Arthur Silvera had a few hair strands that fell from the rest, which he tied using a hair tie. His face was calmer, calmer than she would have liked.
Earlier with the witch, Dia lost control of her powers when she thought about him dying after she leaves. Yet, here he was: asking her to stay here in the middle of people who hated her, leaving her alone.
"Fine," Her reply was curt as she bit on her lower lip. She wasn't a weakling, and she was no longer a child left in the snow. "Is that all?"
"Yes." Arthur looked at her silently before nodding. He didn't say anything more and simply walked past her toward the door.
'Is it that okay for you?' Dia tightened her fist, but she didn't say it. She turned to see him close the door behind him without looking back.
They met in unusual circumstances. Both of them acted with a mask on their face, trying to deceive each other. Arthur won at the end, and she became his prisoner.
They went through a lot: from resentment, to fear, to awe, to frustration, to companionship, to abandonment. The door closed, and Dia wished she was the one closing it this time instead of him.
***
"Are you sure about this?" Gala asked him when he walked out of Dia's room. She was standing outside, listening to them, while her spirit hid her.
"That's the best method to achieve our goals," Arthur replied before walking past her. "It's rude to spy on others."
"It's ruder to decide for them. You know that this isn't what Dia wants." Gala walked beside him.
"She's confused. I need to decide for her, as her friend." Arthur didn't slow down for her and walked toward his room. As he grabbed the knob, Gala placed her arms to block him.
"That's not what is happening." Gala looked at him with squinted eyes. "You're just running away."
"Running away?"
"You know that she's growing attached to you. That's why you came up with this plan to leave her here. Why would you do that, Seika? I know that you don't dislike her."
"As I said, this is for the..." Arthur tried to explain.
"You are leaving." Gala's eyes sharpened as she interrupted. "Dia needs to work on her future separately because you won't be in it."
Arthur looked at her violet eyes with discomfort. He hoped she was less sharp about people, but that's what made her so valuable. Seeing his lack of answer, she knew the answer.
"When?"
"I don't know," Arthur replied quietly. "I just know that it's inevitable."
"We can come along," Gala said. "We did, until now."
"I'm not selfish to ask you to keep following me. Dia's goal is to rule Alva, to serve it. Yours is to die, at least temporarily. You're leaving. I'm leaving. We can't always stick together."
Gala looked at him silently before retracting her hand from the door. Arthur opened it and walked into the room. Even as he was closing it, the witch was looking at him silently.
"There's no medicine for regret, Seika."
She said as he closed the door, letting the words resound in the empty room. Arthur, however, had no plans of changing his mind.
He won't be going to a place where they can accompany him. If that happens, they would have to leave everything they have behind.
He took off his shoes and robe before retreating to his bed. The fatigue seeped out of his body as he rested in be. A single thought overtook his mind as he did.
'We've spent a lot of time together.' He was thinking about Gala and Dia. 'Even then, I can never ask them to abandon their dreams just because I want them to stay.'
***
"Be careful. Those are precious items!" Gruen shouted with a frown as the servants loaded the crates to the carriages. He turned to face Arthur, who was walking toward him. "Good morning, Seika!"
"You're excited." Arthur lightly smiled as he looked at the carriage. "Are these the items?"
"Yessir!" Gruen said with a grin. "I used the gold coins to stock for our trip. There are many precious items and more useful ones."
"Why are you putting them in crates?" Arthur asked with surprise. "Wouldn't putting them in a storage artifact be better?"
"Sigh," Gruen's expression was down. "Those were hard to acquire. I looked everywhere, but everyone says they were sold out."
"I guess this is just the beginning." Arthur smiled.
"Hm? What do you mean, boss?"
"Now that's nostalgic." Arthur laughed as he turned toward Gruen. He was suddenly reminded of Jonah, making him wonder how he was currently. "I guessed that there would be a lot of difficulties. The issue of the storage artifacts is one of them."
"Are you saying the storage artifacts ran out because of the nobles interfering?" Gruen's eyes widened. "Those sneaky bastards! We should file a complaint to the kingdom!"
"That's what they want, for us to show our incompetence." Arthur shook his head. "We'll have to resolve this ourselves. Keep loading for now." Arthur said before he left.
As he walked through the palace grounds, he could feel the eyes of doubt and hostility fall on him. The knights and servants were against him because he was an outsider trying to 'leech' off the kingdom.
While he was walking, he saw Dia standing beside a railing that overlooked the palace grounds. He found her watching the knights having their drill under Courage's supervision.
"Not much different from the soldiers of Alva." Arthur stood beside her.
"They are weaker," Dia said with a frown. "However, their teamwork is better. That's how humans managed to push Alva back."
"I think it's better that you avoid saying such things. Others would think you are spying on the military strength of the kingdom."
"They already think of me as a spy. After all, who would go against her kingdom without being forced to?" Dia shook her head.
"Someone who cares about the people more than she cares about being a ruler." Arthur smiled. She turned to look at him with a blank expression. "I know that you seek more than just a throne."
"I'm not different from you. I seek change." Dia grabbed the railing. "Being the duke's daughter only served to teach me how corrupted the nobles were."
"I know." Arthur looked at the knights, each of them sweating heavily. It was summer currently, the sun being high in the sky. The Knights had a drill led by Courage, wearing their metal armor under the unbearable heat. "How about you cool them down?"
Dia hesitated at his suggestion but still threw her hand in an arc. The ice energy left from her hand and created a cold breeze that cooled down the knights.
"OOH!" The knights were surprised, turning to look around in amazement. Their faces looked refreshed by the cold air that dispelled the heat.
Arthur smiled as he saw Courage glance their way before ignoring them. However, most of the knights looked at Dia gratefully. The demi girl looked uncomfortable with their gazes, making Arthur snicker.
"You have a long way to go."
She looked at him hatefully, but Ma arrived before she could say anything. He stood a distance away from them without saying anything until Arthur turned his way.
"Lady Gala asked for your presence in the workshop." Ma said respectfully.
"Well, I need to go." Arthur nodded toward Dia in farewell before he left. He could feel her angry eyes lock on his back. Passing the grand hall where he met Solomon, the two walked toward the workshop.
They entered the separate building to find Gala sticking to a young man with glasses. The man looked uncomfortable with her actions, but Gala was relentless as she tried to persuade him.
"Seika!" Gala noticed him immediately. "I have a gift for you!"
"I hope you're not talking about the man you're holding." Arthur sighed as the thin man looked scared. "Are you alright?"
"Well, would you look at that? The Seika is a nice guy if he's not beheading people. Even the king turned a blind eye to it!"
"Gala, how about you stop talking?" Arthur glared at her. Even if the king turned a blind eye to it, making the other nobles swallow their indignation, he didn't want to spread the image he enjoyed.
"Not a chance!" Gala grinned as she hugged the young man's arm. "I'm taking this guy in as my disciple!" She was unusually persistent.
"Huh," Arthur was taken aback. "Why would you call me over here then?"
"I want you to order him into coming with us," Gala said as the young man's body shivered. He looked at Arthur with fear.
'She's using my Creator Art to threaten people now?' Arthur looked around, hoping that no one heard her words.
"Why are you so stubborn about this?" Arthur asked with confusion.
"This guy's ability is called Knowing Eyes. He can be the ultimate potions master, but he's only an assistant here!" Gala said, anger flooding from her voice. "If we take him along, I can create endless potions with him!"