Most people, whether they wanted to or not, became acquainted with the concept of death at a young age.

  Tragedy didn't have to be the cause of this enlightenment. It could be something simple, expected, and unavoidable. Like hearing about an incident on the news, noticing the old dy down the street wasn't in her usual spot on the porch, or just understanding that some of the food on your pte came from once-living animals.

  In such cases, it was hard for a child to feel empathetic. After all, they were too young. The thought of their own death hadn't even occurred to them. And as such, they find it hard to truly understand what dying meant—just that it was something that happened.

  But that ended when someone they were close to was taken from them. Then they might truly begin to understand what death was and what it entailed.

  A beloved pet from before they were even born. Or maybe an elderly retive who had been fighting with a chronic illness for more than a decade. Perhaps even a fatal accident that rips a loved one away. There were many common instances where a child would suddenly have to face the reality of death's presence in their life.

  Even minor connections, like having greeted each other a few times every morning, could create enough of a bond for their death to sting.

  'It cuts deeper when you know them.'

  That was what Reivan thought as he stood in a dimly lit underground room with two covered stretchers on the ground, each containing the body of someone he used to know.

  "I'm told you knew them, Your Excellency," the blonde knight who brought the bodies to the room, his dark brown eyes lowered as if avoiding Reivan's gaze. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect them at the time. It's just... I was the only knight aboard our ship—"

  Reivan held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine, Sir. I can tell from your missing arm that you weren't exactly neglecting your duties. How is it, by the way?"

  The knight bowed his head. "I was able to reattach it with the help of a priest, thankfully."

  "Any problems with it?"

  "None whatsoever, Your Excellency."

  "Good, good..." Reivan's gaze then fell to the bodies on the floor. Though covered by a thick white cloth, that did not mask the form underneath completely. “You may go now.”

  The knight turned to the door to leave but stopped, just before passing through the doorway. He then turned to Reivan and spoke, tone hesitant. “Your Excellency, I would suggest not looking at the corpse. They’re… not a pleasant sight.”

  “I can tell,” the prince replied. “But it’s fine. I have a strong stomach, I think. And I know what espers do to weaker enemies.”

  “I see… Then I’m sorry to disturb you.”

  With that, the knight finally left, leaving Reivan alone with the two cadavers. He reached out for one, intending to take the covers off but his hand stalled. Did he have to look at them? Would he be needlessly inflicting trauma on himself if he did?

  But hesitation only cimed his time for a moment. Reivan realized that he couldn’t let their deaths go forgotten and unacknowledged. A single casual flick of his hand and the covers came off, revealing the mutited husks of what was once his companions.

  Aldimir and Alini y there, barely recognizable from the brutality of their execution. Every limb and the entire torso was twisted, as if they had been toys in life and an unruly child took their time to systematically destroy them. The faces he remembered were gone, and only a distorted mound of flesh remained, the damage so severe that even their mothers wouldn’t recognize them.

  The only thing that revealed their identity was the wands mercilessly stabbed through what used to be their eyes. Clearly, the esper had taken morbid pleasure in using a mage’s weapon against them.

  “Dear god…” Reivan muttered under his breath, his brows furrowing as he observed the corpses.

  The sheer extent of the damage done made it hard to even distinguish which of them was Aldimir and which one was Alini. Most of their blood had been squeezed out when they were twisted up, desiccating their remains. Not even their gender-specific parts were spared.

  It was as if the esper had used its psychokinetic powers to make the two as inhuman as possible. Now, they were just vaguely human-shaped flesh with shattered bones sticking out here and there.

  ‘These are definitely their wands.’

  Carefully, Reivan extracted the wands jutting out of their heads, mindful not to do it so fast that the entire head fell apart. A disgusting wet squelch and the scent of iron produced when he pulled out each wand made him grimace, but he thankfully succeeded in taking them without desecrating his friends’ corpses any more than they already were.

  Having been around them for months, Reivan could still recall what theirs had looked like. So he immediately recognized that the wands pierced into what used to be their skulls were theirs.

  Reivan paced around the two cadavers, eventually noticing that part of a spatial ring was sticking out of where their hands used to be. Using a pair of tweezers, he extracted them while trying his best to avoid further damage—which was hard, because their arms had been noticeably twisted more than other parts of their body, making them a lot more fragile.

  ‘Please be someone else…’

  Just because he knew them, didn’t mean that their lives were suddenly more important than everyone else’s. All life is valuable, he knew. But even then, he couldn’t help but wish that it was someone else at this very instant.

  It was a thought that made him feel dirty. Yet even as he thought so, his desire didn't waver.

  Reivan peeked into the ring’s storage space and found pretty damning evidence. In one ring, he found clothes and shoes that he knew Aldimir owned. And the other ring even had a diary with Alini’s name on the cover.

  There was no denying it now—the corpses belonged to Aldimir and Alini.

  He gingerly put the rings and the wands on their chests before leaning against the nearby wall, his gaze rising to the ceiling as he sunk into thought.

  Many people had died in Argonia’s ambush, even when Samsara’s forces managed to avoid the massacre of all their noncombatants. Three Junior-grade knights had fallen in battle, along with a few hundred mages. It was, perhaps, a small amount of casualties considering the scale of the attack. Argonia had unveiled their newest abominations and even invested thousands of espers.

  The mere fact that their side’s deaths didn’t exceed three digits was something to celebrate.

  But this was war, and everybody could die. Even one’s friends and acquaintances. Was Reivan arrogant for believing that he had the blessing of the gods, and all his friends were exempted from grisly fates as well?

  ‘If only I…’

  Regret bloomed as Reivan gred at the ceiling. If only he’d given the two some special treatment, then maybe they would have survived. It wouldn’t have been anything overt either. Just pcing them on a ship with a few more knights or veteran battlemages would have been enough to boost their chances tremendously.

  Instead, Alini, Aldimir, and even Inaria had ended up on a ship full of mages rescued in the operation so they could have a more comfortable ride to Lageton.

  ‘I was careless…’

  There was no such thing as absolute safety out here in Arkhan, so what the hell was Reivan doing when he arranged things for comfort…? Even if he had to stuff everyone into Zouros’ stomach, he should have done it. Would they have compined? Probably. Would they have been alive to compin about it? Absolutely.

  ‘Sometimes, a ruler must do what must be done. Not what is wanted of them.’

  Yet another bit of wisdom from Aizen’s ancient rulers—wisdom that Reivan knew but ignored in this case. A mistake that Argonia mercilessly punished him for.

  Reivan pried his gaze away from the ceiling and walked back over to the corpses. After engraving their appearance into his mind, he telekinetically maniputed the bnkets he’d discarded earlier to cover his friends once again.

  A few moments ter, hurried footsteps could be heard from outside. And soon, Mira Serandina burst into the room, her breathing ragged as sweat-soaked strands of dark brown hair stuck to her soft white skin. For a moment, her eyes met Reivan's before being directed at the covered corpses on the floor.

  “Is that…” she slowly walked forward, gaze never leaving what remained of her friends. “Is that them? Aldim? And Allie?”

  “Yes,” he replied, his voice coming out raspier than he’d intended. “I found spatial rings on them that had their things inside. And I still remember what their wands looked like.”

  Mira bit her lower lip as she knelt down next to one of the corpses and tried to uncover it, but Reivan stopped her just before she did.

  “Don’t. It’s better if you don’t see.”

  “I want to see them.” Mira stubbornly tried to pull her hand away but her meager strength wouldn’t allow it. Eventually, she gave up on prying her own hand away from him, instead gring into his eyes. “Let go. I can handle it. I saw some of the corpses on the way here. I know what to expect.”

  Reivan sighed as he released her, watching as she gradually used her freedom to pull away at the bnket covering Alini’s remains. He watched her tremble, watched tears fall from her face, and watched as she tried to pick up the gnarled flesh that was probably a sweet girl’s arm in the past, only for the entire forearm to come off.

  “Ah…” Mira, hands trembling, dropped the piece of flesh and crushed bone. That seemed to be the st straw, because she bolted up and rushed to the nearest wall, gagging and heaving as her most recent meal was regurgitated.

  He didn’t bme her nor did he think less of her for it. Honestly, if he was a little less experienced with witnessing horrors and gore, then he would have had a simir reaction. All he could do was stand by her side and hold her hair up so she didn’t get any puke on it, rubbing her back from time to time.

  Mira continued even after she’d seemingly emptied her stomach. Dry heaves echoed in the morgue as he rubbed and patted her back, his brain incapable of conceiving any words that would make her feel better.

  When she was done, Reivan took out a handkerchief and wiped off the sweat on her forehead before using it to clean off any residual vomit on her lips. His eyes fell on the way her knees trembled, and his arm reached around her shoulders in case she colpsed.

  “They’re really dead…” Mira’s face turned to him as her quivering gaze met his. “They’re dead…”

  “I’m sorry,” Reivan jaw hardened for a moment before he expined. “It was espers. There were too many. And we were being attacked by new types of homunculi too—these giant bats and sharks the size of a few vilges.”

  He tried to think of more. More reasons why he couldn’t save them. Why he couldn’t bring home a different outcome. But he couldn’t come up with anything more, other than he simply hadn’t been careful enough.

  Mira continued staring into his eyes before her gaze lowered as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. “You… don’t have to sound like you’re making excuses to me. I don’t bme you or the kingdom for this. Just like you said, it’s the espers. It’s Argonia.”

  Despite himself, Reivan found a measure of comfort in her words. A balm to his soul, that. He was gd she understood that he wasn’t some malevolent monster that wished pain and suffering upon every single Arkhanian alive.

  That he was on their side, here. As long as their side wasn’t against Aizen, that is.

  Reivan returned her embrace, his arms unconsciously tightening when hers did too. For moments, they just stood there in each other’s arms, trying to cope with the sense of loss. He y his chin on the crown of her hair, suddenly thinking of something that may or may not raise their spirits.

  “Inaria survived,” he said. “She’s here. We brought her with us, along with a few hundred survivors from Western Arkhan.”

  Mira pushed away from him, robbing him of her soft and fragrant embrace. Her eyes, however, had regained a new light and the hints of a smile even peered out of her face. “Really? How is she?”

  “She’s safe,” Reivan smiled, taking a subtle step back when he realized how it wouldn’t have looked too good if anyone had seen them just now. He was wearing his real face, after all. “A little malnourished. And quite frankly, in need of a good bath. But she’ll live. She’ll recover.”

  “That’s wonderful…” Mira's words trailed off as her face darkened, their gazes meeting in the air once again. “Can I see her? Is that okay?”

  He raised a brow. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Well, I don’t know if the kingdom has pns for her or something…”

  “Ah…” Reivan nodded in understanding, realizing her concerns. Much in the same way that both Arkhan and Aizen had pns for Mira, she was afraid that Inaria would have simir pns around her.

  His reaction just made her expression darken even more. “So there is? Can you tell me? Maybe I can help smooth things along. I promise to keep it a secret… I won’t resist the kingdom at this point!”

  “Alright, settle down, will ya?” He grabbed both her shoulders and shook them a little. “Rex. There aren’t any pns for her… that are in motion, at least.”

  Before the republic went to shit, Reivan did have some schemes of deposing the president and maniputing Inaria to take the presidency. She had given him some of the president’s damning secrets, so they already had leverage on the man to make him quietly step down when the trigger was pulled. And as the beloved president’s daughter, Inaria would have had a solid base of support and reputation to inherit for her budding political career.

  Had his pns to infiltrate the Spirit Tower failed at any point, he would have invested his time into that instead. It would have taken years, maybe even decades of effort before it truly bore fruit. But it was a pn. And it was better than nothing.

  Of course, that pn was promptly deposited into the trash heap when he discovered that Inaria somehow enrolled in the Spirit Tower without his knowledge. Truly, no pns survived the first encounter with the enemy, though in this case, an ally had unknowingly ruined it.

  And if that wasn’t enough already, the fiasco with the Sage King and his pns to become something greater than a Transcendent killed any need to take over the Arkhan through the “republic” side of things.

  In any case, Inaria was now an inconsequential person in the kingdom’s eyes. At most, she was a mildly important person as both the daughter of a former political figure and a battlemage.

  While this sounded bad, it also meant that the kingdom didn’t view Inaria as someone dangerous. And when dealing with a nation known for taking some extremely merciless measures to ensure the safety of its own people, that was a very good thing indeed.

  ‘There’s no need to expin all that to her though.’

  “Hmm…” Mira didn’t look very convinced, but she seemed about ready to let the matter rest. “Alright. Then I’ll go see her ter… What’s going to happen to her from now on, then? Can she just do whatever she wants?”

  “Yes,” Reivan waved his hand noncommittally before realizing that he should probably eborate on what ‘anything’ meant. “As long as it’s not against the ws and common sense.”

  “Can she work for the Tower again? Ah, it’s called the Mage Tower now, right?”

  “That would be the preferred outcome, yes.” He nodded. “Obtaining a spirit bond will no longer be a guarantee, so anyone with a spirit beast already is valued.”

  “Great. Then can you have us work together from now on?”

  Reivan frowned at the btant request for him to abuse his authority, but he didn’t find the request too much, so he nodded again. “I don’t pn to interfere with the Mage Tower too much, but I’ll see what I can do. The squad system will be revamped, but will still remain anyway. It shouldn’t be too hard to tie you two together as a bundle.”

  “Thank you. I guess there really are perks to knowing the head honcho, huh?” Mira’s lips quivered into a grin that quickly disappeared when her gaze accidentally fell on the two corpses in the room.

  “Don’t push it.” Reivan rolled his eyes. Obviously, he didn’t miss the signs of discomfort, so he telekinetically controlled the discarded bnket to cover Alini’s corpse once again. “Let’s get out of here. I technically shouldn’t even be here right now.”

  He didn’t feel like enduring burning agony as his cells morphed today. So instead of using [Reality Falsification], he used an artifact to change his appearance instead. Then, with him leading the way, she followed him out into the corridor filled with doors leading to other morgues.

  Well, they were called morgues but they were really just underground celrs that had once been used to store various goods. Now, they were emptied and repurposed pantries specifically set aside to store bodies during the time when people still dropped like flies because of the heat.

  Said heat was no more, as Reivan and Mira clearly felt when they climbed up to the surface of the city.

  “Did your spirit beast really do all this?” Mira asked from beside him as she looked up, letting snowfkes nd on her cheeks. “Change the weather so drastically, I mean.”

  “Mhm.” Reivan took a deep breath, enjoying the cold air.

  And he wasn’t the only one, because the Arkhanians were out and about, cheering for the slight return to the normalcy they’d come to know.

  Dom couldn’t freely adjust the strength of the blizzard he conjured with his mere presence, so at most, he could only make it into a less intense blizzard. The weather still looked extremely unfriendly. Even winters in Arkhan didn’t get this bad—and people normally didn’t leave their homes back then unless they had something important to do outside.

  Ywt, just about every Arkhanian in Lageton was outside in full force, cheering and basking under the falling snow.

  Because despite it being cold enough to threaten people with hypothermia, the Arkhanians knew the cold. A lot of their culture revolved around it, such as drinking alcohol to warm their insides or compining about the weather as a form of small talk, filling lulls with an inside joke that the entire republic was in on.

  The cold was extremely unfriendly, yes. But it was still a friend that Arkhan's people knew from the cradle to the grave.

  And so, with yers and yers of clothing and even ropes around their waists to stop them from being blown away by the howling winds, the Arkhanians roared and shouted loud enough that even the blizzard didn’t stand a chance.

  Naturally, even as Reivan handled the hanging of the giant bats outside the city earlier, Gwendolyn—that wonderfully capable woman—had been spreading news that the blizzard was heralded by the Hierarch’s spirit beast.

  So from time to time, mixed in with the hollering ughter as madmen old enough to be his father pyed in the snow, one would hear shouts of “All hail the Hierarch!” and “Long live, long live!” from allthroughout the city. No doubt, if he took off his ring and lowered his hood, his silver hair would immediately attract attention and cause the people to flood toward him.

  Even Mira seemed to smile as she tightened her coat around her body and shivered. But that didn’t st too long, her thoughts presumably going back to the death of two people she had spent a lot of time with.

  To break the gloomy mood a little, Reivan nudged her arm as they walked back to the pace. “So, are we gonna talk about that hug or…?”

  Mira raised a brow as her lips quirked into a grin. “What’s there to talk about? It was just a hug between two people who're mourning.”

  “I suppose so. You can’t just go hugging a married man though. That’s quite improper.”

  “Oh, shut up, you womanizer,” she said, her breath coming out as white mist. “Word on the street is you’ve been seducing some red-headed beauty who’s apparently some bigshot merchant queen. Even though you have a perfectly beautiful pregnant wife.”

  Reivan pursed his lips, not really knowing what to say to that. The seducing part was untrue because he and Elsa were way past that stage, but everything else was accurate. He didn’t know who these rumors came from, but they struck pretty close this time. Most rumors just paired him up with some random rich chick with features that seem to change daily, so this was a bit of a shock.

  “If you knew, then why’d you still do it?” he argued testily. “I won’t report you to the authorities if you give me another hug, how about it? It’s cold out too, so there’s a practical aspect to this as well.”

  “Screw off. I know you don’t mind the cold one bit.”

  All the way to the pace, the two of them bickered and exchanged foolish banter. It was, Reivan mused, the only way he could help Mira cope a little more. He couldn’t tell her that it was okay nor could he truly assure her that everything would be fine from now on. So distracting her was the only card in his deck.

  As they were about to part ways, Mira suddenly offered something ludicrous.

  “Hey, do you wanna come over to my room and have some tea or something?” she asked, with a very loaded gaze.

  Reivan’s brows rose and he checked to see if she was trying to entrap him or something. But nobody was around in the hallway. And he still had his disguise on, though the pace guards obviously saw through the illusion without trouble.

  The absence of a trap just made him even more confused though. “Just to have tea?”

  Mira’s eyes narrowed mischievously. “Who knows? I wouldn’t be against something happening.”

  Sensing no lie, Reivan’s confusion rose even higher. “Mira… What the hell brought this on?”

  She smiled, avoiding his gaze and walking toward a nearby window that gave her a beautiful view of the snow-covered city outside. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking while you were gone.”

  “Thinking, huh…” Reivan grinned in mirth as he leaned on the windowsill she was looking out of. “You do that a lot. Surprisingly.”

  “You didn’t have to add that st part,” she muttered resentfully before weakly punching his arm. “But yeah. I’ve been thinking.”

  “And what manner of wisdom has this thinking brought forth, that you invite me to your room for tea or something more.”

  “Well, I’ve realized that we’re not really a good match. Romantically, I mean.”

  Reivan’s smile fell immediately as his brows slowly creased. “Care to eborate…?”

  “You know how I am, right?” she smiled sheepishly, prodding the tip of her nose. “I take every chance I get to ze around.”

  He nodded.

  “And you might think otherwise, but I’m pretty weak of heart. I don’t like violence and all that. I don’t like watching friends die or put themselves in danger.”

  “I don’t think anyone does.”

  “Fair.” Mira chuckled. “And regarding all this battlemage business, all I really wanted was to work at it and save enough money for a cozier retirement. Maybe expand my family’s businesses and leave all the work to employees and trusted managers, profiting passively. I never really pnned to stick around for too long because I knew I wasn’t cut out for it, and that thought just kept getting clearer over my short time at the Tower.”

  Silence hung between them for a moment as the tips of her right hand touched the window gss.

  “I want a quiet life. A normal life,” Mira breathed out. “I want to be able to sleep in whenever I please and have nobody suffer for it with their life. I want to eat good food without thinking about all the people who are going hungry right outside my door. And I don’t want to have to be concerned for my husband’s life whenever I can’t see him.”

  Reivan, realizing where she was going with this, sighed. “And that’s not the kind of life you’ll have with me, huh?”

  Mira had a pained expression on her face as she nodded. “Your life is going to be exciting, Prince Reivan. Too exciting for me. You have a spirit beast who can literally change the weather. Another one that can eat people alive, stopping time for everything inside its stomach before spitting them back out as if nothing happened. You participate in schemes and pns that affect tens of millions of lives. You… You’re extremely, ridiculously, and exaggeratedly attractive too. Like you’re seriously crazy hot. So hot that I’ll worry about you being stolen away when you’re not in sight.”

  Exasperated, she ughed before pcing her palm on her forehead. “There’s nothing normal about you. The life I want for myself and the exciting life you will undoubtedly lead are just pin opposites. And no matter how we try to py things out, I will get involved in the ridiculous things you get up to if we ever… you know.”

  Reivan hummed in agreement. “It’s unavoidable.”

  “Right...?” Mira giggled sheepishly before biting her lip. “I’m really sorry. But… I’m just not cut out for that kind of thing. It’s too much for me. I don’t think we’re… a good match.”

  They said nothing, for a while. But their words echoed in the silence. Reivan considered her words and her standpoints while she waited with bated breath.

  A moment ter, however, Reivan looked her in the eye and nodded. “I understand.”

  “Does that mean…?” she hesitantly asked for confirmation.

  “It means I’ve noted your thoughts and will respect your wishes.”

  Whether she was happy or sad, Reivan couldn't tell. But she peered into his eyes with her own. “Are you sure? I won't give you another chance, you know?”

  Reivan nodded. “I don’t want to make you feel like I’m forcing myself on you.”

  With who he was and the authority that he could wield, it was very easy for people to think that they didn’t have a choice except to follow whatever Reivan wanted. From a young age, he'd been asked to be careful of that.

  And anyway, even if he wasn’t a prince or the ruler of a budding nation, he would still silence his own desires and respect her intentions.

  “I see…” Mira turned away to look back out into the city, her face reflected on the window’s gss. There was relief there. But something else was mixed in too. “I see. Thank you for your understanding.”

  "You're still not completely set free. You know that, right? You have a very important spirit beast. And you know things you're not allowed to know."

  She nodded. "I get it. I never pnned to run away anyway. Remember? I still have to work so I can save up for a cozy retirement."

  Reivan forced a chuckle. “Right. So even if romance isn’t in the cards, you still work for the state. Until you save up for a cozy retirement, that is.”

  “Exactly.” Mira smiled as she curtsied theatrically. “I will endeavor to be of service to your cause, Your Excellency.”

  They ughed like friends before Reivan extended a hand, and she took it.

  Suddenly, Reivan remembered something. “Wait. If you wanted to preemptively dump me, then why did you invite me to your room…? Isn’t that a contradiction?”

  For once, Mira actually looked embarrassed. She cmmed up and turned her face away, the corners of her ears starting to redden. “Well, I said that we’re not a good match, but I do like you.”

  “Oh.” Reivan jaw sckened for a moment, shocked at the blunt revetion. He didn't expect her to just come out and... say it like that. Especially after everything they talked about in the past few minutes.

  “So I thought…” Mira’s voice slowly lost volume as she shrunk into herself. “It wouldn’t be too bad to make some memories, no strings attached. You know, to look back on before we really cut things off.”

  “Mira, that’s a bit…”

  “I-I know, okay?” she bristled, her cheeks burning crimson now. “I don’t know what came over me either!”

  “And you gave me this whole speech some time ago about saving yourself for your husband too.”

  Mira clenched her teeth and looked at him indignantly. “Do you agree or not? Answer the question already.”

  Honestly, Reivan considered it for a good moment. Mira was definitely a looker, and her overall personality could use some work but she was a good person deep down. He was a man too—the possibility of having his way with such a woman, no strings attached, was obviously very tempting.

  But tempting was all it was.

  “No. Let’s not.” Reivan shook his head and turned away from her and the window. “Save it for the lucky bastard you’re marrying.”

  “Wha—!” Mira was left shocked, but she ran up to chase after him, falling a step beside him. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  She stared at him for a while, and must not have seen any doubt in his profile because she eventually nodded. “Okay. You’re a better guy than I thought.”

  Reivan’s brows furrowed. “Wait. Was that some kind of test? You know I can have you hanged for this, right…?”

  “It wasn’t a test,” she snapped. “I would have been willing to go all the way if you wanted.”

  “Merciful god,” Reivan sighed and joined his hands in prayer. “Please save the future generations. They’re too full of lust.”

  Mira punched him on the shoulder. And suddenly, she jumped up to pnt a kiss on his cheek. “There. A reward for being a gentleman! Anyway, I’ll see you around!”

  Before he could retort, she was already running off.

  “That rat…” Reivan muttered with a grin as he reached up to touch the spot her lips touched. With his reaction time, he could have easily stopped her. But he’d just let it happen anyway.

  Because why not?

  ‘I guess it wasn’t meant to be, huh?’

  Reivan thought back to her words and realized, once again, that real life was unlike the stories he so frequently read.

  He wasn’t always going to get all the girls, no matter how close he got to them at some point. They had their own goals, aspirations, and desires. Their own different ways of how they wanted to live their lives.

  And if even one wasn’t compatible with his, then it wasn’t going to work out.

  ‘Sometimes, we just lose...’

  With that proverb echoing in his head, he trudged the halls of his own pace for a while, not knowing where he truly wanted to go.

  AnnouncementChapter Word Count: 5294Last Edited: March 19, 2025Lire