Piece 16 (part 1)

*Story will be told from the perspective of Elizabeth Veldonia, Milly's mom*

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For many days after that, Melvin has been visiting me at random times.

Sometimes he came during the day, other times in the evening. He did mention that sneaking into the castle isn't exactly an easy thing, and he needs to always make sure that he isn't caught. Otherwise, both of us could be in deep danger.

"It might be nice if you can leave the castle and be somewhere else… This place just feels more like a prison." 

Melvin muttered as he sat on the floor of my room with a bunch of magic knowledge books in front of him, and I was on my bed reading one of those books. After he said that, I lowered my book to turn my attention to him.

"Hmm… And what if I could?"

"Could you?"

To his reply, I only showed a big smirk. The gears on my head started turning, and Melvin stared at me weirdly as I thought of a method. 

Footsteps can be heard coming from the door to my room, and we both turned towards it. Melvin instantly started checking out who was walking outside the door, but he didn't react weirdly. From his reaction, it seems that whoever is outside isn't a threat.

Is it her?

The door was opened, and a single maid entered with a tray filled with snacks and drinks. Her tired face showed me that she has been doing her best to prepare those hidden, but Melvin was too excited to learn about it.

"I got some cookies… it sure wasn't easy to get." Estella, who was the only maid that was by my side, said as she placed the tray down on the floor next to the seven year old boy.

Melvin instantly shoved one or two cookies onto his mouth, and I only watched him gobble those cookies down like a monster. He noticed that I was staring at him with disgust and placed both his hands on his hips.

"What??"

"Are you just a cookie monster? Why do you eat cookies like that?"

"I just eat however I like! Why should you care?" He uttered a little angrily, and I realized he was genuinely annoyed.

"Leave some for the young lady, please. She's a lot thinner than you." Estella said as she stood back up after placing the tray down, and I turned to her as she walked back to the door.

"Estella, a moment please." I called the young maid, and she turned her tired gaze to me.

"What is it, your highness?"

"Don't give me that look. I need your help." I annoyedly folded my arms, and Estella let out a tired sigh.

"If this requires me to move my muscles for the rest of the day, then I'll just quit this job."

"It won't be anything like that! It's just one simple thing!" I said to her, and Estella let out one last sigh as she gave up.

"What do you want?"

Right there and then, I told Estella about my wish of leaving the castle. It's something I've been planning for a while, and Melvin will for sure help make it happen. Estella wasn't quite sure that it would work, but since Melvin is helping, she had no choice but to just follow along.

"Fine. I'll tell the butler that you've been incredibly sick because of how much beating has been done to you. So much beating that even causes damage to your brain."

"Do you have to be so cruel…?"

The plan is simple. Melvin will make a golem made of earth magic, and I will decorate the golem with my clothes. We'll then place the golem onto my bed and just place it there. The golem will still move and wiggle around as if it was me on the bed, so anyone who'll come and check will know that it was me. But, if they were to look at it closer, then for sure the disguise will be revealed.

That is where Estella comes in. She just makes sure that no one comes too deep into the room. She'll just allow them to take a look at the golem in bed before chasing them away. If things do come to worse, the golem will fight for Estella in case her life was threatened. 

The plan was set. Now, it's just how we are going to leave.

"Have you ever… fly before?" Melvin asked such a pointless question, and I just tilted my head to the side.

"… Why would you ask that? Do I look like someone who can fly to you?"

"You can just say no! Come, stand right in front of me." Melvin invited me to the balcony, and I walked right in front of him.

I'm already wearing an outing dress for plentiful movement, but it is still quite the noble dress. It's still surprisingly thin, which makes it so surprising to me when the boy wrapped his tiny arms around my waist.

"H-Hey, what is this for!?" I yelled right after his hands were wrapped around my waist, but Melvin seemed to be having problems with this too.

"I-I need you to hold on tightly! We're going tens of meters in the air!!"

"Are we seriously flying!?"

"Yes! Are you afraid of heights?"

"N-No!?"

I do. In fact, I was so afraid that I ended up choking him when we reached twenty meters in the air.

The liftoff was a pain. I was holding his neck to dear life as he got us into the skies. I couldn't hear exactly what was happening, and I was closing my eyes since I was a little afraid.

But, after the flight had gotten calmer, the first thing I noticed was how cold and breezy the wind was. It was very strong, but enjoyable nonetheless. The cold air made me realize that we aren't in the same place as we were before, and I looked down to find just how far up we are in the air.

We're… flying!! Hundreds of meters in the air!!

"W-Wha-Ha--"

"You can let go of my neck, now…"

I turned to Melvin, whose face is only inches away from mine. I realized that my arms are quite literally gorilla locking his neck, and I loosened the hold a little bit. His hands are still wrapped around my waist anyway, so there's no way I can fall like this.

My god, his neck looks so red now…

"S-Sorry."

"It's fine. So, do you have any place you're thinking of going to?" He asked as we flew hundreds of meters in the air, and I realized that we can quite literally go anywhere like this.

We are flying. That fact is still quite hard for me to accept. The wings on Melvin's back flapped quite powerfully as it kept us in the air, and I can't help but realize how beautiful those black wings are.

"Those are beautiful wings…"

"Thanks! It took me a lot of practice to be able to use them. My father came up with it, and it's been his favorite mode of transportation."

"Yeah, I can tell… You should teach me how to fly."

"Fine, fine. I'll teach you how to use healing magic, creation magic, fire magic, light magic, and then how to fly. Should I teach you how to read as well?"

"Shut up and fly." I pinched his cheeks a little bit, and I was a little surprised at how ugly he looked when his face was warped by the pinch.

That was our first flight together. And on that flight, he took me to a place that we've never visited before. The place ends up becoming a spot he and I have been using even many years after. There was a small pond that is quite far outside the city, and he decided to have that place as our landing place.

That place ended up becoming where we spend most of our time. For the next few years, it is where I trained with him, and where we both went whenever I wanted to be elsewhere outside the castle. It's the place where I learned magic, where I enjoyed freedom, and where I had my first kiss.

Not with Melvin, but with the dirt ground after I fell face first during one of our first explosive fire magic training. I did kiss him later on, but that wasn't until our second year of being together. It was on my birthday, and he brought me a present that I never thought I'd ever receive: a magical wand.

The wand kind of grew out of me. I liked swords more than wands, and since we can cast magic even without wands, who needs them?

The year after that, he got me a sword. It wasn't that great of a sword, but it was still the best that a nine year old like him can get for me. I didn't know how to use swords, though, so it was kind of pointless for me to use.

Many years passed by, and we kept on growing a lot closer. My knowledge in magic has grown substantially, and I was very confident that I could beat him in sparring. And I did, but not in a fair way.

Magics have their own counters, and the counter to shadow magic is light magic. And unfortunately for Melvin, his strongest magic is shadow magic, so in terms of compatibility, I am his worst match up. And when I was skilled enough, there was no way for him to win against me.

During those years, Estella has done her best to keep anyone from entering my room. The person who got so close to finding out was actually the empress, who went to check on me because I wasn't present on a certain important family occasion. But when she saw the bed being occupied, she just believed instantly that it was indeed me.

Melvin even upgraded his earth golem until it completely looked like me. We both painted the golem so that it would have a similar color to my skin and appearance, and we had it be on the bed every time I wanted to go outside.

And that has been my greatest enjoyment during my younger days. 

However, those beautiful moments eventually came to an end.