Eva stepped forward, bent down, and picked Exelion up from the ground, staring at her sword. Then she turned to look at Ard, who still seemed nervous and was avoiding eye contact. "Shhfft," she held the hilt of her sword out to Ard.
"Here... take it," Eva said.
"Uh... no, thank you," Ard replied, still unable to look at Eva.
Eva immediately took Ard's hand and placed the hilt of her sword in his palm. Ard was instantly shocked half to death to see Exelion in his hand again.
"W... what is this, Princess?" Ard asked.
"You really can lift it... Follow me, I want to talk to you," she said coldly, turning to look at Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind, then staring at them very sharply and ready to move if there was any resistance, "in private."
Seeing Eva, whose gaze could momentarily freeze the world, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind immediately remained still and said absolutely nothing in response. Eva instantly pulled Ard, who passively allowed himself to be dragged while holding Exelion, walking toward the academy building, which was quite a distance from the field. When they saw Eva and Ard leave, everyone fell completely silent, and the atmosphere on the field was quiet, but suddenly, "clap," all eyes turned to see Roland clapping his hands.
"Let's all start training," Roland said with a smile.
"Yes, sir," everyone replied.
Irwin turned back to look in the direction of Eva and Ard, who were already far away, with a sharp, mysterious gaze. Meanwhile, as Ard and Eva walked through the woods on the right side of the path, "crackle," Eva suddenly pulled Ard into the woods, which shocked Ard immensely.
"Huh... wh-where are we going, Princess?" Ard asked.
Eva didn't answer. She continued walking straight ahead, breaking through the bushes that blocked the faint path. When they were deep enough, Eva suddenly turned around, and "thump," she immediately hugged Ard tightly. Of course, Ard was extremely shocked, half to death, and almost screamed until he covered his mouth with his hand.
"You are the one I have been waiting for all this time... 1,000 years I have waited for your return," Eva said.
"Hah... what do you mean?" Ard asked, confused.
Eva lifted her head. The princess, who usually had a cold face, was full of authority, never smiled, and was always serious, now looked like an ordinary girl in love, with sparkling eyes, and genuinely missed a lover she hadn't seen in a long time. "Huh," Ard was, of course, even more confused seeing the princess who kept staring at him without saying anything, with a face he had never seen in all his nine past lives.
"Um... Princess," Ard mumbled nervously.
"Call me Eva... or Evelina... or Edith... back when we were on Earth," Eva said.
"Huh... Evelina? The first Emperor of the Orthus Empire? And Edith? What is the Princess talking about?" Ard thought to himself because he was more confused than before.
Eva looked at Ard's face, which seemed too confused to say anything. Eva smiled, and Ard, of course, had never seen Eva's sweet smile directly before.
"It seems you don't remember yet... That's alright. You can lift Exelion... the sword that was created by the Elf tribe 3,000 years ago without any hindrance. That means you are my partner whom I have been waiting for for 1,000 years, ever since I defeated you and then we died together," Eva murmured.
"S-sorry, Princess, I really don't understand what you're talking about," Ard stammered.
"That's okay... I'll tell you something. There is a prophecy in the royal family. When a baby girl with silver hair is born, it means the first Empress has been reborn, and she will marry a prince from the Fredonia Kingdom who was born at the same time, has black hair, and is able to lift the sword Exelion, which was entrusted to the newborn princess. If that happens, it means the demon god's seal cage is open and the two first heroes from 3,000 years ago have returned to kill the demon god," Eva said.
"Huh," Ard looked extremely shocked because he, who was actually a prince in his kingdom, also had a similar prophecy, only a different version, since it spoke of the birth of a black-haired baby boy in the royal family. Ard immediately pushed Eva back slightly.
"Um... Princess, I want to show you something," Ard said.
He immediately brushed his hair to make it turn red again, the color of the Fredonia royal family, to break his disguise and inform Eva that he was not the person she was looking for. But after that, he looked at Eva, who seemed to be waiting for what he was going to do.
"Um... my hair has changed, Princess," Ard said confidently because he had canceled his spell.
"Huh... your hair is black... it hasn't changed," Eva said.
"Hah!" Ard immediately lifted Exelion. He looked at his reflection in the shiny blade, and it turned out what Eva said was true—his hair was still black. Eva released her hug and took Exelion back from Ard's hand, then stored it in her dimensional box. She turned and smiled at Ard, but her face looked a little disappointed to see Ard still confused and trying once more to stroke his hair, which remained unchanged.
"Wh-why is this happening? Why didn't my hair turn red? This is strange... really strange," Ard muttered to himself.
"It's alright, Ard. Let's go back to training. It's not good to be gone too long," Eva replied, her face already returning to its usual coldness, but she still looked at Ard gently.
"Y-yes, Princess," Ard said.
But as he tried to step forward, suddenly "thud," Ard became instantly weak and fell to his knees on the ground. His head suddenly became very dizzy. He lifted his head to look at Eva, who was now blurry in his eyes. He held his head.
"W... what is this... wh-why is it so dizzy? S-someone is using magic... on me," Ard mumbled.
"Thud," Ard fell face down on the ground. "Ard!" Eva's shout and the sound of her footsteps approaching him could be heard. Ard's vision closed further until finally, everything went dark.
"What is it, Princess?" a young man asked.
"Irwin, quickly help me carry Ard back," Eva's voice was still audible.
"Ir... win," Ard thought to himself before his consciousness vanished and he passed out.
***
Earth, 1944 AD, in a ruined city in the European continent, in the middle of a battlefield, two people stood facing each other:
"Let's begin, Phantom!" a male soldier said.
"Yeah... let's finish this today, Shadow!" a female soldier said.
Both ran sideways while firing their two pistols. Their movements were so fast that they didn't hit each other even though they were shooting from a close distance. The male soldier, a secret project of the Allied nations, codenamed Shadow Marine, who had the nicknames 'God of War,' 'The Killing Machine,' and 'Super Soldier,' discarded his pistols, pulled the machine gun from his back, and continued firing.
Not to be outdone, the female soldier from the enemy side, a secret project of the German nation, codenamed Phantom Soldier, also nicknamed 'Goddess of War,' 'The Queen of Slaughter,' and 'Warmonger,' threw away her pistol and pulled out her rifle.
"Rraaaaaah!" both shouted, firing at each other.
They ran sideways, jumped, and somersaulted at high speed while continuously aiming their rifles. When their weapons heated up and couldn't shoot anymore, they both drew the swords at their waists and "clang," the two swords collided. Their faces met.
"It's no use, you won't be able to defeat me," Shadow said, smiling.
"Huh... likewise, you won't be able to defeat me," Phantom replied, smiling as she pushed her sword and knocked Shadow back.
As they touched the ground, both immediately lunged forward, the flash of clashing weapons enlivening the battlefield even more. While they were exchanging sword techniques, "ooooooong," a loud, echoing siren sounded. Both immediately stopped and looked around. It turned out they were the only ones left on the battlefield. They looked up and heard the distant rumble of bomber formations approaching at high speed.
Without further delay, both threw away their swords and embraced. They immediately kissed and looked into each other's eyes, which were bright red like a flame.
"I love you.... will you marry me?" Shadow asked.
"Of course... I will... I love you too," Phantom replied, immediately hugging Shadow.
"What's your name?" Shadow asked.
"My name is Edith, and you?" Phantom asked.
"Ace... my name is Ace," Shadow replied.
They hugged tightly and looked up. The bombers were directly above them and dropped bombs right over them. They looked at each other, smiling, and pressed their foreheads together.
"Goodbye, my darling Edith.... I am with you forever... in death," Ace said.
"Goodbye, my darling Ace.... I am by your side forever... in death," Edith said.
They kissed again. Ace stared at Edith's face, with her blue eyes and silver hair, and Edith likewise stared at Ace's face, with his blue eyes and black hair. Both smiled; they looked exhausted from fighting and simply wanted to spend their remaining minutes together. Both closed their eyes, committing each other's faces to memory in their minds. "Blaaar," the bomb fell, devastating everything within a few hundred meters radius.
***
"Whaaaah,"
Ard woke up in the academy infirmary bed, panting heavily, his body drenched in sweat, and his mouth agape, staring straight ahead.
"Are you awake, my Prince?" Alicia asked.
Ard turned to see Alicia sitting next to his bed. Alicia then held Ard's hand and smiled.
"Don't push yourself, my Prince. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do," Alicia said, smiling.
"Y-yes, I understand," Ard replied, holding his face with his hand. "What was that just now... a dream? Or my memory that has been buried all this time... Edith?" Ard thought to himself, still extremely confused.