Rina saw before her a deep golden gate that looked like a mysterious tunnel. Driven by curiosity, she entered it only to find herself back in the real world, in her room. She was startled at first and thought everything she had seen was a dream. She whispered:
_"Oh my God, was it just a dream that I woke up from? Wait a minute... I'm still wearing that shiny dress! It's here! I'm wearing it! Oh my God! Was everything that happened just my imagination or not?"
Suddenly, a mysterious voice answered her:
_"No, it wasn't an illusion. It's real, Rina. The world of dreams-or rather, the world of dresses-truly exists."
The girl interrupted him, frightened:
_"Who are you!? Show yourself! Don't you dare come near me, do you hear me?!!!!!"
The voice replied:
_"Don't worry. I am Prince Egwan, the prince of the world of dresses. I'm speaking to you from the jewel embedded in your dress. Time in the world of dresses is different from real time on Earth-it moves more slowly. You spent only two hours in my world, but four hours passed here in the human world. That means time in my kingdom runs at half the speed of your normal time."
_"What? Is that really possible? Is that even logically conceivable? What a strange world. I don't feel entirely convinced it exists... but... but... I'm still wearing the dress! Oh my God, what is this!"
Just then, it was time for her mother to come home from work. Rina heard her mother calling her, so she said:
_"I'm coming, Mom! Just one moment, please. I'll be right there."
Her mother replied from the bottom of the stairs with a sigh:
_"Alright, but hurry up there's something important I need to tell you."
After that, Rina turned to the prince and added:
_"Goodbye, Your Highness. I'll talk to you later. Just wait for me for fifteen minutes."
_"Ah, you mean thirty minutes? Alright, no problem."
_"What do you mean, Iguan? I won't take long. I'll keep my promise and be back in fifteen minutes. Just wait a little."
_"Ah, I didn't mean it like that. Did you forget what I just told you? One hour for you equals two in our world. So, we run at double your time, so..."
_"So what? Ah, wait, you mean if I come back in fifteen of our minutes, it'll feel like thirty minutes for you! Ah, I'm sorry, I really am. I have to go now. Until next time!"
_"Just so you know, the jewel I'm talking to you through is attached to your dress, so it'll always be with you wherever you go."
_"Huh? Oh, right! Haha."
To be continued...