"What do you mean?" Daela asked, staring at the squirming Eimi standing in front of her.

They were in her room, now repaired by the builders of the Elamin house.

It had already been a day since Eimi had awakened. And with that, a new appearance and a whole new kind of senses.

The young lass was still unable to completely adapt to them.

For example, there was this innate feeling she had to always be in water at least one hour a day.

If she ignored it, she would feel anxiety swelling inside her like a balloon, choking her from within.

Besides that, Eimi now felt very uncomfortable on land. It was as if she was not in her natural place, making her whole body constantly itchy.

It was agony.

That feeling made her unconsciously try to feel the natural connection people had with Fokay.

What she discovered in that process made her run toward Daela immediately.

Her squirming increased.

"You cannot access Fokay?" Daela echoed Eimi's words. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, Master." Eimi said, fidgeting with her fingers, head bowed low. "I feel nothing, like a calling or a link toward Fokay. I even tried to go there, but nothing happened."

Eimi's voice was thick with fear. She was speaking like someone stopping herself from breaking into tears.

And that was exactly it.

She had been waiting for this day for months since Zaki went away. And now that she thought the opportunity finally came to her… she couldn't even go to Fokay?

Something everyone could do?

What was wrong with her?

Eimi couldn't stop her tears from pouring out. They ripped through her cheeks swiftly and patted the carpet below.

Immediately, she raised both her hands and began to wipe them. "I—I am sorry!" She whispered, wiping her tears with unnecessary strength.

"I-I didn't want to cry, Master. I am sorry!"

"I am—!"

"It's fine." Daela cut her mid-speech, appearing an inch from her. She stretched her hand and placed it over Eimi's hands, beginning to caress them gently.

"It's fine." She repeated.

For some reason, Eimi immediately began to calm down, a comfortable silence flowing through her whole body.

There was something about Daela that made all kinds of fear meaningless. A silence in her so deep and alien, yet to Eimi, so calm and gentle.

That silence wrapped around her like a mother hugging her child on a stormy night. Eimi's tears trickled down again.

At that instant, she didn't know what had gotten into her, but the Princess of Whales did something she would have never dared to do under normal circumstances.

She hugged Daela.

Daela froze, eyes dilating.

An instinctive feeling to pull away from Eimi jolted through her whole body, but she suppressed it.

The Empress of Silence did not like anyone hugging her other than Kaden. She loathed it, even. But that day… that day, Daela made an exception.

An exception for a little girl who needed someone to lean on, and not someone who would push her away.

So with awkward movements, Daela hugged Eimi back.

The young lass began to sob.

If Zaki was the first one to give her life meaning by being her friend, then Daela was like a mother figure to her.

She took her under her shadow, took care of her, and trained her.

Daela never said no to Eimi if it was something useful. She also didn't shy away from reprimanding her if she made mistakes.

Yet every time after, she would advise her. And never impose her own beliefs.

Daela never shouted. Her voice was always flat, yet quiet and soothing.

To Eimi, Daela was more than what the Warborn herself would ever believe.

So Eimi hugged her, seeking warmth from her.

Daela inwardly sighed at this, but she couldn't deny the affection she felt for Eimi. She continued to soothe her.

"We will find a way," Daela told her. "Or maybe it's simply because you are too weak. I will double your training starting tomorrow."

Eimi flinched. "W-What?"

"Too low?" She murmured. "I will triple it. You need to be very strong, Eimi. You are my disciple."

"No! No!" Eimi pulled away from Daela and looked at her like a cat who had been wronged by her master. "No tripling the training, Master! Please!"

Daela allowed the faintest smirk to grace her stunning face. "It's already decided."

Eimi stared at Daela in horror, then dropped to her knees on the ground, seemingly lifeless.

Daela craned her neck. "It's not that serious."

"IT IS!!" Eimi boomed, then began to cry.

This time, it was tears for the pain she could go through with Daela.

For some reason, Daela liked these tears very much.

So she closed her eyes and listened to them as if they were a lullaby.

"Master, please!"

"Want me to quadruple it?"

"NOOOOOO!!!!"

Daela seemed to have found another vocation.

Besides spoiling her little brother rotten, she seemed to enjoy torturing other people mercilessly.

Balance.

'Everything is balance.'

…

Fokay — Celestial Empire

Along the streets of Asterion City, or even throughout Green City and Morningstar City, the subject of the people's conversations lately was always the same.

The destroyed Silver City.

That news had left many transfixed, shocked to the core by the fact that someone had dared to attack the Empire.

People began to guess.

Some wondered if it was the Pagoda of Discipline, or the Wolfish Kingdom, who had finally attacked. The two long-standing rivals of the Celestial Empire.

Some even went as far as claiming it was the Church of Sorrow, those madmen who loved to act like gods among mortals.

But all of those assumptions became useless, falling into dead silence when the surviving commoners of Silver City reached the other cities of the Empire.

There, the truth was revealed. And it was one no one would have believed if there had not been such a unanimous account.

Silver City was not destroyed by any of those superpowers.

It was burned down to ashes by two men.

By two brothers.

The Warborn brothers.

Kaden and Dain did not hide their identities. Well, it was mostly Dain who shouted their full names across the whole city before making the commoners run for their lives.

That alone earned them a notorious reputation within the Celestial Empire. And soon, people began to call them by a strange name.

Mostly the people of Silver City.

The Celestial Beasts of Flame.

One would wonder whether they hated the two brothers or admired them.

It was hard to tell. But what was certain was that young children were now begging their parents to find them a phoenix or a griffin.

Ignorant lads.

…

"The Celestial Beasts of Flame." Sirius laughed, "I am having a hard time here. Please help me. Should I be amused or offended?"

Sora rolled her eyes. "You seem to have already chosen your stance." She said, looking at the wide grin on Sirius's face.

"Theatrics, sister." Sirius answered, blue eyes staring at Sora, hands moving all around, "Don't you know? You are supposed to play along."

"I have no desire to play with you."

"That makes you boring."

"Repeat that?" Sora growled, golden eyes twinkling like the sun at midday.

Sirius, of course, was unfazed. He ignored his easily angered sister and spared a glance at his parents sitting close to each other.

The Asterions were inside their dining room, even though there was no food yet.

"What do you think of it?" He asked his parents.

"Nothing." Luminary said, then looked at Sora. "Though if I were you, Sora, I wouldn't be so unbothered. We lost an important city of ours. A city as old as this Empire, and that in a single day. No. Less than a day."

The atmosphere became solemn. Sora fidgeted in her seat, feeling the scalding gaze of her father.

Luminary continued, his finger tapping rhythmically on the table.

"Strangely," he said, "Lord Silver didn't fight back. Everything points to the fact that he fled. So he is a traitor."

"Do you understand where I am getting at?"

Sora was puzzled, confused. She looked at her father, then her mother, before finally looking at Sirius.

All of them seemed to expect something from her. A kind of understanding. But Golden Voice felt none of that.

"Hm…" she began, her fidgeting increasing, her voice hesitant, "Does it mean I have to find Lord Silver for a Trial of Loyalty?"

"Not really." Sirius interjected. "It means that the other superpowers, like the Pagoda or even those wolf bastards, could very well use this opportunity of weakness to jump on us."

He smiled. Sora frowned.

"And maybe you have forgotten," he continued, "but you are now the true Heiress of the Empire. Meaning, it's your duty to immediately find a way out of this situation caused by our dear friends."

Mahina shrugged. "Didn't you wish to be the Empress?"

"I never did." Sora scowled.

"It matters not, my daughter." Mahina said. "You are the Heiress. Everything will be made official tomorrow. The Sun will rule, as Vesper Asterion wanted it. So you have to get ready."

Mahina's voice became stern. "You now have responsibilities. You are no longer a simple princess."

Sora shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Unconsciously, she looked at her brother for help.

Sirius only shrugged. "Don't look at me. I will soon depart this Empire."

Sora's eyes widened slightly.

"So truly, sister…" Sirius smiled wryly, feeling somehow bad for Sora, "you are on your own."

Golden Voice fell silent. In normal circumstances, she might have crumbled already. Thrown a fit about how she never asked for this.

She had learned now.

And she had received all the past life of Lady Sora.

True, Lady Sora was not an Empress. Still, she went through enough experiences that could be useful to her.

She just needed to digest them completely.

Sora exhaled through her nose. She looked at her family, her eyes hardening.

"I will not disappoint." She said, her hand clenching into a fist beneath the table.

The Asterions smiled.

"We will always be behind you." Luminary said. "So do us proud."

"Show me why the Starlight Shard chose you." Mahina added.

Sora nodded, then looked at Sirius. Her face became sad for a moment before she hid it swiftly. "Where will you go?" She asked with a rude tone.

"Where?" Sirius shrugged, smirking.

"Toward my gorydamn destiny, lovely sister."

"Stop acting cool and tell me the place!"

Sirius paused, then slowly…

"Where sins are accumulated."

Sora scowled.

—End of Chapter 372—

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