Artificial Body

Surrounded by the knights, Ruby and Diamond stare at Norman in confusion about his suggestions.

"What is hide and seek?" Ruby asks.

"It's a game where one person counts to ten and tries to find the others who are hiding in the area," Norman explains as he draws in the dirt. "The hiding range is from the front of the practice arena to the sunflower meadow in the forest and from the animal barn to the knights' quarters. We can't hide outside of this square; otherwise, you're disqualified."

Diamond pulls on Raja's cape and beckons him to her. "Will it be okay if Ruby and I play? Will Father get mad if we make too much noise?"

With an unchanging stoic expression, Raja shakes his head. "I don't think His Grace will be bothered by the noise since it is a good distance from the main estate."

"Then who will be the person who counts?" Ruby asks as she glances up at Norman.

"Of course, I will be the one who counts," Norman proudly proclaims. "No one has ever been able to hide for longer than two minutes once I'm on the hunt."

"Is that a challenge?" Ruby teases with a mischievous grin on her face.

"You're getting bolder these days, Princess Ruby," Norman replies, slamming his hand on the dirt causing the stick drawing to disappear. "Let's see you hide from me for longer than two minutes. One... two..."

With Norman starting his count, Ruby, Diamond, and the knights all run out of the practice arena to find a place to hide. In the scurry, Ruby and Diamond got split apart, so they end up hiding in different areas.

---

"I hope Diamond is okay," Ruby whispers to herself as she climbs up to the top of a tree. "She's only been here for a couple of days, so she probably doesn't know the area well. Raja is most likely hiding nearby her, so it shouldn't be a problem."

---

"R-Ruby... Are you nearby?" Diamond wanders through the forest for a while when she breaks through the thicket and into the sunflower meadow. "Wow~"

---

"Damn, I lost sight of Princess Diamond," Raja scolds himself. "Those meatheads ran out of the door so fast that I didn't have time to catch Diamond. Now, she's lost somewhere in the forest. The duke's going to have my head if something happens to--- her..."

"Found you," Normal cheekily says after tapping Raja's shoulder. "Why aren't you properly hiding?"

"I can't sense Princess Diamond anywhere," Raja comments as he closes his eyes. "I don't hear her near this area either."

Frightened, Norman widens his eyes and scans the area. "Damn... even with Heightened Senses, she's really nowhere to be found."

Heightened Sense. A skill that only the top knights in the Order of Eternal Stone can manifest. Undergoing a similar ritual as the Summer Vessel, knights who seek to unlock this skill within them try to survive the blistering hot summer without asking for help and relying only on their senses to find their way back to the Stoneborne Estate. Some knights end up losing their ability to speak because of their desperation and desire to unlock such a respected skill. In the end, only a handful of knights have been able to gain Heightened Sense.

"This is bad," Norman mutters as panic starts to set in.

"You're the one saying that, but I'm going to be the one killed if something happens to Princess Diamond," Raja nags as he grabs Norman's shirt collar.

"Calm down. We cannot cause panic amongst the other knights." Norman slips out from Raja's grasp and fixes his shirt. "I will continue searching for the others to make sure that Princess Ruby doesn't notice that something is wrong. When I find a knight, I will tell them about what's happening and to search for Princess Diamond. You heard the same thing that I did in the duke's office. If Princess Ruby loses her composure, she can erupt in flames and destroy everything in her path, so we need to hide this from her as much as possible."

"Hide what from me?" Ruby asks as she hangs upside down from a nearby branch. "What is this about searching for Diamond in particular?"

"Pri-Princess Ruby?!" Norman exclaims, nearly falling over himself. "How long were you there?"

Flipping back over, Ruby leaps out of the tree and lands in front of the two knights. "I was hiding there the whole time. You didn't notice me?"

Raja and Norman immediately look at each other as soon as Ruby says that.

"Did you notice any other presence here besides us?" Norman asks Raja.

Slowly shaking his head, Raja answers, "No... did you?"

"No..."

"You still haven't answered me about why you're searching for Diamond in particular. Why do you have to keep it a secret from me?" Ruby crosses her arms and stares deeply at the knights. "Is my sister in danger?"

"-ody..."

Norman and Ruby glance at Raja who seems to be mumbling to himself. "What did you just say?" Norman questions him.

Raja darts his widened eyes to Norman. "Artificial bodies. The duke said that the girls' bodies are technically artificial meaning that their 'natural body responses' aren't the same as ours."

"What does that have to do with the situation?" Norman continues to pry.

"A human body's response can be heard no matter how silent. Blood flowing through veins. The slight tremor in someone's breathing. Everything can be heard; even more so with Heightened Sense."

Norman scratches the back of his head, not understanding anything that Raja is saying. "So what if it does?"

"Wouldn't it make sense that artificial bodies simply mimic what a human body does but not completely replicate it? Princess Ruby's body and Princess Diamond's body mimics that of a child, but have you ever noticed how incredibly light she is. I've held Princess Diamond's hands many times, but I have never felt a pulse from her. I just thought that it was because she was small or I was too strong and dense. But after hearing what was being talked about in the duke's office, I came to understand something that really separates a human from an artificial body."

"Which is?"

"...a soul."

Before Norman and Ruby could question Raja further, a loud shriek can be heard further into the forest.