It was quiet, too quiet.

  The lights inside the room brightened, signaling the time of day inside the fort.

  And with them…

  THUD!

  “Leyna?!”

  “Mo, wait!”

  A tall young man slammed the door open, ignoring both the two Luscairna guards outside and both Arman and Aurora following him.

  He still had his tattered dark hair and wore the same amber jacket he always had. Only the color of his undershirt had switched to black, but the fact that it hugged his muscular frame hadn’t changed. The silver ring hanging down to his heart reflected the lights on its polished surface.

  “!”

  The moment he glanced over towards the couches, he spotted his sleeping sister. Some dried up blood was still outlined on her neck, down to her slightly torn white underdress. Thankfully, a soft blanket had covered most of that.

  His slightly tanned face suddenly turned completely pale before he quickly leapt forward.

  “Leyna! Are you okay?!” He stood over his sister, his hands constantly retracting every time he tried to reach for her. “No…”

  He fell to his knees and held on to the edge of the couch. Even though he had noticed her slow steady breathing, his teeth were grinding against each other. His fingernails dug into the couch as he watched Leyna’s peaceful expression.

  “Why… This shouldn’t have happened!” He cried out before lowering his gaze.

  “Mo…” Aurora muttered, taking a step toward him.

  “How did you let this happen?!” The tall guy stood up and turned around suddenly, his brows twisted into a frown. “You were supposed to protect her while I’m out, Aurora!”

  “I…” The girl began, then turned her head to the side, unable to find the words.

  “I trusted you, we trusted you!” Mo added, slapping the wind between them. “She almost died!”

  “Mo, I understand your anger.” Arman added from the side, putting a covered tray down on the table. “Aurora was following a lead on the murderer, and Leyna spent most of her time in the trade market with enough people around to assume there would be no attack.”

  “How did this happen then?! Where were you?!” The fireman aspirer clenched his fists tightly, his eyes closing unintentionally every time he glanced over at his bloodied sister.

  “It was a series of unfortunate events, Mo. Calm down, she’s okay now, just sleeping to recover.” Arman walked forward and patted the tall man’s shoulders. “I had to check on some patients. We made sure to tell Leyna to stay around others, and avoid strangers, but for some reason, she willingly went with some Unseen folks and encountered trouble on the way.”

  “Why would she-”

  “Mo… mo?”

  “?!”

  A broken voice alerted the big brother, a soft voice and a nickname he had been used to hearing for most of his life.

  “Leyna!”

  “What… happened?” Leyna tried to sit up, pushing herself against the couch with one hand, and holding her head with the other. “When did you… come back-”

  Without waiting for her to finish, Mo had already wrapped his big arms around her, squeezing her into a tight hug.

  “I’m sorry, Leyna… Again, I let you get hurt… again.” He murmured, his voice cracking as he lowered his body to kneel down slowly.

  “Momo… I’m okay, I didn’t get hurt-!”

  “Leyna dear, take it easy. Don’t recount it all at once.”

  Just as she was patting her brother’s head with a faint smile, her eyes suddenly widened. The head doctor immediately sprang forward and took her hand.

  “Arman, what’s going on?”

  Aurora got close, standing beside Mo who was forced to take a step back.

  “Somnu… he…” Leyna muttered with rapidly growing short breaths, her pupils shaking. An expression of anxiety and worry appeared on her face as she rubbed her temple.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Deep breath, Leyna. Take it one step at a time.”

  As Arman spoke, a faint pink color released from his hands and enveloped the girl’s body, calming her breathing down and steadying her eyes.

  “I was… working. Next to Kaelara…” Leyna mumbled, retracing her steps from the previous day slowly. “Then some Unseen showed up… previous customers I sold clothes to… They… They said Somnu was found, that he was in the fort now… They offered to… protect me, help me get back to my room to wait for him.”

  “Slowy, Leyna. You’re doing good, what happened next on your way back?”

  “We… got attacked…” Leyna squinted her eyes, pausing for a moment. “They tried to protect me… but couldn’t… They died because of me.”

  “That’s enough, Leyna. You don’t have to remember the rest!” Mo urged, crouching down slightly to get to eye level with his sister. “They wanted to protect you for a reason, you’ve helped a lot of people. I’m sure they were more worried something would happen to you after they failed, so instead of feeling bad, thank them and ease their souls.”

  “... Momo.” The sister clenched her fists over her knees, letting go of Arman’s hand. “It’s always the same… Why… Why do I worry everyone around me…? Why am I so weak…?”

  “You’re not weak-”

  “Back then, if it wasn’t for me… If I hadn’t gotten hurt… Somnu wouldn’t have distanced himself from us and locked himself inside his house…” Tears fell down on her white knuckles. “Every time… It’s always the same… If it wasn’t for everyone… For Aurora, the one who dragged me here… and attacked me…”

  “... Leyna.”

  “You two, don’t get alerted, but…”

  “?!”

  As Arman spoke after surveying the room, he gestured to everyone, shifting their focus toward the corner at the far end of the room.

  “Is that… Somnu…?” Mo muttered, his eyes opening wide at the terrifying sight.

  Unintentionally, Leyna grabbed her big brother’s muscular arm, shivering slightly.

  “What… happened here?” Aurora’s body tensed up, her eyes quickly narrowing.

  “I’m not quite sure…” The head doctor summoned his tablet again and looked through it. “There doesn’t seem to be any lasting damage, so why don’t we ask the man himself?”

  “...”

  The corner was dark, remnants of some lightless gems were shattered and laid across the ground. The previously white wall had some blood splatter on them, as well as the occasional grim and sweat.

  On the ground, with his back hunched and his face covered by the hood of the dark cloak, the scarecrow sat without moving a single inch, like a statue guarding the room.

  The ground around him was slightly wet, his sweat was leaking down from the cloak as if it was completely drenched.

  The sight alone made everyone watching stand at a distance, not knowing what to expect.

  Crow-Shit… I couldn’t recover in time…

  The scarecrow had been alerted by his serpent companion. She had even slapped him silly a few times to bring him out of his daze, even though her own eyes were filled with tears.

  Now, Somnu’s worst case scenario was happening again. His siblings were here, looking at him with faces filled with worry.

  He needed to ensure that changed immediately, and staying silent all this while had not helped his case either.

  The last few hours had taken his voice, the pain he experienced hadn’t allowed a single sound to escape his lips, not that he would have ever let it.

  Thankfully, Fala’s efforts had helped Somnu constantly use level ups to recover his strength and resist the pain. He hadn’t taken control of Veilbinder’s Diadem, that hadn’t been his goal anyway.

  He simply wanted to get used to that pain, to make sure it would no longer interfere with his plans. This agonizing night was simply the first step towards that, conquering something on this level wouldn’t be easy, and he knew it.

  He just needed to make sure he did it away from the worrying eyes of his loved ones next time. How was he supposed to guess Mo would return first thing in the early morning?

  ‘Master!! They are watching you! Are you there, master! Should I slap you again?!’

  ‘Please don’t, Naga. I’m fine…’

  ‘Master, you’re back!’

  Naga quickly slithered around the dark drenched hood, and took her place at the scarecrow’s shoulder. Slowly, he began to stand up.

  “... Hey, guys.”

  He took off his hood, revealing his drenched pale face. The blindfold barely covering his empty eye sockets showed remnants of blood stains that were fading away from the dampness.

  His white hair was hugging his forehead, trickling more sweat for the cloth to consume.

  “Somnu, what happened to you?! Why have you been sitting there like that?!” Momo took a step towards his long lost brother, keeping his grip on his sister’s hand behind him.

  “I was working out… I wanted to keep my strength up and fell asleep. I had my familiar keep watch…”

  “Working out…? You expect us to-”

  “Somnu! I missed you so much!”

  “?!”

  Suddenly, Leyna sprang forward, her arms opening wide to embrace her brother.

  Mo, along with Arman and Aurora, all stood in shock at the sudden action and unusual change of demeanor.

  However…

  CLENCH!

  “!”

  “Somnu! What are you doing to her?!”

  The scarecrow had grabbed his sister’s head, keeping her at arm’s length.

  “S-somnu… what’s wrong?” His sister’s weak voice called out, her pupils constricted.

  He grit his teeth, feeling the heavy knot pierce his chest. He hadn’t wanted things to go down this way, not at all.

  “I’m only going to say this one…” He paused, then raised his, and the serpent’s, head to meet the eyes staring at him. “Get out of my sister now!!”