Rylan stared at Regis and Lillia with a serious expression. They were sitting on his bed, back in his room. Regis was staring back at him, looking grave, while Lillia looked a bit scared as she shifted her weight uncomfortably. The bedroom was completely silent.

"…And that's why you need to leave," Regis said after a few seconds.

Rylan readily nodded.

"Yeah."

"How long will it take? For how long are you planning to do that?"

Rylan shook his head slowly.

"There's no set time. I must become as powerful as possible as quickly as possible. There are no goals apart from my personal ones, since I don't even know what kind of soldiers might end up coming here."

Regis frowned, as did Lillia.

"So why don't you just stay in the Academy? We can keep our entire family in here until this blows over. Why are you even going to the Dungeons and shit?"

Rylan tilted his head and stared into his older brother's eyes. It was a fair question; he could have written Gerard a letter, talked to everyone that he needed to, then hid himself away at the very heart of Damian's domain, staying under his master's shield. However, it was also a question with a simple answer.

"What would that solve?"

Regis flinched and furrowed his brow.

"Hiding here wouldn't achieve anything. This kingdom is still walking toward a war. Sooner or later, once the Empire decides to target us, soldiers will come. Once that happens, isn't it obvious that I need to be as powerful as possible to keep this family and this kingdom safe?" Rylan continued with a clear voice, each word spoken with cadence. "I won't abandon everyone. Not again."

Next to him, at the edge of his vision, he could see Sarah and Aelfric smiling. She looked at him with pride.

"…Can you do it?" Lillia asked before Regis could reply.

Rylan turned to look at her.

"If they send a Seventh Circle Mage, we're all fucked, but that's extremely unlikely. If they send a Sixth Circle Mage, it would depend on exactly how powerful Damian is. My knowledge about Sixth Circle Mages is also very limited, so I don't know. If they send a team of Fifth Circle Mages, I can solve all of it alone," he replied simply.

The room went silent again.

"So you're that powerful already, huh?" Regis suddenly asked, his tone a bit dejected.

Rylan smiled bitterly at him.

"No, it's still not enough. Defeating the first wave of enemies wouldn't solve anything. For me to be able to save this kingdom single-handedly, I would need to become powerful enough to talk to the Empire face-to-face. That's still far away."

Regis nodded gravely, took a deep breath, and stood up. Lillia followed suit. Both of them stared at Rylan, who could see the different emotions in their eyes. Distrust mixed with happiness and caution. Nevertheless, it made him happy.

At least they stopped by to listen to me.

It would have been unthinkable in the past. Despite his months in the Academy, he hadn't really managed to rebuild his relationship with his older siblings, but that was fine. It wouldn't change his desire to protect them, no matter what.

"Thank you, Rylan," Lillia said. "For warning us and for being willing to fight for us."

Regis slightly frowned and looked at her, but she didn't even glance at him. Instead, she only stared at Rylan and nodded. Rylan smiled widely and nodded back, his heart feeling a bit lighter.

"Now, we need to go talk to Mom," Aelfric said from the side, making everyone look at him.

Rylan nodded with a small wince, already in anticipation of what she would say. Still, there was no way around it. He wouldn't compromise on this.

"The Lady is in the Astassier estate," Sarah stated, her voice tinged with distaste as she spoke the noble surname.

Rylan frowned, as did his three siblings. He let out a deep sigh.

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I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

The odds of meeting Gael were high. There was no way he wouldn't react to Rylan's arrival at his estate, especially when he was bringing along his siblings. More than that, he would want to know why the family had gathered up like this, and every explanation would involve the truth of what had happened.

No, it's possible that he already knows what went down with Jason and the others.

Gael was the head of the kingdom's greatest noble house. He likely knew about Jason's connections to the Empire and about the conflict between him and Rylan. Making the connection and drawing a prediction for the future was simple work. Rylan cursed under his breath.

"I think someone should go alone," Lillia said. "Even if only delays Grandfather finding out for a bit, that would already be better than nothing. It can't be Rylan, and it can't be Sarah, who's his personal attendant."

Rylan nodded. It made sense. If they all went together or even if he went alone, it would immediately ring alarm bells in Gael's mind. It would be best if Regis or Lillia went, even if only to hide things for a bit longer. As his thoughts reached this point, he frowned.

"No, I don't think it would work," he replied.

Lillia threw him a questioning look.

"In the end, Mom will need to leave the estate to come to the Academy grounds. It would take him about ten minutes after her arrival here to figure out what's going on," Rylan continued. "Especially given what he probably already knows."

Lillia blinked, then slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so. Then, what do we do?"

Rylan shrugged.

"Might as well go all the way. We'll go together. It would be better for Mom."

If changing the person who went to fetch Elizabeth wouldn't matter in the end, there was no reason not to bring all her children to see her. At the very least, she would be happier that way. And that was what truly mattered to him.

The others seemed to understand what he meant.

"Fine," Regis said, sounding a bit worried. "Both Lillia and I already know where the estate is, and Sarah probably does, too. We'll need a carriage."

Rylan nodded. Aelfric clapped once with a wide smile, making everyone look at him.

"Isn't this the first time we're all going somewhere together?" he asked excitedly.

Rylan grinned at him. Truly an Aelfric-like reaction. Both Regis and Lillia smiled helplessly at him.

I get it.

Their family had remained broken apart for too long. It wasn't surprising for Aelfric to cherish something like this, even if the situation wasn't the best. He looked at Regis and Lillia.

"Lead the way," Rylan said. "We're going right now."

They unhesitatingly nodded and turned around to leave the room. Rylan followed them alongside Sarah and Aelfric.

They walked through the Academy dorms' hallways and large doors, then left the building. After going down the different outside pathways, surrounded by lush trees with green foliage. The moonlight shone upon them, giving a slightly ethereal air to their surroundings. Rylan raised his gaze to look at the moon. Its silver glow was beautiful and serene, reminding him of her eyes.

I wonder where you are now.

He caressed Silver Twilight's hilt with his left hand, then shook his head. He needed to focus. He could think about her later.

Eventually, they arrived at a specific building in the Academy. After Regis and Lillia exchanged a few words with one of the white-robed students behind the desk, a carriage became available for their use in less than ten minutes. Rylan was the first to enter, followed by Aelfric and Sarah, who sat next to him. Regis and Lillia sat in the opposite seats, side by side. The door closed.

For a few seconds, the atmosphere within the carriage was solely that of awkward silence. Still, Rylan didn't dislike it. He kept his smile. Knowing that he was in a carriage with all of his siblings and Sarah, who was also so important to him, was a treasure in and of itself. If he'd had moments like this in his past life, maybe it wouldn't have ended the way it did. Sadness filled his chest, making his smile sink and his eyes look a bit more tired. As if sensing this, both Sarah and Lillia looked at him at the same time.

The carriage started moving, accompanied by the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the pavement.

"How strong do you think you can become?" Lillia suddenly asked, making Rylan blink and drag himself out of his stupor.

"…I don't know," he replied after a second. "Too many variables. Right now, I'm already at the level of a Fifth Circle Mage, but as I said before, I know next to nothing about Sixth Circle Mages, and it's not like I can just fight Damian seriously. I only hope it will be enough."

Lillia nodded slowly with a conflicted expression.

"Do you have a plan?" Regis spoke up.

Rylan nodded at him.

"Yeah. I'll focus on developing my swordsmanship for now. There are several Skills and Titles that would increase my combat ability by a fair bit."

"And your magic?"

"I'll also keep at it. In the best-case scenario, I won't even need to use my swordsmanship. But best-case scenarios never really happen."

Regis nodded. The carriage went silent once more. Aelfric only kept his grin, while Sarah kept alternating her gaze between Rylan and his older siblings. After a while, Lillia took a deep breath.

"I'm scared, Rylan," she said clearly, making both he and Regis look at her with wide eyes. "We might lose everything."

Rylan blinked, then nodded as he understood what she meant. All the others in this carriage had their own dreams and goals they wanted to pursue. An imperial invasion would make those dreams crumble into ash. An assassination attempt within the Academy would ruin its students' perception of its security for a long time. Lillia's dream to become a researcher would start tearing at the seams.

"And," she continued after taking another deep breath, looking deep into his eyes. Blue eyes into blue eyes. "I don't want you to die, either. I know I can't convince you not to fight, but… just be careful."

Rylan stared at her dumbly for a few seconds before breaking into a smile.

"I won't die," he replied firmly.

She nodded with a grin.

"For the record, I don't want you to die either," Regis hesitantly stated after the carriage went silent once more for almost fifteen seconds.

Rylan smiled at him.

This is what makes everything worth it.

It didn't matter how difficult the Dungeons would be or how strong the imperial soldiers were. For the sake of these moments and these people, he could weather any storm.

Finally, after riding for a while, the carriage arrived at the entrance to the Astassier estate.

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