"And how do I know if you are from a different world?" The man stroked his beard.

He was very handsome, yet his eyes were a bit sunken in and Hong noticed this right away. Her father had barely gotten any sleep after dealing with the last battle. She cursed in her mind hoping that one day she would be strong enough so that her father wouldn't be needed at the battle front.

"She said there's no singing flowers!" Shiro jumped into her father's arms.

The king caught his daughter and smiled. He stroked her head before looking at Hong and Mary-Ann.

"It seems like you two are aware that this young lady is missing something. How are you not questioning her?"

"Missing what, daddy?" Shiro tugged at her father's uniform.

Mary-Ann spoke, "Because if she didn't have it, it most likely means that she is either dead, murdered, or as she said, 'from a different world,' your majesty."

"Hmmmmm..." The king pondered while patting Shiro on the head, "Your hypothesis may be correct, but this is the first time I've seen such a thing."

Alice stood still. She wasn't sure what they were talking about, but thought it best if she kept her mouth shut.

"Young lady," the king's presence was quite intimidating, "May you explain to me why it is that you do not have a core?"

"A...what?" She questioned.

"Most humans don't know about it father. Only select few may see the cores of others. In the Rose Kingdom, only the beast people, Mary-Ann, father and I can see the cores." Hong closed her eyes and kept her head down as she explained.

The king didn't respond, but instead asked Alice other questions, "What else is different between our worlds?"

"Well, your majesty," Alice began to explain, "We don't have beast people, we also don't have any wars as they ended long before I was born, and there are no singing flowers."

"Your world was also in war?"

"Yes, your majesty. They were called the Two Great Wars. Many of us had smaller wars in our areas, but the main ones were the First Great War and Second Great War."

"You mentioned areas..."

"Continents," she picked up a stick which prompted Hong and her father to be wary if she was planning to use it as a weapon, but instead she drew on the ground.

"Our world used to be one giant land, but it eventually split into pieces. This is what I was taught in school."

"School? What's that?" Shiro asked excitedly after seeing the drawings Alice made of a blob that she ended up splitting.

"A sort of...institution to educate young children up to a certain age," she smiled wondering if Shiro even understood the word institution.

"Interesting," Mary-Ann responded out loud before realizing.

The King and Princess Hong didn't mind since it was exactly what they were thinking.

"You mean to say anyone can learn?" Hong asked.

Shiro was playing with her father's hair and yanked it a bit too hard that he yelped a bit. He tried to calm her down, but she laughed and continued to play with him.

"Such an interesting fact. I should bring this up in the next royal meeting. With this, Hong may finally have a friend," he smiled and tears seemed to well up in his eyes.

Hong was uncomfortable seeing her father cry and coughed, "Is this enough evidence to prove she is not of our world?"

"I can explain further about other things if you're interested, your majesty." Alice responded, "For example, our world had several kingdoms and what led to their downfalls."

Hong's ears twitched. Alice's last few words sounded like a threat, but she knew that she only meant well since she wasn't from this world.

"That sounds fascinating. Maybe we can find a way to end our war," He held out his hand to shake Alice's.

A high form of respect.  Hong thought.

"Shiro, shall we go?" The King asked his youngest daughter, "Your mother is waiting for you."

Shiro smiled and raised her hands from grabbing her father's hair, "Mommy!"

The king spoke to Hong for a moment then briefly left with Hong's younger sister in his arms. Mary-Ann could see the loneliness in the young princesses eyes, but didn't dare to say anything.

"How come you aren't going?" Alice asked after sensing unease from Hong.

"Uh..." Hong didn't really know how to explain, "The queen doesn't quite like to see me."

"I see..." Alice didn't ask further.

It was a good thing too since Hong wasn't comfortable talking about it. She told Mary-Ann that she would go back to train herself with another log and left. Alice followed the servant and princess since she didn't know where to go.

"Young Miss Alice," Mary-Ann called behind her, "You mentioned about the kingdoms in your world. What happened to them?"

Hong overheard her servant's question and wanted to hear so she walked a bit slowly. Whatever Alice had to say could be of benefit to the outcome of her kingdom's war.

"Most of them died," Alice replied with no hesitation, "Some royalty still live but in the world I live in, most of the people are common folk."

Her answer shocked Hong, but it is true that past battles have lead to rebellion and the deaths of the original kings and queens. It isn't entirely impossible for royalty to die.

"So...you're a princess?"

The red haired princess looked at Alice, "Yeah, unfortunately..."

The pain in her eyes were visible and she tried to hide it with an awkward smile. She made it back to her training area, but without checking properly a woman was standing nearby with hair similar to Shiro's.

"Is that your mom? She looks just like Shiro." Alice admired her appearance.

The queen heard Alice's comment and glared at Hong in disgust. She raised her hand with her fan to cover her face, but Hong raised her arms to cover her head. Her mother walked briskly past her daughter and pushed her to the ground and smacked her shoulder against Mary-Ann whose head was down. The queen's presence made it hard for Alice to admire her any further and she curtsied.

When the queen's shadow disappeared, Mary-Ann rushed to the princess' side, "Are you alright, princess?"

Hong's head was bleeding a little, "I'm fine," she muttered.

She rubbed her forehead where the blood stain was and stood up. Hong walked towards a log and picked up a new, unbeaten wooden log to place upright. The princess began to hit it from both sides with her sword and realized its weak point. She brought it down in a matter of seconds, much faster than the time she broke the previous one.

Alice looked at Mary-Ann, "Is this...normal?"

End of Chapter 17.........................................................................................................................