Silence ruled in the hall, as Vestia stared at Alnea, waiting for his answer. Yet, all she got was silence. A loud silence, that kept ringing in her ears, forcing the mist in her eyes to blur her vision. In a sense, she had already received her answer. After a few moments, just when she was about to get up and leave, Alnea finally broke the silence, while looking at her with a solemn face.

  “Before I answer you, can I ask you a question?” Alnea said in a solemn voice, and continued only when he received a slow nod in response. “What do you think of me, Vestia?”

  “…What?”

  “What do you think of me as. A colleague? Your Captain? A friend? Or just a way to get rid of your fate?”

  “…Do I have to answer that question?”

  “It would help me in making my decision.”

  “…Do you want me to say it here?”

  “Don’t worry. They have my absolute trust. And if you want my answer, then you must trust them too. As for the others… Yuri?”

  “Leave it to me,” Yuri said, and closed her eyes, murmuring something under her breath. Moments later, a bluish white ripple spread out with her as the centre, forming silverish white dome, large enough to cover all four of them, which soon lost its silverish white lustre, camouflaging with the air around it. And if not for the frequent flickers in air near edge of the dome, it might truly have become invisible.

  Opening her eyes, Yuri glanced at Vestia, before turning back towards Alnea, and said, “That should keep all the prying ears away.”

  “Is that enough, Vestia?”

  “…Enough,” Vestia said, and took a deep breath, closing her eyes to organise her thoughts. When she opened her eyes a few moments later, and looked towards Alnea, there was a fierce light shining in her eyes, bursting with resolve and determination.

  “You know the reason why I came to the Lost City. A part of it was to run away from my clan, and a part of it was to find a way to escape my fate. The Lost City has always been known as the gathering place of geniuses. False Wanderers from all over the Tes Domain, especially the Lightning Region of the Tes Domain, come here to challenge their limits. Of all the places I could escape to, this was the largest gathering of my peers. I figured that if I were to ever find a reliable partner for myself, then it must be from here.

  “Or at least that is what I thought. Things did not go exactly according to my plan though. Let alone a reliable partner, I could not even find a partner. The people here… They were not exactly keen on teaming up with me. And those who did, were aiming for something else entirely. Such people, no matter how much of a genius they were, could not meet my expectations.

  “After spending a couple of months in the Lost City, I was even beginning to wonder if I had made a mistake by coming here. It was only when I met you that I began to think otherwise. From the first time that I saw you, I knew that there was something special about you. And you did not disappoint my expectations. Be it through your battles in the Arena, or the results of your Martial Style Trials, you showed how exceptional you were. It was your continuous challenge of the Trials of the Warrior Hall though, that made me see my hope in you.

  “From the way you three were behaving, it was obvious that you three knew nothing about the city, or how to deal with other Wanderers, and that you were here to make up for your shortcomings. We had this talk back then too. It is just that, back then, I made it seem as if I was trying to get closer to you to recruit you for my clan, when in fact, I wanted to use you to get rid of my fate.”

  “Wait a moment,” Cecilia said, drawing everyone’s attention to herself. “What do you mean by getting rid of your fate?”

  “…It means exactly as it sounds. Like I said, I knew from the way you were behaving that you were brought to the city by an elder to temper you. And from how you, an heiress of the Serpia clan, was in a completely different district than the rest of your clan, it was evident that this elder either must have sufficient status in your clan, or must have enough strength to ignore all the voices in your clan and let you explore the Lost City on your own.

  “Of course, I could have been wrong. Maybe you were just lost. Or maybe you just ran out from your clan. But with Alnea and Yuri, who clearly do not seem related to the Serpia clan, accompanying you, the chances of my second guess being true were significantly higher. Coupled with how the Lotus clan seemed to be targeting Alnea more than you two, I was almost certain of my guess.

  “The elder behind you was not from your clan, and probably had the strength of a Grand Wanderer. And they must not be just any Grand Wanderer, but a Grand Wanderer with considerable status. Enough for your clan to trust them with their heiress. At the same time, the elder attached great importance to Alnea. If I could somehow gain his trust, and then, in turn, his help… I did not need them to fight against my clan. As long as they could ensure my freedom, that was enough… Or so I thought…”

  “So, you have been deceiving us all along?” Cecilia said, almost in a snarl, before letting out a low laugh. “Once a vixen, always a vixen. I knew I should have listened to my instincts back then, and not let you join our team. But it’s fine. You want the elder behind us to help you? Too bad. Even if you stay in the team, she will never help you. She—

  “That’s enough, Lia,” Alnea said, putting a hand on Cecilia’s shoulder, forcing her back to her seat. “I already knew what she is talking about. She told me about it herself… Just a month after we got together as a team. A couple of days after returned from the Black Desert.”

  “The why—

  “Why did I let her stay in the team? It is because I trust her. Just as she trusted me. Although she may have joined our team to use us in getting rid of her fate, she stayed even after knowing that I would not be of much help. She stayed, because she wanted to be with us. And she had already shown me her greatest sincerity. Why should I have gotten rid of her then?”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “But…”

  “Besides, do you really want me to kick her out of the team? Do you think that we cannot see how well you regard her as? Out of us all, your understanding with her is second only to mine. Do you really want me to get rid of your friend?”

  “Friend? You think she is my friend? Don’t joke with me!”

  “…Then why are you clenching your fists so hard that your nails are digging into your palms? Why are you getting so angry?”

  “…That’s because she deceived us!”

  “Us, or you?”

  “…Stop confusing me!”

  “…I know that you are hurt that she did not tell you anything about her circumstances, but you can sort out your grievances with her later. Let her continue for now.”

  “You…”

  “…You can continue, Vestia.”

  “…I am sorry,” Vestia whispered to Cecilia, before continuing with where she had left off. “After I joined the team, everyone welcomed me without any reservations. Especially you, Alnea. Even when you knew that I had ulterior motives, you did not discriminate against me. And you trusted your life with me… Ever since I was first informed of my fate, that was the first time I had felt a purpose in my life.

  “That was a strange feeling to me… Being trusted with someone’s life… A feeling, that ignited a fire within my Heart. If before that day in the desert, my aim was only to get rid of my fate, then after that day, I also wanted to have people who could trust me with their lives… people whom I could trust my life with. That was the reason I confessed to you as soon as I got a chance after returning from the desert.

  “So, if you ask me what I think of you, then my answer is that I think of you as person whom I could trust my life with. Sure, at first, I just wanted to use you to get rid of my fate. But now, I think of you as a friend I can trust. If you want, you can be my colleague, my Captain, or even just a simple friend, it will make no difference. I will always be happy to be someone whom you can trust your life with.”

  “…I understand,” Alnea said, closing his eyes with a sigh. When he opened them again a few minutes later, all the solemness from his face was gone, replaced a gentle smile, teeming with apology and guilt.

  “I always thought that you wanted me to just help you get rid of your fate, so I inadvertently began keeping my distance from you. I did not even notice it until you pointed it out… No wonder you have been feeling so alienated. I am sorry for making you feel wronged all this time, Vestia.”

  “…I do not want your apology,” Vestia said after a moment of silence. “Now that I have given you my answer, it is time for you to give me yours. What do you think of me as, Alnea?”

  “…I don’t know,” Alnea said after a moment of silence. “I seriously do not know what to think of you. At first, I thought of you as just a teammate. A capable teammate, whom I can trust to help me manage our team. Then as time passed by, I began thinking of you as a friend. And after you told me secret, I began considering all sorts of ways to help you, even thinking about how I can trick my master into helping us.

  “Yet, as all that happened, the thought that one day, after I helped you break away from your fate, you might leave me, kept hovering at the back of my mind. That is probably the reason why I inadvertently began keeping my distance from you. I had no intention of hurting you. And I have always treated you as a friend. It is just that because of certain reasons, you were never really as close to my Heart as Yuri and Cecilia. Naturally, there will be differences in how I treat them and how I treat you.

  “But now, it seems that everything was a misunderstanding. I never truly understood your intention behind sharing your secret with me. And you never thought about making yourself clear either. Of course, I know that I cannot use just a ‘misunderstanding’ as an excuse to explain the way I treated you. Still, you should at least understand why I never opened up to you.”

  “…Is that your answer?” Vestia said, absorbing everything he said with absolute calmness, as if nothing he said could faze her. Unfortunately for her, her quivering voice, and the dimming light in her eyes, being obscured by the mist welling up around their edges, betrayed her.

  “…Why are you so anxious?” Alnea said, raising the edges of his lips. “You took so long to answer my question. I should be allowed to take at least half the time, right?”

  “…Stop teasing her, or Cecilia might not be able to keep herself from beating you.”

  “Ahem,” Alnea exclaimed, faking a cough. “As to how I see you, I cannot give you an answer right now. Because even I am not sure exactly how I see you. What I can tell you though, is that if you can trust your life with me, I can trust my life with you. And that no matter what happens, my Heart will always have a place for you.”

  “…Are you serious?” Vestia said, with light finally returning to her eyes. “Because if—

  “I am always serious… Or mostly… Stop snickering, you two. Forget it. You just need to know that I am absolutely serious right now. It is just that you need to promise me something.”

  “…What is it?”

  “That you cannot abandon me. Because once you enter my Heart, I will never let you leave.”

  “…That’s fine with me. I have no desire of leaving you either, or I would not have asked you to make those promises. But you know what I am running from. I am afraid that when time comes, things will not be up to me to decide…”

  “You do not have to worry about your fate. Of the things that we have to fight against, your fate may be the easiest to handle.”

  “…You are talking about one of the strongest Grand clans here.”

  “I know.”

  “My clan has connections all over the world.”

  “I know.”

  “And you are going to do it without the help of your… master?”

  “That’s right.”

  “…Just give up,” Yuri said from the side. “When he gets this stubborn, there is nothing we can do to change his mind.”

  “…So, can I say that I made the right bet by giving up using you to fight against my fate?”

  “…That’s the Vestia I know,” Alnea said, giggling at Vestia’s hesitant smile. “Always so clever with her words.”

  “…You are not acting like the Alnea I know though,” Vestia said, laughing a bit more naturally, losing all the air of depression around her, bringing smile to everyone’s face in the room. Except for Cecilia, of course. But that was a matter between the girls. He was not stupid enough to meddle in between them.

  “Then let me introduce myself once again,” Alnea said, stretching out his right hand towards Vestia. “I am Alnea Oathkeeper. And I would like to trust you with my life, if you can trust me with yours.”

  Vestia stared at Alnea in a daze for a few moments, coming back to her senses only when she felt the touch of his hand on hers.

  “How is it? Does it sound like a good deal?”

  “…I think I am losing out a little. After all, I also have to make a promise. But since it is you who is making the offer…” Vestia said, trailing off towards the end, as a bright smile began blooming on her face. “Very well then. I promise to never abandon you, Alnea Oathkeeper. And to never leave your Heart.”

  “Then I promise to trust you with my life, Vestia Weina. And to never let you leave my Heart.”

  “And I promise to trust you with mine,” Vestia said. To herself, she added, “And to never let you leave my Heart.”