabbed me by the hand and put me in the next supply room. She then opened the closet in the room and said,

"Honey, hurry up and get in here!"

I asked her nervously,

"What about you? What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me. Just wait here quietly, okay? I'll be back shortly. I promise."

After my mother told me that, she closed the closet doors and left. That's when a dozen soldiers entered the supply room and saw my mother. I opened the closet door and started to watch them. And I saw my mother talking to them to distract them from the closet. But the soldier turned to the man behind him and said,

"Sir, what should we do?

A man whose face was not visible behind the soldiers ordered the soldier in a thick voice and said,

"I don't want any of them alive, kill them all."

At that moment, one of the soldiers shot into my mother's abdomen. And my mother didn't even make a sound, she couldn't do anything, she just stood in front of me so they wouldn't pay attention to me. She stood there and bore the pain. I wanted to go out and help, but the guy in my dream kept coming to my head. "If you want to live, listen to your mother." I couldn't stop thinking about his words. I couldn't do anything but cry, and it drove me crazy.

And if I ever did get out, my mother's efforts to protect me would be wasted. I couldn't control my tears when my mother was knocked down. I held my mouth with my hands so I wouldn't cry, but I couldn't stand it. My mother fell to the ground before my eyes, in pain.

Then the guy in the back said,

"Don't waste time here. There may be still a few of them alive out there. Go and start searching on other places."

"Yes, sir!"

After that, they left the room. I immediately got out of the closet and ran towards my mother.

I crouched on my knees and talked to her while crying,

"Mom! Are you okay! Mom!"

She slowly said,

"Honey, the power of the Sea lies in your heart. Take control of that power and protect your father and the others, okay?"

I didn't understand what she meant that day. She was trying to tell me something, but the pain in my heart was the only thing I could have heard at that moment.

"No! I can't do it without you! You must open your eyes!"

"I'm trusting you on this one."

Then she slowly reached her hand to me, smiled and said,

"I'm proud of you."

But before I could say another word to her, she closed her eyes to never open again.

At that moment, my heart was filled with pain. And every time I cried, it was like the sea cried with me too. The waves were hitting the Castle violently, the rain was falling heavily and the sea creatures were making noises like they were felting the same pain as I did.

When my father saw us like that, he moved the entire ocean and punished my mother's killers. But the man, whose face was not visible, managed to escape. My father searched almost the entire ocean, but he couldn't find the guy.

Nothing felt the same anymore. Neither the vitality of the palace, nor the fun feasts, nor the sings we sang.

On the other hand, my father stopped talking to people over time.

Now he had only fear and sadness in his heart.