Scarlet's Awakening

"My queen,"

Sheila, now Scarlet Rose, raised her hand to stop Eireen and smiled, her eyes soft and relaxed, "No need for formalities when we're alone, and please call me Scarlet," she said.

"Understood." Eireen respectfully replied with a bright smile on her face before lowering her head slightly.

Satisfied with Eireen's agreement, Scarlet came to the window where she could see the vast lands of the kingdom.

Eireen quietly stood by her side, her eyes looking out of the window also.

Scarlet scanned the lands outside the gates in silence. Beyond the wide outer walls, there was red soil as far as her eyes could see. There were no trees, there was no vegetation of any kind. Just a tiny hills of red dust spread randomly across the vastness of it. It was a red wasteland.

However, inside the great walls are different lush green trees scattered in between roofs. There's also a large field dedicated only for growing crops and other edible crops.

From the looks of it, it seems that inside the city walls, life thrived and the crops grew. But outside the walls was lifeless and dead.

"So, this is Gehenna."

"Beautiful isn't it, your majesty?"

Scarlet did not reply. She knew that Sheila wasn't describing the wastelands but what's inside the city walls.

Scarlet lifted her hand and touched her palm on the cold surface of the glass. If she survives, she plans to visit all the domains of the kingdom after she solve her problems in the meeting later on.

She wants to see the different demon races living in the kingdom, and to witness how their lives were when Scarlet was asleep.

She also wants to know whether they lived in misery or abundance. Maybe she can provide solutions to those problems using the little knowledge she has from her old world.

Suddenly, in front of Scarlet, a dark portal appeared out of nowhere. Scarlet took an instinctive step back from the shock.

"What is this? What have I done?" She panicked.

Witnessing everything that happened, Eireen spoke, "You just opened your dimensional storage room, your majesty. There's no need to be afraid of."

Scarlet turned to her, forgetting that Eireen was talking formally to her again. "Dimensional Storage Room?"

Her loyal subordinate nodded, "Yes, your Dimensional Storage Room," she said, stressing the your, "This where you keep most of your precious treasures and possessions."

"Treasures and possessions?" Scarlet mumbled, her eyes shining with greed and enthusiasm. She stared at the oval shaped portal in front of her, looking like a swirling image of black and purple colours. "Have I just opened something comparable to a safe?" Scarlet mumbled again.

"You should practice your magic inside." Eireen added to what she had said earlier, and that totally caught Scarlet's attention.

"Really, and why is that?"

"Time works differently inside a Dimensional Storage Room. You can practice magic inside it for a month but in truth, you were just gone for 4 days."

Scarlet gaped and made calculations inside her head. So, 1 day of disappearance means a week spent inside the Dimensional Storage Room?

Scarlet realized that at some point she had to use her magical abilities to defend herself. She knew she had an average person's IQ. She can't learn things in an instant, and time passes so fast in the real world.

This is it! This is exactly what she needs.

A cheat!

Scarlet cleared her throat and asked more about the storage room, "Can other people get inside my storage room dimension as well?"

Eireen nodded her head, "Yes, but with your permission of course, you can bring anyone you like."

"And what if I didn't consent that person from entering?"

"Then that person will be thrown out, floating aimlessly in the vast emptiness of the Other Dimension."

"Other Dimension?"

Eireen nodded, "Yes, it's a place no one can get out without knowing any teleportation magic."

"Ohh."

Scarlet and Eireen were interrupted from their talk when they heard a soft knock on the door. A few moments later, a maid enters and immediately knelt when she saw us.

"Y-Your majesty, Lady Eireen ..." she greeted the two of us respectively.

Eireen acknowledged the maid with a curt nod while Scarlet was just watching silently from the sidelines.

"Is something the matter?" Eireen asked the maid.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, My lady. But Master Eigeel urgently asks for your presence in his study," the maid responded.

"Why?" Frowning, Eireen asked.

"He said it was important and you must personally take care of it yourself." The maid answered, not raising her face to see Eireen's annoyed expression.

"Eigeel indeed works fast. Where is he right now?" Scarlet asked the maid.

The maid flinched like a scared mouse and replied. "Y-Yes, your majesty. At the moment, Master Eigeel is waiting for Lady Eireen in his study."

"Well then, looks like it's important," Scarlet said, turning towards Eireen with a gentle smile. "You can go."

Eireen nodded in gratitude towards the encouragement. , "Then please excuse me, your majesty."

Scarlet nodded and followed Eireen's back with her eyes until she and the maid finally left the room When she was alone, Scarlet looked up the portal that's itching her to go in.

After a moment of giving it some thought. Sheila finally gave in to her curiosity. She walked to the portal, her body slowly getting swallowed inside.

On the other side of the portal was a peculiar looking cave full of glowing ores that was shining in various colours. Apart from the ores, there was nothing inside except a glass altar in the center of the cave. It was lit under a stream of light, serving as a spotlight.

Scarlet walked over and saw that something was lying on top of the altar.

She found a man lying on top of it. Yeah. It's indeed a man. A devastatingly beautiful man with long raven black hair, perfectly shaped nose, thin red lips and wearing a long crimson robe.

The man still looks very young, maybe around 25-27 years old. Scarlet didn't know what spirit possessed her body when she suddenly reached her hand to touch the man's arm.

She wanted to know if he was still alive and feel the temperature of his skin. But when her fingertips came in contact with his skin, something unexpected happened.

Lights of different color suddenly burst out of the man's body. After that, the lights gathered together in the air, turning into a large ball of pure magical energy that was growing bigger and bigger in size.

Suddenly, the ball violently came down towards Scarlet without warning.

Scarlet covered her eyes from the blinding light and screamed. Everything was happening so quickly, she doesn't have a single clue as to what was going on?

Waiting for the pain to come, Scarlet didn't feel anything when the light touched her skin. Instead, she felt a soothing warm energy entering her body. It filled her to the brim, pouring something into her until she felt full.

When all the light vanished within Scarlet's body, she immediately fainted from exhaustion. As Scarlet was about to fall to the ground, a mysterious force stopped her fall, making her body float gently in the air. It carried Scarlet's body to the altar and laid her there, gently and slowly, beside a little boy's sleeping body.