The sun was high, near noon. It cast a golden light on the city.
Layla was walking down the busy streets of Alisford, looking around for any clues regarding Orion's and Electra's whereabouts.
"This city is so big..." She glanced back at the huge castle that was already far away. "I've been walking for decades, yet I couldn't find anything."
Someone pulled her dress softly from behind.
Layla turned around, scowling as she thought that it was some pervert looking for attention, but to her surprise, it was a little, noble-looking green-haired girl with big yellow eyes.
She was clad in a black and red Victorian Gothic dress with long sleeves. She had a Gothic rose hairclip with lace and held a small purse in her hand.
The girl looked away in fear, but she didn't stop tugging Layla's dress.
Layla's expression softened, and she crouched to the girl's level. "Oh... Uhm... Sorry." She cleared her throat. "What's wrong, little one?" She asked softly.
Hearing Layla's kind and soft tone, the girl looked at her, still a little nervous, but mainly full of hope. "I wanted to look at the city more clearly, so I leaned out of my carriage's window and fell out..." The girl said, tearing up.
Layla softly pressed her hand against the girl's cheek and caressed it. "You poor thing..." She paused, her eyes flicking between the girl and the street.
She was having trouble deciding whether she should help the child or continue searching for Electra and Orion.
The girl looked down at her black shoes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for picking you out of all people... But I am afraid... And you look like a Noble Lady... So I thought that you would help me..."
"Orion always told me that even if I don't want to, I need to help people in need, especially children..."
Layla sighed deeply, kissing the girl on the forehead. "No, it's okay! I will help you find your parents!"
The girl looked up at Layla, her teary eyes glistening with even more hope than before. "R-Really?!"
Layla thought about how Orion always pats people on the head to reassure them, so she patted the girl on the head. "Of course, honey! That's what friends do, no~?" She poked her nose softly.
The girl smiled widely, wrapping her arms around Layla's neck softly. "Thank you! Thank you, Lady-"
"Layla. My name is Layla. Just Layla. What about you, sweetie?" Layla asked softly.
The girl smiled widely, her cheeks burning from happiness. "Liora!"
Layla nodded, putting her hands under the girl's armpits. "That's a beautiful name, Liora."
Liora looked down at Layla's hands, flattered. "T-Thank you, Layla! Your name is also beautiful!" She then shook her head. "No... Not only your name... You are the most beautiful Lady I've ever seen!"
Layla gasped. "Oh! Thank you, sweetie!" She blushed, picking the girl up and sitting her down on her shoulders.
The girl wrapped her arms around Layla's forehead, clinging to her as if she were holding onto her life.
The girl was silent, not knowing what to say, but on the other hand, Layla had a lot of questions regarding the girl's appearance.
"Your dress is beautiful, Liora. I haven't ever seen anything remotely similar to it!" Layla smiled.
The girl shook her head. "No, no! It's not that nice or extraordinary!"
"That dress was created for me in Velmoria. It's designed to look good on me, but it's just a modified version of an average dress in here!"
Layla looked ahead, sighing deeply. "Ahh... Fashion differences, huh? I would love to have such a dress!" She pouted.
Liora closed her eyes, imagining Layla in such a dress. "Woah... You would look outstanding in it! I mean, you'd look a little sinister, but in an attractive way!"
"...I wonder if Orion would like it..." Layla sighed.
"I know it's mean to ask strangers about their private lives, but who's Orion?" Liora asked, being as soft and delicate as she could.
Layla patted the girl on the head and chuckled softly. "Orion is my future husband, tho I'm very, very mad at him! He said that he wanted to take a break from me, and it turned out that he's been feeding me lies my whole life! I love him with my whole soul, but I don't know what to think anymore! I want to hug and kiss him with so much passion, but on the other hand, I really hate him for keeping things from me!"
The girl leaned her chin against Layla's head. "My Mama is also keeping many things from me. I am mad at her almost every day." She smiled softly. "But I know that she doesn't do it out of ignorance or lack of trust, but because she wants to protect me."
Layla looked down at the ground. "But I'm stronger than he is... Just what could he be possibly protecting me from?"
"Well, I don't know! Just talk to your future hubby instead of acting."
"The girl is right. I was trying to find him and explode, but after calming down, I think she's right. We need to talk."
"Okay, okay!" Layla smiled, scratching the back of her ear. "Let's find your carriage, sweetie!"
The two spent the whole of the noon and afternoon searching for the carriage. They were asking random people who were walking down the streets, members of the Order, shopkeepers, merchants, and literally everyone else, but they didn't get any information.
They were now in a quiet and dark alley. Layla sat down on a curb covered in mud and dirtied her dress on the butt area.
Liora was standing next to her, a worried look on her face. "Uhh, Lady Layla... Your dress might get dirty... It looks expensive..."
Layla sighed, waving her hand. "Don't worry, Liora. I can always put on a new one." She smiled softly.
"Anyways,"
"Maybe we should get you to a place where lost children go, no?" Layla smiled. "I mean, your attire is kinda unusual, so I don't think it'll be a problem for your family to find you."
Liora shook her head. "No! It's a bad idea! Mama would be really, really mad!"
"Why?" Layla asked curiously.
"Mama wanted to leave the capital unnoticed, just like we arrived." Liora looked down at the ground in sadness. "I don't like traveling... I would prefer to be playing Echoes and Trails..."
"Echoes and Trails?" Layla raised a brow, invested in learning what it is about.
Liora walked up to a wall. "It's a game I play with Mama at home." She reached her hand into a purse, taking out something that remotely looked like a marker.
Layla watched cautiously as the girl started drawing on the wall. "I don't understand..."
Liora smiled. "These markers are made out of magical runes which I and Mama are very sensitive to."
"The rules are simple. There can be two roles: The Chaser and the Clown. The Chaser needs to catch the Clown before she reaches the gates, and the Clown needs to run away while leaving clues with that marker every three minutes!" Liora said with excitement. "It's a fun game! You should try playing it sometime!"
Layla's smile widened as she finally got an idea on how they would find the carriage, no, how the carriage would find them.
"Let's play with your Mama right now, Liora!"
Liora was confused. "Huh? But Mama is in the carriage and we don't know where the carriage is..."
"We will be the Clowns, and your Mama will be the Chaser!" Layla yelled, standing up with a smirk on her face.
"It's impossible to find the Clown in such circumstances! The city is too big, and there are too many people!" Liora roared in frustration.
"Give me the marker, Liora." Layla reached out her hand towards the girl.
Liora wiggled around in hesitation, but in the end, she gave her the marker."
Layla clapped her hands. "Okay~!"
A black portal opened up next to her, and she tossed the marker into it.
"NO!" Liora screamed as the portals closed. She fell to her knees in tears. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! IT WAS MY MARKER! MAMA GAVE IT TO ME!"
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"Come on, blackhead! Try again!" Electra yelled, pointing at a damaged tree.
Layla was panting, her vision was dizzy and unclear. "We've been doing this for the whole day! I'm almost out of mana!"
Electra shrugged. "I don't care. I never told you to copy my power in the first place! It hurt me to see someone using something that should have been only mine!" She groaned.
Her eyes sharpened, and a smirk widened on her face. "That's why I won't let you use it like an inexperienced brat!"
"I want you to use it with grace, precision, and otherworldly control!"
"I want you to become better at it than I am!"
Layla fell to her knees, grabbing the dirt. "How can a copy be better than the original, Ellie?! That's nonsense!"
Electra shook her head. "Yes, you're right. In the natural way things are, it is. But mana, power, and everything else related to it are not natural!"
She walked up to Layla and grabbed her cheeks softly. "You are a natural-born prodigy! You managed to copy dozens of swords right after copying my Special Magic, when it took me four whole years of practice to copy a single stick!" She squeezed her cheeks. "You have what it takes, blackhead! You will outgrow every single one of us! Even I, or Tempest!"
Layla's eyes widened in excitement, she felt her mana coursing through her whole soul.
"I'm sure that you'll be able to open up a delayed portal by the end of the day!" Electra encouraged her.
Layla stood up. She had a vision of herself in a place she had never dreamt of before: a place where she was surrounded by people who were looking up to her, who wanted to be like her.
"I will give you my best, Ellie!" She yelled in determination.
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Layla smirked widely, taking out the same marker from the portal that appeared behind her.
She tossed the marker to Liora.
Liora caught the marker in surprise, her hands were trembling as she looked at the portal. "Is this... s-Special Magic?" She asked in disbelief.
Layla laughed maniacally. "Ellie was right! I CAN DO IT~!"
Then dozens of the same markers were launched from the portal, hitting the wall and shattering.
A portal appeared above Layla. It phased through her, changing her dress into her adventurer clothes.
"A lot better~!" She smiled widely.
Liora watched her with a mix of amazement, disbelief, and a hint of jealousy.
Layla looked down at her with half-lidded eyes, knowing that the girl was jealous. "It's so good... It feels so good when someone is jealous of no one other than me~!"
She took a step towards Liora, smiling at her. "Let's go play your game, sweetie~!"
Liora stood up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you... Thank you, Lady Layla!" Tears were streaming down her face as she clung to her.
Layla picked her up bride style and looked at the mess of broken markers on the ground.
"Of course, there will be a delay. I'm still not nearly as good as Ellie, but the point is that it works!"
Layla looked at the walls, counting the windows.
"Okay, sweetie! Hold on tight!" She yelled softly and started jumping from window to window.
Liora wrapped her arms around Layla's neck, burying her face into Layla's chest.
Layla smiled softly as they eventually reached the roof.
She looked down at the capital. "Woah! It's so beautiful from up here! Look, look!" She softly poked Liora's cheek.
Liora opened her eyes and looked around.
Merchants, commoners, knights, everyone, and everything were so lively that she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"It's amazing!"
"Okay, okay! We don't have time to watch, we need to go or else we'll lose the game!" Layla chuckled and started running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the gates.
Every three minutes, she looked down into a dark alley and summoned more markers and the delayed portal to clean everything up.
It wasn't surprising to mention that a lot of people were curious about why a girl was jumping from roof to roof, but there were also some people, mainly adventurers, who noticed the portals opening and closing.
Then, after an hour of playing Echoes and Trails, the two have finally reached the gates.
Layla sat down on a curb, panting from exhaustion.
Liora stood up on the curb by her side, looking at the streets with hope.
"Ahh... I'm so tired! I haven't done anything so physical in a week! Eh.. ehh.. ah...!" She groaned.
Liora just stood here for a couple of minutes, each minute passing bringing her closer to tears. "Mama couldn't abandon me, right? Right?!" She gripped the marker.
Then a dark carriage appeared from behind a corner. The horses were running faster than ever. A worried butler in the driver's box.
Liora's eyes widened as she stared at the carriage in anticipation.
Layla noticed that Liora was staring at something, and she looked up, noticing the carriage.
"Is it your carriage, Liora?" She asked softly.
Liora nodded, hugging her tightly in tears. "Thank you! Thank you, Lady Layla!" She cried. "If it wasn't for you, I would be lost, kidnapped, or even worse!"
The carriage stopped, and a worried woman with shoulder-length pink hair and yellow eyes, clad in a dress similar to Liora's dress, ran up to them.
"Liora!" She hugged the girl tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Liora hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Mama! I'm very sorry! I just wanted to look at the city! I didn't want to fall out!"
The woman shook her head. "Don't be sorry, it's okay, honey. The most important thing is that you're fine, no?" She asked softly.
Liora nodded. "Yes... But I wouldn't have made it here without Lady Layla!" She looked over at Layla.
Layla smiled awkwardly. "Uhh... H-Hi..." She murmured under her nose.
The woman looked her up and down, breaking the hug with Liora and hugging Layla tightly.
"Thank you, darling. Thank you for bringing my daughter to me in one piece... I will be your debtor for the rest of my life... Do you need anything? Money? Power? Magical Crystals, or runes?" She smiled. "If you do, then feel free to ask me!"
Layla shook her head, hugging the woman back. "No, no! It's alright! I helped little Liora, because it's what I've been taught to do since I was a child! Everyone would do the same!"
The woman shook her head. "Not in this world, darling, not in this world."
The woman broke the hug and looked back at Liora. "We need to get going, honey. Say your goodbyes and go to the carriage."
Liora nodded and hugged Layla again, even tighter than before. "Thank you again, Lady!"
She then took her hairclip off, putting it in Layla's hair and running away into the carriage, before she could give it back. "Bye-bye!" She yelled with a big smile on her face.
The carriage started moving.
Layla looked as the carriage left the city, a sudden warmth spreading throughout her heart.