Chapter 71 The Ideal Kingdom: What if this is actually the real world...?

Ashlin woke up in the biggest bed she had ever seen in her life.

The floor-to-ceiling windows in her room were the most magnificent she had ever seen. Golden sunlight streamed in gently, making the whole room look like an oil painting.

A girl dressed as a maid gave her a kind smile.

"Good morning, miss, this is your breakfast." As she spoke, the girl stepped aside, revealing a table full of bread, butter, and fresh grapes behind her.

"What the hell?" Ashlin frowned.

She clumsily got out of bed, but ended up twisting herself and the blanket together like a caterpillar.

"Let me help you, Miss." The maid quickly helped her tidy up.

"Oh, no, no need." Ashlin quickly rolled out of bed, only to find herself lying on the floor. She smiled apologetically at the maid. "I'm fine!"

“Today is your first day studying under Lord Manette Varian,” the maid reminded her. “I’m sure you don’t want to be late, do you?”

Ashlin had just stood up when she heard this and had to sit down again, wondering if she had misheard.

"Manette?"

“Yes, Manette, the court sun mage. A friend of your healer teacher Sanova, remember? Also a friend of your mother, the forest mage.” The maid calmly began wiping the floor.

Ashlin's movements completely stopped.

Mother...the forest mage's...friend?

These words can actually be put together.

Ashley rubbed her head, a torrent of terrible memories churning back at her. Sanova was Knox, Knox was Lanrit… He captured them, he kidnapped Lucas.

“This isn’t real,” she said immediately. “It’s Cynthia’s illusion! I’m in the center of the Edoro Labyrinth…”

The maid stared at her in shock.

"What? Miss, you must have had a nightmare! How could you have come into contact with a dark... dark witch, let alone gone to the labyrinth! Those are just legends to scare children. This is the castle of Helian Royal City, and you're about to be late for class."

“No,” Ashlin shook her head, “I have to get out of here.”

She grabbed a green robe from the bed, threw it on haphazardly, grabbed a small piece of bread from the lunch the maid was carrying, and hurriedly left the room, closing the door behind her with her foot.

It took the maid a while to catch up with her, and she even grabbed a beautiful witch's hat and forced it onto Ashlin's head.

"Luna".

“I’m sorry, Luna.” She took a deep breath. “I might have been a little frightened. But this place isn’t real, and neither are you. I have to get out of here.”

"You have a fever?" Luna asked in alarm, touching her forehead. "No, Miss, you..."

"Stop calling me 'Miss'. I'm not a 'Miss'! I'm Ashlyn Bailey from Foxtail Bay, I don't have a title, thank you!" Noticing the stares from people on the street, Ashlyn had to switch from running to brisk walking.

“Bailey?” Luna asked, puzzled. “But isn’t your surname…”

“No,” Ashlyn interrupted her. “I am Ashlyn Bailey, don’t try to fool me.”

She knew perfectly well what these illusions would do: make her forget her purpose, her name, and ultimately, who she truly was. She wouldn't let Cynthia succeed.

“Pele?” A familiar voice rang out. “I never expected my old friend to steal my daughter.”

Ashlin stopped abruptly, and her witch's hat flew off.

She turned around stiffly, almost afraid to look up, but still mustered the courage to look at her fake mother.

"You may leave, Luna," Talia gestured to the maid. "It must have been hard work taking care of Ashlin."

"Not at all, not at all." Luna smiled shyly, curtsied, and left.

The mother was completely different from when they last met her.

In the spirit world, her clothes were so dirty they could hardly be called clothes; but in the palace, she wore a beautiful emerald green robe, her golden hair was elegantly styled up, revealing red dried flower earrings on her earlobes.

Talia raised an eyebrow. "You're skipping class?"

“Of course not. I, uh…” Looking at her mother, Ashlin forgot how to speak, “I just…”

"So you don't want to go to Manette's class, Ashlin?" Talia leaned down and asked. "What's wrong? You don't like her?"

Ashlin shook her head.

"Is it because I said she had too many exams the other day?"

"Maybe."

“Don’t worry, I’ll give her feedback,” Talia promised. “Just go over today and give it a try, okay?”

To Ashlin's surprise, she found it difficult to say "no" to her mother's eyes.

They walked through the castle's spacious and magnificent corridors, passing exquisite murals and sculptures of the sun god. Along the way, they brushed past people from all walks of life: young nobles chatting and laughing, unassuming servants, witchers reporting on the outside world, and so on.

Ashlin basked in the sunlight, her steps growing lighter. Even if it was all an illusion, she could still…

No, she can't.

“Listen to me, Mom,” Ashlin began. “I recently read a book. It mentioned a case about a wizard who was trapped in the center of the Edoro labyrinth.”

"oh?"

"Yes. She was trapped inside the magic crystal that sealed the dark witch, in an illusion. However, the book doesn't mention how she escaped..."

"So you came to ask me."

“I’ve never heard of such a case,” Talia said. “It sounds like pure fabrication. Dark witches and the Edoro labyrinth are just legends, Ashlin.”

Ashlyn felt a sense of despair. If even her mother in this world couldn't help her, who could? Would Manette know the answer? Lucas had once said she was a very powerful wizard.

Finally, they arrived at the doorway of a gate adorned with a golden sun.

"I'll drop you off here," Mom said, shivering. "It's mainly because I put some cute little ladybugs under her desk the other day... You know, she's never liked ladybugs... Oh dear!"

She saw Manette getting closer and closer. "I have to go. Good luck, Ashley!"

The door opened. Manette Varian had long, wheat-gold hair, neatly tied back.

“I’m late,” Ashlin said. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Sit down.” Manette waved his hand, and a chair pulled out by itself.

“I don’t belong here.” Ashlin said immediately as soon as she sat down. “This is the world of dragon crystals, the world of illusions. None of you are real. I need to go back to my world. Can you help me?”

Manette didn't even look up.

"Did you stay up all night?"

“What? No! I mean, yes. But that has nothing to do with what we’re talking about!” Ashlin said angrily. “Everything I said is true.”

“Really?” Mannett pointed at her with his quill. “Then how can you prove that what you’re saying is true?”

“My magic was exploited by bad guys in the labyrinth. They forced me to drink a magic-controlling potion, and now I can’t control my powers,” Ashlin said, raising her hand to a pot of bellflowers by the window. “Look. It’s not reacting at all.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the bellflower rushed to the roof at an astonishing speed, seemingly eager to refute her words.

In an instant, the entire room was filled with blue petals and fragrance.

Manette calmly waved her staff, and the room returned to normal.

“I can see you’ve lost control.” She wrote on the parchment: Chaos.

“Okay, maybe the magic control potion won’t work in the illusion world,” Ashlin said, annoyed. “But I have other ways to prove it. Manette, why am I here?”

“Because your mother believes your talent needs some more powerful mages to guide you,” Manette replied. “She used to teach you on your own, and occasionally Sanova would come to teach you some herbal knowledge, but now she feels that’s far from enough.”

"Then do you know who you are?"

Manette seemed to be struggling to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

"I am Manette Varian, a descendant of the Sun God, and one of the court mages of Helian City. What's the problem?"

“Your blood was stolen by a dark wizard and used in the blood sacrifice of the moon goddess,” Ashlin pointed out, “because you have nosebleeds.”

“I’ve never heard of this nonsense.” Manette rubbed his nose.

A drop of blood fell onto the table.

“But what I’m saying is true. Your world is nothing but a dream. I need help. I need to get out,” Ashlin said, her voice breaking. “I have absolutely no clue about this.”

She buried her head in her hands.

“Ashley,” Mannett softened his voice, “have you ever considered that this might actually be the real world?”

Ashlin lowered her hand. "What?"

“Perhaps the world you just described is your dream. You were deeply frightened by today’s nightmare; it has affected you profoundly,” Mannet said calmly. “This is not uncommon, Ashlin. Many Protoss suffer from nightmares; I’ve been through it myself.”

“A really crazy dream…” Ashlin repeated her words, “How crazy could it be?”

“For example, changing your origins and taking you on a fantasy adventure?” Manette suggested. “The forest goddess loves doing this kind of thing because dreams are so interesting. She’s a very mischievous goddess.”

"impossible."

"Why is it impossible? What evidence do you have?"

“I…” Ashlin’s tongue stammered.

Yes. She had no evidence. The space backpack and cloak had vanished completely. The three items from the riddle were also gone.

She was horrified to discover that her memory of the maze seemed to be fading away, just like all those dreams. When you wake up, you quickly forget them unless you consciously try to remember them.

“But I have no memory of this world,” Ashlin defended herself. “In my world, I have never met my parents. I was raised by Sanova Bailey and have always lived in Foxtail Bay. In fact, I only came to Helian City for the first time a few months ago.”

“That’s quite normal,” Manette said slowly. “Sometimes this happens to make dreams more realistic… Slowly, the magic will help you remember, don’t worry. You grew up in the royal city, in comfortable circumstances, so you’re more susceptible to these dreams. Mr. Bailey is your herbalist and medical teacher; and your mother is alive and well, Ashlin.”

At this point, her expression suddenly darkened.

"By the way, could you please pass on a message to your mother? Tell her that I killed all the ladybugs she gave me."

She struggled to suppress her panic. No, she remembered her last name was Bailey. She still didn't know what her last name was here.

If she were truly born into this world, she couldn't possibly have completely forgotten her surname because of a dream that unleashed divine power.

Dreams can't be that realistic, that long, she thought. Could it be that her life with Sanova wasn't real?

She didn't believe that any god in the world could weave together every detail of her life with her adoptive father in Foxtail Bend. The cottage by the bend had a magical power; if she came home too late, the cottage would ignore her and refuse to open the door; the streetlights would greet her every morning, bowing deeply; and Mia would often barge into their garden covered in dog hair without a word.

More importantly, what happened that night is still vivid in my mind.

Would the forest goddess weave such a nonsensical story, allowing her to curse the prince into a black cat in her dream? Would she meticulously craft a dream, making her fall in love with someone she might never have crossed paths with in reality, designing every single detail?

Even if He were mischievous or unreasonable, He would never do that.

“Barry,” Ashlin immediately replied, “Yes, I’ve heard of it. They had a duel over who could win the princess’s heart.”

Ashlin heard a loud bang in her ears.

Manette was still talking, but she couldn't hear a word she said, as if there was more than just a table between them.

She understood. Or perhaps, she had finally been completely wrong.

Is she sure?