They hadn't even walked that far yet, but the silence between them was already getting stale and starting to feel like a burden. If they had something to talk about, it would have been better if they had already had their conversation and were done with it.

Especially since the red-eyed of the two men had many other things on his mind, the most pressing of which was his sister. "You said there was something you needed to have a word with me over, wasn't it so?"

He had grown impatient, and even though it was against etiquette to speak first to even a royal, let alone an Imperial Crown Prince, he was too tired, had gone too many hours without an appetite, and was therefore too exhausted to care.

"Right, young duke," the prince finally opened his dry-looking lips, which was hard for him since he hadn't slept for two days himself, "I came to fill you in on the conclusion of the earlier meeting."

"I appreciate your consideration." He had left in the middle of their negotiations to return to his little sister's bedside.

With a nod, the prince simply acknowledged everything that hadn't been said in that regard, believing he understood that he couldn't understand what was going on in the young lord's mind.

"Count Klein has agreed to a two-year contract for now. We will sell silver and salt to Arlen at a reduced market price, even though the market price is expected to rise significantly in the near future," he reiterated, "In return, loyal High Priests of the Arlen Empire will be entrusted with securing areas within the Lodden Empire that have no natural security. As a fair trade of common interests, you may know, it should be regarded as a reasonable transaction with no need for pretenses."

Alan, of course, knew what he was implying, and added a little "hmpf" to the sentiment. He had already dismissed the outrageous idea of marrying his sister into an Empire that took eight days to reach by the fastest breed of horse. But, well, at least now he had confirmation that the discussion was off the table for good.

"Unless the lady wills it, we shall not pursue the matter further, if that gives you peace."

He wanted to raise a skeptical eyebrow at that comment, but for the sake of appearances, he kept his manners together. He had let himself go enough on this trip, he didn't need to add insult to injury. It was as if his sister's uncouth behavior had rubbed off on him.

The young Duke wasn't usually one to reveal much of his feelings or thoughts, protecting himself and his family behind the walls he had built. It was better that way, so that no one would find even a crack through which to attack him, but today he felt as if he had torn not just a small hole, but a whole window into it.

With resignation in his eyes, he sighed audibly. "I am already glad that we have not been accused of aiding terrorism on Lodden grounds." He didn't like to say these words out loud, as they could be incriminating, but he had waited until they were alone in the vicinity before speaking.

As he looked up, he could still see the damage, even though this part of the Imperial Palaces had not been hit by the main attack. They really had concentrated everything they had on that one spot with the members of Arlen's envoy. No, especially him and his sister Rowena.

He involuntarily remembered running the few meters to his sister, carried in the arms of a vile monster with thorny, drake-like wings. Her pure white dress was darkened and crusted with fresh but slowly drying blood. Pieces of her flesh were clinging to the soft fabric, making her chest area look deformed, as if a black hole were gaping in it.

And there had been a hole. He had seen it. It had made him want to throw up even now, when he was merely walking around the perimeter of the palace with the Crown Prince.

Back then, they barely had any time to register anything either, as the water had started to come down on them. First in drops and then all at once.

They barely had time to gather their strength and jump onto the ladder. Sir Sean had to grab one of Rowena's maids, who had been foolish enough to come down herself. Staying in the water hadn't been a good idea either, as a Visitor was burned by salt, but not killed outright.

If they had been in the waves for more than a few seconds, they might have been caught anyway, making all their efforts even more futile. It was clear to him that they hadn't really been in danger the whole time, and yet they had been in danger.

It was annoying. On the one hand, they obviously hadn't tried to murder them, because if they had, they would have had every chance of doing so, because none of the people on the scene had ever seen the kind of power these enemies had wielded. Not even his father, the Grand Duke, had been able to perform such feats as picking up an amount of water as large as the entirety of Lake Iota.

In truth, it had not been the entire lake, but most of it. The surrounding areas were also controlled to prevent the water from flowing back into the dry bed. This wasn't just a puny ability - it was sheer madness.

Yet, had they not done what they wanted from them, they could have still killed them any given moment. Where they safe? Or would they have died? It was frustrating to know absolutely nothing about one's enemy.

"Young Lord Alan?"

Snapping back to reality, the young Duke looked over at the worried looking Prince Lucan. "I must have been lost in thought for a moment. I apologize."

"It is fine, I understand that you have a lot on your mind," Lucan responded understandingly, "I was just saying that we do not wish to find reasons to fight with the Arlen Empire. We were unable to protect guests in the middle of the capital, in the palace no less, so we are in fact the ones hoping to be absolved."

"There was nothing you could have done. They toyed with us. Maybe they wanted the world to take note of them."

"But they didn't give us any clues about who they were or what they wanted. Although I did not see everything with my own eyes, there was nothing conclusive about what the witnesses described."

The "witnesses," all of whom were part of the Arlen Empire, had explained in detail what had happened - except for one aspect, of course. They had not revealed the fact that one of the people involved had made a contract with a Numbered. Instead, since the prince already knew that Rowena had the ability to use Mana, they said that she had helped in the fight and had been badly hurt in the process.

It was not something they could have hidden, as she had needed urgent medical attention. Even Alan had not known what an exclusive contract with a Numbered looked like, so he had been embarrassed. People now knew that she had been able to use Mana, but not to what extent.

So in the end, it was clear that the Lodden Empire was unable to handle the threat of the sudden invaders. But the Arlen Empire was aware of the fact that they had little power in terms of Mana, which was the reason for their delegation in the first place.

At the same time, it was also clear who the main target of the attack had been. Even with Alan in the center, the one most cared about was still someone else: Rowena Dynari van Varnhagen. She was the only one who had been directly addressed as a person from the crowd.

And he would never forget the way the Grade 4 had looked up at her after taking him down that first time. As if he had shown her what he was capable of and waited for her reaction, as if everyone else was just there to serve as fuel to the fire, including him.

But the words the hooded man had spoken still didn't make sense to him. He had spoken to her, but how could he have known about the Numbered that was attached to her? It was impossible to feel a Numbered hiding in its sub-dimension, cut off from the world, when at best it had a mental connection to its human contractor. He knew that because his father had been a Paladin for as long as he had known him, and even with the contract, he wouldn't know anything about the Numbered if he didn't already.

The absurdity of the situation made him fall back into his thoughts until a hand landed on his shoulder. "We're back," Lucan said, his words sounding tired.

When Alan looked up, he realized that they really were back in the corridor where his sister's room was. Had he walked there without saying a word?

"I apologize."

The young man's green eyes turned to him as he shook his head. "I said it was okay."

Instead of seeing that, though, Alan's face turned even paler than it already was. "What is happening?"

His breath hitching, he looked at the open door, while servants were hurrying around aimlessly, until one came up to the pair. "Your Highness, the honored guest has awoken!" she exclaimed after scurrying over and stopping in front of them.

Without saying anything, Alan lightly pushed the maid out of the way and ran past her to the bedroom. Lucan patted her on the shoulder with a grateful nod before running after the other, leaving the maid confused as she watched them dash off.

"Oh my," she said, turning to see a cart being wheeled down the corridor by one of the foreign servants. 'They bring her food? Wasn't she comatose until a short while ago?' She would never understand these foreigners.

She hadn't been aware of the fact that this wasn't normal in the Arlen Empire either.

 

"Three days?" Her mind went blank. 'Pan, why didn't you tell me how long we had been there?'

'I also have no way of telling how much time would pass outside of the mind realm.' In fact, he barely knew how much time passed at any given moment since he couldn't see directly through her eyes.

Now that she thought about it, she had also been asleep as a child. She had passed out right after receiving her new heart, but she had never thought about how long she might have been asleep.

Truthfully, she had not even been able to tell what day it was in the dark room where she had been rotting until she had given in and accepted. She hadn't known that the ceremony affected other people, how nobody was able to move, because there was nobody in sight back then. Of course, no one had told her how long she had been unconscious as well.

That fact made her a little cranky, but at the same time, she didn't expect anything else from them. She put a hand to her chest, still feeling a stinging sensation, and realized that she had her scar back. Although she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

At that moment, a man appeared in her doorway, panting a little despite his physical abilities, showing how much he had let go of his health in the past days. He came in, passed the blond maid, and staggered over to the patient after turning on the light.

The door closed behind him, almost hitting the Crown Prince in the face, who read into it that he should probably wait a bit before making himself known to the lady inside.

There was no expression on Alan's face; she couldn't see any emotion at all. But he was almost as pale as Rowena had seen him the first time. Dark shadows adorned his dull red eyes. What would he say to her after what had happened? It made her nervous that he hadn't said a word.

Instead, he just came closer and put a hand on her head, very gently, almost afraid to touch her, before pulling it away again, as if to test if she was really there, sitting on the mattress. Looking up from her position, she saw his eyes tremble slightly.

For a fraction of a second, her heart stung again, though something different than before, she couldn't really say what it was, but she didn't like seeing her strict brother so confused.

'My brother? Well, I guess that's what he is now, anyway.' For a long moment of indecision, she weighed her options and came to the conclusion that she had nothing left to lose.

Ignoring the muscle ache it caused, she raised her arms fully to wrap them around her brother, burying her face in his side. "I'm sorry," she said, sounding like a child.

Surprised, Alan didn't react at first, just stood there, staring down with his strained eyes, unsure if he had fallen asleep earlier and was dreaming or not.

"It's fine," he said slowly, patting her head with a delicate touch, "I didn't intend to scold you." It hadn't even occurred to him.

He should probably scold her for her recklessness in all aspects, but that wasn't at the forefront of his mind.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," he said again, then sighed in relief as he now had time to look at her, "is it very painful?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"It's fine."

After all, if it was the third day, that meant it was Tuesday, probably late in the evening, from the way it had gotten darker behind the curtains. They were supposed to return two days later, in the early hours of the morning, unless they were prevented from doing so.

If she wasn't fit for a long journey, there was no way they could take her with them. And they wouldn't leave without her. At least her brother wouldn't, and neither would her designated knights.

After he remained silent at her words, her shoulders slumped as she let go of him and looked up again. "You know what caused this injury. The Mana Heart has already healed most of the wounds, I have been treated as well, so there is nothing left to do. My muscles are sore, that's all."

Being broken down and rebuilt wasn't something her body could handle without at least some aftermath. But that was okay, because she knew where it was coming from. In fact, her biggest pain right now was probably her empty stomach, because nutrients were what she needed to get rid of that kind of pain faster.

As Alan sat down, there was a quiet knock at the door. "Yes?" she answered.

Ava came in after Norina reopened the door, taking a quick glance at the misplaced-looking Crown Prince in the hallway outside. When Rowena saw him, her face turned slightly red, it was a good thing that she lacked enough energy for her body to show such healthy colors at the moment.

"Please, come in, Your Highness," she added, as she realized he had likely been there from the beginning.

"Are you sure?"

"I will have to talk to my brother alone afterwards, but I wouldn't want someone of your standing to wait outside," she said, 'like some dog.'

At that word, he entered and sat down on a chair he had pulled from a desk at the side of the room. There were a lot of things she wanted to ask him anyway, and anything that would distract her from the conversation she could expect from her brother was a good thing.

That and the food her maid had brought and was now preparing to place on a table set up on the bed in front of her mistress.