After a long while of laying there in silence, I finally let out a tired sigh.

"I want to sleep."

Lillith immediately looked toward me.

After a brief pause, I slowly turned my head toward her with complete exhaustion.

"...You’re not going do the same thing as last night, right?"

Lillith responded with an innocent smile.

That somehow answered the question perfectly.

I rubbed my face tiredly.

"...Could you at least leave for a little while while I sleep?"

"No."

The answer came instantly.

I stared at her blankly.

"...You didn’t even think about it."

"I did."

"And?"

"No."

I genuinely didn’t understand how someone could say no with such confidence.

Then suddenly another idea came to mind.

"...I need use the toilet."

I slowly got up from the bed before beginning walk toward the door.

But the moment I reached it—

Lillith grabbed my hand.

"I’ll come with you."

I immediately froze.

"You absolutely cannot come with me."

Lillith tilted her head slightly.

"...Why?"

"Because it’s the toilet!"

The moment my face started heating up slightly, Lillith smiled happily.

"You’re so cute when embarrassed."

"That’s not the issue here!"

After several painful minutes of arguing, I finally managed negotiating a compromise. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"...Can you at least wait outside?"

Lillith crossed her arms slightly before sighing dramatically.

"...Fine."

Then after a pause she added:

"I’m such a kind wife."

I decided ignoring that statement was healthier for my mental stability.

Eventually I entered the bathroom alone while Lillith remained outside humming softly to herself.

The moment the door closed behind me—

I immediately started searching the room.

Then finally—

A window.

I stared at it for several seconds.

Then slowly smiled.

Carefully, I climbed through the opening while trying remain quiet.

Outside, cold night air brushed against my face.

Freedom.

Actual freedom.

Meanwhile I could still faintly hear Lillith humming happily somewhere on the other side of the bathroom door completely unaware.

I quietly dropped down onto the ground outside the manor.

Alright.

New plan.

Circle around toward the front entrance and find one of the isolated guest rooms somewhere within the manor.

Preferably very far away from Lillith.

I quickly moved around the outer wall of the building.

Then turned the corner—

And froze.

A man wearing a dark cloak stood directly ahead of me.

Watching me silently.

My entire body stiffened.

The man smiled faintly beneath the hood.

"...Thank you."

My stomach dropped.

"You made this much easier."

I immediately turned around to run.

Too slow.

Another figure suddenly emerged from the darkness and slammed into me from behind.

I hit the ground hard before someone pinned me down completely.

A cloth was suddenly pressed tightly over my mouth.

A strange smell filled my senses instantly.

Panic surged through me as I struggled violently.

The cloaked man calmly crouched beside me while my vision slowly began blurring.

"...Careful," another voice muttered nearby. "I can feel traces of mana on him."

A third figure suddenly dropped down from the trees above us.

"Remove it."

The man restraining me flipped me onto my front before sliding one hand beneath my shirt.

Purple mana immediately began flowing outward from my chest.

It condensed and moved unnaturally around the man’s hand as if it tried to go back into me.

Then—

He crushed it.

And the instant he did—

A sound echoed through the manor behind us.

Not a crash.

Not an explosion.

Something worse.

The sound of immense force ripping through solid structure itself.

Every single cloaked figure froze instantly.

Then from somewhere inside the manor—

Another sound followed.

Heavy.

Fast.

Violent.

The men looked toward the building.

"...Run."

Without another word, they grabbed me and immediately vanished into the forest.

—————

Consciousness returned slowly.

The first thing I noticed was movement.

The second—

Pain.

Every part of my body ached as I slowly opened my eyes.

Dark wooden boards surrounded me from all sides while the constant rattling of wheels echoed beneath me.

A wagon.

I tried moving—

And chains immediately rattled loudly.

My wrists and ankles had been bound tightly while a heavy chain connected me directly to the wagon floor near the rear behind several large crates.

A gag still covered my mouth.

My breathing quickened slightly as I looked downward.

And froze.

My prosthetic leg was gone.

Everything below my left knee was missing again.

For several long seconds, I simply sat there silently listening to the wagon move.

There wasn’t much else I could do.

Hours passed slowly.

Eventually the sounds around us faded until only the wagon itself remained audible.

No voices.

No nearby travelers.

Nothing.

I leaned my head back against the wooden wall tiredly.

Then suddenly—

The crates beside me shifted aside.

One of the cloaked men crouched down beside me.

"Well," he muttered, "finally awake."

I glared at him silently.

He smirked slightly.

"We’ve still got a long way before reaching our destination."

The man pointed lazily toward the outside.

"And before you try anything stupid, screaming won’t help. We’re deep in the middle of nowhere."

He reached forward before pulling the gag from my mouth.

Fresh air hit my lungs immediately.

Then he cut the ropes around my arms while leaving the chains attached.

A bowl of soup and a piece of bread slid across the floor toward me.

"I’ll be back in ten minutes," the man said while standing again. "Don’t really care whether you finish eating or not."

Then he disappeared outside again.

I listened quietly afterward.

Two voices spoke somewhere near the front of the wagon.

"...Seriously though, who the hell was that woman?"

Another voice answered nervously.

"We thought she was just some obsessed noble girl following him around."

There was a brief silence.

Then the second man continued:

"Rick had stay behind so we could escape."

My eyes narrowed slightly.

That was probably the third man from the forest.

"...You think he got away?"

The other man laughed nervously.

"After what we saw? Not a chance."

Even chained inside the wagon, I almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

Because if Lillith had caught him—

There were probably fates worse than death currently happening.

Ten minutes later, the same man returned and tied my arms again before reattaching everything securely.

The journey continued afterward.

One day passed.

Then another.

Then another.

Eventually, after roughly three days, the constant forest sounds began fading.

In their place—

Voices.

Crowds.

A city.

Then came the sound of massive gates slowly opening.

The wagon rolled forward briefly before stopping abruptly.

The crates shifted aside again.

One of the men crouched down before unlocking the chain connected to the floor.

The moment I tried moving—

WHAM.

A fist slammed directly into my face.

Darkness consumed everything instantly.

...

...

...

Cold water dripped somewhere nearby.

That was the first thing I heard when I woke again.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Dark stone walls surrounded me.

The air felt damp.

Heavy.

Chains restrained both my arms against the wall behind me while filthy water covered portions of the dungeon floor beneath my feet.

I looked downward again.

Still no prosthetic.

Great.

Then suddenly—

Footsteps echoed through the hallway outside.

Slow.

Calm.

Deliberate.

A figure eventually emerged from the darkness.

A young man.

Probably around Alex’s age.

Tall and lean with sharp features and dark brown hair slicked neatly backward. Thin burn scars stretched faintly across one side of his neck disappearing beneath the collar of his dark military coat.

His eyes immediately stood out most.

Cold gray.

Emotionless.

Something about him felt strangely familiar.

But I couldn’t place why.

The man stopped directly in front of me before calmly speaking.

"Tell me about the smoke weapons."

I frowned slightly.

"...What?"

His expression didn’t change.

"The things you used kill my father."

My blood ran cold.

The battlefield.

The mage.

The rifle shot.

Suddenly the resemblance clicked into place.

The eyes.

The scars.

The expression.

This man resembled the mage I killed.

Just younger.

The man calmly continued.

"My name is Kael Veydrin of the Kingdom of Magneto."

He slowly folded his hands behind his back.

"The Veydrin territory was passed down to me following my father’s death."

So this really was his son.

I stared at him silently before finally speaking.

"...Why not just kill me?"

Kael looked almost amused by the question.

"Because before you murdered my father, I was merely the son of a declining territory."

His expression remained perfectly calm.

"Now I am its lord."

A long silence followed.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

"But I also want the weapon that killed him."

Of course he did.

I leaned my head back against the wall slightly.

"...It takes months to make them."

"That’s acceptable."

"You don’t understand how difficult they are produce."

"You’ll have plenty of time explain."

The way he said it made my stomach tighten.

Then calmly—

Almost politely—

Kael stepped closer.

"You will be staying here for the foreseeable future."

I immediately shook my head.

"No."

For the first time, a faint smile crossed his face.

"...I wonder how long that resolve will last."

Then he turned away toward the dungeon hallway.

"I’ll return tomorrow."

His footsteps slowly faded into the darkness.

And once again—

I was left completely alone.