My body froze for a few seconds before letting Elira pull me along, her hand warm against mine as she led me westward. It was a strange feeling, one I couldn't quite name. My mind spun, trying to make sense of what had just happened. But I brushed it off as nothing but just her being kind. She couldn't have meant it like that. No, I was overthinking again, letting my fantasies run too wild.

Today, the world smelled different. Something had changed. I wasn't sure what; maybe it was just my imagination? I kept asking myself that as I felt the warmth of the people beside me.

My feet carried me through the tall grass, where wildflowers blanketed the earth. The wind brushed through them softly, making them sway in gentle waves. The air was thick with a sweet, floral scent, and I couldn't tell whether it came from the flowers or from Elira herself.

"Are you injured?" The words slipped out before I could stop them. It probably wasn't the right time to talk, but worry crawled up my throat all the same.

Her head turned toward me, eyes glimmering softly in the light. "I'm alright." I shouldn't have asked. The faint limp in her step betrayed the lie, yet she smiled through it. "I'm more worried about you, Beatrice. You've been through so much." Her voice quieted, her gaze falling, a shy blush coloring her cheeks. "Do you need… you know…" Her lips trembled around the words she couldn't finish, her eyes darting away as if afraid to meet mine.

"Your blood?" I asked, cutting through the silence. Her lips parted into a small O, surprise flashing in her face. "I don't need it. Thank you."

I forced a smile to hide the truth, the hunger clawing faintly inside me. She likely knew, but I would not take from her, not when she was already exhausted. I had to learn to control myself.

But her expression shifted, just for a moment, something soft and sad flickered there before she hid it behind a practiced smile. I could tell now, after spending even this short time with her. She wore masks too. In a way, we were alike. Both pretending, both hiding. Maybe she did it to avoid the pain. Maybe I did it to survive. Or maybe that was just me.

"Have you ever heard of the Empire of Holy Knights?" I asked, shifting the topic toward the next step in our journey.

Her steps faltered, fingers trembling slightly. "We're not going there, are we?" Her voice was quiet, eyes fixed on my lips as if afraid of the answer.

"Oh, so you do know of them. Good, that saves me the trouble of explaining how much they hate my kind," I said with a faint laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

But she didn't laugh. Her grip on my hand tightened instead, pulling me closer. "We can't go there. They'll kill you the moment they find out what you are. The people we fought before were nothing compared to them. We barely survived that… you barely did."

I knew what she meant. But hiding was not something I was ever good at.

I stepped forward, my heavy legs carrying me ahead of her, my hands clasped loosely behind my back. "I can't live fearing the world, even if it hunts me," I said quietly, though the words came out sharp. "I have to learn to accept it, to live with it. And who's to say I'll even be found out? Who's to say I won't grow strong enough to face the danger myself?"

I didn't look at her. I didn't need to. Whether she believed in me or not didn't matter. People always claimed it was care when they tried to stop me, but all I ever heard was doubt.

"And what if you die?" Her voice wavered, breaking slightly as she spoke.

"If I die?" I tilted my head, forcing a small smile. "Then I'll have lived a story worth telling, won't I? But if I don't, I'll become a menace no one can stop. Trust me, Elira, I'm not some fragile girl for you to keep worrying about. And even if death comes, I'll meet it without regret."

A small part of me still hoped that death was nothing more than another illusion—that if I fell, I would wake somewhere else. But I couldn't rely on that fantasy. The system had saved me once; I doubted it would do so again.

Silence lingered after my words, broken only by the soft rustle of wind through the fields and Beelzebub's tiny snores against my shoulder.

"Then promise me one thing," Elira said at last, her voice quiet but steady. "Promise me that, and I'll fight beside you for the rest of my life: without fear, without hesitation, and I'll never, ever doubt you again."

The wind held still. Nothing existed but her shimmering eyes locking with mine, pressing against my chest as if begging me to answer truthfully.

"Promise me you'll always put yourself before me or anyone else. Promise you'll never die, even if I fall before you." Her voice trembled, the weight of her words sinking into me. "And promise that if you ever need to kill me to survive, you will."

My heart skipped a beat. I smiled faintly, letting out a soft laugh at her tearful seriousness.

"Only if you promise me the same," I said, holding out my hand. "Otherwise, I can't make a promise that foolish. You know that's not who I am."

The world around us spoke for me: the quiet rustle of grass, the fading warmth of daylight. She looked at me for a long moment, and then her lips curved into a genuine smile, the kind I liked most, the kind that made us friends.

"I could never promise something so stupid, Beatrice," she laughed, taking my hand. Together, we walked toward the horizon, toward the far west, chasing freedom and the strength to defy whatever fate tried to write for us.

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