Later that day, Kani noticed Karel fussing around. He paced back and forth then stood before the window as if contempting something.

  “Karel? Is there something wrong?”

  “Are there ruins nearby?”

  “None, if I remember correctly. Why do you ask?”

  “Curious.”

  “One thing puzzles me though.”

  “Mm?”

  “How could they not detect you using magic?”

  Karel smiled at him and Kani slightly jolted in his seat, taken aback by his sudden smile. “It’s a secret, Master.”

  Karel then turned to the window again while Kani clenched his fists. He softly breathed out as he calmed himself out.

  “Oh? So, there’s something like that here.”

  He looked at him. “What?”

  “I’ll go out this evening, Kani. Don’t wait for me and rest.”

  Late in the evening, Karel exited the walled city while avoiding both patrolling and stationed knights. He commended them though. Their strictness must have been the reason for their continued peace.

  Karel continued on foot and arrived at the location. However, anywhere he looked, only dunes filled his vision.

  “Then, that means…”

  Karel squatted as he cupped the sands. He watched it pour down from his palms and manically grinned.

  In the next few minutes, the building shook and screams of terror erupted everywhere. The rge bst shook the entire vicinity and the soldiers immediately mobilized themselves to attend to whatever stirred on the sands outside the city.

  Kani abruptly stood from his seat and looked out of the window to where the loud explosion came from. He clenched his fists, worried for the blond.

  A few more minutes passed and upon Karel’s arrival in their shared room, he immediately colpsed on his knees. He used too much power back there and teleporting also required more.

  “Karel?” Kani’s worried voice called and assisted him up. “Where did you—”

  “Someone might come. Help me lie down.”

  Kani heeded his words as he stripped his clothes upon sitting on the bedside.

  “I need to lie down. If anyone comes to inspect, tell them I didn’t get out and is resting.”

  “That’s suspicious, you know,” he grumbled but assisted him to lie down.

  He squeezed his arm weakly. “I owe you this time, Kani.”

  Karel’s consciousness appeared in his own space—a personal space he made with his Dimensional Magic. The blond walked ahead despite the darkness and in the midst of the abyssal space, a silver door appeared.

  He pushed it forward and revealed a picturesque view of a manor surrounded by meadows on one side and forests standing on the other side.

  Upon reaching the small ke, the ancient relic floated before him and carefully examined it—a golden cup with an intricate design of Enaryus symbolism. His hatred for the said religion only worsened over the course of their journey and he abruptly grabbed it for it to disintegrate.

  “Huh?”

  It didn’t respond to his actions.

  He hummed. “Intriguing.”

  He awoke an hour ter, feeling groggy.

  Kani immediately stirred from his nap when he heard the rustles of sheets and grunts. He sat on the bedside, worriedly examining him from head to toe. “What happened back there?”

  Karel leaned back onto the headboard and held onto his head. “An ancient ruin stood below the sands west of the city.”

  “How…” Kani realized something. “You used your magic?”

  “I had to. I felt a resonance but I only met with dunes so I bsted the sand away to reveal the ruins.”

  Kani held onto his forehead. “How reckless of you.”

  Karel then fiddled with the ancient relic. With just a touch, it finally crumbled into pieces and a magical rose appeared.

  The scene unfolding before him proved his initial assumptions. The magical roses could only be maneuvered in real time and not in suspended states like in his dimensional space.

  “That is…”

  “A magical rose. I searched for them around Trojka. They hold memories… sort of.” He intently stared at it. “I need to gather them and once completed, it will return to its original state.”

  The magical roses—a physical manifestation of memories—scattered around Trojka after The Crown Princess of Ling regime’s death and as one of the Accursed1Accursed was the term bestowed by the Goddess of Life upon the 5 Ramayans who interfered with the natural order of life. As a punishment of their deed, they were bestowed an accursed shackle on their person., it’s his duty to gather them.

  “It’s important to us, that’s all I can say.”

  Kani also stared at it, drawn to its power. “Then, what will you do now?”

  The blond finally held the magical rose and after its dim glow, it assimited with himself. Karel clutched onto his chest as he endured the pain.

  Kani immediately held his shoulders upon seeing his discomfort. “Karel?”

  He leaned back and heaved more deep breaths.

  (“The entirety of this matter is absurd,” announced the Ramayan Crown Princess upon her arrival in the Twilight Castle.

  The Supreme King of the Underworld replied nguidly, “You are in grave danger, Elise.”

  “I am but a person, you know this. I’m merely a princess pampered by her family.”

  Everyone present turned silent at that.

  Elise hated how the tense atmosphere suffocated her. Her instincts tingled, knowing these beings before her knew more than they let on. Annoyance bubbled in her as silence passed and spoke out without further ado, “My absence will cause Ramaya to fall apart.”

  “Still, you have to stay here in the Underworld.”

  “No. I need to return,” she firmly replied.

  The other monarch seated on the throne hummed. “To be honest, I don’t mind you marrying Yukki, even if it’s to protect—”

  “Yukihiko is my ancestor. How can I marry him?”

  The Supreme King sighed. “My queen, we agreed that the marriage part is only a fa?ade. She will only live here for a certain time until matters settle down.”

  The Supreme Queen rolled her eyes at Yukihiko’s statement and pouted.

  Elise, however, became puzzled. “What matters?”

  Yukihiko turned to look at her. “Matters that concern the world.”

  “And you py an important role in it,” said the man who accompanied her during the descent.

  Elise, however, stood firm. “I’ll tell you again, with my absence, Ramaya will crumble.”

  “You speak like you know the future,” replied the man.

  Elise opened her mouth to say something yet chose not to in the end.

  “You knew,” he remarked, as if stating a fact.

  Yukihiko’s somber voice echoed in the hall. “Wouldn’t that also mean you know the past?”

  All pairs of eyes now stared at her, waiting for her response.

  She swallowed nervously, fiddling with her fingers. “No.”

  “▉▉▉▉▉▉.”)

  A warm hand held his cheek and another checked on his pulse. The worried voice asked, “Are you alright?”

  Karel heaved deep breaths while also trying to comprehend the distorted word Yukihiko spoke of.

  (They saw how Elise’s eyes widened in horror. “You…”

  “You know who I am,” Yukihiko gestured to the others present in the hall, “and who we are.”

  Elise bit her lip and saw no point in hiding it. “I also don’t want the ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉ to repeat itself but with the course of actions you’ve taken, you’re going to tear Ramaya apart.”

  Yukihiko shook his head. “No, my dear. In the first pce, if we’re a step too te, Ramaya would have been decimated instead.”

  “What do you mean?” the princess asked, eyes widened in horror.

  “You are their target and they will have no reason to target Ramaya without you there. Even if they did destroy Ramaya now, how would they expin their actions to the Heavenly Winged?”

  Elise bowed her head down in contemption.

  The Heavenly Winged still reigned in the Heavens despite the establishment of the Enaryus religion, the tter now the more sought-out religion.

  “The Heavenly Winged always holds the authority over Trojka as the old and original gods created by the Heavenly Emperor. Even with the establishment of the Mienshi and the Enaryus religion, that won’t change.” Yukihiko leaned back on his throne. “Now, you’re in the Underworld, not even the Archwinged dare y their hands on you.”

  “That’s right,” The Supreme Queen remarked with a sinister smile on her lips. “After all, they will have to face me and I won’t hold back.”)

  “Elise…” Karel muttered to himself as the memory came to an end.

  Kani heard the name he called and frowned.

  Who is Elise?

  Karel woke up alone on the bed as afterimages of what happened st night came to him. He realized something then. Whenever the assimition occurred, he somehow ended up in a vulnerable state. Even when Kani attempted to snap him out of it, he seemed not to relent until it all faded to bck. He also noticed that the magical roses he tely found held more vivid and important memories, hence the physical disability he suffered from it only intensified.

  I should be careful next time.

  Karel sat slowly and repyed the memory he saw. Yukihiko called Elise a name but it turned out distorted no matter how many times he repyed it.

  It’s odd. It’s truly distorted.

  He ruffled his hair and stood up. “Perhaps, I should ask the others if they also encountered it.”

  After taking a bath, he saw Kani going through his luggage and said, “I deyed our journey to Valerya.”

  Karel smiled at him. “Thank you for taking care of me. Did someone come?”

  “Yes. But when they saw your state, they thought you had an illness and didn’t approach. We’re off their suspicious list immediately.”

  “Good.”

  Kani swallowed, hesitating to speak up and stood there observing the other man.

  Noticing it immediately, he asked, “Is there something wrong?”

  “You were speaking of a name st night.”

  Karel’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh, I called Elise?”

  He slowly nodded. “Elise? Who is she?”

  Kani saw how Karel smiled softly before he frowned. He moved his lips mutely for a few moments before holding onto his face in despair. “Elise, she’s my youngest cousin who was killed during the civil war. We cousins adored her.”

  “I’m sorry for asking. I...”

  Karel slightly shook his head. “It’s fine. It’s just that… she’s too young to die.”

  Kani, puzzled about the sudden urge to close their distance, stood before Karel. He circled his arms around his neck as he pulled and embraced him. He felt the shuddering breath of the blond before he hesitantly returned the embrace.

  No wonder, you never spoke of your family.

  Kani closed his eyes. “Cry if you want, I won’t look.”

  The blond drew in a deep breath and held the brunet. Karel began humming—a tune he always sang to Elise—in between his sobs and it shook Kani. The tter hesitantly caressed his hair, and whispered in a shaky voice, “It will be fine, Karel. You will be fine.”

  The broken hums turned to sobs completely at those words and Kani’s heart shattered to pieces at the sudden vulnerability he showed.

  Others wanted to have an immortal life but they did not know such a life could also be… wallowing in sorrow and regrets.

  Seeing how the other man broke down in tears just by remembering his precious cousin alone, Kani decided to dey their journey to Valerya for a few more days. Karel protested but Kani reassured him that everything would be fine despite their deys.

  “We can take a rest first here in Piaten for the week then we’ll catch the ship to Valerya days after.”

  “Thank you, Kani.”

  “I’m just returning the favor, dear sir. After all, you’ve also done a lot of things for me.”

  Karel huffed in defeat. “If you say so.”

  Both men stayed in their leased room for the day and Kani assisted Karel in any way he could. Whether bringing food or just talking about mundane things to let him not reminisce.

  When evening came, Karel skipped dinner and decided to rest early. Kani frowned deeper seeing how he looked stricken even in his sleep.

  Grief is truly the immortals’ bane.

  He patted the soft blond hair and hummed to himself.

  I should go to sleep too.

  The bustling city came to life at dawn and it became a static noise for Kani—a sign he had always recognized that he should get up from his bed and start the day. However, there seemed to be an obstacle hindering him from getting up. An arm rested on his torso and his legs tangled with another’s under the sheets.

  He opened his eyes, now wide awake and took in the view of Karel’s sleeping face. Strings of curses nearly flowed from his lips as he panicked at the sudden distance.

  No, I won’t get used to this.

  Those strong arms held him again. Karel mumbled atop his head, feeling his breath on his scalp, “You said it yourself that we should rest. So, rest. It’s still early.”

  “You…”

  “Mm?”

  “You’re too close.”

  “But, this is comfortable, Master.”

  Now, he’s teasing me!

  The brunet had no choice but to relent as the blond pulled him closer. Kani felt the vibrations on the other man’s chest as he hummed and couldn’t help but furiously blush at the actions. He bit his lips and shut his eyes close as he hid the rosy tint on his cheeks.

  Maybe I really should take the offer to oversleep.

  Kani woke up alone in the bed this time. He groggily sat while questioning his life choices. As a man of routine, this situation hindered him from doing his supposed tasks for the day.

  “Good afternoon, master. I see that you slept well.”

  He turned to look at Karel leaning on the door sill of the bathroom with a smirk on his lips.

  “You look so comfortable. I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.”

  “Karel…” he called as he turned red in the face when he realized what happened earlier in the morning.

  The blond gestured behind him. “The bath is prepared in case you want to soak in. I’ve also ordered a luncheon for us—”

  Thud!

  The thrown pillow hit his face.

  “Heh.” Kani smirked.

  Or so Kani thought.

  “Whenever alone, I have a defensive barrier around me which activates when foreign objects approach me at a certain distance.”

  Kani scrunched his nose. “You Ramayans surely are something else.”

  Karel only ughed at his words.

  lymsleiah