When I return to my body, I feel like I've just emerged from water.

Hah, I'm never experiencing that again, no astral projection! My whole body is stiff and it's still night, with the lilac sky moving behind the curtains. Honestly, it was the worst beauty sleep I've ever had, the trip back almost killed me due to the serpent's constant movement nearly throwing me off.

To my right is Ravenna, half-camouflaged in the darkness and staring at me as if I were a perfect piece to be stuck on the wall. Seriously, she has the patience to pick me apart bit by bit with her eyes! I end up moving away and getting out of bed, stretching my arms up and cracking my neck. I feel better now that I have a physical body.

"How was it?" Ravenna asks, obviously curious about the result.

"Normal, just bizarre. Why didn't all the spirits on the other side stop staring at me?"

"Because your very existence is different from what they are used to. You are two in one, a combination of souls and a phenomenon that shouldn't even exist. Any spiritual being would be interested."

Ugh, apparently there are perverts even in the other world. Anyway, now that it's over, I feel lighter. I walk to the bedroom window and rest my elbows on the sill, taking a good look at the horizon with the dark city and the palace walls. I feel more at home here...

However, a certain witch doesn't intend to let me sleep anymore, sticking right next to me and judging me with a pair of cerulean eyes that are frankly terrifying.

"Did you resolve what you wanted to do? Did you suffer any spiritual damage? Did you have any other problem?"

"Why do you care so much? Everything worked out! Look at me, I'm as hot as ever and completely unconcerned, it was easy to resolve that..."

Ravenna furrows her brows, tilting her face closer.

"I sense a lie in your words."

"You sense a lie in everything."

"It's easier to notice in you because when any subject is serious, you try to change the topic with laughter and jokes. What did you actually do, Darius?"

Am I that predictable, huh? How annoying. You could be blinder and let my mind rest a little, you know? Why insist so much on knowing about me? Tsk... Okay, I'll give in. She helped me immensely in the last few days and even offered to do the astral projection without gaining anything, but knowing her way, I know there's a trick in the middle.

I have no idea if it's actually good to tell her or not. In fact, it's a little scary because she will pull out every little detail until I'm just a husk.

I take a deep breath and run my hand through my hair, trying to maintain the same relaxed demeanor as always, but I feel her eyes digging into my mind.

"Relax, it was just a quick trip. Nothing major."

She narrows her eyes, almost as if she could tear the truth out of me just by watching.

"You are omitting information. What did you see?"

I turn my back to the window, because looking at her only makes it worse. The room is plunged into that gloom that seems to move along with the breathing, and honestly, I wish the sun would come up and put an end to this nightmare. No matter how much I try to keep my composure, Ravenna won't let go of the bone until she extracts the answer, that's the pain of knowing others so well.

"I saw... my world." The words escape before I even think straight. "I saw the old man... my father."

Finally, silence. We say absolutely nothing to each other, and it's good that way, because I expected her to laugh, or make a cruel joke. The witch's sadistic way never makes me comfortable, I've experienced firsthand how much she enjoys seeing others suffer and would do anything for it... the problem is I don't have the courage to face her back, so I have no idea what kind of expression that damned woman has.

"And?"

My fists clench unintentionally. Should I tell her or not? If I don't reveal anything, she will dig until she finds it, she will stay here next to me nagging until I give up and spill it all out. Ravenna is exactly like that: she doesn't accept a locked door.

"He's... ruined, and I couldn't do anything."

The witch doesn't react immediately. She just approaches slowly, her steps almost soundless, and stops close enough for me to feel a cold energy surrounding her, similar to the one she acquired because of the Silver Scar ritual. The problem is that Ravena brings her hands to my face, touching me with a gentleness that only makes me afraid.

"So that's the reason..." she murmurs, and for the first time, it doesn't sound like sarcasm. "That's why you wanted the projection so badly."

"Yeah, congratulations, witch. Are you happy to know now?"

She tilts her head closer, and, to my immense surprise, I receive a hug... A hug? Yes, a hug. Why are you all clingy with me now? Is it empathy? Why the hell would a person like you have empathy? This is very strange...

"Darius, what do you intend to do now?"

I laugh, but it's not genuine.

"I don't know. Pretend it doesn't hurt? Continue living as if nothing happened? I'm very good at that."

Ravenna continues to look at me, but there's a clear intention behind the grip she has on me: not an ounce of trust. It's incredible how she knows I can't live peacefully even with this kind of thing and somehow wants to be affectionate with me now.

This kind of situation makes no sense in my head. She is a witch and will now have the permanent status of Marchioness, possibly rising through the help she offered to the kingdom and also with the fortune received from Count Vandric now that Moriah decided to leave.

Why cling to me, a bastard who has nothing to offer but a few sweet words and a decent night of sex? You could release me now, leave the room, and start looking for a suitor for the Galbraith house in order to gain more influence and finally achieve your goal.

"I feel your pain" she breaks the silence with this unexpected statement, "I also... spoke with my parents when I had the chance."

Wait, does that mean that... Ah, I see. It's the kind of pain only the two of us know, is it? Like that time we walked through the Scorn hand-in-hand causing chaos, something only we share even amidst all the confusion.

I feel like an idiot.

I wrap Ravenna in a hug, I guess that's the least I can do now. She, a cold-blooded assassin who would kill anyone in her way, showing herself to be so fragile after showing that icy personality towards me. The tables have turned.

We stand there, still, enjoying the breeze coming through the window and saying absolutely nothing. It's better this way, losing a father or being distant from them is strong enough to cause severe depression in someone... but honestly, I'm just very sleepy now.

"Do you want to lie down on the bed?"

"Are you going to do something naughty with me?"

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for that?"

"No..."

I can't believe it, even in situations like this I lose credibility for being affectionate with someone else.

She lets out a discreet giggle, one of those almost inaudible ones, but which I notice by the trembling of her body against mine. Typical of her, even in a moment like this, she needs to stick in a bit of sarcasm so as not to seem too vulnerable.

"Then yes, I accept."

I just shake my head and let out a sigh. I move my body away a little, just enough to guide her to the bed. She lies down on her side, arranging her black hair on the pillow with the same elegance as always, as if she needed to keep the image intact even in the midst of emotional turmoil.

I lie down next to her, without excessive closeness. The room is taken by the lilac gloom that enters through the curtains, and for an instant I feel... at peace.

"I'm not used to sharing this with anyone" Ravenna says, breaking the silence, her voice low, almost reluctant. "It's easier to cry in silence than to open up feelings to someone else, isn't it?"

I turn my face, looking at her profile, that expression that always seems cold, but which now has small cracks opening up.

"Welcome to the club, witch. I've never been good at showing feelings either."

She closes her eyes, but before giving in to sleep, she lets slip:

"Don't you dare abandon me in the middle of this, Darius."

I keep looking, without answering. Because the truth is I don't know if I can promise anything. But still, I pull the blanket up a little over her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And, for the first time in a long time, I don't feel the need to say anything, or to cover it up with a joke. I just let the silence rock us to sleep.

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