The long dinner was pleasant and light. Soon they were about to go to sleep. As mother and daughter headed toward the bedroom in the east wing, the princess nudged Karin and asked:

"Karin, would you like to sleep with me?"

"Why such a sudden question?" said the girl, already beginning to blush.

"To strengthen our bonds of friendship, of course…"

"I don't have to take a bath with you, do I?"

"No… but you'll love the bed. Tomorrow, a nice training session awaits you," said Alice with a little laugh at the end.

"If it'll help… so be it. Just don't do anything weird!"

Alice smiled with her eyes closed, following Karin toward her room, quickly bidding farewell to her mother.

This will be my greatest trickery… she thought.

Time passed. Through the vast corridor, the young girl walked in slippers and a bathrobe. She was looking for that pink room Innova had transported them to, walking along the very long red carpet, until she saw her friend waving from an open door.

"Alice, what a little outfit… hey…" she hurried toward the girl and said.

"Don't you like it? They're nice nightgowns. Nothing more to it."

"You seemed so innocent before… now you're like this…"

The princess placed her hand on her shoulder and, pulling her down toward her, whispered: "I'm not going to do what you think. I want to talk a bit and get to know you."

"Come in. I have a nightgown for you too."

Entering through the large double doors of varnished wood, she saw that room again: a large pink carpet covered the floor, white and pink striped wallpaper, a dressing table, a desk, a huge wooden wardrobe, and the enormous silk bed.

"What a room…" said Karin, her mouth agape.

"Would you believe this is my least luxurious room?"

"What do you mean? You don't live here?!"

"This room is for when I travel to Ruthera for activities my mother and father assign me," said the princess casually, but with a certain pride in her tone.

Patting her friend on the back, Alice continued: "Enough idle chatter. Let's go to sleep!"

After Karin put on the lilac silk nightgown, she sat in the middle of the bed while Alice turned off the lights.

"Wow! It's really comfortable. What a fabric… smells like lavender and so soft…" she murmured, sinking into the sheets.

With the lights off, the princess walked with light steps to the bed and placed one knee on the sheet, crawling onto it. Staring at her friend, she said:

"Cover yourself. I want to ask you a few questions."

After getting under the covers, Alice began.

"I want you to be honest with your answers. I know when you're lying, and my punishment isn't pleasant, understood?"

Her tone was low, predatory, and highly analytical. Anything the young girl might say could provoke something whose nature she could not foresee.

"Okay. You can start."

"What is your mental condition at this very moment?"

"What? What kind of question is that?"

"Answer! Any sidetracking will be subject to punishment."

"I'm fine—"

Her speech was interrupted. She was immobilized by a quick movement. Her hands were placed behind her head. Alice positioned herself on top of her stomach, repeating the question.

"I warned you I know when you're lying. Answer correctly unless you want the situation to worsen."

"What are you—"

She received a slap from Alice's hand and was questioned again: "Shut your mouth. I recommend you don't say anything until I speak, unless you want to die."

"I will ask one more time. Think very carefully before you speak. You have two hours to answer this question."

How… If the correct answer is 'I'm not fine,' then why this question all of a sudden? Is it about the training? Karin thought.

Her chest tightened slightly. There was something in Alice's expression in that dark room—not a threat, but genuine attention. The kind that hurts more than any punishment because there's no way to dodge it.

"I'm not fine."

Alice slowly released her wrists, pulled back, and lay down beside her, looking at the ceiling.

"I knew it," she said simply. "Say what you want. Or say nothing. I'm here either way."

Karin lay staring at the canopy of the bed for a long time. The smell of lavender, the absurd softness of the expensive sheets, the comfortable darkness lit only faintly by the moonlight—everything had the quality of a place where it was hard to lie.

She ended up falling asleep before deciding what to say. And Alice didn't mind.

Morning arrived with the sun still low, that breeze passing through the bedroom window. A familiar voice shouted over her.

"Wake up! I told you there would be training!"

Karin opened one eye. Her mother was staring at her, with Alice beside her, fully dressed. Yunna was leaning a sword on her shoulder as if it were a natural extension of her body. The same sword the priestess always carried around.

"What time is it?"

"Time to train. Get up!"

There was no negotiation. Karin simply got up.

…

The outer courtyard of the mansion's west hall was vast and well wooded. The floor of grass and stone contrasted with the glass dome above, which reflected the beautiful rays of the rising sun.

Yunna was already waiting, along with the princess, at the far end of the hall.

"Do you remember this sword, Karin?" said Yunna.

"Tsuken? The sword the previous shogun gave you?"

"Yes. I need you to learn the most basic style of the Samurai of the Moon—Tsushin ryu!"

Placing the sheath at her waist, Yunna focused and sheathed the sword. With her hand near the hilt, without touching it, she remained still. With a slight ripple in the air, she drew and cut. "Tsushin ryu, Kage-giri!"

The sword's strike crossed the courtyard, easily cutting a camouflaged target ahead.

"Do you know how I did that?" said Yunna as she sheathed the sword again, continuing her explanation. "We human beings are born with spirits. From birth, priestesses like me are used for their perfect awakening onto the vessel. And thus, we can concentrate the soul in our chests to unleash the influence of power upon the world."

"Mother, I've never held a sword…" Karin grumbled.

"Exactly why you're here today!"

"Kage-giri, the shadow-imbued cut, is the most basic technique of the Tsushin-ryu. Let's do a test so you can see that without the awakening, you won't achieve anything."

The mother passed the sword to her daughter. Karin stared at the sword in her palm, then with an intuitive movement that seemed to flow from the soul of someone from the past, she positioned herself.

The sheath was relaxed, her hand firm but not touching the hilt—leaving mother and princess perplexed at her attitude.

Instead of merely attacking, the energy within the sheath accumulated, releasing sparks and small violet plasma flecks. And then, like a gentle breeze, she grasped the sword and cut the air ahead in an instant, forming a dragon that emerged from the strike.

"Tsushin ryu! Tenryu-zan!"

The dragon, in a rapid dive, disintegrated the target and ascended to the skies, destroying the glass dome. Placing the sword back into its sheath, Karin collapsed, exhausted. The two women ran quickly, frightened and worried, toward the girl. Her mother caught her in her arms and said:

"I've never seen that technique. There are only two mythical spirit dragons… My mother was the last user, and it couldn't be her—there would have been at least a hundred years between her death and my daughter's birth… Impossible…"

After her mother's failed training session, Alice accompanied Karin to the infirmary, taking care of the unconscious girl so she would have a good recovery. The small mint-green room served as a recovery room for those who had lost or exhausted their spiritual energy. In that room were a nurse, the princess, and Karin.

"Where am I?" said the young girl as her eyes opened, heavy and blurry.

"Karin! You're all right!" shouted Alice with euphoric excitement.

The nurse intervened. "No shouting, Princess. When spiritual energy is exhausted, the person becomes completely stunned and exhausted. Noise drains them further."

"Okay."

…

The train left the central station at two in the afternoon. Alice and Yunna had received two tickets from Lord Hunter. It was an extremely luxurious station—marble walls, enormous pillars, and various colorful neon signs.

"Yunna, we're going to the city of Brigton. Hunter gave me two VIP tickets for this trip, just the two of us… What would you like to buy in the crafts city?"

With worried eyes, the priestess was caught off guard by her question. "I would like to buy a gift for my daughter… One I never gave her when she was little…"

"Don't worry. She'll get better!"

"I know… It's just that I think… that's not the biggest problem…"

Looking confused at the lady, the princess asked: "What would the problem be, my lady?"

"The dragon that inhabits my daughter… Unfortunately, it is what I most feared…"