"What the?"

The merchant said, looking at his missing items, only his relics were left; everything had gone missing. And it couldn't be a coincidence. Relics can't be stolen, since they could just be summoned back; that was why the thief had not touched them.

Still, it was infuriating that someone dared steal from him. But who? Who would do such a thing as steal in broad daylight?

He looked around at the other stands near him, staring at their stuff, and suddenly, he saw one of the jewelry pieces that he was selling on someone else's table.

"The bastard..."

He rolled up his sleeves, went to his fellow merchant, and grabbed him by his collar.

"You dare steal from me."

The other merchant raised one of his brows, struggling with his grasp, and patting his clothes. He frowned, looking back at him.

"What the heck are you saying? Why would I steal anything from you out of anyone?"

'Acting dumb, I see.'

He let out an irritated laugh, the kind that was there to calm you, but it only made you even more angry. He walked over to the front of the stand and picked up the piece of jewelry.

"Then what is this?"

The other merchant seemed surprised to see the piece, rubbing his chin as he thought about where they could have gotten it.

"Well, I don't remember having something like that. But I didn't steal anything from your poor and useless stand."

"You've got some guts..."

He pushed his competitor to the wall, frowning while looking into his eyes.

"You better not do something like this again, I won't be so nice next time."

The other man scoffed, pushing him off him, and brushing off the dust from his clothes, then he pointed to him.

"I didn't steal anything from you. What don't you get that?"

"Yes, you did!"

...

"Yes, you did!"

...

"Huh?"

He turned his head to the other stands near them and saw that they were having the exact same problem; their items had been stolen. How wicked, to think that the Withered had so many thieves inside the Marketplace, shouldn't they be outside on the streets?

It was weird, though, how they all decided to suddenly put their plan into action... they must be working together.

"Look, man, we can talk this out."

Talk things out, this guy had stolen something from him, and he thought taking was going to solve things; he could hardly hear him, that was how army he was. It was actually impressive got quite his voice.

He got closer, raising his fist and threatening the other merchant. But as he was about to do something, the sound of a fire raging resonated in his ear.

'Again?'

These fires had recently started to happen for whatever reason. From what he heard, people have started to light on fire their competitors' stands. People have really gone mad these days, but he did understand them. After all, he really wanted to burn this guy's stand too right now, I mean, he stole from him.

...

Chaos, the Marketplace was really chaotic these days.

...

...

On top of one of the many arcs that were more over the roof of the Marketplace, hovering over it at great height, stood a lone figure, looking down upon the people inside of it. Smiling at the sight of their fighting. It amused him, it made him excited.

Things were all going according to plan, but the Marketplace was falling into a state of chaos. Where no one trusts each other, and people keep to themselves. And he heard that a carriage from the Blue Rose had arrived that day. It was great news; they just needed to find one of the many marks he had hidden inside.

But man, had this little earring been doing some work, no wonder it was a Harbinger; it had alone brought the Marketplace to this point. And while so far it was only the exterior, which was the poorest of the three sectors of the Marketplace, it was still a great achievement.

"One sector is close to falling, then the second and third... then everything outside the Witered is going to be easy. And when it reaches that point, there is no way the people wouldn't try to stand their guard."

...

And if everything went well, they were going to be on his side, fighting against the Blue Rose.

Either way, he needed some rest. After all, while his earring was powerful, it dried him off of all the essence he had, so he was like a plant in a desert, like now. He stretched his body, starting to climb down from the arcs, jumping from roof to roof, before he set foot on the ground.

He chuckled at the sight of two merchants arguing over how one of them had stolen a piece of jewelry from the other. And to add fuel to the fire, he knew exactly what to do.

"Hey, aren't you the one who stole from me the other day?"

The man who was accusing the other merchant of stealing looked at him and then turned back even more furious and demanding than before.

He laughed to himself, trying to make it so no one saw him before leaving the Marketplace.

'Man, it's much easier to be evil than good.'

He felt free, as he didn't have to respect some kind of good, as if he didn't have to meet some expectations, just like he had to do inside Frozen Crown, where he had his own army who looked up to him, and put their trust that he was going to do the right thing and kill the Queen.

Which he was able to do, but it almost cost him his life, and took him a while.

Yet now, he had only been doing evil things for a few months, a time when he turned fifteen, and he had already made progress without doing that much. Did he get exgastion? Yes? But that only meant that he could sleep for longer and not do anything, and he had an excuse.

He took off his hood, looking around from where he had left his lantern, and wrapped it around his waist. Feeling relieved that his marks are not itching anymore.

Twenty minutes, that was how long he was able to live with his soul being attacked; if he had to say, he had quite a strong soul. Fitting for a Vessel of the Abyss.

He smiled confidently at how far he had gotten in such a short time. He really was something else.

...

Suddenly, he passed by a girl he swore he had seen somewhere. Turning his head to face her, he met her gaze as they both stood still.

He recognized her; she was the princess, but why was she in such a place like the Withered?

They stared at each other for more time before the girl suddenly broke the awkward silence.

"I'm sorry, but I've gotten quite lost. Do you mind taking me to the Marketplace?"

So the young princess wished to go to the Marketplace? What did he even expect? Of course, that was what she wanted to do; what else could she have been doing in a place like this? The Marketplace... it wasn't just a good time to go to it now, someone was doing some bad stuff to it. I wonder who.

"Um, sure. My name is Aether, by the way, if you were wondering."

Princess Iris smiled as Aetehr started to guide her through the Withered. It had been a side quest he wished to do; even if it prolonged his rest, he couldn't miss the opportunity to learn more about the princess. Though he doubted her shadow was going to say much.

...

...

He continued to guide the princess through the many streets and alleys of the Withred, no one daring to approach her with him around. But suddenly, from the shadows, someone burst out trying to attack the princess.

Luckily, even since he had ranked up to an echo, his speed and strength had increased, or rather, his essence, but since essence ran through the body like blood, it was as if he had a rush of adrenaline. So he was able to summon his blade, redirect the attacker's blade, and smash his head when he tried to get away.

But as the princess was now safe, and the so-called adrenaline left him, he realized one crucial mistake on his part. He had let her see his marks, which was a crucial mistake. If she were here with others from the Blue Rose, and someone knew about the Abyss's past, he would probably know about them.

So she just had to hope that she forgot what she saw, or rather, that she didn't see anything at all.

If she did...

Things were going to end badly for him.

...

Not long after that unfortunate encounter, they reached the marketplace, where the princess reunited with a young knight. He didn't want to prolong his rest, so he left without saying his goodbyes.

But he had gotten some good information.

The Blue Rose was here; the knight being here confirmed it, so it wasn't going to be long until they found his mark and reported it to the king.

...

"I'll have to go and meet them personally when they come back."

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