Royal Army Headquarters, inside the infirmary.
Jax clenched his fists as he looked at all the officers lying on the bed full of injuries.
When these people left yesterday morning, Jax expected it would take at least a few days before they returned. He also believed that when they returned, they would have accomplished their mission.
It never occurred to him that not even two days had passed and they already need to return with almost half of them including Vera severely injured. They even had to use the emergency transportation device to get all of them back without aggravating their injuries.
In the report submitted by Lieutenant Gianna, apart from 37 severely injured officers there were also three fatalities and one with unknown status, and that being Dior.
‘Dior…’ Jax closed his eyes.
Dior was a promising talent under Jax’s command. He was a strict man, but that was only because he was also strict with himself.
Jax understood his reasons, though. Just like most of them, Dior was doing his best for his family.
Officially, Dior’s status was declared as unknown. But based on the initial findings Gianna and the rest found, his status looked grim. With no concrete evidence, however, they could only declare it as such.
How will Jax explain this to Dior’s family?
How about the three officers who were killed? Each one of them had families who worry about them, and awaits for their return.
Jax took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Yesterday, it had been hard for him to face the families of those who were killed the night Kyran escaped. Now he had to do it once more.
He dreaded facing the families of the deceased, but what he dreaded the most was reporting this to the Grand Marshal.
On a lighter note, if Gael was made aware of the casualties they suffered this time, he might be forced to admit that he had underestimated what Kyran Regis could do.
That was not a boy who would hide in fear of the army’s hunt. That was a man, who was not afraid to kill when cornered.
Then there was the issue on the Infirmary Log that was submitted weekly to the Royal Family. Once the emperor found out about the number of officers admitted with sever injuries in just a couple of days, he would definitely inquire what caused it. By then, Gael would have to tell the truth.
“Major Jax.” A male voice suddenly spoke from behind.
Jax turned around and was greeted with a salute by Luka.
“Luka,” Jax nodded at him. “How’s your body?”
Luka looked a little perturbed.
“Is it true about Captain Dior?” He asked without answering Jax’s question.
Jax’s eyes narrowed. He already expected Luka to ask about Dior. After confirming that no one was listening, he said, “Let’s go to my office.”
The two of them left the infirmary and went straight to Jax’s office.
Once they were inside, Jax went to his study table while Luka stood in front.
“You can take a seat,” Jax told him and gestured at the chair in front of the table.
Luka only shook his head and started, “Dior did not simply went missing. He was killed by that boy, am I right?”
With a sigh, Jax shook his head. “The evidence showed that he fought someone. But it is hard to tell if it was the boy.”
“He is not a person who would just go missing while on a mission. Even if he is injured, he’ll definitely drag his battered body back to headquarters.” Luka reasoned his expression hardened.
He remembered how his men was killed by Kyran without even leaving a trace and added, “If you can’t find… his body-.”
“I know what you’re thinking. Leave this matter to me and just focus on recuperating.”
“I am already fine, Major. Please let me lead a new search.”
Jax shook his head, “No. If you are really cleared to leave the infirmary, then you will focus on destroying the Regis Estate’s inner walls.”
“Major! Please, let me look for the boy. I was careless before, but not this time. If we don’t find him soon, there will be more the casualties and-.”
“Captain Luka.” Jax interrupted in a stern voice.
Luka fell silent and clenched his fists.
“You will focus on the Regis Estate. Do I make myself clear?” Jax repeated and stared at Luka.
Gritting his teeth, Luka stared back at him. As much as he wanted to lead the search on the boy, Luka knew that without Jax’s consent and support, it would be impossible for him to accomplish anything in a short time.
Luka’s request to look for the boy was not because he wanted to avenge Dior. He simply wanted to put a stop to all this unnecessary sacrifices.
“Yes, Major.” Luka finally answered after a long pause.
“This is only temporary. I decided to hold off the search for the boy. I have to report the failed mission to the Grand Marshal first.”
“I understand.”
“You and Vera are the only high ranking officer left in this operation now that Dior is… missing. I can’t risk both of you as well. I will have to convince the Grand Marshal to assign more high ranking officers in this manhunt. If needed I don’t mind handing over the mission to the special ops.”
Luka’s eyes widened and he immediately shook his head. “No. You can’t just hand over the mission to those guys. If those guys moved, more innocent people will suffer!”
“Relax. As long as I convince the Grand Marshal to agree to my request, the special ops will not be needed.” Jax said with a slight smile. “I’m sure the Grand Marshal doesn’t want to involve them as well if he wanted to keep this mission a secret.”
Luka suddenly frowned, “I don’t understand why he wanted to keep this a secret.”
“You don’t have to think about those things. The Grand Marshal has his reasons. Get yourself ready. Leave for the Regis Estate within an hour.”
Luka saluted, “Yes. Major Jax.”
====================
Regis Estate, Inner Walls. At one of the guest rooms of the main family residence.
Silas stared dazedly at the ceiling as he lay in bed.
A quarter of a day had passed after he met the Regis Patriarch.
Silas could still remember the pressure he felt when he finally met him.
The Regis Patriarch was a huge man, with braided long black hair, and sharp dark grey eyes. He was dressed in a black armor that Silas had an inkling that it was made of real dragon scales.
There was another man who stood beside the Patriarch. He was a tall handsome man, with almost the same built as the Patriarch. He had shoulder-length black hair, and dark grey eyes, and was also dressed in a black armor.
The Patriarch introduced him as his son, Cade.
Their meeting lasted for almost two hours because they had talked about a lot of things. Of course, their meeting would not proceed if Silas did not agree to be ‘marked’ by the Patriarch first.
Because of this mark, Silas had become the Conclave’s official emissary.
At first Silas was confused. He should be called the Regis’s emissary, right? But the Patriarch clearly said, Conclave. But it should be the Conclave appointing their own emissary and not the Regis.
And why were they jumping factions? Silas clearly introduced himself as a mercenary from the Mercenary Hall, not the Conclave.
However, Silas did not have the leisure to dwell on the subject because he was immediately thrown into a myriad of information. He was actually amazed that he did not develop a migraine after hearing almost every details that happened to the Regis.
Yes. Almost.
Silas knew there were details that the Patriarch withheld. It was alright. Just knowing ‘almost’ every details made him uneasy, after all.
‘A main Regis family member with an innate forbidden magic…’ he thought with a sigh.
If it was an ordinary Regis family member, or even a low-risk innate forbidden magic, this whole situation wouldn’t have been complicated. But to think that Kyran was from the main family, and his innate magic, was the most dangerous magic of all; Void magic.
With just the mention of his magic, it could already put the whole empire into turmoil.
A memory from Silas’s past threatened to resurface but he immediately shook his head and sat up.
After taking a deep breath, he looked at the back of his left hand and stared at the faint snowflake symbol imprinted on his skin.
He was suddenly reminded of when Rin, Cade’s wife entered the throne room, after their meeting had concluded.
Rin, was a very beautiful woman with half-top braided long silver grey hair and light blue eyes. She was dressed in a white dress with golden linings that made her look almost ethereal.
Silas cringed after remembering how he gaped stupidly at her with mouth wide open.
When Rin approached him and took his hand, Silas was also flustered. He wanted to hit himself just remembering how embarrasing he might have acted then.
But Silas’s attitude changed when Rin started to speak a language he thought he would never hear again.
After she had spoken, an Ice Spirit appeared above Silas’s head.
Silas recognized the Ice Spirit. Although she looked different from his memory, her attitude was the same, especially on how she called him ‘little Silas’.
‘To think that she was still able to…’ Silas clenched his fist remembering an image of a young woman smeared with blood and soot. He shook his head at once.
‘The Regis is different from our family. Compared to them, our family was… smaller,’ he thought sadly. ‘What happened to my family will not happen to them…’
He stood up and went to the window to right side of the room. He looked up at the almost dark sky.
From a distance, he could almost see the stars filling up the sky.
After meeting the Patriarch and dealing with the Ice Spirit incident, Pheobe was called in and was appointed as Silas guide.
When they left the throne room, Pheobe showed Silas around the estate.
He was very surprised at how big the estate was.
In Silas’s opinion, the Regis Estate was comparable to a medium-sized city. Thinking back, when he saw the map where the Regis Estate was located, there were no other towns apart from Aeren that was nearby. There was a huge span of area before the next towns. At first, he thought those area were unoccupied. Now he realized, that area was part of the Regis Estate.
But no matter how big the estate was, Silas noticed how he met only a few Regis clan members. Even the hall where the Patriarch was at did not have anyone guarding it.
He wanted to ask where the rest of the Regis clan members were, but decided against it.
Pheobe would probably think he was thoughtless if he did, given their current situation.
“Mr. Silas. The dining hall is ready. Do you wish to dine with the rest of the family?” Pheobe’s voice sounded outside the door.
Silas’s expression immediately lit up and he run to open the door.
“Yes! I’d be delighted to,” he answered sounding a tad too eager.
Pheobe was taken aback after seeing Silas’s smiling face.
Before he could relish the feeling of seeing her again, Silas noticed a little girl beside Pheobe.
Just like Pheobe, the little girl had short black hair and dark grey eyes. She was dressed in a light pink dress, and looked to be only three or four years old with chubby rosy cheeks and round innocent eyes.
To Silas, however, he could see that this girl would grow to be a fine lady like Pheobe someday.
“Oh, look who we have here.” He smiled at the little girl.
“Sister Pheobe…” the little girl immediately hid behind Pheobe.
Pheobe gave a faint smile and looked at her, “It’s okay Kyra. This uncle won’t bite.”
Silas’s brow twitched, ‘Uncle?’
The girl named Kyra, peaked at Silas. “Uncle? But…he looks old. He has white hair. Poppy said to be respectful to old people, and call them elder.”
“Ahahaha, what a cute little girl.” Silas’s laugh sounded a little forced as a vein appeared on his forehead.
“Kyra, that’s rude. This uncle has natural white hair. Remember mommy Rin? Her hair is almost the same color, right?”
Kyra’s expression suddenly changed and she beamed, “Mommy Rin!”
Pheobe smiled, “Yes. But mommy Rin is not that old.”
“Not old,” Kyra repeated and shook her head slightly.
Silas’s eyes narrowed after hearing this. He remembered Rin and Cade was Kyran’s parents. However, he had the impression that Kyran was an only child.
“Is she Lady Rin and Sir Cade’s younger daughter?” Silas asked Pheobe.
Pheobe looked at Silas and smiled faintly. She looked at him uneasily and said, “Well… sort of. Kyra is… a daughter of uncle Cade’s cousin and they adopted her.”
Silas’s expression immediately turned solemn. He did not need Pheobe to explain further as he was able to read between the lines.
However, Kyra just beamed and said, “I have two mommies and two poppies!”
“Cousin Kyran named her. Not a very… ‘original’ name I know, but Kyra likes it,” Pheobe explained and pinched Kyra’s cheeks, who giggled in return.
“Brother?” Kyra seemed to remember something after hearing Kyran’s name. “Where is brother? Kyra needs to give him her present.”
Pheobe looked at her and smiled. “Let’s go check if he’s already at the dining hall, okay?”
“Okay!” she replied, then peaked at Silas. “Is uncle also going?”
Silas smiled at her, “Yes. I hope you don’t mind.”
“If uncle forgives Kyra for saying uncle is old. Kyra don’t mind uncle joining for dinner.”
Though Silas found Kyra cute, veins still appeared on his forehead every time she said the word ‘uncle’. But he managed to keep his cool and answered, “Of course, I forgive you. Such a cute little girl….”
‘Why does it sound like I am the one compromising even though I am the one offended?’ he thought.
“Shall we?” Pheobe said and led the way to the dining hall.
While they walked down the hallway, Pheobe turned slightly and looked at Silas.
“You know, I can bring your dinner up to your room if you’re tired.”
“I am okay. But I have to admit, I needed time to digest all the things I learned today.”
Pheobe turned her attention back upfront and said, “Actually. I was thinking you might be tired after performing the contract.”
“Oh. That,” Silas laughed uneasily and unconsciously touched the back of his left hand.
“Were you surprised to know there was a spirit following you?” she asked.
Silas did not answer. More like, he did not know how to answer.
When the Ice Spirit appeared above him after Rin ‘spoke’ to her, Silas felt nauseous. He could barely remember what happened afterward, and how he and the Ice Spirit reluctantly agreed to make a contract.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Silas. You don’t have to answer. I don’t mean to pry.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’m just… I guess I am surprised. Yes…”
After a short pause, he added. “The Ice Spirit used to be my sister’s.”
Silas did not know why he said those last words. Especially to Pheobe. After all, she was an outsider. But after telling her, the shadow in his heart seemed to have lifted, albeit he also felt sad.
Pheobe fell silent. She was aware that when a spirit agreed to a contract, it was for a lifetime. The only three instance where the contract would be broken was when the spirit died, the contracted mage died, or the the spirit was set free.
“Your sister must have loved you very much to let her contracted spirit stay with you,” Pheobe finally said after a long pause.
Silas looked at Pheobe’s profile.
Her reply surprised him.
She did not offer any sympathetic words, which to him would sound empty. And he was grateful for that.
“Yes. You’re right,” he replied with a smile
