Both Benette and Ilze have been busy, bringing more and more mysterious items into Cenric’s room, leaving him feeling like a fool who can only sit in the corner and stare at them. All he can think about is how his life has been shattered in less than two days, as if he is now wearing someone else’s shoes, and he has become quieter than usual as his coping mechanism for the sudden change. 

“You. Sit here.”

Ilze points to a spot in the middle of a hand-drawn intricate circle. A few candles line its circumference, a common feature in rituals. Cenric walks to the spot Ilze indicated and does not resist at all when Ilze asks him to face the big window where he can see the dark red sky. Ilze then places the cane, light still emitted from the dragon’s eyes.

“It’s time, granny,” says Ilze.

Benette stands beside Cenric’s, chanting some unknown words, while Ilze lights up each candle, also reciting the same mantra. A few shining, small flying things enter the room through the window. Those small things shine in the same color as the cane’s light. For Cenric, those things seem like fireflies, one of the animals he only knows from the books. As Ilze finishes lighting all the candles and stands next to him, more fireflies start to fly in. 

“O The Land Lord, please hear our prayer,” recites Benette. 

Right after those words, Cenric feels something hit the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. When he opens his eyes, he sees a familiar place from an unusual point of view. He has become so short, to the point he is unable to see the tops of the trees in the Royal Garden.

‘How’s your day, Itri?’

The unfamiliar voice makes Cenric shivers as he realizes no one is with Itri. Somehow the voice  does not come through his ears, but is more like an echo in his mind. Out of his control,  he –or Itri – replies in a very happy and light tone, “Great! Ma said Pa is coming home!”

‘You seem happy, kiddo. Love your father?’

“Yes! Everyone loves Pa and says Pa is very strong!”

Cenric can feel his hand swinging, hitting the snow on the ground. Up to this point, he knows he is Itri in this dream, and Itri is one of the babies in his previous dream. His only question is how come he never knows someone named Itri, and how the name never rings any bell to him, while he keeps dreaming about this kid in the castle?

‘Right. Now, you don’t want to get sick when Pa comes home, right? Go inside. Cenric is waiting for you.’

Hearing the unfamiliar voice mentioning his name makes Cenric confused. As certain as he is that he does not know Itri, he is sure that he does not know the voice as well.

‘Who?’ asks Cenric.

Just as he is about to make some guesses, his vision darkens. He can feel Itri close his eyes, and in a blink, he has moved to another place that he knows really well: The Royal Graveyard. His point of view is still the same, so he assumes he is being Itri once again. He sees his surroundings – many people are there, and most of them appear to be younger versions of the people he knows. Aristocrats, Ministers, people from every Royal Bureaucracy. Cenric can even identify Atreus by his distinctive red hair, standing across Cenric with his parents. The King, The Queen, and Nicola are also there, across the big grave. 

That is the moment when he realizes how close his position is to the grave. He is basically standing next to it. 

But whose?

As if answering his question, the King starts his speech.

“On the sixteenth day of the seventh month, 1325, we lost our best. A husband, father, family, friend, and our hero who brought us freedom from colonization: Grand General Daniil, whose noble deeds and sacrifice none may equal and replace. 

“It is with profound sorrow and grief that we mourn today, immediately following our hard-won freedom. His noble deeds and sacrifice shall not be forgotten in history. The entire Valria is indebted to him, physically and morally, for it is only through his courageous actions that we stand free. 

“Let us begin offering our last tribute to our hero.”

Once the King finishes his speech, someone hugs Cenric –or Itri– very tightly. He does not realize who is standing beside him, as he has been busy observing the people across him, which makes him surprised by the sudden hug. Turning to see who it is, he sees a woman with familiar black hair: the mother of the twins. As her warm tears wet his hair, he spots a girl with purple hair and eyes on the other side, separated by the woman who is hugging both of them. She should be the girl whose name is Ilze, and Cenric notices a striking resemblance with the Ilze he knows. 

“Daniil! Why are you leaving us?!”

The woman’s face is finally recognizable, confirming that she is indeed the wife he saw in his third dream. 

‘So it’s really General and his wife,’ Cenric mutters to himself, although no voice comes out from Itri’s lips. 

As the coffin is brought down into the grave, the woman’s cry grows louder, and she releases her embrace. Desperately reaching for the coffin with her hands, she nearly stumbles forward into the grave. Such a luck that younger Erhard happens to stand behind her, and manages to grab her shoulders in time.

“Giana, calm down,” whispers Erhard as he helps her to sit down, still holding onto her shoulder. However, his efforts seem to have little effect. Giana continues to scream, her face turning as red as tomatoes from crying.

As Erhard pats Giana’s shoulder, he directs his gaze toward the twins and gestures for them to come closer to him, recognizing the danger of being near the grave. Both twins obediently move closer to Erhard. Cenric wants to comfort the woman with a pat on the shoulder, but finds himself unable to lift ‘his’ hands. Instead, he sees Ilze patting Giana’s shoulder gently. It seems that even in this dream, Cenric can not do whatever he wants – he can just observe things from Itri’s perspective.

Just like now, Itri is staring at Ilze’s face, and Cenric is forced to do so. No matter how much Cenric wants to deny it, he can not help but see a strong resemblance between the small Ilze he is seeing now and the grown-up Ilze he knows. This observation raises more and more questions for Cenric, but before he can find answers, Itri closes his eyes, abruptly ending his vision.