Chapter 208

One week had passed since Ziel's fight against Aghares and Fornius. The Cirlus Kingdom had returned to peace because there was no longer any threat from the magical beast invasion. Fortunately, the incident occurred on an uninhabited island far from Blue Turtle Island, so the damage was minimal or almost non-existent. But the number of victims in the incident was enormous, and nearly a thousand people. They were soldiers and mages who died and were seriously injured due to the invasion of Fornius and the magical horde.

On the other hand, the people from the academy had absolutely no casualties. They had only suffered heavy and light injuries, but they had fully recovered. Merlick decided to extend their vacation in the Circus Kingdom until the students and teachers recovered from their injuries. They should have returned to the academy three days ago.

The morning in the Cirlus Kingdom looked brighter than usual. Today was the day the students would return to the academy and were scheduled to depart in the evening. They couldn't leave early because they had to wait for the repair of the magic train, which suddenly broke down for no apparent reason since a few days ago. Therefore the students were still fast asleep in their respective rooms.

In a room within the castle of the Cirlus Kingdom, three girls woke up simultaneously with horrified faces. They were Clara, Kyouka, and Princess Iris. Their faces were sweaty, and they looked like they had just woken up from their sleep.

"Did you see it clearly?" Clara asked Princess Iris and Kyouka.

Kyouka and Princess Iris nodded simultaneously in response to Clara's question. Both girls knew what Clara's question meant without her having to explain.

"Isn't the boy in our dreams similar to..." Clara said in a trembling voice.

"Ken!"

"Ken!"

"Ziel!"

Clara, Kyouka, and Princess Iris said in unison. Only Princess Iris among the three of them called Ziel by his name.

"But how could the boy in our dreams be Ken? I can feel that our dream is someone's memory from hundreds of years ago, and it's probably from the girl who died to protect a boy similar to Ken." Kyouka tried to deny their conjecture. But in her heart, Kyouka was sure that the boy was Ziel. She couldn't believe that Ziel had already lived for hundreds of years and still had the appearance of a boy.

"It is possible. Anything is possible for him, and you should know that already. You just can't accept it. But what I'm thinking right now is, why did that girl's memory become a dream for the three of us?" Princess Iris was the only one of the three of them willing to admit that the boy in their dream was Ziel.

"You're right, Iris. I probably wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen Ken's true strength back then. But now, I believe that anything impossible for someone else is possible for him. It's just that I can't be sure that the boy in our dream is Ken and not someone who looks like him. As for a reason we could have dreams like that, I don't know either." Clara smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"If we wanted to know the answer, wouldn't that be very easy?" Kyouka looked at Clara. Princess Iris raised her eyebrows after hearing Kyouka's words. 

"How do we know the answer?" Princess Iris asked curiously.

"We just have to ask the person in question directly." Kyouka smiled at Clara.

"You want me to ask Ken? I can not! Even though I'm his employer, I don't dare ask such a private matter!" Clara quickly rejected Kyouka's proposal.

Clara didn't want to abuse her position as Ziel's employer and ask him such a sensitive matter. She was afraid that Ziel would be angry with her if she questioned that. After all, their current relationship is a little different after Clara finds out Ziel's true power and everything about him before he worked as her butler. Of course, Ziel still hadn't told Clara about his reincarnation. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother thinking about the boy in their dreams.

"We can't let you do it alone, Clara. Iris and I will accompany you to ask him since the three of us had that dream. I'm sure Ken will understand if we tell him our reasons. Don't you know him better than us?" Kyouka tried to persuade Clara to agree with her proposal.

"But..." Clara was still hesitant to accept Kyouka's proposal since it was related to her future relationship with Ziel. If Ziel got mad at her because she asked that, then their relationship would be strained, and they would be in awkward situations in the future. The worst thing that could happen was for Ziel to stop being her butler. Clara would regret it for the rest of her life if that happened.

"You have nothing to fear, Clara. You just have to ask him to meet, and we'll take care of the rest. Isn't that right, Iris?" Kyouka urged Clara to make a decision. She looked to Princess Iris for her help in convincing Clara to agree to her proposal.

Ever since Kyouka saw Ziel's strength firsthand with her two eyes, she didn't dare to act recklessly like before. She always felt a feeling of dread in her heart when she saw Ziel. Because of that, she didn't dare invite Ziel to meet and ask Clara to do it at their place.

After they met Ziel later, Kyouka would venture to ask him. After all, she was not alone because Clara and Princess Iris accompanied her. Kyouka must find the answer to her dream, no matter what.

"I think we should give it a try, Clara. I also want to know why the three of us had that dream. the only person who might be able to answer that is Ziel, the person who resembles the boy in our dreams." Princess Iris said seriously to Clara. She had the same feelings as Kyouka and wanted to know the mystery behind her dream.

"Haa... All right. I'll call Ken for you guys. After that, I will leave everything to you. But by the way, Iris." Clara finally gave in and agreed to Kyouka's proposal. She had to risk her relationship with Ziel to discover why they had such dreams. But Princess Iris's words made her smile and looked at her warmly.

"What's wrong, Clara?" Princess Iris was confused about why Clara suddenly looked at her like that.

"Doesn't the way you say Ken's name lately sound more gentle and intimate? You even called him by his real name without hesitation." Clara smiled teasingly at Princess Iris.

"What are you saying, Clara! I don't say his name more gently or intimately! It's just how you feel. Besides, I called him by his real name because I'm used to calling him like that! So don't associate it with my feelings!" Princess Iris frantically tried to deny Clara's words, but her blushing face and behavior betrayed her. Clara and Kyouka couldn't help but smile at their friend.

Clara already knew how Princess Iris felt for Ziel. Since they often talked about it in their room, Kyouka already knew it. So Clara and Princess Iris didn't have to cover it up in front of Kyouka. It's just that Princess Iris still feels embarrassed if she has to talk about it openly like that.

"Is that so?" Clara looked and smirked at Princess Iris.

"Please stop teasing me, Clara! You better call Ziel right away so we can get an answer about our dream!" Princess Iris couldn't stay calm if Clara teased her using Ziel.

"Alright… Alright… I'll call Ken here. But you look cuter when you're shy like that, Iris." Clara chuckled and intended to contact Ziel through her communication brooch, but she didn't forget to tease Princess Iris again before she did.

"Hahaha..." Kyouka also laughed at Clara's words, and Princess Iris's face turned red with embarrassment.

Not long after Clara contacted Ziel, there was a knock on the door followed by a boy's voice.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"My lady, it's me, Ken." Ziel's voice came from outside the girls' room.

"Come in, Ken! I didn't lock the door!" Clara quickly answered.

Ziel opened the door after he got Clara's permission. But when he entered the room, he saw that Clara, Princess Iris, and Kyouka were still wearing their nightgowns. Ziel could see their beautiful curves because their nightgown was thin and transparent.

"You guys better change your clothes first." Ziel quickly turned around and walked out of the room. Clara and the other two girls froze after hearing Ziel's words. The girls looked at the clothes they were wearing at the moment. They didn't realize that they were still wearing their nightgowns due to being immersed in their conversation. Then the sound of the door closing brought them back to their senses.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!" The three girls shouted in unison.

The girls quickly changed into their clothes and called Ziel back into their room.

Ziel was currently sitting opposite Clara, Princess Iris, and Kyouka. They just covered their nightgowns with thick sweaters because they didn't want to keep Ziel waiting outside too long. They lowered their heads in shame and didn't dare look at Ziel directly. The three girls were silent, and neither wanted to start a conversation. Ziel could only sigh and open his mouth first.

"So, what happened, my lady? This seems important considering your voice sounded serious when you called me here." Ziel asked Clara because she was the one who called Ziel to their room.

"That is… ah! Yes, that's right! Kyouka wants to ask you something, Ken! Isn't that right, Kyouka?" Clara threw Ziel's question to Kyouka.

"Eh? Yes. I mean no! I only accompanied Iris. She said she had something important to ask you!" Kyouka frantically threw the question at Princess Iris. Ever since she had that dream and saw Ziel's true face, she had always been overwhelmed when she had to face him. Her heart was racing so fast that she didn't know why. Kyouka had thought that feeling was her fear since learning about Ziel's true strength.

"You!" Princess Iris felt like she had been pushed off a cliff by her two friends.

Ziel finally turned his gaze towards Princess Iris. He wasn't offended when the two girls threw his questions at each other. Ziel knew that there was something important they wanted to talk to him about, so he waited patiently for them to say it. But after he waited for quite a while, neither of them wanted to speak. Ziel sighed heavily and spoke first.

"Please tell me what you want to ask." Ziel said softly to Princess Iris. If they stayed silent, he would be wasting time in the room in vain. Apart from that, he still had other things to do.

Princess Iris calmed down after hearing Ziel's words. She felt her body melt when she heard Ziel, who usually spoke indifferently, speak softly to her. Princess Iris raised her head and looked at Ziel. She took a deep breath and then started to talk.

"Ever since we came back from the Elven Kingdom, we sometimes have weird dreams. At first, it was just Kyouka and me. But recently, Clara had the same dream. The dream was about a girl and a boy. When I first experienced it, the dream seemed a bit hazy. But lately, everything seems more real and clear." Princess Iris stopped her explanation. She seemed hesitant to continue his explanation because the next part was the most important and was directly related to Ziel. But she finally plucked up the courage to continue her story.

"We can clearly see the faces of the girl and boy at this time. The boy's face is similar to yours, Ziel. while that girl…" Princess Iris explained the characteristics of the girl. Starting from her face, her hair, her skin color, and the clothes she wore in their dream.

"Do you know anything about our dream, Ziel? About the boy and the girl?" Princess Iris asked the gist of her explanation and the thing they most wanted to know the answer to. But when she and the other two girls saw Ziel, they were shocked at his reaction. Ziel's body trembled, and his face seemed to show he didn't believe what Princess Iris had told him.

"Shiori...." Ziel subconsciously mentioned a girl's name, and a tear fell from his eye.