As soon as Millie heard those words, her eyes moved on their own toward her mother. Millie face was completely still, her eyes dull and unblinking, yet inside her a storm of conflict raged. One single thought kept devouring her—that she had shattered her mother's only dream. The woman who had never asked anything of Millie, whose one wish too, Millie had buried under the ashes of her own weakness.
She was about to say something when a voice reached her ears, "Come inside." It was her mother's voice. Walking in through the golden doors came two people—a well-built girl, and beside her stood a tall boy, half of whose face was marked with yellow scars. Millie was still staring at them when a voice sounded from beside her, "Why are you two here?"
Her mother's voice held no warmth. The girl looked first at Millie, then at her mother, and said in a sharp, firm voice, "Miss Maryland, the person we had imprisoned in the Sky seal has broken free from it."
For a few moments, Millie could not understand what the girl was saying. She might have spoken, or tried to grasp it, but just then her mother gestured toward her, signaling her to leave the room.
She stepped out of the room. Passing through the cold walls, she walked up the white stairs toward her own chamber. Her room, like the rest of the house, was entirely white. The door was plain, bearing no mark at all. She opened it and lay down straight onto the bed covered with a white sheet.
Her body felt deeply exhausted. The recent events began to echo in her mind. The Sky Barrier—she knew what that term meant. This barrier did not allow any energy-bearing individual to escape it with their power intact. It was usually used against those with 'ram' energy beings. Breaking it was impossible, yet there were two conditions under which it could occur.
First—if the energy flowing inside the Sky Barrier was weaker than that of the captive, which was impossible beyond impossibility.Second—if the captive sensed a new source of energy around them, and the one controlling that energy was not mentally strong. This was the most common reason for the Sky Barrier to break.
As Millie was lost in these thoughts, a knock reached her ears from the door. A soft, thin voice entered the room,"May I come in?"Millie gave permission to whoever it was to enter.
The woman entered through the door. Millie noticed that her face was lowered. Her slender, graceful body was wrapped in white garments. Millie waited for her to speak. Then the woman gently lifted her face and asked in a soft voice,"Your friends have come to see you. Would you like to meet them?"
Hearing this, Millie was slightly startled. It was strange. Her friends usually avoided coming to her house. Everyone at school knew that Millie was the daughter of one of the greatest wielders of the country. Power, wealth, and prestige—these three words were always associated with her mother's name, a burden Millie had to carry as well. This was the reason even her only two friends did not wish to come to her home.
Millie looked at the graceful woman and nodded in agreement.