Milena Al Ringlund

Milena Al Ringlund was born as the eldest daughter of the Ringlund Marquess family of the Rimlia Galactic Empire.

Though the Ringlund Marquess family is not a direct branch of the Rimlia Imperial Family—merely a minor branch—it maintains a balanced distance from the Imperial Court while playing a significant role as a civil servant within the Empire.

Milena had two older brothers, and it was inevitable that one of them would inherit the title of Marquis of Ringlund. As for Milena herself, she had two possible paths ahead: either marry into another family, or secure a position outside the Marquisate and live freely, detached from her family's legacy.

The turning point in Milena's life came when she turned 17, the moment she awakened her bloodline's power and became a recognized Awakened.

On the day that Milena's fate changed, the third eye—proof of an Awakened—opened upon her forehead.

Originally, the people of Lymeria had a third eye on their foreheads, granting them special abilities. However, over time, the bloodline of Lymeria grew diluted, their powers faded, and the number of those bearing the third eye diminished as well.

Now, only the direct descendants of the imperial emperor possess this ability and the third eye.

However, on rare occasions, individuals not directly descended from the emperor awaken the third eye.

These awakened ones are granted the right to succeed to the throne regardless of their social status, and commoners among them are awarded noble titles and positions within the palace court. Nevertheless, despite being granted the right to inherit the imperial throne, it is almost impossible for them to actually ascend to the emperor's seat.

Even Milina, upon awakening, was granted the right to inherit the imperial throne as the daughter of a marquis, yet she would still never become emperor herself.

Treatments bestowed upon awakened individuals outside the direct imperial line are, in essence, prisons designed to prevent the pure bloodline of Rimuria from being diluted by the blood of awakened ones.

When Milina awakened at the age of seventeen, she gained the abilities of 'Precognition' and 'Mind Reading' alongside her third eye.

Both were weak and limited in scope.

For seven years since her awakening, Milina—being the daughter of a marquis—was never allowed into the palace, but instead lived under constant surveillance by officials sent from the court, confined in a prison chained by invisible bonds.

Aware of the growing unrest within the imperial court, Milena, having endured such a life, resolved to break free from her chains. With the help of allies, she escaped the Rimuria Galactic Empire.

After declaring her renunciation of the imperial succession rights, Milena fled the empire with four companions, seeking refuge in the 6325 Star Union. There, she prepared for her exile to the Akneria Galactic Federation.

Due to various political circumstances, Milena was unable to secure the promised vessel from the 6325 Star Union, which had been facilitating the mediation. Instead, a private armed vessel from the Akneria Galactic Federation arrived to pick her up. While awaiting its arrival, she remained secretly housed in a high-security hotel within the capital colony. However, the day before the vessel's scheduled arrival, explosions erupted all across the capital colony.

It was clear that the attacks were aimed at either Milena's life or her capture, and Milena and her companions immediately began taking action to protect themselves.

"Just one day away! Is this really how the Empire operates—causing chaos and dragging innocent people into it?"

Chased and attacked at every turn, Milena and her group were forced to flee in desperation.

The five security officers assigned to guard them were wiped out in what must have been their third assault.

They snatch up the fallen soldier's rifle and run toward a safe location, veering away from crowded areas to avoid endangering civilians, but gradually find their retreat cut off.

"Princess Miliena, in this situation, we should head for the spaceport. There might be a place to hide until tomorrow's escort ship arrives—perhaps even seize a vessel if necessary..."

"We can't do that! We can't drag more innocent people from this country into this situation!"

Marcelus, the one Milina trusts the most among her attendants, leads the way.

For seven years, Marcelus has served as Milina's instructor, attendant, and bodyguard, and he often resorts to any means necessary to fulfill his duties.

"But we can't allow Milina-sama to fall into their hands under any circumstances."

"I understand that perfectly! But if innocent people continue to suffer any further... then I'll gladly give up my life to them!"

"Milina-sama, this goes beyond just your life. If anything were to happen to Milina-sama before reaching the Akeria Galactic Federation, it could even trigger a full-scale war in the worst-case scenario. Now that we've come this far, Milina-sama bears the responsibility to successfully escape safely."

Marceus pulled Milina's hand and ran toward the spaceport.

Even though they had taken refuge at the spaceport, the Acaneria Galactic Federation's escort ships weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow, offering no guarantee of safety until then.

Milina, being led by Marceus toward the spaceport, secretly longed deep down to reach the spaceport herself.

This was due to Milina's ability as an awakened one—her power of 'Precognition.'

Precognition allows one to foresee the future, but Milina's ability is weak and limited, enabling her only to sense the near future in abstract terms.

Still, this morning, while hiding at the hotel, Milina was overwhelmed by an intense feeling of 'I don't want to be here,' and just as she left the hotel, the terrorist attack began.

Even as the attack unfolded, Milina had repeatedly escaped danger by following her instinctive urge—'I don't want to go there,' 'I don't want to stay here.'

If Milina now desires to go to the spaceport, then heading there is the best course.

Yet her ability is limited to what she herself perceives as best, and what is best for her may not be best for others.

Still, there is no choice—she must go to the spaceport.

Milena and the others, following Marcelus's suggestion and Milena's foresight, arrived at the spaceport.

As they headed toward Section A, the docking station where the ship from Akneria was expected to arrive, Milena suddenly felt an intense reluctance toward that direction and turned around, running in the opposite direction.

After evading an ambush at their destination, Milena and the others fled to an unexpected C-sector, guided by the harbor management center, but were finally caught there.

Miss Miliena, please go ahead!

Rise, the other attendant of Miliena, and her personal maids, Ann and May, guard her back.

The three who left the country with Marcelus and followed Milena.

Rise and the others are engaging the attackers who followed them, using blaster rifles recovered from the fallen security forces.

Rise, Ann, May! You mustn't push yourselves too hard!

Although Milena managed to flee to the docking bridge with Marcelus, no ship was docked at this station.

This dead end has nothing but a long straight bridge; no ships are docked here.

There's no way out—this is a dead end with no escape.

Yet Miliena's instincts are screaming, 'This is it!'

"But... here? Huh?"

Miliena's view from the connecting bridge suddenly caught sight of a single spaceship approaching through the reinforced glass, looming into view in the vastness of space.

"You can't be serious! It was supposed to arrive tomorrow!"

Mireena, doubting her own eyes, could not deny that the ship was clearly approaching the docking station where she and the others were located.

Moreover, the vessel, gliding sideways as it drew near, was unmistakably a military vessel—or one closely resembling it.

There was no doubt: this was the escort ship sent by the Akeria Galactic Federation to retrieve Mireena and her companions.

"This... is destiny..."

Mireena murmured, unable to suppress the words.

Shin nosuke approached the docking bridge while drifting the Cerberus.

『Intrusion preparation complete』

Report came from Marks, waiting at the infiltration route.

Understood. Leave the decision on attacking the terrorists to Marks. Elimination is fine, but if possible, leave some of the 6325 security forces alive. We'll need someone to bear the responsibility for this incident and compensate for the docking bridge. If the Merchant Fleet refuses, we might end up receiving a bill ourselves.

Understood. I'll do my best to make it happen.

Be careful.

Meanwhile, Seira continues to report the distance readings.

"40... 35... 28... 25..."

Shinonsuke fired the side thrusters, rapidly decelerating Cerberus.

"10... 8... 6... 4..."

"Docking!"

Moments before the access tunnel made contact with the connecting bridge, multiple wedges embedded at the bridge's tip were fired toward the outer hull. The access tunnel plunged into the holes created by the wedges, forcing them open.

"Go! Marks!"

"Understood. Initiating breach."

Some of you may have noticed that several characters in this work share names with characters from my previous works.

This is simply because I'm not good at coming up with character names, and I've run out of names from my past works, so I've reused them—there's no connection to the characters from other works.

Once again: it's just name reuse, even if the names are the same!

There are no characters jumping across dimensions... probably... well, maybe... not really...