Yusha’s fingers twitched before his eyes slowly fluttered open.

For a brief moment, his vision was blurred, the world around him reduced to vague shapes, before everything gradually came into focus.

Ren was seated on a chair beside the bed, leaning back in exhaustion. The instant he noticed the movement, he shot to his feet and hurried to Yusha’s side.

"Are you alright?!" he asked urgently. "You fainted all of a sudden... You scared me."

Yusha stared at him, lips parted, as if searching for the strength to speak. When he finally did, his voice was barely more than a whisper.

"S-Save me, Ren."

Ren’s heart sank upon hearing his words. He nodded at once, gently patting his friend’s back in reassurance.

"Yes. Of course," he said softly. "I will do everything I can to help you. But first... You need to tell me what happened after you left the palace. Only then can I help you."

"What happened..." Yusha lowered his head, shame weighing heavily on his shoulders. "I should have listened to you. I should have stayed with you."

Ren remained silent. He could already sense who this was about. Count Liam’s name lingered unspoken between them, too heavy to be uttered.

"...He brought me with him so the dragon could harm my baby," Yusha continued, his voice trembling. "He hoped that if I were attacked, the child would die with me."

His gaze stayed fixed on the floor as the words left his mouth.

Slowly, Ren reached out and took Yusha’s hand, gripping it firmly—anchoring him, lending him the strength to go on. What a terrible thing it must have been to endure.

As someone who had lost a child himself, Ren understood that pain all too well. Sometimes, the mere thought of losing one was enough to shatter an omega’s heart.

"I... I somehow managed to escape," Yusha said. "Then I—"

He stopped midway, clenching his jaw.

Did it matter? Should he mention the man he had met afterward?

His gaze flickered upward. Ren was watching him closely, worry clearly showing across his face.

Yusha bit his lip.

No.

He couldn’t say it. It was humiliating enough that the alpha who had impregnated him wanted his own blood dead—he couldn’t bear to confess that another man had tried to violate him after that.

"Then what happened?" Ren asked, impatience slipping into his voice.

Yusha wasn’t the type to hesitate like this. Something else had happened—something he wasn’t ready to say.

But what was it?

Ren could only wonder.

"Then... then I went to the palace to look for you. But the guards told me you weren’t there. So—"

"So you came here as soon as you could," Ren finished for him.

Yusha nodded, exhaling deeply. It wasn’t easy to speak—not when every word dragged him back into the hell he had endured. Still, Ren needed to know if he was to help him.

"That bastard," Ren ground out through clenched teeth.

Yusha blinked, staring at his friend. He had never heard Ren curse before.

"What?" Ren scoffed. "He tried to harm you and your unborn child. Did you think I would speak of him respectfully?"

Yusha didn’t answer, but he could see traces of the General in Ren now. It was as if, for a moment, he had been possessed by Zayden—the man who spoke bluntly, without concern for politeness. Ren was never like this.

Yet... it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

Ren was voicing the curses Yusha had never dared to utter himself. After all, despite being a slave, he had never truly been taught how to speak—only how to listen.

At the slave market, the guards spoke with exaggerated elegance, their manners pristine, their words polished like the cleanest boots on a snow-covered street. They looked flawless, almost as if they were noble.

But it was only a disguise—one meant to conceal their reality beneath, their cruel and horrific nature.

"No, of course not..." Yusha exhaled.

"For now, stay here," Ren said, gently patting his back once more. "You will be safe under General Zayden’s care. He wouldn’t dare go against him."

Yusha swallowed hard. Was that really true? Was he truly safe here?

After everything that had happened, no place felt secure enough to let his guard down. There was a constant blade hanging above his neck, poised as if it could fall at any moment and sever his head from his body without warning.

"I haven’t told you the most important thing yet."

Ren raised an eyebrow, curiosity flickering across his face. There was more? It had barely been a week or two since they parted ways, and yet so much had already happened to his friend.

"Yes? What is it? I am listening."

"I..." Yusha hesitated. How was he supposed to admit that he had caused a fire—without explaining what led to it? The agony, the pain, the rage that had swallowed him whole in that moment?

"Yes?" Ren prompted gently.

"I somehow managed to create fire..."

Ren tilted his head to the side, confusion evident.

"How could that be? I thought you didn’t have any powers."

Yusha looked away, shame creeping into his expression.

"Well... I never told you, but—" He swallowed. "I am an elf."

"What?!" Ren gasped.

"Yes... Although that’s another story. My ears were cut," Yusha said, rubbing the tips of his ears. They looked no different from human’s now.

"B-But how? Why?"

Yusha let out a mocking laugh—not at Ren, but at himself.

"They used to say a low-life man didn’t deserve to share the Empress’s features."

Ren’s heart sank. Just because he was a slave? And because the Empress was an elf, no one of lower status was allowed to bear the same physical traits?

Horrible.

"I never knew Revhara held such a disgusting belief," Ren murmured, the words pressed beneath his breath as he struggled to rein in his fury. "It’s... vile."

"I don’t know about that," Yusha replied quietly. "But that’s all there is to it. I was never trained to use magic. Still, a few days ago—before I came to look for you—I managed to create fire. With magic." He swallowed. "It extinguished on its own."

Ren stared at him for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

"...That means you’re an elf," he said slowly. "And not just any elf. Fire-elemental."