"Sell artifacts?" The Knight stopped eating, looking at the Seika to see if he was joking. However, the young man's face was calm. "Freda's power lies in artifacts. If we sell them, we'll be selling our advantage over the other nations."
"Is that why the Magic Vault exists? To monitor the use of artifacts?" The Seika asked curiously, to which the Knight nodded.
"The artifacts are national treasures, and they have the Schelera's blessing."
"The religion that worships the scholar guardian." The Seika seemed interested, his eyes lighting with interest. "Are they involved in the politics?"
"The people follow the King's Decrees, but Schelera is gaining more followers by the day because of His Majesty being the inheritor of the scholar guardian."
"Did the scholar guardian create this religion?" The Seika asked something that deviated from their original topic.
"No," The Knight answered, despite feeling like she was giving away an intel she should not. "They are only worshipers who gathered after the guardian disappeared."
"What about the descendants of the guardian?"
"Hm?" The Knight frowned. "It's common knowledge that the scholar guardian has no descendants. His family died against one of the calamities, Lord of Giants, Lorth."
The Seika was quiet, and the Knight managed to see a pained expression on his face. He shut his eyes tightly as if he was holding something back. When he opened them again, the Knight felt her heart go cold.
His eyes were the same. Yet, as if coming from the deepest parts of his soul, boundless hate radiated from his purely golden eyes.
'Did I do something wrong?' Her thoughts slowed until she couldn't think anymore. The sound of a door closing made her snap out of her daze. When she could think again, the Seika was gone.
***
Arthur sat down in the suite, which was empty for some reason. He laid his right on the table, palm upward. The silence was suffocating.
'There's no reason for me to feel this hatred.' Arthur clenched his fist tightly. 'I hate that I'm feeling something I should not. It's almost as if I'm a stranger in my own body.'
He knew that the hatred came from Jizo's soul that had the legacy, but he still couldn't bear it. He grabbed his head as the hatred intensified, flashbacks appearing in his mind.
The giant that attacked Jizo's village at that time seems to be a pawn of Lorth. Arthur had a dream about the giant right after he obtained the legacy.
Lorth and Kar, these were the two calamities that Arthur knew of until now. Lord of Giants and Lord of Vampires. Both of them seemed to be rulers of their species: Vampires and Giants.
The hatred returned but darker this time. An image accompanied it this time: Jizo's family's bodies were torn and limp. The veins on Arthur's temples bulged as he closed his eyes tightly.
"Get out of my head!"
Arthur roared as his mana went berserk and exploded. As if trying to get the intruding feelings, his mana left his body to destroy everything in its path.
***
"There she is!" Gala pointed at the gardens in the distance while the three looked through the window. The gardens had a young lady wearing a one-piece dark-green dress. Her black hair was tied to the side of her shoulder, giving her a friendly appearance.
"That's lady Aimee." Gruen nodded in a bashful expression, which Dia found to be disgusting.
Even after she regained the ability to touch others, unlike before, Dia didn't feel like she wanted to do so. The only person she missed embracing was her mother, but she was no longer here.
"This is stupid. I'm going back." Dia said curtly and left the two sneaking around the lady. The only reason that she agreed to accompany them is because of what Gala said.
'This is what the Seika wants. He never showed interest in anything but this dwarf.'
The Seika was indeed strange. Dia never thought that she would care what he wanted, but she became increasingly interested in his thought process.
She approved of his qualities: ruthless against his enemies and kind to his people and the weak. He hides his kindness because he sees it as a weakness, but that was also the quality of a true ruler.
'The only thing that he lacks is his desire to rule.' Dia couldn't understand why he would not want to, but that was unimportant. A deal tied them, nothing more.
She arrived at their suite, where she decided to wait for the Seika. However, their bond told her that the Seika was inside.
"Get out of my head!"
Boom!
The Seika roared as destructive mana gushed out from the room. A thunderous explosion shook the mansion, and Dia had to construct a barrier to protect herself.
Her barrier shook as the walls crumbled in front of her. She tried to steady herself, but the mana explosion pushed her back until her back slammed into the walls behind her.
'What is going on?' Dia furrowed her brows as the mana, and the dust began to settle down. She was sure this explosion came from the Seika, but why?
Dia regained her footing and walked into the room, which was now a mess. The explosion destroyed everything from chairs, tables, utensils, furniture, canisters, and walls.
In the middle of the room stood the person she came here to meet. Dia looked at the Seika, who looked like a mess. His breathing was rapid, as if he couldn't get enough air in.
"Seika?" Dia walked over slowly, staring at his bloodshot eyes. His right hand was still trembling. "What's wrong?" Dia heard the concern in her voice, something she found unfamiliar.
'What is this feeling?' Dia wondered, but she knew better than to introspect now.
"Don't call me that," The Seika's voice was tired and strained. "Call me by my name."
He demanded, almost desperate. His confused eyes and the pleading voice told Dia that he was asking for reassurance of himself, of who he is, but was she capable of answering such a question?
'His name?' Dia found herself stumped for an answer. 'Did I ever... ask him for his name?'
They spent so much time together, went through life and death, joked and resented, betrayed and followed, but she didn't know his name.
The young man in front of her turned from The Seika she followed to a stranger. He was now someone unfamiliar and lost. Helplessness filled her heart unlike any other time before as she tried to grasp an answer. She sought something that would pull the man in front of her from the abyss he was, but she had none.
'Useless,' Dia blamed herself for not being of use to someone for the first time in her life. However, she didn't want to stand there without saying anything.
"You are the powerful Seika," Dia heard herself say, but she knew that's not the correct answer. But what else did she have to offer? "With a single command, everything bows to you."
"That's not me." The Seika shook his head with a pained expression. With a sigh, mana enveloped his body as Dia felt the space twist.
Before she realizes it, Dia was already grabbing his wrist. She felt the mana envelop her as well, and the scenery changed around them. A gust of wind fluttered her hair as they appeared on the tallest tower of Contracts City.
"I wanted to be alone." The Seika's voice reached her ears, making Dia turn her gaze to meet his. His eyes have regained their usual calm, but he was still confused. She could feel it.
"We don't always get what we want," Dia said, trying to think of a way to mend her earlier 'incompetence.'
"I'll send you back." His voice was low, tired, and came out as a whisper. However, Dia shook her head. She slid her hand into his as she rested her head against his chest.
This method was the only answer she could think of, intimacy. She might not understand why, but this usually works for most people.
She faked it before, the feeling of longing for the touch of others when the Seika was treating her. It was to make her believe she was miserable, suffering, and emotional. Now, she wanted to replicate it not for herself but the man in front of her.
"It doesn't matter who you are. What matters is that you are here." Dia heard his heartbeat slow down as she spoke. "I don't know why you are feeling this way, but know this: I am here, and there's nothing I can't help you solve."
Dia raised her head and looked into his eyes. They no longer had the hatred from earlier. They stared at each other without saying anything for a while until a smile broke on his face.
"I didn't think such a day would come," The Seika said as he squeezed her hand a tad tighter. "A day where the ice princess consoles a human by saying such bold words."
"I believe in myself, so they aren't bold," Dia answered in her usual stubbornness, which made the Seika's smile grow wider for some reason. "Tell me your name." She didn't know why she wanted to know, but she did.
The Seika was surprised, as shown by his expression. The wind flew past her ears as she waited. The Seika seemed to chew on his words, wondering if he should tell her. In the end, he did.
"My name is Arthur," He said slowly. "Arthur Silvera."
Dia blinked, her mind not processing what she heard. The last name that the Seika said was familiar. She knew a man with the same surname.
That man was the one who killed her mother.
