The soft wet sound of the streaming river remained quiet; the Monarch of Blood didn't speak.

Lidien scratched his head--the back of his ear--and said.

"You're too old to sulk like a kid. Accept it. I won't kill those I deem innocent... just to reach my goal."

As he continued walking, kicking pebbles, he added.

"I even revived Lily using the Blood Essence I drew from the starry skies itself... so you see, my 'Means' are just more elegant than massacre."

Then a click of a tongue resounded in his head, making him smile as he confirmed the Monarch was... responsive.

"So, how's the status of the Rift? Do I need to pull it back to reality?"

Lidien waited, standing at the top of a boulder, eyeing the fish in the river that seemed to be swimming just enough to stay still in the current.

'The Rift could take a few days more... but I prefer for you to stay inside it and master its control, so you will not be affected by its rules, and it can be a safe haven for you.'

Lidien sighed, removed his leather shoes, and jumped down to the shallow side of the river, drenching his uncurled trousers, feeling the slippery pebbles under his feet.

And, with a small explosive movement, he grabbed a fish still flipping, trying to escape his controlled grip.

"There's too much to do, now... without troops, I can't focus solely on training. Being a Prince and someone serving you is really addicting," he muttered under his breath.

The Monarch laughed and said something that made Lidien intrigued.

'Then, why not make your own Clan... with your current power, you could match any small clans here in the Savage Expanse, you even have a Rift to back it with resources.'

Lidien threw the fish onto the riverbank, stranding it without water, before continuing to hunt more of them, throwing them onto the riverbank one by one.

"Easier said than done. How could I make a Clan without people... enslaving isn't an option either... that works for the Blood Rose Clan, but not for me--"

He was about to throw another fish onto the bank when he froze. His grip loosened, letting the fish splash back into the shallow water as his eyes went distant. Walking back and forth, tapping his forehead.

As he looked towards where Alva was, a smile touched his face... and he giggled, biting his curled index finger as his eyes slitted, forcing himself not to laugh.

'Stop it, child. Every time you laugh like that, it always puts us in a life and death situation.'

Lidien gulped and forced a small cough.

"Oh, I'm not laughing at the danger," Lidien said, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I'm laughing at the opportunity."

He walked out of the river, took back his shoes from the boulder and gathered the still-flipping fish into a bundle made from his tied-up tunic, slinging it over his shoulder.

Though he tried to put them in his space ring, it seemed that it couldn't take living beings.

As he walked back towards where he left Alva, he looked at the sky, now turning gold... as he checked his shadow, Lidien knew...

The river water flowed toward the Northern part of the Savage Expanse.

"Damn it... I hope we've already passed the Long-Ears Territory."

A few minutes of walking brought Lidien to where Alva was now making a fire beside a small makeshift tent made of chopped branches and bushy leaves.

'H-how can we both fit inside it? I think I'll just sleep beside the campfire.'

Lidien put down the bundle of fish and helped Alva make the fire... followed by a deafening silence, for neither of them knew how to start a conversation.

As the sunset gave way to darkness, lit only by the clear sky and stars, the fish being grilled were beginning to be consumed by them.

Both of them remained alert to the symphony of the night--the nocturnal birds, the stalking beasts--waiting not with tension, but with the poised readiness of veterans.

"Alva..." his voice just above a whisper, enough to call for her attention.

"What's your take on building our own Clan?"

She smiled faintly and shook her head, before asking.

"Do you know how to rule? We don't have people of our own, we don't have anything... or, are we going to attack and enslave other tribes like how those big clans did?"

Lidien stared into her eyes, reflecting the blazing fire. The thought was bitterly ironic--the enslaved princess, once a tool of conquest, was now the one questioning the morality of how power is built.

Her realization of her vulnerability as a slave had changed her... from a warrior who could murder thousands without batting an eye, to someone who silently hated slavery.

'Unlike Lady Rose, she's more fit to be a Leader...'

Lidien, who had lived in an era where people voted for their leader, believed that a good ruler should be respected by their subjects, not feared.

This not only eliminates the risk of revolution, but creates something people would risk their lives to protect... and a place where they could truly say they belonged.

It was that very system that had provided an orphan like Lidien with an education, making him knowledgeable.

Though corruption was prominent because of money as power, Lidien was sure... a Clan, ruled by the tangible, personal metric of strength, would not be susceptible to the same faceless, bureaucratic corruption.

It would only need a good leader--like Alva--to run it properly, ensuring that strength served the community, not just the self.

'We could try that, a place where the powerful protect the weak... and I'm the freeloader, silently gaining strength, acting as a strategist rather than a fighter.'

Lidien rubbed his chin, then met Alva's expectant gaze across the fire.

"We will never enslave others, Alva... we will let them join us of their own free will... and to do that, I need your ability as a Blessed of Life."

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