Chương 32: The Princess & The Pauper

After a while of waiting, a knock resounded on the opaque glassy ice. The lights were still off, and the world was covered in an unnatural darkness. Lilia fiddled with her phone and shined it through the blurry ice. And what she saw changed her to the core.

June was frankly disappointed. He knew Dreamers were rare, but none appeared to confront him. He knocked on the glass cocoon that wrapped Lilia and where he was supposed to be. His pants were ruined. A sad frown appeared on his face, thinking about one of his two nice pairs of pants being ruined.

'I need a job' June's hands have already healed and were back to their usual sublime selves; his skin is unblemished by any wounds.

'Luckily I took the important things off.' Despite saying that he felt a little self-conscious that he was standing shirtless in a parking lot. His sunglasses were also in the cocoon, and ever since his transformation, he felt naked without them. Eventually a blurry light shined from a phone onto him. Lilia's face was agape as she looked at June's glistening chest. And June watched her reaction, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

'Does she think I can't see her face?'

'At least she's not staring at my eyes.' Her face was still in darkness, but that didn't matter when it came to June's vision. So he just stood there for a moment, waiting for her to open the cocoon. One second went by. Two seconds went by. Three seconds went by.

'She's a bit slow for a dreamer.' The camera flashlight slowly went up to his face. His glowing eyes pierced through the glassy cocoon. And then the cocoon fell. Lilia's reaction was still odd, so June just walked by her to collect his clothes.

'What's with her?' Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. June put his shirt on, then the sweater on, and then wrapped the letterman jacket around his waist. The cold ice licked his sweat, and June enjoyed it. His favorite season was winter after all, and the flame hands were a bit too hot for his taste. Lilia was staring at June.

'Is it me, or is her gaze more intense than it was earlier?' A dreamer's gaze. No, beings with power tended to have more noticeable gazes than mundane people; in this case, Lilia's gaze was an icy burn. Not to mention, June was particularly sensitive to people's gaze even before his transformation.

'Anxiety would have sounded like a superpower if I tried to explain it.' Finally, he put his sunglasses on. and checked his phone"Shit." For the first time in 20 years he cracked his phone; it was a great disappointment.

'Wait, no, I broke the old one... at least this one still works.'

"The movie started a while ago... you're free to go watch it; I need to figure out my clothing situation. I... might just go home" He tried to put on a face of stoicism in front of her.

"Oh, and if you get queasy easily, I'd recommend not looking over yonder." He pointed and then remembered that she wasn't able to see in the dark like him.

"... to the parking lot." The camera flash was still on June. He looked at her.

'What's up with her?' He got closer and snapped his fingers a couple times in front of her.

"Hoi, Earth to Lilia." She snapped out of it. Looking at her closer, her hairband was off, and her hair was now sitting freely.

"Where's your hairband?" June was waiting for another pause; in fact, if another pause came, he was going to bolt into the darkness. His experience with women never went past friendship, and he was perfectly ok with that. It's just that this new feeling in his chest makes every second bleed into the next in an uncomfortable way.

"I-I-I don't know?" It was cupped in her hand.

'Maybe she's in shock?' June just assumed she just had sputtering bouts like sometimes did, so the true reason didn't cross his mind. He was pretty close to her; she stood taller than him, so he had to look up at her to see her face, almost like when she tried to fluster him when they bought slushies earlier.

"Are you ok? Feeling alright? Not hurt?" June's voice sounded abrasive; his throat was feeling a bit dry for some reason. June and Lillia looked at each other in the eyes for a bit. They stared at each other intently Her blush did things to him that he could not understand. They were so close to each other that he felt her breath on his face'When did I get so close?' It, in fact, was Lilia getting closer. June for a second felt that something might happen.

And it indeed did, as something cracked his head to the side, rattling his brains and crushing his cheap sunglasses. The last things he saw before succumbing to the void was Lillia falling to help him.

A butler was standing behind where June was standing with a steaming cane.

"Milady's" The old raisin took a deep bow, hiding a smug look on his face. Lilia, in fact both yelled at once in a shocked unison"Why did you do that?" Lilia held her hair tie in her hand; it was a special item that was imbued with both will and magic so that both her souls were able to speak. Every member of the royal family had one. Well, except for her mother, she had a mundane version since she didn't have the trait.' It came in several forms instead of just the hair tie.

It worked as recognizable regalia, so most people in the nightrealm knew what it symbolized. The Lilia in control of her body looked at him with a scathing look.

"You might have killed him?" Lilia lifted June's head into her lap and started patting the bruise that was forming. June would have been giddy to know that the queen of snow was worried about him if he wasn't unconscious. The old butler looked at June with a disgusted look.

"Milady's why should you care about this hoodlum? There are plenty of more suitable candidates for your love" The old butler tried to poke and prod June with his cane, but Lilia's scathing look made the old man retreat.

"H-He's just a friend. Why did you do that? He might die now." Her split selves both barked at the poor butler in an onslaught.

'Ah, Milady's have grown up; it almost brings a tear to my oh-so fragile self.'

'But such an obvious lie --- couldn't she have loved someone with a more amicable ability?'

'And would you look at that, its hands already moving, truly a monster too disgusting for milady's.' The old man had a glum look while both of Lilia's selves yelled at him Unbeknownst to Lilia, both of Lilia's, something was happening to June. The old man prepared his cane.