The party eventually ended and I retreated to the sanctuary of my room in the Arbutus Palace. The heavy, gold-trimmed doors clicked shut, and I let the 'Polite Smiling Prince' mask shatter.
"Huh.... I'm exhausted!" I collapsed onto the bed, burying my face in the cool silk of the pillow. My lungs finally felt like they were drawing in air that hadn't been filtered through a hundred layers of expensive perfume.
"You really don't like Noble socializing events huh..." Aqua said while hovering around me, glowing with a restless energy that made my own fatigue feel even more heavier.
"My face muscles are aching." I said with my face buried in the pillow "How long did I have to keep that fake smile...."
"Quit whining! How can a prince get this tired in a socializing event ?"
I raised my hand "there's one such prince right here, my dear spirit queen Aqua. And he's currently occupying this bed, Sharing it with you."
"That phrase can be misunderstood in more than one ways... And! It's 'Esteemed' spirit queen, Kid."
"Yeah yeah. Whatever. Don't care." I said in bland voice.
So she does have an idea of how phrases can be misunderstood huh...
"Hmph!" She drifted down, taking a seat on the edge of an adjacent pillow. "On that note...."
"What ?"
"I guess, I should call you by short name too, right ? I mean, how long am i going to call you 'kid'. Although, i like it more. It is more suitable for you."
"Do whatever you want."
"I shall, then."
"Give it a try then." I said
"Hmm... Ok then," She nodded, her expression turning uncharacteristically soft.
"Ty..." she Called me by my name and...
"Ugh!" I clutched my head as it throbbed for a second.
And..
'Ty!'
The word didn't just come from her lips; it erupted inside my skull, my mind. It was a voice—familiar yet alien, a haunting resonance that sounded like Aqua's but carried a weight of Unknown emotion I'd never felt from her.
"Hey!" Aqua screamed in a panicked voice. But i did not have the luxury to pay attention to her.
The Unknown Voice, It echoed through the corridors of my mind, a jagged piece of a puzzle I didn't know I was solving, before dissipating like mist in the sun.
"Hey! What happened ?!" Aqua's voice was suddenly sharp with panic. She abandoned her miniature form, shimmering into her full height and pressing a cool, translucent hand against my forehead.
"You okay ?!"
I sat up slowly, The pain was gone as quickly as it had arrived. "I am fine. I am fine."
The pain disappeared along with the voice.
"What happened ?" She asked.
"Nothing," i answered "I guess, I am having a light headache from exhaustion"
There's no need to tell her such a small thing.
Maybe, I'm hearing things because of exhaustion. A panic attack, maybe ? No, that happens in chest not in head.
"...I see" she said in a low voice although, she seemed to be not satisfied with my answer and wanted to ask more. But thankfully, She let it be, respecting my will "you should rest then. You have a dungeon dive, tomorrow"
Right... There was that. I almost forgot.
Man, How can i forgot one of top-ranking Bucket list items of every isekai fan ?
"I will"
"You should," She began to fade, her form dissolving into aqua motes of light. "Goodnight, Ty."
"Yes, goodnight"
As she vanished, I pulled the covers up. I closed my eyes, but as sleep finally claimed me, I couldn't help but wonder whose voice had called out to me in that sudden moment ? What exactly was it that triggered it ? It wasn't my mother's, That's for sure. And it certainly wasn't Nick's mom's. So who?
*****
Next day,
Me, Boran and vivi are currently standing in front of A space teleportal.
Yes, a teleportal. A portal that can move people from one place to another with space magic.
And the creator of this portal is obviously none other than my dear lovely beautiful strong wise caring best teacher, Vivi.
"Okay, Now let's go, shall we ?"
"Yes!" I and Boran said in Unison.
We went inside the portal and when we got out, we were in a completely new place, altogether.
"...I Still can't get used to it." Boran said putting his hand on his mouth and clutching his stomach, perhaps feeling nausea.
"This is why you should've trained your magic a little more."
The more your affinity with magic, the less there are chances of you feeling nausea and your Internal body and space perception getting affected.
Currently we are standing in a dark alley of the Dungeon city of Darka.
This is the nearest city of the capital, where a Labyrinth Dungeon exists.
"So, let's go to the guild first." Vivi Said.
"Can't we head to the Dungeon directly ?" I asked, in a perhaps impatient voice.
"Patience, Ty. Patience. Everything has a procedure that we need to follow. We first have to inform the guild and take a non-adventurer permit for you to even enter the Dungeon." She explained.
"Like A temporary guild card ?"
"Hmm... Kind of. On that note, you need to decide on a fake name. And decide on a fake hair color and eye color. I am going to use illusion magic to disguise you. and You're going to go with this very identity even when you come back to become an official adventurer, two years later." She said.
"So, it's my debut as your student, today ?" I asked.
"Exactly!"
Hmm... A name... What should I go with ?
My name is Tyler. So maybe something that starts with T ? Nah, that's boring...
I thought back to my life as Nick. What was my favorite thing as a kid back on Earth? Something at the top of the food chain. After, It needs to sound cool, right? with a cool vibe too.
Oh! I know! My favourite Dinosaur as Nick was T-rex. So... Maybe, Let's go with that.
Hmm.. T-rex makes me remember of a certain Cold calculative genius perfect human high-school student MC from a certain anime.
As for eye color... I don't want to change my eye color. I like it the way it is.
As for hair ? Almost all colors go well with purple eyes. Should I go with golden like the king ?
Nah. Then.... Yeah, let's go with that.
"So ? Have you decided yet ?"
"Yes! Keep my eyes the same and change my hair color to crimson." I said.
Oh! I almost forgot the most important thing. Silly me!
"And make sure my disguise is just as handsome as my real face."
Yes, looks! Those are important.
"...you really care a lot about your looks huh..." Vivi Said with an awkward, puzzled smile.
"Yeah, kid!" Boran chimed in, having finally recovered. "Remember, looks bring you nowhere. Only strength matters in this world! True Men don't obsess over their looks!"
Wrong. You're dead wrong, Boran. Looks are important.
Sure, looks are something that mostly, only women care about. But, that's because looks are one of their most fatal weapons.
Men don't care about looks. it is such, because when you're in a fight with another man, looks have no use.
No! Rather it might even invoke jealousy in your opponent's heart and increase his hate for you.
Good-looking men don't get that much advantage in this battle-hungry fantasy world, in most cases and so, they don't care about looks. It is because the society itself is patriarchal, ruled by men.
But, what if the situation, the roles were reversed ? Would things still stay the same ?