12. Voice of the Sea
Xia Yi saw the girl in the sea smiling at her.
She had never seen this girl before, not even a hint of familiarity.
Why would there be a strange girl in the sea at night?
And coincidentally looking at the window of the inn.
This level of eeriness couldn't possibly be described as a coincidence.
Without much thought, she took action, flipping out of the window and jumping out.
Her white soles touched the tree trunk, and Xia Yi landed steadily on the tree. She used her identity to move quickly through the city, rushing towards the coast.
Now, there was only one thought in her mind.
To meet this girl quickly.
Bathed in moonlight, Xia Yi arrived at the sandy beach of the coast.
"Where? Where!"
She walked to the edge of the sea, and in her field of vision, she couldn't see any girl, just the vast sea.
"Gone?"
Xia Yi frowned.
What was going on?
She looked back and saw, under the bright moonlight, a series of small footprints left on the sandy beach, and nothing else.
The waves washed onto the beach, and the cold seawater just happened to overflow Xia Yi's slender ankles before receding.
This was nothing like the sea in her dreams.
It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
Even after waiting for a while, there was still no change.
She fell into confusion.
"Could it be… I saw it wrong?" Xia Yi held her forehead.
She tried hard to recall the girl's face, but now it felt very vague.
She had seen it so clearly at the time…
But at that moment, she seemed to hear something.
Accompanied by the waves, it was like a faint whisper.
She looked towards the sea again.
Beneath the surface, there was an unusual darkness that even the moonlight couldn't illuminate, and the sound was coming from there.
Driven by curiosity, Xia Yi unconsciously approached…
"Ah!"
Xia Yi realized something was wrong when she found the seawater had reached her waist, and she had unknowingly walked towards the dangerous sea.
She quickly retreated to the shore.
Looking around, there was still no change.
A nameless chill crept up Xia Yi's spine.
No, this, this was…
"Wuwuwu, it's haunted!"
Xia Yi held her head and ran back, sprinting all the way, not caring about anything else, and quickly returned to the inn where she was staying, back to her room.
She saw Sera sleeping in the bed, breathed a sigh of relief, then took off her wet nightgown and crawled into Sera's bed.
This action seemed to wake Sera.
"Wuwu, Sera…"
"Hmm? Princess… What's this?"
"…I, I want to sleep with you!" Xia Yi requested in a low voice.
Sera, sleepy-eyed, smiled, "Okay."
Then, she stretched out her hand and embraced the silver-haired loli in her arms.
Relying on the broad chest of her maid sister, Xia Yi felt much more at ease, and smelling the fragrance of her personal maid, she fell asleep.
…
The next day.
Xia Yi opened her eyes, feeling somewhat listless.
Sleeping should have been enjoyable, but she felt very tired.
"Your Highness, good morning… well, strictly speaking, good afternoon."
Sera greeted Xia Yi.
By then, she had already changed into her work uniform, a black and white maid outfit with black stockings and garters.
"Sera, good afternoon… Ah ha~!"
Xia Yi yawned.
She noticed she was sleeping in Sera's bed.
Oh, she remembered, she was too scared last night and ran straight into Sera's arms.
"Um…" Xia Yi felt a bit embarrassed.
"Your Highness, did you have a nightmare last night?" Sera asked, "In the middle of the night, you suddenly wanted to sleep with me, right?"
"No, it's not that! It wasn't a nightmare, but… something eerie!" Xia Yi quickly explained.
"Eerie? It does seem a bit off. When I got up this morning, I saw your nightgown was wet, probably with seawater, right?"
"Yes."
"I saw sand on your feet too, you must have gone to the beach. Could it be that you were sleepwalking?"
"I… don't know."
Xia Yi couldn't figure out whether last night was a dream or when she actually woke up. Was it when she fell out of bed, or when she saw the girl in the sea, or when she arrived at the beach, or… when she was soaked by the seawater?
It was unclear.
Last night's events were too strange.
Thinking it over, she decided to tell Sera everything that had happened to her.
After listening, Sera's expression became serious.
"Sera, I know you might think I'm talking nonsense, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality, but my experience last night was just like this…"
"No, Princess, I believe you, because I also had a dream last night, a dream similar to yours."
"What?!" Xia Yi was stunned.
"Last night, I too dreamed that I fell into the sea, enveloped by the water, sinking continuously."
"And there were songs, right?"
"Your Highness, this is where our experiences differ. I didn't hear any songs," Sera shook her head.
"…"
"I just stayed in the water, and then I heard you calling me, wanting to sleep together, and that's when I woke up. After falling back asleep, I didn't dream anymore," Sera said with a serious look, "As for the song you mentioned and the strange girl in the sea, that didn't happen to me."
What was going on?
Xia Yi found that she and Sera had the same dream, but what happened afterward was different.
Why was that?
Just the fact that the two of them had the same dream was eerie enough, definitely not normal.
"Sera, what do you think this is all about?"
"Sorry, Your Highness, I have many guesses in my mind, but none with concrete evidence. Even if I shared them, it would only confuse you," Sera said, "However, I can be sure of one thing: the fact that our dreams were strikingly similar is definitely not a mere coincidence."
The little princess sat on the bed, lost in thought.
"I still can't figure it out! It's so annoying!"
Xia Yi's stomach was growling with hunger, making it difficult for her to concentrate.
"Let's forget it for now, Sera. Let's eat first! We can think after eating!"
"As you command, Your Highness."
…
After eating, Xia Yi and Sera went to ask the innkeeper.
The innkeeper also said that he had dreamed of falling into the sea.
This surprised both Xia Yi and Sera.
They went to find Gil and gathered the members of the Penguin Gang to go around the town, asking the locals one by one.
The responses they collected were indeed unexpected.
Hmm, well that is interesting
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