Chapter 1: An Unexpected Event

Noticing that it was now somewhat later in the afternoon, I hastened my footsteps. Surely they would be worried about me if I took too long. I hurried through the street that had just been bustling with activity only a while ago. It was now sparse, quiet — it was, after all, time for dinner. Delicious smells wafted from the commoners’ homes that I walked by.

I adjusted my grip on the bag that held a variety of sweets, the kind that were only sold to commoners in the downtown districts. It had been a while since we’d had anything like this, so I knew she would be happy. As I thought about the person who would be most pleased by these candies upon my return, a smile naturally formed on my face.

My coming to purchase them was a secret. Under normal circumstances, I would have never set out suddenly to do anything like what I was doing now. But she had been through a lot lately, and I thought that this would make her happy. That was why I’d come here.

However, the shops were messier than I thought, and the whole endeavor took longer than expected. I started walking even faster, making my way through the streets under the now-orange sky. That was when it happened.

Someone was now standing before me. If I had to guess, they most likely stepped out from one of the countless alleyways and side roads that branched off this one. A deep hood and cloak covered their being, but the individual did not look very bulky. In fact, I could see a bit of a dress underneath that cape...

A woman, perhaps? Who could this be? It was strange that they would just appear right there and then, so coincidentally, as if to bump into me. No... this person was standing there intentionally. In fact, they were now staring at me in a most suspicious manner.

“It’s been a while,” the person before me said. A woman’s voice, unmistakably. However... it was not a voice I recognized.

“...And who might you be?” I asked, alarmed, in a low voice.

The woman responded in an almost theatrical way as she slowly closed the distance between us. “Well, you really shouldn’t say that, you know? Asking who I am... as if we were complete