After the lesson, I returned to my room and simply…

  collapsed onto the bed.

  Today was too much:

  new Orders, new rules, new responsibilities,

  and for the first time in a long while—

  I caught myself thinking about the future.

  Who do I want to be?

  There was no answer.

  None at all.

  I stared at the ceiling,

  then closed my eyes.

  “…I don’t want to think,” I muttered to myself.

  The future felt too blurry.

  Too uncertain.

  Too… not mine.

  At that moment, the door creaked softly.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  I didn’t even turn my head—

  I already knew who it was.

  Elinia came in,

  without knocking, as always,

  and sat right on my desk,

  lifting the edge of her mantle so it wouldn’t crumple the papers.

  But today, she wasn’t writing anything.

  She just sat there, silent,

  watching me lie on the bed.

  After a minute, she asked:

  “Zen?”

  “Where would you go… if you could choose?”

  I opened one eye.

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

  “I really don’t know.”

  She looked at me carefully.

  Not like a princess.

  Not like a mage.

  Just like a person who genuinely cared about the answer.

  “And you?” I asked.

  Elinia let out a quiet snort.

  “Stupid question.”

  “I’m a princess. I can’t go anywhere.”

  I turned my head toward her.

  “Why not?”

  She sighed and leaned back against the chair.

  “Because a princess can’t just ‘choose.’

  If I join reconnaissance, they’ll say I’m running from my duties.

  If I go to the swordsmen, they’ll say it’s a political statement.

  If I go to the mages, they’ll say I’m seeking power.”

  She fell silent, then added:

  “A princess… isn’t a person.

  She’s a symbol. And a lot of people live by that.”

  I looked at her for a long time.

  She looked strange:

  tired,

  honest,

  even a little lost.

  “I don’t get it,” I said.

  “If you want to go—then go.

  What’s the problem?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “You’re an idiot.”

  “Thank you,” I replied calmly and closed my eyes again.

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  “I figured.”

  For about three minutes, there was silence.

  I was already starting to drift off to sleep.

  And then I heard her quietly say:

  “It would be… convenient, if I could be as free as you.”

  I wanted to answer,

  but sleep gently pulled me under,

  and I only let out a soft breath.

  Elinia stayed a little longer,

  looking at me,

  then stood up very quietly—

  so as not to wake me—

  and left.