Chapter 285 – Beyond the Dream

000

“──♪”

Someone’s voice.

Amelia heard a sweet song, small but distinct, in her own consciousness emerging from the swamp of her dim mind.

Little by little, as my body senses returned, I felt the touch of the place I was lying on.

It was soft and warm, like being on top of a cloud.

The bed in the room she was confined to was, of course, of high quality.

She now compares herself to the bed she is lying on, and she unknowingly compares herself to a homeless person.

To that extent, if I slowly open my eyes with a blanket covering my body that warms my entire frozen body.

Sitting next to her own her, a woman in her dress with her eyes closed.

She was humming a melody she had heard somewhere.

In her blurry vision of her, Amelia saw her overlapping with her own mother her.

Soon after, in her returning mind her and in her senses becoming clearer, she noticed that she was not her own mother her, but the queen who had imprisoned herself in an illusionary world.

“I’m sorry…!”

When she unknowingly raises her upper body her, she is wary of her.

Her song her stopped, and the queen opened her eyes and met her gaze her with hers.

“…Are you awake?”

“…Her Majesty the Queen. …This place is…”

When Amelia looked around her, there were shabby furniture near her, and what she was lying on was a human-sized bed.

“This is a room that is no longer used. My body cannot leave the throne.”

I bet you know that too. Added the queen.

After hearing her answer her, Amelia was able to read the information quickly organizing in her head her.

While she was unconscious, Amelia’s consciousness did not stay in her body of her, but she caught a glimpse of Gray, who was trapped in her vision of her with her.

Exactly, from the time the Queen showed her own past her to her her Gray her.

And from there, as she slowly retraced her memories of her, she began to relive the visions she had seen-

Amelia Chaldearis, who leaves the royal road with Cleon, becomes her adventurer her and pursues her own happiness her.

After thinking about the reality and the future that might have been, the strength went into her small hands holding the blanket.

At the same time, recalling what had happened inside her, her face her blushed.

‘Maybe I was influenced by Ruba…’

I think it’s not impossible that I watched the two people’s affair, or because they happened to be together twice.

First, take a deep breath to calm your beating heart.

“Is Gray all right?”

When Amelia, who was still bothered by Gray’s absence even when she looked around, she asked the Queen that question.

The queen nodded her head in agreement and pointed with her hand at the door to the closed room.

Then, the door clicks and the doorknob turns of its own accord, slowly opening.

Outside, he could see Gray contemplating something with his arms crossed.

No matter how much he was concentrating, he didn’t look this way even when the door opened, just staring blankly into space.

Hermes, riding on her shoulder her by her her gray her, noticed it first, then stabbed her her gray in the cheek and pulled her out of the whirlpool of her thoughts.

[Gray. Princess Amelia wakes up.]

“…Ah. It’s true…”

Gray blinked two or three times before realizing that the door was open and the queen and the princess were looking at him, and he entered Amelia’s bedroom.

“Am I feeling better? My heart rate went up like no joke. Did I see something that wasn’t good…?”

When Gray came to Amelia’s side, she placed her hand on her forehead on her.

Fortunately, it was a normal girl’s forehead that wasn’t too cold or too hot.

“Your temperature has returned. It was a little high earlier.”

“Okay, it’s okay. While she was unconscious, she seemed to feel a little better.”

Her heart pounded her because some of the emotions she felt in her fantasies were also fed back in her reality her.

The result of weighing her own duties her against her happiness her.

In the end, Amelia Chaldearis chose her duty.

She, of course, said that Cleon and her friends would protect her.

It was a choice he had no choice but to make, even though he knew that it would lead them into dangerous work.

It’s not about sacrificing those who are more precious than anyone else.

At her own expense, what was the shape to suit them was even worse.

“However, that will is nobler than anyone else’s. If it’s something that requires one’s own strength, a person who can act for others without prioritizing their own happiness. Some people call it hypocrisy. Even if it’s hypocrisy, it’s harmless hypocrisy. Silver is also good.”

However, the Queen seemed to read Amelia’s mind her and advised her.

When Amelia looked at her queen with her slightly weary face her, the queen shut her mouth for a moment, then she went on with her expression a little darker than it had been somewhere.

“…Your soul holds a light like a big star shining in the night sky. However, a star is a being that burns itself and brings light to the surroundings. It’s absolutely not just beautiful.”

The queen moved her hand to her and placed it on top of Amelia’s.

The touch was not felt.

Because she was a spirit body, and her real body was on her throne.

But, for some reason, I felt a strong will.

“The brilliance you showed me was also passed on to Jim’s heart. You have proved your worth in a wonderful way, and you have officially become a guest in this kingdom of ice.”

Amelia had the feeling that she knew the meaning of her words her, but she did n’t.

Gray spoke while puffing his cheeks beside her.

“Rather than being a guest, I want you to send me back…”

It was natural for Gray to say, but it would be impossible for Amelia to complain like this in front of other members of the royal family.

However, the queen responded to Gray’s complaint with a small smile as if forgiving her rudeness to her.

“…Of course. The treatment of guests must be different. As long as you have become our guests, we will take care of you and return you to the original world.”

Upon hearing the queen’s answer to her, Gray jumped up from his seat and raised his voice excitedly, as if his tension had risen at once.

“Really!? Wouldn’t they use us as batteries!?”

“Battery?”

Amelia tilts her head at her unfamiliar words her, but she nods her head as if it made sense to her queen.

“If you treat someone you recognize as a guest that way. This country’s reputation will hit rock bottom.”

“…A gap in another dimension…?”

Gray asked if there was any point in worrying about reputation in an empty room, but the Queen shook her head in response.

“Even if there really is no one. As the leader of the country, I cannot do anything to tarnish that honor.”

“Is that a sword…?”

Gray turns his gaze to Amelia, as if he’s not sure, and Amelia nods her head as if he knows a little bit.

However, Hermes was more concerned about the true meaning of her words than that of her.

[… No way, are you planning on sending them to the domains of other higher beings? These two.]

“…The other realms are…”

As Amelia quietly questioned the Queen, she swung her hand her and made nine disks in front of her eyes into illusions of ice.

“There are 9 realms in the 2D rift. Each realm was created by imitating the method of the ‘World Tree’. Using wedges or what are called cornerstones, they develop and maintain their territories in the 2D rift. .”

“Nine of them…! Then, there are nine beings with strong magical powers like the queen…!”

When Amelia spoke in surprise, the Queen shook her head.

Once again, when she swung her hand, 5 of her 9 realms shattered and disappeared.

“Out of the nine realms, five have already been destroyed by the rulers of other realms. If it weren’t for this castle with huge magic crystals and absolute defense in this realm, this kingdom of frost would have been absorbed by ‘them’ too.”

[…Them. Is that one of the remaining four realms?]

“Yes. Arrogant dwarves who call themselves gods. They are the messengers of thunder led by ‘Edin’.”

[…Edin.]

When Hermes muttered that name, Gray’s expression his stiffened for a moment.

“…Are you okay, Grey?”

“Gwa, it’s okay. …For some reason, I don’t think I’ve heard that name for the first time.”

When Amelia, worried about Gray, asked a question, Gray nodded, but for some reason her heart her didn’t stop pounding.

Of course, it wasn’t because of expectations or shame, but because of the ‘fear’ that I felt one day.

[Gray. Calm down.]

“I know… Whoa…”

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm down, Amelia looked back at the queen.

“…Heir to the ancient soul. I see a bond with ‘Edin’ within you. In the endless continuity of life, you may have met him in the past that you have forgotten.”

Upon the queen’s answer, Gray was silent for a moment, then looked at Hermes.

[It is as she said. You have met Edin before flying through the rift in another dimension. But that is a story of the past. It is irrelevant to you now.]

Gray nodded as if he understood Hermes’ words, but it still seemed a little difficult to shake off the emotion he just had.

“So, is it going anywhere other than the domain of the storm lord?”

When Amelia asked the Queen that question, the Queen denied it.

“No. The place you must head to is the Land of Thunder and the Dwarves. Edin created a powerful weapon from the souls he gathered while destroying and absorbing the Five Realms. If you use the magic crystals you have, you will be able to open the ‘dimensional door’ that will send you back to the original world in this deep dimensional rift.”

“…Why didn’t he just return to the collected souls?”

At Amelia’s question, the queen just shook her head.

“I don’t know the true intention. Edin’s invasion of other realms has been going on since the distant past. It was only recently that they completely destroyed other realms. In this dimension where the flow of time is meaningless, about a year has passed. There may have been a change in something, even in their territory.”

“…Isn’t it dangerous, isn’t it? Going to a country with such a violent dwarf…”

Gray had a slightly drawn face, but Amelia spoke to the queen with firm determination.

“… I see. If you go to the lands of the Thunder Lord and return with his weapons, then you can return to the realm, right?”

When the queen nodded her head in her affirmation her, Amelia rose slowly from the bed.

If so, she had no time to delay any longer.

Even in the midst of this, Astarothe’s plots and plans will continue.

In the royal capital without Cleon and himself, he couldn’t entrust the safety of the people only to Ruba and Aruru.

And, he did n’t doubt Cleon’s skills his, and it was okay because he believed in him, but he was also worried about Cassius, who was relatively weak.

“I will find Cleon and Cassius, and return here with Edin’s weapon. Her Majesty the Queen.”

“I wish you the blessings of the Frost Giants on your journey. But before you leave.”

When the queen stretched out her hand, the staff she had been holding in the throne room appeared frozen in the air.

Then, when he lightly stamped the ground in the room with it, the mana scattered in the air gathered in one place.

It appeared in front of Amelia in that form.

It was a battle hammer.

A new hammer made of beautiful pieces of ice, like translucent blue crystals.

Magic letters were engraved on the surface, and it was shaped like a wolf’s head.

Although it did not possess divine magic, it could be used in the same way as the divine pure white hammer that Amelia uses when acting as Saint Princess.

It wasn’t just weapons that appeared.

Over her body she appeared a cloak made of blue fur and light magical armor.

As this was not her ice her, it warmed her in her cold environment and would protect her body her far more than the dress she was wearing.

Amelia could not help but be surprised at the sudden change in her own attire of her.

“I couldn’t send you to that dangerous land without any preparation. Protect yourself with the weapons and armor of the Frost Giant’s protection. Then-“

Once again, it was Hermes who changed when she swung her wand.

From the back of Hermes in the form of a brass-colored mouse, the wings of a bird made of ice grew.

“Wow!? Hermes evolved from a mouse to a bat! Oh, no. It’s a bird-shaped wing, so it’s a bird?”

[…I can feel the powerful magic power.]

Apparently, Hermes seemed to be able to move by his own will his.

“The wings not only assist your movement, but also entrust you with the role of a messenger connecting the two of you with me.”

[…Really, while these wings are in place, is it possible to communicate with the queen?]

“Am I missing something?”

Gray, who was looking at the two who received something from her queen, spoke with expectant eyes as if it was her turn her before long.

Then the Queen raised her wand and pointed it at Gray.

Gray strikes a pose with an expectant look on his face.

I just tilted my head at the fact that nothing had changed.

“…Nothing happened…?”

[Gray. Look back.]

When Gray looked back at Hermes’ words, he could see that there was an open dimension gate with an ice frame.

“…Could it be that I’m a sword with nothing!?”

“It’s okay, Gray. I’ll protect Gray.”

Amelia, tying her hair back into her ponytail, quietly raised the hammer and ignited her fighting spirit.

“I’m really trustworthy, but that’s not the case… I also wanted something made of ice…”

However, Gray stretched his axis shoulder.

But the Queen came to Gray’s side at some point, and she put her hand her on her shoulder her.

“Your ability, your knowledge. Rather than borrowing my power, it will shine brighter in the land of the Thunder Lord beyond the gates.”

“…Really?”

The Queen only nodded her head at Gray’s words her, which seemed a little disbelief to her.

“…Then, I’ll trust you and go. Hermes!”

When Gray said that, Hermes, who was flying, quickly returned to Gray’s shoulders.

“…Even if you can fly, is that place still the right place?”

[Because I’m not used to flying yet.]

Gray glanced at Hermes, and then the queen passed through her kite portal and crossed into the realm beyond.

Amelia also took a deep breath and prepared her mind before heading towards her dimensional door.

Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to the queen.

“…Her Majesty the Queen. The song you hum when I’m asleep is…”

“…Did you hear that, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

Amelia smiled a little as she watched her blush a little for the first time.

“… It was her mother’s lullaby when she was a child. When there was a snowstorm in the snowy field and the sound of the windows shaking made it impossible to fall asleep. She sat by her bedside and sang it to me.”

At the Queen’s words her, Amelia nodded her head slightly.

She couldn’t remember it herself, but apparently, Amelia’s mother sang her lullaby at Amelia’s bedside as well as she did.

Amelia had never spoken to her mother her, for when Amelia awoke her she was already buried.

So, Amelia thought, she had no way of knowing what she was thinking when her mother her was imprisoned.

Perhaps, she was just trying to do her royal duty like herself, and maybe she resented her brother her.

It didn’t matter either way, she even thought.

But Amelia, recalling her mother’s lullaby from a conversation with her queen, clenched her fists.

Her own mother her, apparently, wished for her own happiness and her safety her.

Feeling her own dying life, she stood by Amelia and wished for her daughter’s happiness her.

“… The Queen showed me the happiness that I can’t achieve right now… But, my present happiness is not worthless.”

As Amelia said so, she gave the Queen a slightly grown-up smile.

“To have the strength to fight to protect everyone. And to have friends who stand by you for that fight. If they recognize me, I’ll just—”

“Amelia? The sword is coming soon! Awesome here!”

After Amelia paused her words, she nodded to the Queen and passed through her dimensional portal to her.

The queen, who was watching her leave her, looked at her from behind, then gradually faded away and returned to the throne room where her body was her.

“…I see. You are a much kinder soul than I thought or felt.”

Please, I hope that kindness will not be betrayed.

An encounter with a human that the queen miraculously experienced again after a long period of loneliness.

She was to pray about her days ahead of her.