Zaelyane and Rion walked beside each other, and Zaelyane asked, "What do you want to achieve from this?"

A faint smile appeared on his face, and he answered wholeheartedly, "After using the herbs for my squad and helping them reach their level in such a short time, I realised that we are wasting an opportunity by ignoring the herbs."

Her ethereal green eyes stared at him, and she stated, "You seem to have the misconception that your squad members reached their level of strength because of the pills you gave them."

He shook his head and muttered with a faint chuckle, "You think too little of me. I know that these herbs only showed such an effect because of their hard work and talent; without them, these herbs wouldn't have proven to be that useful."

Her expression stayed static as before, and she remarked, "Then you should know that these herbs won't just double the strength of the Dhaevrak."

"I know that it won't double our strength, but it will allow the talented to climb faster than now, and those with the lowest talents would be able to grow a bit faster instead of just losing their talent with age."

Her eyes stirred, and she asked, "What do you want me to do?"

His expressions turned serious, and he responded, "I would be holding a feast two days from now."

"You want me to join that?" She frowned.

He nodded and continued, "Yes, and I want you to announce the formation of the Herbalist Camp."

"I don't like being in crowded places," she replied with a displeased expression.

He turned his head towards her and said softly, "I want you to help me achieve this, and in return — I'll help you with any single thing."

Emotions flickered in her usually expressionless eyes, and she gave him a silent nod.

His smile widened, and he said, "I'll see you at the feast," before turning around and making his way towards his parents' house.

She stopped in her tracks and watched his departing back until he disappeared from her vision.

—

Twigs and dried leaves crunched under Rion's quick steps, and before long, he reached his parents' hut.

He stopped by the door, knocked on it and waited for his mother to open.

"Coming!" Lara's voice reached him from inside.

Creak!

A couple of moments later, the door creaked open, and Lara asked before peeking outside,

"Who— hmm? Rion?"

She pushed open the door, and before he could say anything, she grabbed his free hand and pulled him inside with a smile stretched across her face.

He returned the smile with one of his own.

The wooden floor shrieked as she pulled him over to the bed and took a seat before gesturing for him to sit beside her.

He placed his spear by the fur bed and took a seat beside her.

Her hand reached his head, and she softly ruffled his hair as she asked warmly, "How are you?"

He let out a chuckle and answered, "I am good, of course. My group listens to all of my words, and everything is going smoothly."

She smiled and mumbled, "Why are you here then?"

His lips fell into a frown, and he muttered, "What?"

She placed her palm on his cheek and mumbled softly, "You should be busy with the preparation for the war next year. Yet you are here, why?"

Lara knew how much her son loved them, but he wasn't reckless; he wouldn't have come to meet her unless it was something important.

He placed his hand on top of hers and answered with a serious expression, "Mother... I need your help."

She blinked in confusion and mumbled, "You need my help...?"

He nodded and explained, "I am going to hold a feast two days from now, and I want you to help us prepare it."

"Oh..." her lips parted, and her eyes shone with curiosity as she asked, "Why are you holding this feast?"

His smile faltered for a moment, but he already knew that she would ask him about it, and he had no qualms about telling her.

'She worries too much,' he thought and answered, "I want to add another layer of command over the group leaders, but I do not want to force them into it, so I am holding this feast, which is meant to raise everyone's morale."

"So you are using the feast as a front to have all of them at a single spot so they cannot delay answering you..." she concluded and asked, "Who else is in this with you?"

He looked at her in surprise and remarked inwardly, 'Why am I even surprised? She is a former princess!'

He pushed away his thoughts and responded, "Marin, Zaelyane and Fa—"

His words halted as he felt a bad premonition. He suddenly closed his mouth and muttered inwardly, 'Wait... father hasn't told her already?'

She frowned, worry rippled in her eyes, and she asked while brushing the back of his arm with her hand, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." He replied and questioned himself, 'Should I tell her?'

If he were still ten years old, he would have used this as a weapon to get Haden scolded by her, but he wasn't a kid anymore, so it didn't make sense for him to snitch on his own father.

"Father."

But he couldn't lie to his mother either.

Lara's warm smile suddenly hardened, and she mumbled, "So your father knew about this?"

'I am sorry but I can't just lie...' He mumbled in his head with a saddened grin and continued, "Yeah, he was the first to know about it."

He tilted his head and asked with a puzzled expression, "He didn't tell you?"

Her smile faltered slightly, she shook her head and answered, "He did tell me about it, but I wanted to hear from you."

"Oh..." he murmured, and suddenly her grip hardened.

He glanced at her right hand from the corner of his eye and stated inwardly, 'Oops...'

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