Chapter 2: Princess Yuki
"Ah, Captain Kagekatsu. It’s alright. I am the one who stepped on him. I will be the one helping him." Princess Yuki said to her Royal Guard with a smile, her voice soft but clear like the chime of a silver bell.
"Princess... Yuki?" Akira blinked in confusion. And it was at that moment that his sharp senses finally detected the abnormality of his body.
His limbs felt unfamiliar. Light, almost hollow.
The strength he was known for, the pressure of his aura, the deep elemental energy he always felt beneath his skin... all gone.
He couldn’t even feel the hum of his energy core. Only the dull ache of bruised ribs and a dry taste of iron on his tongue remained.
Yet at the same time, his body felt strangely fresher, more alive, as if every cell had been scrubbed clean. A subtle warmth bloomed in his chest, like the first breath after winter.
"Am I... truly sixteen years old?" Akira’s mind whirred at top speed. "I must have travelled back in time to my youth like the stories grandma used to tell me!"
"Yes. I am Princess Yuki... I thought you know me? Don’t move first. Here, take this recovery pill. It would heal all your wounds in a jiffy." Princess Yuki said gently and a little blue pill appeared in her hand.
For some strange reason, Princess Yuki felt an inexplicable sense of tenderness towards the youth in front of her.
It had never happened to her before!
"Princess!" Captain Kagekatsu was so shocked that he actually stretched out his hand and almost touched Princess Yuki’s shoulder, an absolute taboo that could see his hand cut off as punishment.