Chapter Fifty Two

Valerie Books' POV

"Papa? Do you have to go?" I asked my father as he was walking away. My father stopped walking and looked at me.

"Don't worry Val, Papa will come home." My father smiled at me as he held my cheeks.

"Sire! The enemies are crushing our forces! We need your help!"

"I'm coming, Gerald!" My father smiled at me as he kissed my forehead. "Papa will come back sweetie."

My father stood up and started walking away. Little did I know that that was the last time I'll ever see my father.

"Princess, we're terribly sorry to hear about the loss of your father."

My father died protecting the last of the troops they sent to face off against the enemies who were trying to invade our lands. He used up every bit of ounce of magic within him, he sacrificed himself to protect his people, to protect me. His sacrifice didn't go in vain, the enemy retreated and they never came back.

Years passed and it was already my 18th birthday. We were gathered in the great halls of the castle, celebrating. The people around me were happily enjoying themselves as they danced and laughed, while I didn't. I sat quietly on the throne of my mother, besides the throne of my father.

We don't normally celebrate birthdays in the great halls, normally we go to the streets and give to the poor when our birthday comes. There is a reason why on this particular day we have opened up the great halls for the people.

It's a tradition that on the 18th birthday of the heirs of the King and Queen, they must find their other half, by that I mean their lovers, call it suitors or something like that.

After my parents died, I lost my freedom. The people who were once serving my parents turned against me. All they see is a kid who can't do anything. They're not listening to what I'm saying, they're not allowing me to do the things that I want to do. I feel trapped.

I was sitting quietly at the throne of my father as I waited for the suitor's search to begin. Upon waiting, I noticed something different happen. I noticed this weird light coming from behind the curtains of the halls, but no one else seems to be noticing it.

Minutes passed and the suitor search was starting. Boys from all over the kingdom lined up and took a step forward when their names were called so they can introduce themselves.

Halfway towards the suitors and the light began shining again. Then something weird happened. The next suitor was called but he was the same guy as before, I thought to myself that the first guy may have a twin or something, or that's just someone who looks like him. I shook off the thought and just returned to listening to what they have to say. After he was done, they called the next suitor and I noticed that it was the same name as the first two. I looked at the guy and it was the same guy.

"What's happening?" I asked, but the person standing beside me who was reading the names of the suitors didn't answer me, he didn't even notice me. "Hello?" I said as I started waving my hand in front of his face, but no reaction, he just went on with reading the names. I was starting to get freaked out.

As I was waving my hand, I noticed the light again. It was shining even brighter than before, it seems like it was calling me.

I stood up from the throne and started walking towards the light. I looked at the people and they seem to not noticed me leaving. I smiled and started running towards the light. I followed it and it led me towards this cave, I went inside, and there I saw this weird glowing door on the wall. "Why did you lead me here?" I asked as I approached the door slowly, sticking my arms inside it as I walked close enough.

I noticed that the light wasn't harmful because my arm didn't have any burn marks or anything like that. I then started slowly sticking my head through the door to see what it was all about, and there I saw these people and tall buildings. It was something I never have seen before. The people I saw looked simple.

"What's all this about?" I asked myself as I looked around. From the moment I saw this place, I instantly fell in love with it. "I'm going to take a peek, I'll come back to that suitor search after I'm done exploring." I said as I let out a giggle.

I walked through the glowing door and I was in this new world, a simple world. "What is this place?" I said as I started smiling as I kept looking around. "I wonder if I'm free to do whatever I want here?"

I noticed a man who was wearing this fancy looking black clothing carrying what seems to be a leather box of some sort. I approached him and asked him a question politely.

"Hi! Can I do whatever I want here!?" I asked as I jumped in front of him. He jumped back because he got scared. I don't know why he got scared like that. All I did was greet him politely.

The man looked at me with this weird expression on his face. "Don't talk to me, weirdo. Tch." The man said as he walked past me.

"Oh. My. Gosh. He didn't tell me to stop acting non-royalty like! I'm going to love it here!"

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"And that Blueth, is the story of what I really am. I am not human, well, I am human but not here in your world. But I am human in my world, the book realm. In my realm, we are humans which possess' magical powers or abilities, but here, in your world, I'm just a character of a made-up book."

"So, let me get this straight, you're not real?" Blueth asked as she looked at me.

"No."

"Woah, that's some hard information to take in. But wait, there are lots of things which are not answered in your story."

"Things like what?"

"Well, what happened to the glowing door you mentioned after you went through it? Did it disappear? Did you go look for it? How did you know that you were just a character from a book? And how do you explain this little furball?" Blueth asked as she picked up Cathy who was sleeping and moved her close to my face. "How can she talk!?"

"Okay, okay, hold your questions. I'll answer all of them." I replied as I moved Cathy away from my face. "Well, the glowy portal door suddenly disappeared after I walked through it. Did I bother looking for it? Ha! Are you kidding? Why would I look for it when this realm is so much better. I get to do what I want without those pesky castle people telling me what to do."

"Okay, then what about the how did you know you were a character from a book?"

"Well, as I stayed here, I went sight-seeing, that's what the people around here call it. And as I was doing sight-seeing, I notice this book and it had my face in it. I got curious as to why my face was on it so I started reading it and then I figured out that I was just a character of a book."

"Were you shocked when you found out?"

"Me? Oh, I was creeped out. I felt like someone was watching me, but time passed by and I finally understood things."

"Okay, then what about this cute furball? And also, what about the big book we've been using to proofread? How did that come in?" Blueth asked as she moved Cathy close to my face.

"Cathy is just a normal cat. I saw her walk up towards me and I started talking to her. I got annoyed when she didn't respond, so I gave her a voice. And that big book we've been using, I just summoned that with my magic. I got bored so I figured that coming inside other books would be fun."

"So, everything we've been doing inside books is because of your magic?"

"Yup."

"Woah, that's so cool. Oh yeah, last question. What about that masked guy? What's he got to do with the story you told me?"

"Ah, Raymund? Yeah, he was the mentor my father gave me. I knew that there was something wrong the day I met him. I'm starting to think that he's obsessed with me or something."

"You know, I'm starting to think that, that Raymund fellow is having a major crush on you. And that's the reason why he wants you to come back to the book realm."

"Ha! He wish! There's nothing in this world that will make me come back to that nightmare realm. Now let's go, I'm hungry from all this talking. I'm making meatloaf!" I said as I stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.

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"Time's up, Princess."

-End of Chapter-