The rain was settling. The encyclopedia had stopped being interesting an hour ago. I placed my head on Reesay's shoulder without asking permission.

"Hey Reesay," I said.

"Hmm."

"Don't you want to get married?"

She shifted her weight. My head lost its support and I nearly fell.

"Ow."

She stared at me, expression unreadable.

"Where is that coming from?" she asked.

"Just curious," I said.

"Your curiosity leads you everywhere except where it's supposed to be." She turned back to the rain. "That's a strange question."

"It's a genuine one," I said. "You can't stay like this forever. Don't you have goals? Finding someone, building a life outside of taking care of us?"

"I'm fine by myself," she said.

"You can't be alone forever."

She was quiet for a moment. Then: "What makes you think I want that?"

There was something in her voice. A shift. A blush climbing up her neck.

"Everyone thinks about it at some point," I said. "Even you."

Reesay's gaze went deeper into the rain. When she spoke, her voice had changed. Harder. Older.

"I know what people expect from women my age," she said. "That we should marry as soon as possible. That marriage is the only thing we're good for. That we're nothing without a husband." She paused. "I hated that idea. I still do."

I hadn't expected that.

"My father expected it from me. At fifteen, right after I awakened Typhoon, he decided I would marry a prince from Jolland. For peace. For politics." Her hands curled into fists. "He never asked me what I wanted."

"Kingdoms?" I sat up. "Reesay, who are you?"

She was silent for a long moment. The rain fell around us, patient and endless.

"I suppose you're old enough to know," she said finally. "My full name is Reesay Eliese. I'm the daughter of King Authurion of the Kingdom of Hestia."

A king's daughter. Working as a maid in our house.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"For what?" She smiled, but it was hollow. "I rejected that name a long time ago."

"Rejected?"

"You asked if I had a goal in life. I did. I wanted to become a knight." She looked at me, and there was something broken in that look. "My dreams were shattered the day my father announced the marriage. He thought a union between kingdoms would stop the wars between are two kingdoms. He was probably right, strategically."

"You didn't agree."

"I didn't disagree with the marriage itself. I disagreed with the timing." Her voice was steady but underneath it was anger, old and worn smooth by time. "I wanted to achieve my goal first. To become who I needed to be before I became someone's wife. He didn't understand. Or he didn't care."

I thought I knew which one.

"So you left."

"I found out I was going to be forced into it. No discussion. No choice." She nodded slowly. "So I ran. I wandered for weeks, scavenging, searching for a place where I could be free. Where I could choose my own path."

"How did you end up here?"

"I collapsed into the river. Exhausted. Starving. And I woke up downstream, on the bank near Wolkenburg." She paused. "The people here were different. Kinder. They didn't look at me and see my bloodline or my value as a political tool. They just saw someone who needed help."

She turned to look at me fully.

"Your parents found me. They were looking for a caretaker. They paid well. They were the kindest people I'd ever met." Her voice softened. "And then you were born."

"Reesay—"

"I'm happy now," she said, and she meant it. I could hear it underneath the sadness. "I got to see you grow up. Watch you chase something that matters. I want to stay with you. Stay with you until the end. I want to see the kingdom you're going to build."

I understood then what she wasn't saying. That her dream had been buried, but she'd found a new one. That watching me become what she couldn't become was enough. That her wound had become her purpose.

I was angry. I don't know why, exactly. Angry at her father. Angry at the world that had done this to her. Angry that she smiled like it didn't matter.

I pulled her closer without thinking.

It was instinct. A reflex. She didn't expect it. Our faces were inches apart now. She looked at me, straight in the eyes, and I saw her blush spread across her cheeks like fire.

Neither of us moved.

Her lips were pink and tender. They looked soft, like they would melt the moment I touched them.

I wanted to feel them, to connect with her. To absorb that life energy she carried.

But hélas. I wasn't old enough. I could use Kronos's time stop, but that felt wrong. And Reesay would wonder why I used it now, at this moment. I didn't want to ruin my relationship with her.

"Stop hiding what you feel," I said. My voice came out harder than I intended.

She listened. Didn't pull away. Didn't defend herself.

"You don't have to spend your life serving us," I continued. "You've given enough to my mother, to my father, and especially to me. I wouldn't be here without you. I know that."

She started to speak. I didn't let her.

"But you're still young. Still beautiful. Still free. You shouldn't waste that." I pulled back just enough to look at her properly. "Your dream was to become a knight. So become one. Chase it until you're old and can't walk anymore. Chase it even if you're broken and bleeding. Chase it anyway."

"Young master—"

"Happiness isn't about reaching the destination," I said. "It's about the chase itself. About wanting something so badly that the effort of pursuing it becomes the thing that keeps you alive. That's what I've learned. That's what this world has taught me."

I thought about my first life. Twenty years. Cut short. All the things I'd never do, never become, never experience. A car I'd never own. A job I'd never have. A girlfriend who existed only in theory. Lys growing up without me there to see it.

I reached for her hand.

"And I'm not going to let you stop. I'm not going to let you settle for half a life in service to mine. Your father was wrong. He was strategically correct, maybe, but morally wrong. He saw you as a piece on a board. A solution to a problem."

"You chose to run. That took courage. But running away isn't the same as running toward something."

I took a breath.

"Reesay. From now on, you're going to train with me. We'll get stronger together. We'll push Typhoon and Kronos until they evolve beyond what the book says is possible. And when you're ready, when you're strong enough, you're going to become a knight. Not in service to a kingdom. In service to yourself."

She stared at me. Deep. Like she was trying to see through to something underneath.

"Your father can beg you to come back," I said. "And you can tell him no. That's the real freedom. Not running away from chains. Building yourself so strong that chains can't hold you anymore."

"Young master, you don't—"

"I do understand." I squeezed her hand. "You gave up your dream because you thought it was noble. Because you thought serving us was enough. But that's a lie. Nobility built on self-sacrifice is just slow suicide. Real nobility is building something for yourself and refusing to apologize for it."

The rain had stopped. Around us, the world was dripping, settling, preparing for evening.

"Happiness," I said, and I meant every word, "isn't about achieving something and then being done. It's about the fire you carry while you're chasing it. It's about looking at an impossible goal and deciding that the attempt itself is worth the cost. That's what keeps us alive. Not safety. Not comfort. Purpose."

"That's what I'm going to build my kingdom on. Not for some perfect future. But for the people who are burning right now, trying to become who they actually are."

She was quiet for a long time.

"You've gone too far," she said finally. But she was smiling. A real smile, not the hollow one from before.

Yep. I went too far.

"Maybe," I said. "But I meant every word."

She looked down at our joined hands, then back at me.

"You sound like an adult when you pronounce those words," she said softly. "Okay then. Teach me. I will chase after my dream, that of becoming a knight. And I'll do it with you."

I smiled.

That's the least I could do to her. She deserves it.

Oh boy though, it was hard being that close to her. 

All sorts of thoughts came into my mind. I'll keep them intill I'm old enough.

Reesay placed her head on my shoulder this time.

"I'm so glad I was able to see you grow up. I truly believe in the person you want to become in the future."

A short silence.

"How about your husband?"

Reesay suddenly got up, all blushing.

She pinched my cheek, way harder now.

"Now that you're twelve, you've gotten into that age where all kinds of indecent thoughts flow in your mind."

I've had those thoughts for way longer than that.

"It's an offer. If you're still single in the future, I'll glady marry you."

Reesay looked away, silent.

She got up and began to walk away. The rain had stopped.

No answer, huh?

She stopped.

She turned around, her cheeks were fiery red.

"If I don't become a knight intill then. Then I'll take you as a husband." She said.

I won.

I smiled at her.

"Fine. It's a deal." 

"Don't tell my lady I said that!" She said.

"Don't worry," I said. "I love you, Reesay."

Her mouth was wide open. She turned around and continued walking.

"Come back for lunch." She said.

Yep, I'll be back.