“I think this suits you well, Princess.”

  “I don’t know. It feels a bit tight.”

  “You’ll only have to wear it for, well, about the next two weeks. Besides, this one’s required.”

  “Aren’t they all?”

  “This one’s more required than most. I think their choice was a good one this time. The belt’s adjustable, so if you need to loosen it you can, but you’d better wait till you’re on board.”

  The girl looked in the body length mirror before her. A girl with silver eyes and pure bck hair put back in two ponytails stared back.

  The dress was a pure white one piece that fell just below her knees. The fabric was thick and cked any designs. A belt, the same color and material as the rest of the dress, wrapped around her waist. The csp was ptinum, and bore the Royal seal of the Seynian Empire.

  “I think you look acceptable. It’s about time to leave.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Thank you, Melissa.”

  “I’m just doing the st part of my job.”

  “I won’t be able to see you again, will I?”

  “No, I’m afraid not,” Melissa said, closing the drawers. “I’m sure you'll be fine,” she said encouragingly.

  “I think I’m a bit nervous after all, though.”

  “That’s only natural for anyone going to a completely new pce, surrounded by new people. When I first came here to start working as your attendant I was incredibly nervous. But once I got used to it, everything was fine. Your situation is slightly different, but I’m sure you’ll fulfill your role with ease.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’ll finally get to see another world,” Melissa said again, half-smiling. “I remember you used to be so curious about them when you were younger.”

  “Maybe a long time ago,” the girl said, touching her long, smooth bck hair while looking into the mirror.

  “Let’s go. It’s time,” said Melissa, wearing her usual attendant’s uniform. Her brown, wavy hair fell just past her shoulders. For a woman in her te thirties, Melissa was already fairly wrinkled, and even had a couple strands of gray in her hair.

  The girl followed her out of the room and into the pin white corridors that she was so used to. There were no windows in this pce that she had lived her entire life.

  Their footsteps echoed as they walked in silence.

  They arrived at the gateway to the docking area, where two members of the White Guard were waiting for them. Both guards were dressed entirely in white, not a sliver of skin showing through their uniforms. Even their faces were hidden behind white visors. Their uniforms looked like the same material as Rey’s dress, she knew theirs were bulletproof.

  “We’ll escort her from here,” said the guard on the right in a ft tone.

  Melissa nodded, then turned to face the girl one st time.

  “This will be the st time we see each other, but it was an honor to take care of you for the st ten years. Now you’ll be in the care of others, but as long as you try your best I’m sure everything will be fine.”

  “If you say so, then you're probably right. Goodbye, Melissa, and thank you for taking care of me,” the girl said in her soft voice, putting on a smile.

  “Goodbye, Rey.”

  ***

  For the st thousand years, humanity has been expanding across the gaxy. As pnets were colonized one after another, new countries were formed.

  Massive advances were made in all fields of technology, leading to higher average living standards than ever before. The invention of a new method of interstelr travel made it easier and more affordable for people to move between pnets.

  However, five centuries after humanity established the first settlement on a pnet that wasn’t Earth, the Xeirqan Empire formed and began expanding across the gaxy. It sted for several hundred years before colpsing, and succeeded in conquering the majority of the gaxy.

  Out of the remains of the fallen empire grew a new power that became known as the Seynian Empire, named after a family of former Xeirqan elites who became the figureheads of the new empire, which was actually run by a state council.

  In response to this, many independent pnets joined together to create the Gactic Alliance, or just Alliance for short. This democracy and the new empire formed a fragile peace agreement, though both prepared for war to break out at any time.

  This story begins 172 years after the colpse of the Xeirqan Empire, at a time when tensions were especially high, and a series of events would set things in motion that would irreversibly change not only a certain girl’s life, but the course of human history.