SECOND FIRST ENCOUNTER

Millions of things ran through the Doomed Prince's mind. Words he wished to say to the mysterious mage. Questions he wanted answered by her. Things he was desperate to ask from her.

But of all the things trying to flood out from his mouth, Aristo settled on one to let through.

"Why…? Why are you helping me?"

"Why else?" replied Luciana with a crooked smile, as if the prince just asked her something so obvious. "You are the Prophesied Sun. And I'm here to make the prophecy come true!"

Aristo immediately burst a chuckle as soon as he heard the silver-haired woman.

"'Prophesied Sun'? Didn't you know I'm the Doomed Prince?" asked the dark-haired Second Prince. "I may be in the prophecy, but I am likely to be the latter Little Sun who is destined to suffer a terrible death."

"No, you are most definitely not the latter one, Your Highness." replied Luciana immediately while shaking her head. Her voice bore the most convincing tone, one without any hint of hesitation nor doubt. "You are the former. The one that will become the new Sun and bring us all to a grand new age!"

"Well, the whole Empire, or rather, the whole world doesn't seem to agree with you."

"The whole world can go to damnation for all I care. You're the Prophesied Sun and that is what I believe!" said Luciana with great conviction.

She approached Aristo closer and stared him right in the eyes.

 "You are not doomed, My prince. Stop think lowly of yourself as so. You don't deserve such treatment, even from yourself…"

Aristo could not help but to be left perplexed by Luciana's words and be drowned within her glimmering golden eyes as she glanced him.

It was rare for him to hear such affectionate and lifting words. Most of the time he heard those kind of words were from his few subjects back at the manor in the palace. But even from them he could sense their doubt, no matter how small it would be, since they could not be sure of his future.

This time, Aristo heard those words of strength from a stranger. Someone he had never met before. And what made him the most puzzled was the fact that this silver-haired woman spoke those words with such great conviction that not even his loyal subjects could portray.

The Doomed Prince wondered who this woman could be. And he wished to wonder even more till he solved the entire mysteries surrounding her, but the sound of the monsters beyond distracted him.

"I'm still not sure why you're actually helping me, but I do need your favor regardless." said Aristo with a pleading tone. "Can I ask something of you?"

"Name it, my prince! You are to be my glorious Sun. You can have whatever you want!" shouted Luciana with inviting smile. "I'll make sure you have everything that you desire!"

"Anything I want?"

Luciana pointed to the sky.

"If you want the moon, then I'll cast a rope and bring it down for you." said Luciana without any hint of humor in her voice. She extended her smooth hand to him. "All you need to do is ask. For I am your servant, my prince…"

Aristo quickly let out a smile at the sight of Luciana's display of loyalty. Never had he been pampered with such enticing words.

"Though tempting, but I'm no need for a moon right now. But I need your strength to help us defeat the monsters in this part of the forest." said Aristo. He reached for Luciana's extended hand and knelt in front of her. "Can you help us?"

Luciana quickly joined Aristo to his knees.

"My prince! You don't need to lower yourself like this!" said the silver-haired mage with agitated voice. She nodded her head. "Of course! As you wish, I'll help you finish your quest in Grimcloud!"

Aristo let out another smile yet again. This one was warm and full of charm. It made Luciana could not help but to form a thin blush on her cheeks.

The prince's hands were still holding Luciana's, he pulled it closer to his lips and gave the back of her hand a soft kiss. And with his warm and resounding voice, he spoke to the generous mage.

"Then I'll be counting on you, Miss Witch."

Luciana's eyes suddenly widened and her mouth turned agape. This time, it was her that was left astounded.

"What…did you just…call me…?" asked the silver-haired mage with a whispering tone.

Aristo formed a frown of confusion.

"I called you 'Miss Witch.'" replied the Doomed Prince. His tone turned apologetic. "Pardon me, should I not call you that? I'm sorry if I have caused you--"

"--No! It's fine!" replied Luciana with a soft smile. "'Miss Witch' is fine. I…like it."

In fact, she more than liked it. The moment Aristo called her with that name turned her heart aflutter it turned the blush on her face even redder.

"(To think I would hear those two words come out from your mouth again… oh how I missed you, my prince.)"

Aristo and Luciana rose back to their feet. It was then that Lance pulled his master to the side.

"Your Highness, keep your distance from her!" spoke Lance with the most alerting tone. Not minding Luciana who was not far from him. "We don't know who this suspicious woman is!"

"We definitely do not know a lot about her." replied Aristo nodding. "But she's the only hope we got in order to survive this quest."

"Not one mage in the whole Empire wishes to serve you. But this one suddenly descended from the sky to offer their utmost loyalty to you." said the guardian. "It's too good to be true, Your Highness! She could be an assassin sent by your siblings!"

"I assure you, I am not here to kill Prince Aristo nor was I sent by the other Little Suns." said Luciana interjecting. "Just like I said before, I am here to help His Highness."

"How can we be sure of that?" asked Lance back with suspecting eyes.

The shriek of the red goblins around them distracted their conversations. The monsters were still held back by the shining orb Luciana created. Laying her gaze upon the creatures, the silver-haired witch formed a smile.

"Let me show it to you."

Luciana returned the Eirene Grimoire to her pocket face and turned around. She faced her palm to the monsters dying to get near. The silver-haired mage proceeded to cast a spell.

[Dark Arts, Jahat Claws]

A huge black twister shot out from Luciana's hand and it devoured the monsters surrounding the Second Prince's party, shredding the creatures to pieces and reducing them to piles of mangled meats.

Aristo, Lance, and what was remaining of the 7th Division were left in awe of this display of might.

Having effortlessly eradicating the monsters that were slaughtering the prince's party, Luciana looked back to the guardian.

"If I wanted to kill His Highness, I would've done it by now. I probably would not even bother descending down here and cleared the mist and just let the monsters get to him." said the Witch of Eirene. "In any case, His Highness is correct. I'm your only hope in getting out of here alive."