Night-time in Yumaris was a different experience. Lights glowed everywhere, and Youm density made them burn brighter than normal.

In some places, it even felt like daylight. And in areas where people scarcely went, the lights were absent.

Looking from above, the buildings were a geometric wonder that looked aesthetically pleasing. Almost as if they were sculpted from mountains.

The arena lights had long dimmed, yet echoes of the announcement still clung to the city like a fresh wound.

Everyone's mind was on the upcoming contest.

Almost everyone.

Somewhere in the upper seats of the arena, a single chamber remained lit.

Lynnor leaned with her back against a cold wall. She didn't do so as the confident woman who mocked and teased moments ago, but as the frightened subordinate who remembered why she couldn't defy Henndar.

Her fingers trembled slightly.

Fear didn't always need to roar to be loud. Sometimes, it needed to flow silently in one's mind and resurface.

"To think that brat could remind me of such crap."

She sounded angry.

Not at Aramith, or the school, but at herself for being so afraid.

"Now, how am I going to go back, looking like this?"

She laughed bitterly. "I wonder how they'll react if they see me afraid. Bet they'll be too shocked to speak. Haha."

She looked at the empty ceiling. "I wonder if the stars are out."

Her eyes closed, and she recalled the day he found her.

It was after Aramith and mozrael had left.

The day Aramith looked broken and hopeless — that was the day it happened.

"We need to talk," Lydan said

Lynnor let out a long sigh, stretching slightly. "So impatient."

He didn't react.

She smirked, shaking her head. "Fine. But let me just say—I miss riding that thing."

Lydan's expression remained unreadable. "Inside. Now."

" Can't believe I forgot to ask about the wolf." She sighed again and followed him inside.

"You need to explain yourself," Lydan said coolly.

"Wait," Lynnor raised a finger. "Now where is—ah!"

She opened a drawer and pulled out bottles of wine.

One

Two

Three

...Five Bottles.

Then she sat down on the floor, cross-legged, one bottle in hand, and the other on her lap.

She smirked at Lydan, then patted her thigh.

"Come over here and sit on my lap. You can ask me anything."

Lydan remained calm, only glancing at his sister, who sat on the stairs behind him.

"This is no time to joke around, Lynnor. What's your connection with them?"

"What? Aww." She slumped her shoulders, looking dejected, swirling her bottle sadly.

"I thought you were going to finally ask me when we're getting married."

She glanced at him coquetishly, blinking like a young maiden in love.

"Then why don't you do this?" She passed a finger on the mouth of the bottle slowly.

"Just take a sip. It'll be a small, indirect kiss from me to you." Then she took a glance at Jade then whispered. "Your sister doesn't need to know. Just do it quickly and I'll—"

"Enough with the games. Just tell us the truth. Who are you working for?" Lydan sounded more forceful now.

"Oooh, an aggressive tone? I like that hehe."

She took another swig. "If you're asking about my employment status, you already know I work in the academy you both attend. And I am the boss of me."

"..."

Silence pricked at their skin for a while, while Lynnor finished a bottle and took another.

She sighed. "Look, I'm a woman of many faces in my past, but I'm being honest with you both. You can trust me."

"I know that. We both owe our lives to you," Lydan said calmly. "But you're still hiding something else from us."

"Something else, eh? Well, I—"

A sudden crackling sound made Lynnor jump up and pull out her blades. They hummed with the urge to slice. Lydan also shifted back to stand next to Jade, holding two daggers as a precaution.

They all felt danger.

Then the space ripped open, shattering like glass as a tall, handsome man stepped through. He had a carefree smile on his face as he looked straight at Lynnor.

"It's been a while, Zero."

Lynnor's eyes widened in horror. Her throat locked. That smile — she knew it too well.

Her blades lost their strength and slumped to the floor like dead flowers.

Her knees almost buckled, and a coldness crawled up her spine— he same cold that lived in her memories of him. She wasn't Lynnor-the-teacher anymore. Or Lynnor, the sarcastic and carefree woman . She was the Lynnor who'd served under Henndar for so many years—the girl who obeyed.

Looking into those eyes, her body trembled uncontrollably. She wanted to find her strength to look strong before the kids, but she couldn't.

Why is Henndar here?

Henndar looked at Lydan and Jade, who were tense.

"Oh, so that's Jade? She's really grown up! I don't know this young boy, but very interesting place."

He knows my name? Jade was afraid to move. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't place it.

Lydan didn't know how to react.

This man didn't have any dangerous presence about him, but Lynnor was so afraid of him, it made him worry.

Lydan looked at Lynnor, who was too afraid to move, her body suddenly covered in sweat.

"What's your name?" Henndar asked, looking at Lydan.

"Lydan," he replied simply. "And you're not welcome here.

Henndar laughed. "I like how bold you are. Lynnor, did you train him like that? That's amazing!"

Lynnor finally found herself. "He's a student at the academy," she replied.

"You're sweating, woman," Henndar conjured a towel and threw it at her.

Lynnor forced a smile. "I haven't taken a shower yet," she replied, using all her strength to stop her legs from shaking.

He's not here to harm us. I just need to ask him what he needs.

"So, what brings you all the way here?" She asked casually

"I think you should introduce me to those kids before they attack me by mistake," he pointed a finger at Lydan.

Lynnor signalled for Lydan to calm down. "I used to work for him a few years back," she said. "You should go upstairs. We'll continue our talk when I'm done here."

She didn't need to repeat herself for Lydan to understand this was serious.

"Let's go," he grabbed Jade's hand, and they left.

Once they were out of sight, Lynnor's pride disappeared and she fell to her knee.

"I apologize for being unable to properly respect you, your majesty. I didn't want them to know your true identity," she said formally. "You know how much they don't want to relate to Vermillion Kingdom."

How much they hate you, that is.

"Zero is at your service."The words tasted like ash and sulfur.She had to force them up her throat, and even speaking them felt like chains tightening.

Henndar waved at her to get up. "No need for all that. SO, how are things?"

"All is well," she said, standing up, fist crossed over her shoulder.

"So," Henndar started, looking around. "Aramith and Mozrael were with you. How was it?"

"They didn't get along too well with Lydan and Jade, but they were okay with me," she replied.

"Of course they would. You have so many faces."

"Yes, of course."

He locked eyes with her, which unnerved her, but she stood her ground.

"Tell me everything that happened here. All the details."

And so she did, narrating everything from when she met Mozrael, all the way till they left not too long ago.

"So you lied to him about Jade?"

She nodded. "It was necessary. Things would have been complicated if he remembered who she was."

"That's true. So how sure are you that they trust you?" He asked quietly.

"If no one says anything to them, they trust me very well and will be on my side if they meet others who badmouthed me."

"Even me?" Henndar asked.

"There is a chance," she replied with the same forced calm.

"Come, I want to stretch my legs a little," Henndar said and walked out.

She followed immediately.

"Mozrael has better control of her power, but Aramith is still a mess at it."

What about Lia?

She hesitated to ask.

"I need you to help them master their attributes," he paused as a few birds flew by.

"Especially Aramith. He needs to gain control as quickly as possible."

Lynnor accepted her role.

"One of these days, I will have a meeting with..."

Lynnor listened in horror as Henndar narrated everything he knew would happen in the days to come.

"Your curse is still active, so we'll rely on that to manipulate Aramith. And hopefully, Mozrael will also be caught up in it."

She felt a shiver in her spine as the uneasiness crept up on her.

"IF they trust you as much as you said, all will go to plan. If not, I will do it myself and tamper with their memories. Do it all, and I can assure you Jade's safety."

Her heart skipped a beat.

He's threatening me to do as he wants. Again.

"And maybe I'll let you see your father. He's off cultivating in the mountains somewhere."

Another heart skip.

With this threat and reward system put in place, he'd touched two of her most sensitive spots.

She agreed without hesitating.

And Henndar left.

And she was now a slave to the fear she thought she'd once escaped.

"How unfair."

Her past words echoed inside her head, and the present slowly returned.

Lynnor blinked.The cold wall of the arena chamber pressed against her back again, grounding her in the present. Her fingers trembled the same way they did back then.

Nothing had changed.Not really.

She let out a slow breath."I hate this," she whispered.

In that moment, she felt as small as she did back then.

She straightened her back again.

She had to get herself together.

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