This chapter is brought to you by GASSHOW by Illion.

Edited by: bafflinghaze

---

Laurel had been an ordinary lady living in an ordinary countryside villa when Bryn found her on the side of the road doing ordinary things ordinary ladies from ordinary countryside villas tended to do when they were not busy with doing other ordinary lady things.

(She was, in fact, hands deep inside the stomach of a dead raccoon in the middle of the woods, but that wasn't important to the story.)

Bryn was a nomadic healer.

Some would call them a miracle worker, a sage of no renown, and a fable of the common man.

Bryn was the closest thing to a parental figure in Laurel's life, and Bryn chose Laurel for Laurel's potential.

So the story went like this:

An ordinary lady from an ordinary countryside villa followed a wandering traveler out into the great big world, and in doing so, her life was changed forever.

The life of a wandering healer was not for the faint of heart, Laurel found out, as she was covered head to toe in human bodily fluids while acting as Bryn's assistant in some backwater village made up of the sick and injured.

Marks of strife still remained from the Major Krieg War, and its many survivors were scattered across the empire, touched by scars, injuries, illnesses, and hunger.

It was through their suffering that Laurel learned under Bryn's teachings.

In the beginning, Laurel only knew how to clean wounds.

She saw many different injuries throughout her journey, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They were fascinating but equally grotesque.

Gaping red and fleshy lacerations, ugly infected sores bigger than her head, burns that penetrated into the muscle with bubbling fat around the edges, holes that were deep enough to see bone, and lots and lots of piss, pus, and poo.

Before Bryn could treat them, it was her job to pour water and alcohol over the wounds. She watched as the patients screamed in pain, biting down on a cloth or handkerchief whilst being restrained, all while Bryn worked on them without batting an eye.

"Put to sleep... better. But no anesthesia."

Laurel didn't know what this 'annatheesa' thing was, but she also wished they had some on hand, only so they wouldn't have to listen to all the screaming.

It was after she got real good at cleaning that Bryn showed her how to stitch injuries and cut through skin and muscle.

As it turned out, she was not very good at that last part, Bryn noting her lack of control with the scalpel would more likely kill a patient.

So Laurel stuck to stitching wounds until she got bored and decided to try something else.

"Tree, come here," Bryn beckoned her over. They pointed at a man they were speaking to and asked, "What is wrong?"

What was wrong with the man?

Laurel had tilted her head and then observed him closely.

"When did you start noticing that lump on your neck?" she asked.

The bewildered expression on the man's face and the manic smile on Bryn's nearly made Laurel take a step back.

"Good," Bryn said after Laurel was able to deduce what was ailing the man. "You learn diagnosis now."

And diagnosis she learned.

From counseling the patients to solving complex medical mysteries, this was a new challenge Bryn presented to her.

Many books were added to her workload, and in between stitching the patients and deducing whatever problems they had, Laurel experimented with what tools and ingredients she could get her hands on.

She ran tests, made her own methods, and learned how to perform bodily examinations on the patients.

She chased after problems and pursued treatments for those under her care, and in doing so, Bryn awarded her.

The title of "Diagnostician" belonged to her after a year into her apprenticeship. Whatever it meant, she took it with pride, even if it was a made-up title by her mentor who was technically not authorized to teach and did not possess a healing license from any existing healing institutions.

Laurel loved her life.

The life of an apprentice "Diagnostician" under an illegal wandering healer was... also not the best.

("Goddamn holy fuckers don't know when to give up. Eat my ass, Jesus wannabes!"

"What?" Laurel was completely baffled by what Bryn had just said, the words having been muttered in their native tongue as they ran for the hills.

Bryn shook their head. "Insult. Bad insult. What to call people who are... a joke but in rude way?"

"Umm." Laurel wracked her brain for the right word as they ducked behind a tree. "A clown?"

Bryn nodded. "Clown," they said without batting an eye.

A wide grin spread on Laurel Rickman's face, and she giggled. "Yeah, fuck those clowns."

"Fuck those clowns.")

Bryn was a wanted figure by the Church, but they escaped often enough that the running was mostly a minor inconvenience.

(Except for that one time Bryn was caught and Laurel had to break them out.)

Oftentimes, she and Bryn slept in the open wilderness and survived off of jerky and root vegetables.

One day, while the two of them were making camp inside a cave, a girl with ash-grey hair and the most soul-piercing silver eyes stumbled upon them while fleeing from an unknown assailant.

Bryn saw her potential and brought her along.

Laurel... accepted the fact that she was no longer the only child.

Three weeks in, Laurel decided she did not like Astella.

The reality of life, as Laurel soon discovered, was that she was simply inferior to Astella

Laurel, who was well aware of the fact that healing did not come naturally to her, couldn't compare to Astella, who developed an awareness for medicinal healing and had a deep understanding of the effects of healing plants without needing to slave away at her books.

Within two months of joining them, Astella proved herself a once-in-a-lifetime genius and found a treatment for bacterial infections.

The books Bryn had in their storage space, the ones Laurel could barely look at without her brain turning into mush, were easily understood by Astella, who, upon finishing one of the thickest tomes she had ever seen, went and shoved some leftover bread into a jar, added a few drops of water, and fermented that thing for a whole month.

"Penicillin," Bryn called it, staring at the mold growing in the jar with wonder. "You make?"

Astella nodded.

"Where I from, we make antibiotics from this... what call this?"

"It's blue blight," Astella explained. "It grows in cured meat products. Where I'm from, we tend to throw them away since it makes the meat inedible."

Bryn tilted his head. "No eat the meat, but blue blight is antibiotics. Will help people. I... no expert. Go read more, Star. See what to do."

So off Astella went to research more stuff about this antibiotics thing, and a month after, when they settled in a village with a Grey Death outbreak, she started her experiment.

The blue blight was administered in the form of potions, which patients drank for several days. She saved hundreds within a span of a week.

Compared to her, Laurel was nothing. It didn't matter if she was the older and more experienced apprentice sister. Astella had proven she was the better healer, and instead of feeling any sort of pride, Laurel only felt an ugly emotion pooling in her gut.

"Why... sad?" Bryn had asked after Laurel ran off amidst the celebration held by the village after Astella saved everyone.

Laurel had curled herself up against a tree trunk and covered her face in shame.

"I just... I don't know. It's stupid."

"Not stupid. Start where you know," Bryn insisted.

"Astella... she's amazing."

"She is."

Laurel pursed her lips.

"She's so much faster at learning, and reading and, and she's saving more people, and that's good! It's wonderful!"

Bryn stared at her as if they could see right through her very soul.

Laurel was mortified, but the feelings inside her were too great for her to bear in silence. So with no choice but to speak the truth, she revealed her inner thoughts to her mentor.

"Compared to her, I'm not as talented, or good enough, and there's so much uncertainty in diagnostic healing, and I can't help but feel like a second-rate quack when I stand next to her. It's not fair, Bryn."

Bryn said nothing, at first, sitting down beside Laurel. They tucked their knees against their chest and was quiet for a moment.

Finally, they spoke.

"I choose you, Tree, because I see vision. You have gift. I choose Star because I see vision and she has gift. And maybe I choose one more with gift. You learn all from me from vision I see. Then I go die when I am old. You, Tree, you good. Talent is... no fear. No afraid. No stop. Try very hard. Star? Talent, but afraid. Lots afraid. Afraid hurt. Afraid pain. People pain. You care for Star. Tree and Star, sisters. I watch. I love."

Bryn wrapped their arms around her and tucked her head against their chin.

Laurel leaned against the warm embrace of wildflowers and the sea.

It was true what Bryn had said. Astella, despite all her genius, was very afraid. She hesitated at the sight of blood and she flinched at the screams and cries of their patients.

Laurel remembered the look in those silver eyes, hollow with despair when a child fell asleep forever and the sounds of his parents weeping echoed. Despite saving hundreds, there were still a chosen few who were too far gone to save.

Ah.

Laurel realized at last.

"You're right," she whispered.

Silver eyes hollow with despair.

"Go be sister. Be kind. Be good. Save all. Okay?"

Laurel nodded, knowing Bryn wanted them to get along.

Satisfied, Bryn leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Come. Teach you dance from my home. Music is good. Village has party. Better with jungle juice, but don't exist here."

She laughed and took Bryn's hand, and they walked back to the celebration.

When they arrived, Astella had won a potato-eating contest and was being crowned the potato lord by the village chief.

Astella saw them come back and gave an awkward wave.

Laurel went over to her and stared her down.

She was surprisingly taller than Astella, despite a year or two in age difference. Laurel had always been a tall girl and Astella was awfully tiny.

Laurel promptly picked her up without warning and spun her around.

"W-wait, put me down! I'm about to throw up!"

She did not listen.

Astella threw up on her dress, but that was fine.

They left the village shortly and continued on their journey.

A year later, they found Auria while staying in the Capitol.

"Are you the Wandering Traveler?" A girl with black hair and blue eyes had asked.

Bryn tilted their head in confusion.

"So you are," she continued. "I am Auria of House Odum. I would like to leave with you. Please and thank you."

Then the girl followed them out of the Capitol and that was that.

Laurel and Astella found it difficult to like Auria.

She was cold and aloof and spoke little. When she did speak, it was very proper and did not allow room for jokes and icebreakers.

It made them wonder why a girl from a noble house would want to journey with their impoverished group (who were still running from the Church and had several wanted posters pasted all over major cities).

And then it happened.

Auria's hands flowed a bright warm light, and the man who was on the verge of death awoke with a start.

They booked it out of the village they were staying at an hour later.

"I am to become a Saintess candidate in the coming future. If they learn of my connections to all of you, I will be disqualified regardless of my... holy attributes," Auria had explained.

Bryn was mostly understanding, but there was one question that stumped them.

"Why waste gift? It is miracle."

Auria had frowned. "No. It is a curse. I will be shackled to the Church, my wings clipped and tied down. If I am to save people, I shall be free to do so, and be free to choose how I must save them."

"But selfish," Bryn argued, not in a hostile way, but rather with confusion and the desire to know. "Not miracle," they said, pointing at themselves. "Not answer everything. You magic. Must use when... must?"

Auria was not offended. She solemnly answered, "Holy magic, it cannot eradicate a plague, nor attach limbs. Yet, I can stitch an arm and its stump together, and connect nerves the way you've shown me. If I were to completely rely on holy powers alone, then I save no one. I will be stuck in a cage and be forced like a dog on a leash to the whims of people who only want who they deem deserving of being saved."

Astella had narrowed her eyes at the implication and stopped what she was doing. The six baby hummingbirds she'd recently liberated from a black market they accidentally stumbled into the other day buzzed around her in confusion.

She was in the middle of feeding them a nectar form of blue blight when she set the bowl aside and stood.

Walking over to Auria, she sat down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No one will take you. Learn from Master Bryn, and he will show you how to heal the proper way. You will be free as long as you are with us."

The two of them, without speaking a single word, formed a connection then and there, and Laurel, who was just an ordinary girl from an ordinary countryside villa, sighed.

She picked them up into her arms and spun them around and around, the fire of their camp burning in the backdrop, while Bryn watched in amusement.

When they all sat down again, Bryn smiled and said, "Love Tree, love Star, and love..." they cocked their head to the side and stared at Auria. "Breeze?"

"A gale over the golden dawn, but close enough."

Bryn's smile grew wider. "Love my children, Tree, Star, and Breeze. Now have drink and go sleep."

---

Years later, in the Odum Manor, Laurel wore her surgical healing robes and entered an office adjacent to the healing ward where she and Auria would be performing the surgery.

The patient, Nazareth Odum, Alouysia's son, had already been moved inside, and the other healers were getting him ready for the operation.

The "operating room"—as Bryn would have called it in place of the usual healing ward—was an unused guest bedroom Vespera had managed to completely remodel into the one that Bryn designed all those years ago when they saved the Empress' life.

Laurel took a deep breath.

Relax.

She was no longer the girl who recklessly carved through flesh with a scalpel. For fucks sake, saving Julius had been one of the most strenuous procedures she had ever needed to do, and the operation was done all by herself without even an assisting healer.

She could do this.

It was a simple surgery. An extraction of a solid poison in the stomach. Like removing a gallstone.

No biggie, right?

So why was her hand shaking?!

The memory of the conversation with Astella collided with the memory of their last conversation from several years ago.

"He was only a child! Why would you ever harm a child?!"

Stella had looked at her, silver eyes hollowed out by dismay.

"... You really think the worse of me, don't you?"

"Just tell me the truth, Stella, please. I can't play these games anymore. Let me help you."

"No. Believe what you want to believe, but I don't care anymore. No matter what, I am who I am, and not even you can change that."

"Stella..."

"Go back to your beloved Duke, Laurel. I heard he is wanting a marriage with you. You can live the life you want with all the children you could ever—"

Years later, Laurel was sitting across from Astella and felt history repeating itself.

"Do you think Alouysia would be proud?"

Despondent silver eyes gazed into her own. "Let it be a lesson. Monsters that eat their mothers can only be taught by pain."

"Laurel?"

She stiffened at the voice and turned.

Auria stood at the door, dressed in her healing robes. She had arrived three days ago, but Laurel had kept her distance the entire time, wanting her to rest before the surgery.

"It's been a while since we worked together," Laurel said in lieu of a greeting.

Sapphire blue eyes softened. "Yes, it's been a long time."

They had been sisters, once, traveling under the tutelage of a great and mythic figure. Now, they were almost strangers.

It made Laurel want to both laugh and cry, because look at them now. What exactly have they done with their lives and what did it get them?

Bryn once said they were all the "protagonists" of their lives, but these days, Laurel felt more like a side character than anything else.

None of them ever imagined any of this for themselves.

"... I heard about what happened," Auria suddenly said, her voice quiet.

Laurel didn't understand what she meant by that, at first.

Auria turned her gaze toward the door to the operating room, but what came out of her mouth next nearly took Laurel's breath away.

"The incident with Eubulous' son. You had to perform a sacrifice in exchange for his recovery, didn't you?"

Laurel felt her mind stumble over several steps of stairs. Because yes, Auria was right, but the memory was still numb, glazed over by the confrontation between her and Astella before she married Eubulous.

Auria pursed her lips when Laurel took too long to respond. She made her way over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You did what you had to do. It was a life, and that was the oath you took."

Even if it cost me my womb?

Laurel thought, ashamed.

As if she had read her mind, Auria asked, "Do you regret it?"

And the answer was a definite no, without needing any sort of flashback or memory to prove it.

Laurel snorted, and a grin spread across her lips even if Auria couldn't see it.

"I still got the big family I always wanted, regardless."

Auria raised a brow at that.

Laurel looked down at her hands. "I just... I felt like a clown when I lost it. You know, because all of you warned me about using experimental rituals without testing, and yet, I still went and did it. Bryn was sick at the time, you were gone, and Astella had her family drama, and then... you know the rest. I needed to prove I could do it alone, and it was supposed to be some blood, and maybe half a pinkie or a toe, and it turned out I was wrong about how much I needed to sacrifice to get the ritual to work..."

With every word Laurel uttered, she could feel Auria getting less and less impressed with her.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to continue the conversation as a healer apprentice stepped into the room.

"Healer Tree, Healer Breeze, we are ready," the apprentice called, using the names that were written in their healing licenses—which were technically forged by Bryn when they achieved their mastery but no one would know that because the Empress was the one who helped them get the licenses enchanted with the magic seal of mastery and they were already knees deep into the whole thing so even if their licenses were technically not real this whole time and they can't actually practice healing legally, at least Laurel got the Imperial Seal of approval during the Lesser Krieg War, so between her, Auria, and Astella, she would be the one to escape a prison sentence.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," said Auria, probably thinking the same thing as her once the apprentice was gone from the room and they were left alone.

"You need me to break you out of prison."

"Hn."

The operating room was filled with healers when the two of them stepped inside.

In a corner of the room, Gareth was situated on a small bed with his eyes closed and his breathing even. The shimmery gold thread of the lifestrand connecting him and the patient pulsed with the patient's heartbeat.

A healer was on standby to make sure both father and son would remain unconscious throughout the procedure.

Auria took her place at the head end of the patient.

Laurel stood adjacent to her.

Auria turned to healer Waldorf. "Vitals?"

"Stable, Healer Breeze."

"Has the anesthesia been administered?"

"Healer Tree gave us her instructions on the dosage. The patient and his Grace have been put under."

She nodded with approval. "Starting now and until the extraction is over or the patient dies, we will not be leaving this room. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the other healers responded in unison, Laurel included.

"Good," Auria's eyes narrowed with approval. "Give me the scalpel."

---

Aurelion and Guinivere sat in Nazareth's office, watching an hourglass. The sand slowly trickled into the bottom, counting down the seconds before their brother would awaken.

Waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting...

It was a terrible thing—the waiting.

How could anyone have the patience to do it?

Aurelion picked at his thumb. Across from him, Guinivere was sharpening a small blade.

Shkk... Shkk... Shkk

The sound of metal gliding across stone distracted them both, but they knew it would only be momentarily.

Aurelion stared at Nazareth's desk listlessly.

The wood grain details looked like wood grain details and the metal accents looked like metal accents.

In conclusion, it was a desk.

Aurelion got to his feet and walked over to it.

"What are you doing?"

"Snooping."

"Shameless. What does he have in there?"

Aurelion opened a drawer and peeked inside.

"Paper."

"Boring. What else?"

"Things I shouldn't be touching with my bare hands."

"Move them aside."

Aurelion used a handkerchief to pick up the glass bottles. Only one of them was empty, but the rest were all corked tightly and labeled. Aurelion still couldn't take his chances, regardless, remembering Nazareth's lecture about poisons and such.

The inside of the drawer was oddly small compared to the exterior. It looked a lot bigger from the outside, but there wasn't as much space as he thought there would be.

It was then that Aurelion noticed an imperfect corner at the very back of the drawer, nearly hidden from sight if one were in a hurry.

"Young Master Aurelion," a voice suddenly appeared behind him.

Aurelion nearly jumped. He turned and saw Rainier standing by the door.

Guinivere eyed the servant from where she sat, frowning.

"What are you doing here? I thought father demoted you."

Rainier smiled. "You are right, my Lady. That seems to be the case."

The three of them remained where they were, awkwardly staring at each other until Aurelion started to take everything out of the drawer.

The papers and bottles were placed on the desk and he leaned over to get a better view of the false bottom.

He tapped on the uneven corner where the false bottom met the sides of the drawer.

"What's he hiding?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Young Master Aurelion. My Young Master has lots of secrets."

Aurelion scowled at the roundabout way Rainier chose to answer the question.

His finger slipped underneath the loose sheet of wood.

He lifted the false bottom and found...

Absolutely nothing.

Huh?

Aurelion took out the sheet and saw that there was nothing underneath it.

"I'm afraid it's gone, Young Master Aurelion."

He stared at the empty space in confusion. "What was it?"

"It belonged to my Young Master."

"Where is it?"

Rainier did not answer.

"Answer the question." Guinivere looked at the servant from where she sat. If looks could kill, Rainier would have been dead three times over.

"... The Charm Master of the Magic Tower has it. My Young Master requested him to take it in the case that he becomes incapacitated and does not have time to finish his current project."

"Why exactly does brother have a backup plan for this kind of scenario?" Guinivere asked, nonplussed.

Because he was Nazareth, Aurelion wanted to say. Nazareth was meticulous in his plans and was always ready for whatever bullshit happened, even if the bullshit was of his own making, therefore, Nazareth would obviously be prepared for them.

Wait.

It was all starting to make sense now.

Benedick and Dagon in the Holy City, the Sand Nomads chasing them, ash grey hair reminiscent of Countess Moores, the empty bottle in Nazareth's drawer...!

Aurelion picked up the only empty bottle on the desk, uncaring at this point whether or not he should be touching it with his bare hands.

Ricin Flower Syrup.

It was labeled.

The bottle was labeled.

Nazareth never labeled anything in his office.

Why did he label this one?

Aurelion picked up another bottle.

Belladon Root Extract.

And another.

Crushed Oleander Leaves.

And another.

Preserved Lockhem Blooms.

Aurelion felt ill. He needed to sit down. He needed air.

"Nazareth knew this would happen."

Uttering the words aloud felt damning.

"Young Master Aurelion—"

"He knew there would be an attempt on his life. You knew he would drink the tea and you let him!"

"Young Master Aurelion, I need you to calm down."

Calm down? What did he mean by calm down?! Who would be calm finding out their own brother knew someone was out to kill him and still went along with it?!

"Does Mother and Father know?" Guinivere toyed with her small blade.

Rainier lowered his head. "The Duke and Duchess have both been informed when the two of you left to retrieve Lady Auria."

The admittance was like a punch in the face.

"Then that is fine," Guinivere replied.

Aurelion felt betrayed at her words.

How could she remain calm after hearing what the man just said?!

Am I the only one concerned by the fact that this was all planned?!

"You are mistaken, Young Master Aurelion."

What?

"You're talking out loud, brother. We can hear you."

Aurelion didn't have the energy to even glare at his sister for the sarcastic remark.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Rainier.

"What do you mean by that?"

The servant's gaze went down to the desk with all the labeled bottles. "While we were aware of an attack, my Young Master had not anticipated being asleep for so long."

The answer was about as helpful as a glass of water in a house fire.

Aurelion gritted his teeth in frustration. "Not anticipate?! You mean to tell me Nazareth didn't have a fallback plan for, oh, I don't know, being poisoned a second time?!"

The smile on Rainier's face remained, but his eyes were just as cold as Guinivere's, if not colder.

Aurelion never realized how intimidating the marks on his face made him. He certainly didn't look very friendly without his blindfold.

"That is correct, Young Master Aurelion. But regardless, this is nothing that can't be fixed. Once he wakes up, all will be revealed."

Aurelion opened his mouth and then closed it. He opened it again and then closed it again. He was speechless, and could only look down at all the bottles without a word.

Guinivere suddenly leaned back against her seat and sighed, giving them both a once-over with barely concealed contempt. "You don't actually know anything, do you?"

Rainier's smile twitched.

Guinivere snorted.

"I think Brother only instructed you on what to do, but we all know him enough to know he would never bother to explain anything. You're waiting, just like the rest of us. It doesn't matter if he gave you some how-to guide or whatnot. The main point is you know nothing of importance."

Rainier met her gaze, and Aurelion imagined sparks flying between them.

"Don't forget your place, Rainier."

Finally, the servant lowered his head. "My apologies, Young Master, Young Miss. It will not happen again."

Guinivere raised her head imperiously. "See to it that it doesn't."

"Yes, Young Miss."

Standing behind the desk, Aurelion's knuckles turned white as he held the empty bottle of Ricin Flower Syrup in a tight grip.

---

The surgery was a success.

"Take him to the recovery ward," Auria ordered, no longer looking at the patient but at the solid dark mass they extracted from the patient's stomach.

Laurel had solidified the poison running through Nazareth's veins and centered them in the stomach for ease of removal, but she didn't think it would be so large.

Auria carefully placed it into a jar and sealed it tightly. "You will need to check this."

"I have my tools in another room. I'll look into it later to see what Astella used on him."

Auria nodded.

They met the other healers and the patient's family in the recovery ward once they changed out of their surgical robes.

Laurel stepped toward the bed and cast a diagnostic spell, first at Nazareth's throat, then at his chest, and finally at his temple.

She turned to the audience of healers and Vespera.

"Physiologically, he has improved. His heart is no longer working so hard, the elements in his blood are more balanced, and his other organs are accordingly less strained. That is not the result of the extraction, but due to the lifestrand Duke Odum has managed to maintain since the patient became unconscious. With the removal of the poison in his body, he will not require the lifestrand to maintain these points, so while he is barely within healthy ranges, he will continue to improve without any setbacks created by the poison. Due to being unconscious for several weeks resulting in the lack of solid food intake and physical movement, I recommend exercise and less use of his magic core once he is awakened, and plenty of rest for at least another week during the remainder of his recovery. By the end of summer, he should be feeling fine, but it is best not to strain him further during this season. Any questions?"

Everyone seemed to relax all at once when she finished speaking.

"When will he be awake?" Vespera asked.

"Likely tomorrow or the day after. With that being said, I do have a question for the Duke and Duchess. May I speak with the two of you privately?"

Gareth was only half conscious and no longer supporting a life strand, so Laurel didn't think he was ready for any sort of critical thinking, but the matter was urgent and she needed both him and Vespera in the know before all else.

The three of them went over to a corner of the room and Laurel voiced her concerns for the... peculiar markings on Nazareth's left collarbone.

---

"You will not speak a word of what you see down there, am I understood, Lethe?"

Lethe Thomas, twin brother of Ethel Thomas, carriage driver extraordinaire and carrier of lots and lots of souvenirs from the Holy City, nodded as he trailed after Eun-Ki, the gardener who was once a shadow guard from the Hangul Kingdom.

Behind him, Kaena and Maina, two maidservants who were formerly members of an underground gambling organization, dogged his steps.

He was escorted down to what he presumed was the manor's dungeon, and he did not like it one bit.

Arse-biscuits, as Ethel would say.

Lethe peered down at his twin from the other side of an impressive set of bars.

"What brings you here?" Lethe asked, feeling awkward as Eun-Ki calmly opened the door and gestured for Lethe to step inside.

"Telhe," Ethel answered stiffly. "And I might have accidentally opened the window that led—" she suddenly flinched and made a pained noise.

"Ah." Lethe grimaced. He reached over and closed the door back up. "That's good to know."

"What's she talking about?" Eun-Ki asked, looking between them suspiciously.

Lethe took the keys from him and locked the door once more, much to Ethel's annoyance.

"Has Ethel been mentioning Telhe since she's been here?"

"Every day, but there's some kind of spell preventing details regarding it."

"Not an it," Lethe corrected. "A she. Telhe's our sister. When Ethel and I left our... previous employment, she chose to remain with our former master."

Eun-Ki closed his eyes as if that would help the situation. "You should have been more clear in your resume. Former members of an underground criminal organization isn't very specific."

"Well, we didn't think that would be as relevant as the portion about us graduating the Servant Academy with honors—"

"Even still," Eun-Ki muttered. "You and Ethel need to stop acting like civilians. It's confusing everyone."

"To be fair," Ethel interjected, "we came out of it with surprisingly less trauma than you would expect."

"The organization or the Academy?"

"Both," the twins replied.

"The Iron Lotus was a really crazy experience. By the way, how long has Ethel been in there?"

"Sometime before Young Master Aurelion and Young Miss Guinivere left for the Holy City," Eun-Ki answered.

"Huh, that's terrible," Lethe didn't really think that. Not having to work for a week or two while still being watered and fed was the height of luxury, and he was pretty sure he saw a few romance novels in his sister's cell. "So anyway, I got everyone holy water—"

Every staff member, including Ethel, groaned

---

Evening. Odum Manor.

Laurel was side by side next to Auria, taking small sips of wine from a large wine glass.

They were in Auria's room, standing on her balcony and taking in some fresh air.

The sky was a dusty pink, not yet dark enough for complete nightfall, though a few stars had already made their presence known.

Auria finished off her glass and poured herself some more wine. "Do you remember that song Astella used to sing?"

"I do." Laurel tracked a chipmunk climbing a tree.

"How did it go?"

She absentmindedly hummed the melody and imagined Astella singing it.

'Yellow flower dance along

'Neath the moonlight sky above

Close your eyes

Paradise

I am here beside you'

Or so the song went.

"It was pretty," said Auria.

"It was. I don't think she sings it anymore."

"No?"

"No. She... doesn't look like she sings it anymore."

"... Shame."

The two of them enjoyed the silence together and drank enough wine for three.

---

Unknown Time. The Lotus Garden.

Alouysia stared down at the boy in her arms, sleeping away without a care in the world.

He was so little, far too little. Her sweet child.

"Mummy." He was staring at her again, eyes blown wide with awe as if she could hang the sun and moon.

Alouysia sensed that he would not be with her for long. No matter if he was her son, this Nazareth needed to go so that her own would return.

"You are not my son of this time, my love. It is time for you to go."

She could sense that it was about to happen soon. The ripples no one else could see had told her so.

"No..." He buried his face further into her arms, and she chuckled as she tucked him close to her.

"People are waiting for you. You must go."

Little fingers dug into her sleeves, and she nuzzled his hair, rocking them both back and forth.

"Time to wake up, Nazareth. Don't keep them waiting."

---

Step 51. Make sure your loved ones are capable enough to do basic deduction work for any clues you might have left behind before you became completely incapacitated. Please be ready for the drama to unfold once you are awake.

---

The author has something to say:

I remember there was a comment a few years back when I first mentioned the Lesser Krieg War and a confused reader went "Lesser? Why lesser? You mean there's a Major Krieg War before that?" And the answer is yes. There was a Major Krieg War and a majority of the grandparents in the story fought in that one. Also, the labels. Y'all remember the lack of labels? Back in... I don't know, 30 chapters ago or something like that. Yeah... Labels.

Thank you, Nihil_Est_Scriptor, Mixture, purple_gravity, and KaiK for the gorgeous fanarts. They are always lovely and highly welcomed. Please go see them on the fanart page. Links are in my profile.