“What makes you think I’d get in that carriage?”

At Rohana’s words, Lazar smirked. His expression had changed.

“Whether or not you get in the carriage hardly matters to me.”

The carriage slid closer, almost touching Rohana.

She frowned quietly as she stared at him.

“Still, I prefer being outside.”

She remembered Heath’s lifeless blackened body. He wasn’t someone to take lightly. Her hand moved to her sword, feeling the cold handle.

“Well, whatever.”

Lazar smiled as if amused, then stepped out of the carriage. The sharp sound of new heels echoed as he did. Without hesitation, the carriage departed as soon as Lazar disembarked.

Lazar, now excessively thin and tall, seemed so natural that she could hardly remember his boyish appearance.

“Didn’t you always like the sea?”

Rohana bit her lip, a chill creeping over her.

She felt disgusted.

The fact that he knew about her past life.

And the way he acted as if he knew everything about her current life, too.

“Who are you?”

“You’re asking that quickly.”

“I haven’t had the chance.”

“I’d like to ask you the same thing,” Lazar said, walking closer to Rohana. His pale face looked genuinely curious.

“Who are you?”

Rohana, still maintaining some distance, repeated the question. It was time for him to answer.

“Who knows, who am I?”

Lazar evaded the question again, his words designed to unsettle. But then, his face turned serious.

“But as I told you before, I’m truly sorry that you had to be the one summoned here.”

Rohana recalled the first time she heard that voice on the day of her possession. The young boy had sincerely apologized to her. Yet, he still needed her.

“Why did it have to be me? There must have been plenty of others who could’ve become Rohana.”

Suddenly, Lazar approached in a flash, placing a finger on her lips. “Shh,” he whispered softly.

As Rohana recoiled in disgust, Lazar pressed her down, speaking first.

“Just now, someone almost overheard.”

“What are you talking about?”

There was no one around. What was he even saying?

“It seems we should change locations.”

Lazar, as if nothing had happened, moved a few steps away, heading toward the pier. Rohana quietly followed.

The open shore was empty except for a few workers. The wind from the sea blew harshly.

While Rohana worried about being spotted, Lazar seemed utterly calm.

“Didn’t you grow up near the sea?”

“I barely remember it,” Rohana lied, not wanting to entertain his words. Lazar, unaffected by her defiance, gazed out at the sea for a moment before turning back to her.

“I really am sorry.”

“Killing me now wouldn’t be very useful, would it?”

He had tried to kill her to spark a war. Jody had been sacrificed in the process, and everything had fallen into chaos.

“Why did it have to be me?”

“I think you’ll understand when the time comes.”

“That vague answer—you don’t annoy the people around you with it?”

Lazar raised his eyebrows and nodded as if her genuine frustration amused him.

“Humans tend not to like me. They usually don’t.”

“Humans…”

Just as Kaiden and Heath had suggested, Lazar wasn’t human. No wonder he could drag people from one world to another.

“What do you want?”

In response to Rohana’s direct question, Lazar answered clearly.

“To change history.”

“The history from the original story I know, right?”

“Exactly.”

Lazar nodded, staring deeply at her.

“It seems I’ve changed everything I could through you.”

“Does that mean you’re going to leave me alone now?”

“I can’t promise that, but probably.”

Rohana felt that continuing this conversation would only irritate her further. She decided to wrap it up.

“So why did you come to see me today?”

At that moment—

Boom!

An explosion sounded in the distance. Smoke billowed into the air, accompanied by a deafening noise.

“I came to prevent that. You didn’t need to die just yet.”

Rohana, stunned, stared at the source of the smoke. In the distance, she saw people reacting—some running away in fear, others rushing toward the chaos.

“There were people targeting you, so I took care of it.”

Rohana stared at Lazar in disbelief.

“The Arin people had planned to kill you, thinking you were siding with the Karks.”

“What?”

“But I didn’t want you to die as an Arin siding with the Karks. That wouldn’t make for a good start to the war. The Arin should always remain enemies of the Karks.”

“So you killed those Arin just now?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re not human, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then stop it.”

Rohana growled in a low voice.

“What?”

Lazar asked, as if he hadn’t heard.

“Stop meddling. Let people live their own lives. Isn’t this all a bit cowardly?”

Lazar stared at her, seemingly in disbelief at the words she was saying to him.

“They can’t manage on their own.”

He said this calmly, then turned and began walking away.

“I came to see you today to prevent that explosion, so I should be going.”

Lazar, at once behaving like an impulsive boy and then shifting to a mature voice, was eerie and unnerving.

“Since I’ve come this far, I might as well tell you this.”

He opened the door of the carriage, which had arrived at the cobblestone pier, and glanced back at Rohana.

“Whenever you move, things keep getting thrown off balance.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he slipped smoothly into the carriage.

“And that really makes me uneasy.”

Leaving those strange, ambiguous words behind—whether sincere or not—Lazar closed the door, and the carriage quickly disappeared from Rohana’s sight.

Rohana stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of the waves.

***

“That was a close call.”

Heath, loosening the mask tightly covering his face, sighed deeply.

It was miraculous that Kaiden had noticed the explosion was coming.

“How did you know?”

“Ever since Lazar started circling around with his nonsense.”

Thanks to Kaiden using magic to lift the bomb into the air, the assassins who appeared to be after Rohana escaped unharmed.

Whether they were from R.D., magic users, or Karks, Kaiden was determined not to let the Arin people die outside of battle. Whether it was to avoid being cornered, or because he still felt a naive obligation to value life, Kaiden was resolute.

However, despite achieving what he intended, his expression was hardened. No one would have wanted to kill them more than he did, but it was clear he was bitter about sparing them.

Heath silently watched the group of Arin people disappear in panic before turning his gaze back to Kaiden.

“I’m not sure what Lazar’s motive was for going out of his way to save Rohana.”

Heath nodded. It was certainly strange. Even on that day in Nopthal, when Lazar took Heath hostage and disappeared with Aurelia, Lazar had acted as if he had known Rohana for a long time.

What was even stranger was that Rohana didn’t seem all that unfamiliar with Lazar either.

“Wasn’t he originally hell-bent on killing her? Didn’t he say he wanted to use her as a catalyst for war?”

“Hmm.”

Kaiden let out a low grunt of agreement to Heath’s remark, loosening his mask slightly and sighing.

“For now, let’s head back.”

“Yeah, we should get back before the lady.”

As Heath watched Kaiden silently mount his horse, he felt conflicted.

How could someone be so devoted to someone as tangled in complexity as she was?

‘It would be easier if he just gave up.’

Life wasn’t easy enough to spend worrying about things like love.

‘If it won’t work, just let it go. It’s simple.’

Kaiden Delcliff’s life was just as harsh, if not harsher, than hers. Heath wondered if that’s why Kaiden didn’t let Aurelia get too close.

Though the two seemed like a perfect match, they resembled each other too much, like they would pull each other deeper into darkness.

But it seemed that wasn’t the case after all. If Kaiden could look like this when in love, Heath could say with certainty:

Kaiden truly loved Rohana Hanover.

Clutching the strange ache in his chest, Heath quickly followed Kaiden, who was disappearing into the distance.

***

“Welcome back.”

Rohana jumped in surprise. Kaiden was sitting in the parlor, wearing only a white shirt.

“You startled me.”

“My apologies.”

Seeing Kaiden smile gently, Rohana unknowingly felt her tension ease.

“Was everything alright?”

Rohana paused as she removed her hat and placed it on the table.

What should she say?

Deciding to start with the reason for her outing, she cleared her throat.

“Aurelia didn’t come to Modin’s Trading Company.”

Kaiden looked slightly surprised, as if he hadn’t expected that.

“She didn’t show up at all?”

“No.”

Rohana slowly sat across from him. The plush velvet sofa, typical of the Imperial Palace, should have been comfortable, but it wasn’t.

“Why didn’t she come? Do you think the timing’s off with the funeral being tomorrow?”

“Who knows.”

Kaiden, who had been sitting upright, leaned back and crossed his legs, lost in thought.

“It is strange.”

“Pardon?”

“She did say she would come.”

Rohana’s violet eyes met Kaiden’s. He lowered his gaze, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Before we set out, Aurelia said a few words to me. It wasn’t much, but…”

“Are you sure?”

“She’ll come. She’s probably just late.”

Kaiden casually replied, taking a sip from his glass. The ice clinked against the amber liquid.

“I see…”

Just as Rohana was about to explain why she heard the song of the Caladrius today and mention the incident with Lazar and the bomb—

Knock knock.

“Yes?”

Rohana answered, and the door opened. It was Heath.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re asking you to participate in a rehearsal for tomorrow’s funeral…”

After greeting Rohana, Heath looked at Kaiden with a somewhat exasperated expression.

“Since when did they need rehearsals for funerals?”

Kaiden asked in a low voice.

“Apparently, it’s customary to hold funeral rehearsals after dark.”

Heath replied, still baffled, as he glanced at the palace guards behind him.

“Well then, I’ll be off.”

Rohana’s face showed growing unease, despite thinking nothing serious could happen. Kaiden smiled faintly at her.

As he passed her, Kaiden stretched out his long fingers and gently stroked her cheek.

“There’s no need to worry.”

“Well, it’s not that I’m really worried…”

Surprised at how transparent her feelings must have been, Rohana instinctively denied it, but Kaiden just continued smiling.

“If you’re tired, rest first.”

As he leaned closer, Rohana tilted her head slightly. Their lips brushed briefly.