The soft sound of wheels rolling over the ground, incessantly being pulled by horses, paved way for a less noisy atmosphere.

"Will you tell me the real reason for coming along?" The serious glint in Luke eyes hadn't faded, even after a few hours of travelling. They had been silent till that very moment, her icy eyes penetrating the window of the wagon, analyzing, perhaps memorizing the path they were taking.

Yet to his words, she mumbled a sound, the familiar one she used when certain things were said, when certain things were asked.

"Daughter," a brief pause eluded an automatic answer, as if savoring the silence, Aurora smirked briefly. "It'll be hard for me to help you, if you don't tell me anything."

Her cheek leaned on the glass feeling the warmth of it as it had been bathed by the sun. Clearly, he didn't know what she had gone through. This young lady hadn't told anyone, a burden too heavy for feeble humans. 

"Wouldn't hurt you being a little more open like Ir-," and he halted his words, reminding himself that it was not fair to compare both.

Especially ever since he got to know Iris past, the way she had been mistreated harshly by her past family.

"Information and my memories have a price. Are you willing to pay it?" Her sky-light gaze didn't move an inch from the outside view.

Her question resounded many times in his mind, making him ponder about what it implied, and how severe it could be.

"What's the payment?" 

"Spoken like a merchant," her eyes rolled skyward, finding his autumn stare at the very end of the rotation.

Her delicate fingers reached out for him, palm facing the ceiling, "mana." 

Aurora's gaze looked hungry, with an insatiable appetite, willing to gnaw the world along those who lived in it.

Yet, he didn't flinch. His fingers crossed each other's almost as if he was going to pray, buy no such thing followed. Instead, his focus went down, and he mumbled something inaudible as if calculating something.

"What do you wish for your sister?"

"Her safety," a cold tone, a short answer hard to shallow. 

"She wishes for your happiness."

"Happiness..." a little humming followed as if he had sing and he required her to play the instrumental to add strength to the melody. Then, she chortled, appearing to be somewhat upset. "Unachievable."

"Achievable," his correction followed sharp, taking no detours to the destination, her eardrums, even going against what he believed to be her pride.

"Humans," there was something unnatural about her tone, a hint of superiority, of backed up experience, and truth.

"That's what we are. Lowly beings with lots of flaws," he turned his face to the outside. "Still, we endure and keep fighting for our dreams."

"Right."

"I don't know what you've been through as you've never shared. But Aurora," his gaze returned to her. "Certainly, at some point, you, too had a goal."

Only a silent voice persisted from her side.

"I'm willing to pay for your dream," his hand approached her. Then a powerful aura started shining. "Take my payment."

Her hands fell on his, consuming all that was there to be taken. 

Her expression was not that of happiness despite the power coursing through her body. And strangely, nor of hunger like before. The eyes didn't have the usual icy gaze, instead they almost looked like those worn by an innocent child. It made Luke mouth open. It caused him to wonder just what in the world did he unlock, to find Aurora gazing at him in such a peaceful way that almost sucked him into a quiet clear blue sky.

Finally, he added to himself, "right." That was his way of acknowledging that no child was born evil and likely she just had wished for something nice. Except that he didn't know anything about her. Iris past life had been a fleeting moment in comparison to hers, no more than a grain of volcanic ash. Aurora's new family wanted to know more about her, to treat her better. Yet, nothing would've prepared them if she revealed everything. She couldn't, even if her family joined together, it wouldn't be enough power to unleash all the seals within her intricate mind. And there was things Aurora didn't want to unleash for ridiculous consequences would follow.

Luke eyes didn't dodge Aurora's gaze. He was confident that what he did was righteous. To her sister, a darkened skull had left aurora's lips in the form of a mysterious powder.

But to Luke, the only thing that left her lips was a red powder taking the shape of a little girl, and the form shook to the sides, up and down, everything in unison. That's when he understood the image portrayed in front of him, the figure was burning.

Something kicked inside of him. A rage against whoever had hurt such a kid from a young age. He imagined the silhouette being his beloved Iris. The wrath was incalculable.

Nevertheless, her gaze was completely serene, like the eyes of someone who had suffered so much that remembering it no longer mattered. It had happened. And no one had done anything for her. And she hadn't been the only one suffering.

"Just what in the world-" and his voice turned silent as the wagon halted out of a sudden. Quickly, he looked outside, concern covering his face.

"Are we in trouble?" 

His stare returned to find the source of such words. It seemed she was back to her older self, the one he knew that always carried a cold look. He blinked thrice to make sure his eyes weren't lying to him.

"We're not in trouble. They put the horses resting."

"Not new ones?"

His confused expression allowed her to understand that they didn't use fresh horses to keep the wagon going, which would enable the trip to be faster.

"No."

Her familiar mumble returned, clearing any doubts he might have had about her.

"I still need some more mana, for the chess memories."

"Let me recover. We have time," Luke was satisfied that he had gotten his way with her. There was no reason that would make him not help her. After all, he considered her, too, to be his daughter. 

Despite her unknown origins, her new family had tried their best to take care of her. It was not something Luke or Rosaline regretted. On the contrary, they felt blessed to have an additional member living under their roof, and it made them want more children. Luke for once had always wanted a boy, he had never been disappointed with the result, still he kept trying to fulfil his dream. There had been one time, recently even that everything pointed towards Rosaline being pregnant. Still, by some reason, despite the days passing without blood appearing between her legs, at some point, it went back to normal. Together, without telling their children, they figured she had lost a future child.

"Will it be, okay?" An unusual question approached his ears, causing him some disbelief.

"The meeting with the prince?" His eyebrow raised flabbergasted.

"Yes. You went through many hardships to keep Iris a secret."

"I didn't hide it from him nor his closest aides."

"Oh? What makes you think he won't divulge the information?"

"He has a younger sister. I saved her life when no one else could. Not because there weren't capable people in the kingdom..." he lowered his face with a hint of blushing. "But because I just happened to be the only healer nearby."

"A stroke of good fortune," her cold mutter didn't go unnoticed.

"You don't believe in fate?"

The glance she made him was like a hit of a club, painful, and blunt. "I have met a god before," she added finally, words her mouth rather not mention, knowing that her hands would likely commit murder to the man before her, if he ever as much mentioned them in her past world. And she would, without a hint of hesitation. Nonetheless, here was a different place: Artana. Here no one would believe him, much less care about it.

"Then..." despite his incredulous look, he placed his hand in front of her as if inviting Aurora to a dance. "Shouldn't you believe in fate?"

"I believe in the existence of gods. Fate however, if it exists, it is not something they control."

"How can you be so certain?"

On that single moment, for a brief second, he swore in his dead mother that he had seen everything but a girl. For she transformed into a memory of her past, something horrifying, a creature least not expected, not even by gods, much less from feeble and unimportant humans. Its wholeness was pitch black, darker than the night, more profound and treacherously deadly. Its head had a horn, like a curved crescent red moon coming out of it, potentially able to pierce the sky and leave a permanent hole in its place.

It had spikes throughout the arms and the legs. But it's face was the scariest part, its mouth was long like that of a crocodile, big and sharp fangs, capable of gnawing a man's head with one bite and crush it in little pieces.

And then she returned to the form that resembled her sister.

"There are things one should not have to face. Especially so at a young age."

"What?" For once, his voice trembled. And now he started to believe that the girl before him had suffered far more than what he once expected. But somethings didn't make sense. What kind of encounter did she go through? How did she survive such a monster? Everything about it appeared ominous. "What was that?"

"A prison keeper," her eyes closed, potentially remembering the days where iron bars kept her from running away.

"You were a prisoner?"

"A war prisoner," she clarified, eyes opening, returning her gaze to Luke's direction. There was no coldness in it, no pride, no nothing. An unusual emptiness, deprived of emotions. "More than once. Almost my entire life," even now, she cursed to herself. 

His eardrums could feel the dissatisfaction in her tone. 'Must've been-.'

She chuckled, "horrible. I found myself forced to eat human flesh to not die of hunger."

Luke opened his mouth then closed it, astonished, and slightly afraid.

"We got stuck inside a cave, me, a hurt guard, and few prisoners. Someone made the entry collapse. They didn't know we were there," her eyes gazed down at her hand. "I was a mage, could produce drinkable water. Thanks to that, I avoided being a sacrifice."

"How long?" His hands shook, fingers followed by closing.

"An eternity," the back of her head landed on the somewhat soft texture of the carriage inner wall woven by a layer of fabrics. Definitely, not as comfortable as it looked. Still way better than the plain wood behind it.

"Despite all that, you still wish to join the army?" His tone was close to scolding, clearly unable to keep his serenity any longer.

"In my past life, I wasn't just a soldier," never had her tone been this resolute, enough for her eyes to shine, carrying an eerie blue flame within them, burning with a certain pride.

"An officer? A captain?" The titles he mentioned, each carrying a certain number of men underneath them, and having a distinct authority on the battlefield. Commanding 10 for the first and 100 for the latter.

"By royal decree," her hand turned upside down mimicking a spider, leaving the fingers faced to the floor. "The fox empress gave me absolute military control of the entire empire."

His lips moved, his mouth opened showing his teeth, but no smile was shown, nor words came out.

Silence reigned and the carriage resumed its march to the next village.