The great mage considered the idea.
"If I were to point my hand," Aslan declared,
"it would be towards the voices I heard while adrift in the void."
Aslan concluded his statement.
"Child, did you just say voices?" the great mage asked, a hint of worry in his expression.
"Yes, voices! Before I opened my eyes, these voices came to me. They said something about me being forbidden to enter his land, or something like that. Why do you ask?" asked Aslan.
"There are things in this world one must not seek. The mysterious voices were not a singular entity, but many. Before our time, there were eras when humans looked to them for answers, yet found not answers, but death and despair. One must not be so foolish as to gaze into the unknown," the great mage explained.
He speaks in mysterious ways, yet I understand a little of what he means. If there is good, then there is bound to be evil. Evil and good are two sides of the same coin, existing within each other, Aslan thought.
And yet, before he could digest all of that information, he reached his limit. The baby's body could not muster even an ounce more energy. A con of being a baby is that, beyond the sleeping time, the body kind of shuts down on its own.
"My, my, looks like this grandfather of yours took too much time from you," the great mage smiled while slowly, Aslan lay asleep in his embrace.
"A child with so much pain," the great mage spoke.
In truth, he not only heard Aslan's voice but also saw the emotion in him. The aura surrounding him was so melancholic, as if something so terrifying were kept under the child's mind, something that brought such great pain. Intrigued was the great mage, but perhaps some things aren't worth learning.
"My dear grandson, I know not of your past, yet I can at least promise you with this wrinkled hand that tomorrow will come. Till that day, when you're ready to accept us," the great mage whispered in a soft voice.
"Ah, I'd almost forgotten this." Handing out his other hand, a light came forth to his finger, and thus the great mage whispered, "This will become my first gift to you." A light spirit entered their domain.
"Follow this child of mine, protect him, and leave not his side," the great mage spoke.
And thus, the great mage returned the prince to the palace. Gently, he laid the prince's small body into his crib, not even making a sound, and then he left the palace. Thus, as the twilight of the stars above shone upon the land, the prince slept soundly.
Next Day…
The morning daylight shone brightly through the windows of Aslan's room, and he soon awoke from his slumber. How long has it been since I got to sleep like that? Aslan tried to remember, yet he could recall none. Perhaps before his mother died, he, too, slept soundly like that. Alas, he could not remember the last time he was even given the privilege to wander the dream peacefully, forgetting the world before him.
The room was silent, yet it felt so peaceful. The servants were nowhere to be seen; perhaps they were busy working on something somewhere within the palace. It would be a perfect time for a nap, Aslan thought with incitement. Since he arrived, he had rarely gotten time alone for himself in this world. Not that he would do anything other than sleep, but being around people was so tiring, at least for closed-off people like him who didn't fancy much human interaction.
"Knock, knock."
Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard from the door leading into the room. Ah, honestly, could we not just sleep today, like for the rest of the day? Aslan thought.
It was the Empress. She walked into the room. Aslan could see that today the Empress wore a different kind of cloth, not even adorned with embroidery, just a plain dress. Yet, even in that, she looked pretty. The white hair and the golden eyes – truly God's finest work.
"My son, today, how about you come with Mommy to work?" asked the Empress, not that a baby could decline the offer.
Might as well go. Who knows, perhaps I can learn more about this world while I'm at it, Aslan thought.
It didn't take long for the servants to dress Aslan up; clearly, the workers of the palace were quite skilled in the art of fashion. They headed toward the Empress's selected destination with a horse carriage, guarded by six knights. The process of going to the said place was really smooth—even a medieval road better than the modern one, Aslan thought.
And after a while, they finally reached their destination. It was an orphanage. The Empress stepped out of the carriage while holding Aslan in her embrace. The orphanage was built with so much care. The building was made of quality wood, and the place was big, indicating how well-maintained their finances were.
"Welcome, the Empress," a woman came out from the house, an old woman but looking wise, perhaps in her 80s.
"You're still working, I thought you were retired," asked the Empress.
"I would be, but then how am I supposed to pay for the children's expenses? How can I make it happen then?"
"I will think of it from your POV. You're the palace gardener in her 80s, while also in charge of this orphanage—quite a strenuous burden, is it not?" she needled again.
"Indeed, it is. Such sacrifices were mine to make, just like yours," she answered, perhaps reminding the Empress of something.
"Indeed," the Empress answered.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce her to you, my little prince. The person Mom talked with just now is Arabella. She is in charge of the palace garden and also the owner of this place," the Empress explained.
"So it is as told. This must be our new prince. Greetings to the little sun of our empire," Arabella said, bowing slightly.
"How are the children?" asked the Empress.
"The same, Your Majesty. They haven't responded well, as shy as ever," Arabella said.
"It seems not even two months in the orphanage can undo the harm," the Empress sighed.
"That is to be expected, is it not? It hasn't even been three months since that incident. Most of them won't heal, even after years. The horrors they witnessed were beyond our comprehension," she said.
"It would seem so. The monster raid from two months earlier was more devastating than the last two years, and they came without prior warning," the Empress added.
"But even I am left speechless. Didn't we have a warning system in place to monitor such incidents? How could it not be triggered?" Arabella asked, clearly wondering what might have happened.
"Even we at the imperial palace don't know. The investigation is still ongoing. Perhaps we will see good news soon, but the Emperor himself doesn't deny the possibility…"
"What possibility, Your Highness?" Arabella asked.
"The village was supposedly defended by barrier magic, and yet the barrier was down when the incident happened. Moreover, it could not be brought down from the outside," the Empress said.
That's right! How can it happen? Even Aslan questioned the situation.
"So, there is a culprit behind it?" asked Arabella.
"It is likely to be them…" the Empress said.
"By 'them,' do you mean…?"
"Yes, I meant it. It would most likely be the work of those demon cultists," she answered.
Cultists? A demonic cult? Aslan was dumbfounded.
"Weren't all of them already dealt with when His Majesty ascended the throne?" Arabella asked again.
"Supposedly. Yet, we don't know whether or not their remaining members survived the purge. After all, they did operate in secrecy. During that time, the Emperor and I might have missed some spots when we did the cleaning," the Empress added.
"I suppose that you'd have to be careful then," Arabella added.
Thus, the empress and the young prince spent their day there; the empress cooked for them, read stories for them, and sang for them. All of those things were superficial, yet the empress did it herself, giving care for those kids even though no one would question her if she did not. The empress's heart truly with her people, Aslan thought.
Suddenly, when it was almost noon, one of the orphanage caretakers hurriedly came to the empress and Arabella, her face showing a panicked look.
"What's wrong?" Asked Arabella.
"Lilian, I can't find her anywhere," she answered.
"A child had gone missing?!" asked the empress.
"Yes, your majesty, she disappeared just after she told me to find her toys."
"Then we must find her before anything bad happens, search around the town!" the empress ordered the knight urgently.
"I will hold the prince," Arabella said while following the empress into the carriage.
Thus, they begin their search. Such a small child alone would be dangerous; you might never know which part of the capital is infested with bad guys; she could have been captured by a mob and sold into slavery.
They rode the carriage throughout the town, and yet they found nothing, and thus the empress resorted to using locator magic to locate the child. The empress recited a spell, and then from her eye, the golden glow was able to be seen.
"Follow me," the empress said while taking one of the horses for herself.
They rode to a dark back alley, and there she was; the girl was there, and beside her was a mysterious man. Sparing no time, the man lunged at the empress, looking for a way.
To escape, yet skillfully, the empress evaded his attempt. The empress used light magic unto the man, restricting his ability to move.
"Dare you commit kidnapping inside the capital?!" She raised her voice with such anger that the light magic binding the man grew tighter, hurting him bit by bit.
The empress is really scary when she's angry, no wonder the emperor was afraid of her, Aslan thought.
"Don't hurt him!" the girl screamed, hitting the empress's leg with her little hand.
"He was about to hurt you, little one," the empress said with a straight voice.
"He said he knew where my mother was. Please don't hurt him!" the girl screamed, tears falling from her eyes.
"Mom is waiting for me! Please let him go," a torrent of tears flowed out from her little eyes.
The empress did not let him go, but the expression the empress had was unmistakable: sadness beyond words.
"Little one, your mother is gone," the empress told the girl with a soft voice, bereft of anger.
"Lies! Mom told me she would come back, she promised!" the girl said while crying.
"Mom is waiting for me…" she repeated those words.
The empress stood silent, yet she bowed down toward the child, her hand slowly reaching her crying self. Not a single word was uttered, just an adult comforting a child. And in the empress's embrace, the girl cried.
"Mom… Mom… mommy waah!!" the girl repeated those words as if she would magically appear when she did so.
As the Empress held the crying child in her arms, whispering nothing, just offering warmth and presence, Aslan watched in silence.
He had seen kindness before, even love, but something about this—this gentle strength, this quiet grief—felt different.
Perhaps, he thought, this woman... maybe she really is my mother now.