“Father.”
While Kael was sleeping inside the Sanctuary with his children after the day’s journey and training, Imperia called out.
The first one to wake up, however, wasn’t Kael, but Igni.
“Father.”
Imperia continued. Igni nudged his father as well. He didn’t ask why Imperia was calling him. He knew his youngest sister was responsible; he trusted she wouldn’t do something unnecessary.
Slowly, Vitaria and Cirri woke up as well, and only after about a minute of gentle nudging did Kael wake up.
“What is it?”
He questioned, his voice still groggy.
“It’s Lavinia.”
Imperia answered in a grim tone.
“What happened to her?”
Kael questioned, instantly waking up.
“…I believe it would be better if you see it on your own.”
Kael nodded as he opened the portal. It was 4 in the morning; if Imperia wanted him to check on Lavinia right now, it definitely wasn’t a small matter.
And it wasn’t.
The moment Kael got out, he saw Lavinia trembling in her sleep. Tears streamed down her face as she whimpered softly. Her hands gripped the blanket tightly, as if she were clenching her fists in frustration or anger.
“She is having a nightmare.”
Vitaria muttered.
“Elementals are worried about her as well.”
Igni spoke as he glanced at Kael.
“…”
Kael stayed silent for a while. Then, he glanced at Vita and,
“Can you calm her down?”
He knew Vitaria had power over dreams as well. There were times when she helped him calm down by dealing with his nightmares. Of course, normally, Vita wouldn’t use her powers to help any human other than him, but Lavinia had become an exception as well.
The Fox nodded, jumped on Lavinia’s bed, and placed her paw on Lavinia’s forehead. Soon, however, her body shuddered as she snapped her paw away.
“What happened?”
Kael questioned, a bit worried since this wasn’t a normal reaction.
“Her nightmare is too strong.
She… isn’t letting it go.
If I try to use force, then she might lose her memories.”
“What could she possibly be having a nightmare about…?”
Kael couldn’t understand.
Sure, Lavinia’s past was difficult, but she had been with him for around 3 weeks, and this had never happened before—at least not this strongly.
What triggered it now?
“Rowan Ashford, Ethan Grayson, Liam Carter, Finn Everett, Asher Hale, Leo Montgomery, Silas Blackwood, Jace Remington, Kieran Vaughn, Aria Sinclair, Elara Nightshade, Serena Whitmore, Nadia Fairchild, Lila Hawthorne, Isla Sterling.
I couldn’t see what her nightmare was, but these names were at the top of her head.”
“These names…”
Kael narrowed his eyes.
They sounded familiar.
“They are the defenders who died in Greyvale.”
Imperia answered, and Kael’s expression changed.
“She is… grieving them?”
He questioned, a little confused.
She didn’t seem very bothered by their deaths—even at their funeral, she just stood there, watching everything with an expressionless look on her face, as if saying this isn’t a big deal, death happens.
If she was like that at their funeral, why is she reacting so strongly right now? So much that even Vitaria is unable to do anything?
Was she… hiding her true emotions all this while?
But why?
Kael did not understand.
“What do we do?”
He questioned as he glanced at his children.
“There is nothing we can do.”
Vitaria shook her head. If even she couldn’t enter her nightmare and calm her down, then it was impossible for them to do anything.
“Let’s just… stay here for a while.”
Kael muttered, and the rest nodded. Vitaria started gently caressing Lavinia’s hair with her paws, trying to calm her.
Time passed, and when Lavinia’s body calmed a little after about 2 hours, Kael decided to return to Everveil and continue his training while his children watched over her.
The Princess was still asleep when he returned after two and a half hours. He let her sleep for about an hour before he woke her up, and they left the inn they were in.
Once again, Lavinia stayed silent during the entire journey. Kael noticed her mood and stayed silent as well.
The journey continued. In the afternoon, while Kael and Lavinia were walking through a small road, they encountered a caravan of about 24 Humans.
Of course, Imperia had already informed Kael about them, so he wasn’t surprised. According to Imperia, they were mercenaries who were currently escorting a 30-year-old merchant from the Council of Gold.
From their conversation that Imperia’s children had picked up, the merchant was quite influential. Other than that, there was nothing much, and since they couldn’t avoid them without lengthening their path, Kael lazily decided to just pass through them.
It wasn’t the first time they would be doing that anyway. They had been travelling for 3 weeks now; they had passed through tens of groups without anything happening. After all, everyone was busy with their own lives to care about two individuals they just passed through.
But not this lot.
“HALT!”
A mercenary, that Kael knew was the Second in Command of the mercenaries here, shouted the moment his eyes fell on Kael and Lavinia.
“Remove your cloaks!”
“Huh…?”
Kael frowned.
“Did you not hear!? Remove your cloaks and identify yourselves!”
“Why do we need to reveal our identities to you?”
“Because I told you to!”
“Right, that makes perfect sense.”
Kael nodded sarcastically.
“Reveal your identities if you do not want things to get difficult!”
The Second in Command shouted, and as if knowing what he wanted, the other mercenaries all took out their weapons and pointed them at Kael.
Seeing their attitude, Kael sighed.
‘I should have used Vita to show them an empty road…’
Honestly, he just pitied his little Fox’s victims, so he tried to spare these people, but…
‘I guess you can’t show mercy to everyone, huh?’
“Are you sure you want this? Your group isn’t as strong as you think it is, you know?”
Kael questioned as he stretched his body.
He didn’t seem to care too much,
After all,
[Name: Leon Reming]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 47]
[Level: 44]
[Strength: 78]
[Agility: 73]
[Speed: 80]
[Stamina: 82]
[Defense: 81]
[Mana: 28]
[Intelligence: 35]
[Charisma: 36]
[Strengths: Balanced Fighter, Quick thinker, Resourceful]
[Weaknesses: Overconfident at times, Low Mana, No professional training]
…
Yes, this was the strongest mercenary here, the leader of the group who was watching everyone in silence.
Compared to him, Kael…
It wasn’t even a fair battle.