A hand moved towards his cheek, he could feel the soft touch of smooth hands, gradually moving their way into his hair.
He opened his eyes with quite the effort, for the sun rays kept blinding him.
What greeted the man was a sight that couldn't even be described, it was simply priceless.
There, laid on the bed, in a thin white garment and smiling from ear to ear was none other than his beloved wife.
Beautiful.
His gaze softened when he saw her. Heart moving on a steady heartbeat.
Hand moved to grasp hers on his cheek, clenching it lightly to feel that it was really there. And smiled back.
It was a wide, happy smile, mirroring her own.
As per morning rule, he moved closer towards the woman, fully intending to catch her lips on his own, but was suddenly stopped by a baby's wail.
She chuckled, her voice a melody in his ears, together with the cry. "Ah! It looks like someone also woke up."
She turned around and raised herself up, looking at the cradle, which hid the most adorable being in this whole wide world.
Their child.
Upon seeing his mother, the baby immediately started clenching his little hands, repeatedly moving his mouth as if wanting to say the word 'mama'.
"Come on! Come on! Mama's here!" She cradled the baby in her arms. "Oh, you're hungry aren't you? C'mere!"
The lady took out one of her breasts from the large collar of the nightgown, and started to breastfeed the baby.
She turned around and saw her husband still smiling, admiring the sight.
"What are you doing, sleepy! Get out of bed now! You have work to do today! The Knights aren't going to arrange themselves!"
She scolded, not in a loud voice, afraid of bothering the child.
"Okay, okay. I'll get going now!" The man fluttered his hands in a defensive manner, he wasn't looking to annoy his beloved first thing in the morning.
Putting on a robe, he moved towards the bathroom placed all the way to the back of the first floor.
On the way, he was greeted by numerous servants, all busy cleaning and preparing breakfast and daily necessities.
He walked through a large hallway, decorated with countless portraits of him and his family.
He suddenly stopped in front of one.
Who—Who am I?
Why did that question pop into his head?
What?
A great headache struck him instantly, it was so bad that he had to lower himself to the ground.
Ugh!
And as fast as it came.
Amanises.
As fast as it left.
I am Amanises!
What am I doing here?
***
She was just checking on the man and touched what seemed like his soul, and now she was here?
While being a man?
Amanises scanned the area, scattered memories weren't helping much.
But, with muscle memory, her feet moved towards what she hoped was the bathroom.
There was a large mirror, capturing all of her.
Or of him?
I am—I am Azik?
Black hair, brown eyes and bronze skin, not to mention the tiny more under the right ear.
Yep, that was definitely none other than Azik Eggers.
She immediately left the bathroom, walking with a quick pace through the grand and decorated building.
Fancy rugs shifted under her feet, made of really expensive material that was hard to find nowadays, perhaps only in the Royal Castle.
With that quick pace, she nearly bumped into a few servants a couple of times. They would stop and ask something out of concern, but couldn't be heard by Amanises at all.
She had a deafening ringing inside her head. One that couldn't die down at all.
A man dressed from head to toe in armor, suddenly caused her to come to a halt.
But the ringing still couldn't stop.
What the fuck?!
It seemed like the man was talking, that was what she could see through his visor, but few words could be heard.
It was like a flashback scene, slowly coming to clarity.
"Sir, sir! Baron!" The knight continued to shout.
"Sir Lamud!"
"H-huh?" Her attention was grabbed. "Who?"
The knight raised his hand, intentions unknown.
Amanises was braced for what was to come, when suddenly—
Everything went black again!
***
Huff! Huff!
She woke up instantly, back full of sweat.
The headache was incredible!
What just happened?
She gripped her forehead with a hand, forcing herself to calm down gradually.
"What's going on?" A voice was heard.
Daly's voice.
"Daly! Do you know of someone named Lamud?"
"Lamud?" Amanises couldn't see her face, but she swore from her tone, Daly raised an eyebrow. "There's a town with that name. Why?"
"A town? Where is it?"
"Pretty far, about two hours by carriage." She sat up.
Damn it! That's too far!
"Hey! You still didn't answer my question! What happened?"
"I had a strange dream. I want to find someone, but I can only do so by using the name Lamud."
"What about the face?"
"He looked like Azik Eggers."
Daly was taken aback. "Maybe you're looking for him?"
"N-no! I mean yet, but no! Not right now! I need to confirm this Lamud guy first!"
She felt that it could be a great turning point regarding Azik, but she couldn't go by assumptions. What if this was all just a figment of her imagination?
Daly shifted a little, then spoke: "I'm not sure where you can look for him, but you can drop by the Spirit Domain. That place has an archive of sorts."
Great!
"Thank you, Daly! I'll be back soon!"
"H-hey! I didn't mean right now!"
But it was already too late, Amanises threw on some clothes and practically ran out the door.
Daly could only helplessly watch as her friend hurried out for god-knows what reason.
"This old woman I swear!" She threw herself back under the covers, opting to deal with this tomorrow.
***
She wasn't sure how long it took, but the time skip was immediate. Amanises practically sprinted through that wall, not even caring if she somehow got the wrong one!
Her sprint only stopped once she reached the rotunda, bending down to catch her breath.
Huff! Huff! Damn it! Huff!
The sound of an opening door was heard through the huffing and puffing, and Amanises instantly saw the person present.
Black hair, medium stature, dark blue simple dress—Royale!
"Evelyn?! What are you doing here?" She frowned. "And why are you out of breath?"
A small panic rose within her heart, but was soon dispelled when Evelyn shook her head.
"N-no it's nothing of that sort! I just need to find someone!"
"Who?"
"Someone by the name Lamud." She looked up at her with hope in her eyes.
"I only know of Lamud town, but no specific person bearing that name."
"That's okay. Are there any records here of Lamud town?"
She pointed at the door which she stepped out from. "Yes, this way. I'll show you the way to the archive."
"Thank you!" Amanises was really grateful.
Flip! Flip!
The woman continued to flip through the pages of a hardcover book with a frown.
Nothing? Really? Are you fucking kidding me?!
There was no mention of a person named Lamud. And no pictures either. It was like someone was deliberately trying to conceal the existence of the man.
Come on! At least a legend! The name Lamud must've come from someone or something!
The book was simply called Lamud Town. It held information on its leaders, population, geographical knowledge and some baseless rumors.
But that was it!
Nothing mentioning Lamud himself!
Pointless!
She wanted to throw the book on the ground, but for the sake of good manners, she put it back on its designated place on the shelf.
"Anything else regarding this name?"
Royale, who was watching from the side, shook her head. "Nothing. I've rummaged through most of them already since I joined."
Amanises couldn't help but sigh. Was all this for nothing?
Perhaps I could visit it tomorrow and ask around...There was also a large building I was in. Perhaps some ruins are left?
"Thank you." She wanted to head back home and ruminate over this useless attempt.
"Are you sure this person existed?" This question captured her attention in an instant.
Amanises pursed her lips, and then replied.
"Yes, I'm sure." She didn't know where this confidence came from, but it's there, laid out for her.
"Then there's a way to find anyone. There are, of course, some rules that must be followed. But if you're that sure then we can try."
Eh?
"What way?"
"There's a book that contains information regarding each person that has ever lived."
Amanises was taken over by surprise.
"Really? Such a thing exists?"
"Of course! But it's only accessible in the Headquarters of The Arcanists."
The Headquarters was also a place like the Spirit Domain, placed even deeper inside the Spirit World. The only exception was that it couldn't be accessed from the outside. The only entrances being in the adjacent Spirit Domains tied to different large cities.
Amanises heard of it from Cesimir, Daly and even Theodore, but she hadn't found the need to visit it. As it was a place for mostly higher sequences and important people.
She didn't feel like one of them.
"We can access it?"
"Of course! Everyone is free to go there, just not all the time. In case of an emergency, it's always open."
I don't know if I should call this an emergency, though.
But it was worth a try.
"Shall we head there now?" Asked Royale towards the still sweating woman.
"Absolutely. But let me wipe my forehead first."
"A-ah! Of course!"