The next day, Ranin sat by the stream, resting her cheek in her palm, feeling hopeless. She thought to herself: "What am I going to do now with all these lessons I have to review?"
More than an hour passed like this, and as she was lost in thought, a young man suddenly appeared before her, floating in the air and staring at her. In a deep voice, he said: "You!"
Startled, she lifted her head in shock and wondered: "W-What is this?" Then she stammered: "W-Who... are you?"
He looked at her and said: "That doesn't matter. What matters is what I'm about to say, so listen carefully."
Then he continued with words stranger than fiction: "I've learned that your hidden empire is nearby. Anyway, monsters will emerge from the forest and may head toward your empire, putting the people there in danger."
She was surprised by his words and thought: "My empire?"
He went on: "As you know, you're now in Valonia. The monsters have started coming out from the other side of the forest, because the magical barrier has cracked and crumbled in places, leaving gaps through which they escape. They may head toward your empire."
Ranin thought in confusion: "What is this guy babbling about?"
He stared at her and sighed, and suddenly a glowing window appeared in front of her. She was stunned. He said: "This magic panel will help you—or whatever this thing is."
She wondered: "Am I hallucinating from too much studying? Or what?"
She looked at the panel, then at him, and asked in disbelief: "Wait, why are you telling me this and not someone else?"
He replied coldly: "Long story... but you're the only one I saw sitting here for hours in this forest, anyway."
Her surprise grew, and then he said: "See you later."
She stood up and called quickly: "W-Wait!"
But he vanished suddenly, still floating, disappearing into the air, leaving behind a faint sparkle that quickly faded.
Ranin was completely shocked by what she saw. She said: "What is happening? Yesterday, I saw a young man in Victorian clothes asking me what I was doing here, and now another guy, even stranger, floating and saying unbelievable things! This is more than fiction!"
Then she stared at the glowing window in front of her—the one that looked like a game interface—and said: "What is this thing?"
She tried to touch it, but it vanished before she could.
Still stunned, Ranin decided to leave the forest. She grabbed her bag and ran quickly back to the neighborhood.
When she arrived home, her parents and older sister weren't there. She went to her room, closed the door behind her, and placed her hands on her head, still in shock.
She said: "What is all this? Have I gone crazy? A floating guy in weird clothes saying stuff no one would believe?"
She sat on the edge of her bed and continued: "There's no way all this is just in my head... Two strange guys, dressed like they're from a different era, and a strange window that appeared just like in video games!"
She looked ahead and said: "That floating guy said monsters were coming from the other side of the forest and might head toward my empire... He also said I'm in Valonia now!"
Then she heard the front door open—her parents and sister had returned. She whispered in worry: "If he's right, then this is a disaster... My family could be in danger."
She then remembered the name "Valonia" and stood up, saying: "Valonia... Where have I heard that name before?"
She started pacing back and forth, trying to remember. Over fifteen minutes passed, and she said in frustration: "Where did I hear it? Where?!"
Suddenly, she shouted with excitement: "Yes! The novel The Knight and the White Rose!"
She quickly pulled her phone from her bag, sat at the edge of the bed, and said: "The Knight and the White Rose... I remember reading it a year ago. It was a classic romance novel—the heroine was a princess, the daughter of the Emperor of the Empire of Ajdaria, and the hero was a knight from the commoners. The story was about them facing society's rejection. And Valonia was a neighboring empire, mentioned a few times as a land filled with monsters."
She added: "I need more information."
She opened her phone and began rereading the novel, having forgotten most of its events.
Nearly three hours passed, and she finally finished it. She said: "Good thing it was a short novel."
Then she adjusted her posture and said: "Let me organize what I've understood... First, most of the novel's events take place in Ajdaria. Second, the first guy I met was probably Ivan, the Crown Prince of Valonia. I'm sure of it, because his description in the novel perfectly matches how he looked: blond hair and blue eyes."
She looked off into the distance and said: "And the most important part—the author wrote in the ending that he based parts of the novel on real places. One of them was the stream's forest where I always spend time. He said it inspired his depiction of the forest behind the Valonian palace. He also wrote that on the other side of that forest were many monsters, but a magical barrier kept them from reaching the palace, the capital, and other villages."
She sighed and lay down on the bed, saying: "I didn't enter the novel like in some stories, and the novel's world didn't fully become real... But the stream's forest alone seems to be a connection point between the real world and the world of the novel."
Then she said with worry: "The real problem, according to that floating guy, is that the magical barrier has cracked in parts and fallen, leaving gaps through which the monsters can escape. They might reach my world..."
She thought: "He said my empire! Did he mean my world?"
She stood up and said anxiously: "But how does he know the monsters could head to my world?"
She sighed, then said firmly: "I have to find out who this person is and get any information that can help me stop the monsters from entering my world... to protect my family."
After all that thinking, she decided to rest and go to sleep.
She got ready for bed, lay down, and sighed: "Good thing tomorrow is the last day of exams... After that, I can focus on this strange situation."
Then she closed her eyes.