”Your father contacted me because I am really good at making toys – I’ve heard that you like them a little bit too much and they end up in pieces, so this one is made very sturdy to withstand anything. You can love this one as much as you want without worrying that it will break,”

”…!”

Aspakeony walked over to the bed to pick Zoemi up, showing her back to both Kasorius and Miriette, so she missed how the girl flinched and her chin visibly trembled at the mention of toys ending up in pieces.

|Aspy… I love you, but TURN AROUND FASTER! GLANCE OVER THERE! LOOK AT HER! NOTICE THAT SOMETHING IS WORNG!|

Zoemi called out deeply disturbed but just as it was before, none of his attempts to communicate had any effect.

”I also heard that you can’t sleep because of really bad dreams – he will protect you from all of that~!”

The gray-haired girl patted his plush head before picking him up and turning around to showcase the teddy bear to the silent girl.

”He was made just for you – he will be your defender. What do you think? Do you like him?”

Aspakeony asked and crouched by Miriette once again, this time putting the toy in front of her own face, and wiggled the bear’s arms.

At first, the girl did not react, but after a few seconds, she shyly looked up and glanced at the toy.

”…it will get broken…”

Miriette sniffled and muttered, lowering her head.

”No, he will not. I promise – I made him very special.”

Aspakeony peeked from behind the plush bear and smiled reassuringly.

|Aspy…! Listen! She is a princess but there is something wrong! She did not say that she will break it!|

Zoemi has given up on trying to scream as no matter what, inside his head, his own voice was always the same volume – but he could not stop himself from speaking out, hoping that somehow his thoughts get transferred to the gray-haired girl even without the use of mana that he had no access to.

”Here.”

Apsakeony smiled, offering the toy to the little girl.

”…”

At first, Miriette didn’t even seem to want to take the bear – but after another couple of seconds in silence, she glanced at it again…

…and again…

And finally, she reached out and took it.

Master recognized! Master, I will protect you!

|!!!!!!|

And just as she did, the voice that called out inside Zoemi’s mind before resounded again – this time much louder and clearer than before – if the trapped boy could move his body, he would jolt in shock for sure.

”…”

Without saying anything out loud, the platinum-haired girl took the bear out of the necromancer’s hands and stared at it intensely.

”Is something wrong with him?”

Since Miriette was holding the toy in front of her at an arm’s reach as if it was something potentially dangerous, Aspakeony raised her brow and asked, intrigued.

”The color…”

”Miriette, that’s not appropriate to…!”

”…let her finish…”

The little girl muttered, which caused her father to gasp in shock, while the dark-skinned necromancer only allowed herself a soft sigh.

”What about the color? You don’t like it?”

She asked.

”I don’t… he looks like a darkness magician…”

Miriette cowered and explained, not looking up at her father or the necromancer.

”Eh…? You – you don’t like darkness magicians…?”

Aspakeony straightened her back and asked in confusion – before she looked over at king Kasorius and connected the dots regarding the little girl’s behavior.

”Ah…! I see…”

She looked between the parent and child and nodded.

Miriette must have overheard someone

talking about Carcassuss, the leader of the Ghosts of Bellcephora being the illegitimate son of her own father. So she must have assumed that her father had abandoned Carcassuss mother to get together with her own mother and that he was now trying to do the same thing.

”…I don’t…”

”…”

”…”

Miriette nodded, answering the necromancer’s question while staring at the plush bear, which caused king Kasorius to look away awkwardly trying to not make eye contact with Aspeakony.

”I could…”

”…but Elsby is a darkness magician, but I like her…”

The gray-haired girl was about to ask whether the young girl want her to redo the toy, but at that exact moment, Miriette sniffled and murmured and hugged the plush bear close.

”…can I really keep him?”

The platinum-haired girl sniffled again and asked in a worried voice as if expecting Aspakeony to change her mind and take the toy away.

”Of course, you can, your little highness. He only exists to protect you.”

Master…! Master, I will keep you safe!

The gray-haired necromancer smiled brightly and assured the second princess – and the voice inside Zoemi’s head sounded like an overzealous knight tasked with his first bodyguard mission.

|…hmmm – so I don’t have any control whatsoever – and this all happened because I used a time spell for the first time…|

At that point, it didn’t even shock the boy trapped inside the bear as he started to have an idea about what was going on – and the slightly annoying theory started putting itself together in his mind.

The thing was – he was experiencing the events that happened three hundred years in the past through the eyes of the teddy bear – he couldn’t move or talk or use mana because nothing like that happened with the toy.

The voice that called out from time to time was also the bear’s voice – if Zoemi was actually there, at least the toy should react – but since it didn’t…

Well…

|I used the time spell and was put in the spectator mode… Is it safe to assume that only my consciousness was sent back in time? This is troublesome… what about my real body? How am I supposed to return…? Is it even possible to return…?|

Master, I will protect you! I will make you happy!

|…|

Zoemi thought as the voice of the toy resounded in his mind again, causing him to close his mouth because of how familiar those words were to him.

Still, at the current moment, there was not really anything that he could do and as such, Zoemi left Aspaekony’s room carried by the platinum-haired Miriette walking beside her bothered father.

”Miriette, why would you say that I would leave your mother for lady Aspakeony?!”

King Kasorius asked in a disturbed tone.

”…because she is pretty… Lady Apsakeony is even prettier than mommy and one of the maids said that you left your previous wife and chose mommy because mommy was prettier than your previous wife…”

The little girl hugged the black teddy bear a bit tighter, getting timid because of the man’s tone, all while not even daring to raise her head and look at her father’s face.

”Ugh…! You start to sound like Mirrowel… As if I would ever consider someone like her as an option!”

King Kasorius scoffed, shaking his head in borderline disgust that he would most definitely not dare to show in front of the dark-skinned necromancer.

”You said that you like someone like Elsby… but it sounded like Corossariuss and his family are amongst the ones you don’t like. Why is that?”

He asked with a frown, staring down at the platinum-haired girl.

”…”

But she bit her lips and stayed quiet.

”Your will – I won’t force you to tell me. But on the other hand – which maid exactly said that bout your mother and my previous wife?”

”…the one that…”

and asked in a strict voice, that only made the girl’s grip on the toy that much harder – after the platinum-haired Miriette revealed the gossipy maid’s identity, the gold-haired man scoffed and teleported them out of the hallway of what looked like an actual mansion.

Even though there was a whole bed and the room was far bigger, originally Zoemi expected the room to be in the Aspakeony Academy as he knew that it would be the spot where Aspekony preferred to reside…

…until he realized that in the real world, and not this replaying memory or whatever his situation could have been described as, Aspaekony most likely chose to spend most of her time locked up because of the trauma after the Ghosts betrayal…!

|Wait…|

Zoemi tensed up – or he would if he was in his own body.

|When will they kill everyone…? Will I be forced to watch those freaks kill this poor little girl?!|

He thought in horror.

Then, everything went gold and black again…