Vale stood with his hand against Ximena's Crystal Prison.

'To think I knew that little about her… I had her all wrong.'

The calm and collected queen, two centuries old… was mentally a brat playing pretend.

Her mature demeanor, expression, and actions were all an elaborate lie. A lie meant to fool others, and herself.

Salome, after listening to Vale's tale and admonishing him with sass to get back at him, went to swap guard with Awilix and get some alone time, which is why Vale now found himself alone with Ximena.

'And now I know a bit more about you too…'

He gazed at the delicate girl's dying form.

"I understand why you cried when I hugged you…"

Vale looked at Ximena's open lips that had a slight crystallized blood trail spilling out of them.

"It's not that you'd never known the warmth of another… but that you'd once known warmth and that warmth had been stripped away for 200 years. An unfathomable amount of time for one such as myself to even begin to comprehend."

Vale sighed before turning around and sitting with his back against the crystal.

"I assume you can hear me… Or I think you can at least."

After a slight pause, he continued:

"Salome told me what happened, her account at least… I can see why you two hate each other as much as you do. And I can see why that hate may never be shelved."

Vale laughed pitifully:

"Salome murdered your family in front of you, so you murdered her people, twice. I didn't get the specifics on the incident, but regardless of who started it… You two committed terrible atrocities upon one another and many more that went unnamed to me."

Vale stared off toward the entrance of the maze while listening to the clamor of workers mining to make the tunnel wider…

"So it was no wonder she denied my request to help free you… But don't worry. Well, you can worry. But know that I'm not going to give up on freeing you and healing you."

Vale craned his head to stare into Ximena's open eyes:

"It's selfish of me, way more now that I know what happened. But, if I do save you… Don't fight her. Not now. Not ever."

He paused for a moment, then added:

"I'm not asking for Salome's sake either, but for my own. To be honest… love is kind of lost to me right now… Something is wrong with my mind in that regard; however, what wasn't lost is… my ability to cherish."

Vale sent out a wry chuckle, still looking back.

"Sadly for both of your goals of vengeance, I've come to cherish you each in the short time I've known you…"

He laughed again.

"I know… It's a bit weird to say I don't love you, but I cherish you. Almost like I'm rejecting you and you can't do anything about it… That's not saying I won't ever learn love again, but that's not what I was getting at."

Vale looked forward and saw Awilix exiting the maze.

"I guess what I meant was I'm terrified of loss… Pleading earnestly here…"

Vale let out a final awkward chuckle.

"Please don't make me experience it again."

Vale felt like a part of him wanted to cry, but Lust stifled that inclination.

"Please don't try to kill Salome. Also… don't die."

Awilix sauntered toward Vale and then yelled at him:

"First, you talk to corpses? And now rocks? How dumb are you?!"

***

Thankfully, no terrible incident like yesterday happened again…

Although neither had Vale made a single step in formulating a plan to save Ximena.

In any case… the situation with Salome was surprisingly normal.

If anything, the small distance that was built between them earlier would only draw them closer tomorrow. But for today, it was best for both of them if neither brought up the earlier conversation and made their connection sparse.

The conversation where explanations turned into inquisitions.

The conversation where Vale learned the wise queen under his command was a charlatan…

Not that she was weak, dumb or a complete fraud… but that all her life experiences came from the battlefield. All of her mistakes involved blood. All that she did right was drowned in the nasty red as well…

Her mind was tempered by war and hate… she knew nothing of mastery over the mind, nor was she close to obtaining such a thing. She'd only known love in theory, never in practice.

On the other hand, Vale's past and problems were much more tame.

It's not like his father was beating him. It's not like he grew up in hell. No, not at all.

Actually, while telling Salome about his father, he realized he hated his father only because he loved him.

What Vale meant was… he hated his father for disappearing.

While Vale didn't know the true reason behind why he had to leave, his father had told him in advance that he may not return, so he'd just assumed that he must have been abandoned.

Simply because he didn't want to entertain the idea that his dad might be dead.

Of course, he told Salome of his mother's departure, time at the brothel, and how he was raised. Followed by his misadventures with Fleur. And the aftermath of her death…

Salome, despite being ticked off at the time, had not once diminished Vale's past as something lesser than her own. Despite her irritation, the succubus knew trauma and devastation were never something to be weighed in comparison. Each person's circumstances are unique in their trouble…

Perhaps that was the one thing she was truly wise in: despair.

On the other hand, she did not hold back in pointing out just how Vale fucked up.

The situation had been reversed…

Salome poked and prodded at his psyche all to get back at him for doing the same to her. In truth… it got under his skin, but Lust helped him stay his mind.

In the end, after the talk, Vale came to realize that, despite how different their situations were… he and the succubus were similar.

Eerily similar.

The last thing he'd expected was her tears, but now that he knew what he knew, Salome's actions made all the more sense.

He understood why she looked at Ximena so and that her permanently fixed smile of confidence hid her nerves and fears.

Oh and…

'I was not expecting her to be a virgin…'

'Didn't she make fun of Ximena for that, too?'

'To think that I, the Master of Lust, summoned two 200-year-old virgins… maybe even three!'

Mias never said he was or wasn't.

Mias also showed zero desire or inclination... So it was looking like three.

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