_“Why don’t we try to get some magic out of me? I remember as a child I used to cause small trinkets to levitate in my sleep, and my parents forbade me from magical training for fear that I would be too weak of will to control it, but there’s nothing like an oncoming attack to strengthen one’s resolve.”_

“No way! You practiced magic your Highness?”
 
New respect and admiration shined in Melissa’s single eye and she grinned goofily. How lucky she was to serve such a talented and gifted princess! And to be courted by her too…that thought made her cheeks as scarlet as her eye. It was best to bring those thoughts out much later. For now though….

_“Okay. So what’s step one? What do I have to do to reactivate this...thing? Is there a little gremlin living within me that I have to appease or do I have to do a funny dance? There has to be something.”_

Melissa giggled before shaking her head and saying, “No, no, trust me, it’s really more simple than that. Magic is kind of like…an instinct deep within I suppose. Basically, you just picture yourself doing the action, focus, and bam! Of course, you have to resolve yourself completely in doing so, otherwise the spell might jump all over. That’s not too hard though when you’re fighting for your life.”

The knight laughed a second time in mirth before stopping quickly once Alice expressed her frustration at her lack of ability.

_“I’m such a sentimental fool. Forgive me. Alright. Now that that’s out of my system, let’s get to work!”_

“Alice…” 

Taking a step forward, Melissa crouched to one knee before her lord and princess. Looking up at her with sincere eyes, she gave the other girl a wide grin of encouragement.

“Relax. Just follow my lead and you’ll be fine. And don’t worry about being all mushy around me. You’re supposed to be courting me too, right? Heh, well that stuff helps. I like it when you’re sentimental because it means you care. You care about yourself and the people around you.”

Reaching out, Melissa gently grabbed Alice’s palm and clenched it tightly.

“So just have fun with it! Yggdrasil can wait for a few more hours.”