Oh, yeah…

The Prince was in terrible condition. Leto had really whipped her over alongside Arlen, but he'd kept them alive in case the gods needed him to kill them for the Purpose to be fulfilled.

But now, Leto hesitated to make his decision. In the heat of the moment, he'd decided to let them live under certain conditions. Whatever they were, Halo was completely in the dark.

However, the Shadow of Death was too exhausted for their shenanigans. He went home, treated his wounds and bruises, and then crashed like he hadn't slept in years.

Among the buildings destroyed in Halo and Spineless's battle was The Prince and Arlen's home, rendering them no choice but to seek shelter somewhere warm. Halo's home.

When Halo woke from his slumber, nearly a day later, Leto had already said his goodbyes. Though they'd be joining the same cohort later, he'd expected the bastard to show a little consideration. But as always, Leto had personal matters to attend to.

"My friend died because of you. I didn't expect you to be alive, let alone sitting here with me."

Halo said, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the Prince's cold, dark eyes.

The Prince rested in the seat where Leto should be sitting, sipping on a cup of tea.

"She killed herself… or maybe I let her. If she'd stayed with me, she'd still be alive. But she pushed for Hex's attention, and I wasn't going to stop her."

Halo clenched his fist in irritation.

The audacity to be sitting on that very person's furniture and still throwing insults at her.

He had no intention of letting this escalate any further. When the sun rose again, he was going to give Iris a proper burial even without her corpse.

Besides, the Prince's entire land was destroyed, and she'd already promised the locals something better once they returned to their homes. How was she going to pull that off?

"So why put yourself through all these troubles?"

The Prince gave him a lazy look and crossed her legs.

Looking at her made Halo uncomfortable. She had imitated a man's presence perfectly but still seemed to be overdoing it. Even Leto wouldn't sit cross-legged on a chair like he was trying to be some alpha male.

"You wanted me to refuse her. But you know where that ends. You know exactly where she would've put me."

Of course, she would be dead by now. But still…

The Prince began adjusting her clothes.

"She paid for all of it. I now have enough Sin Fragments that would've taken me multiple Purposes to accumulate. The collapsed buildings, the losses… all hers."

Halo knew about this. Aeliana, the first person he'd met in this ordeal, had joined the crew for two reasons: to claim free Sin Fragments and to chase her naive dream that humans could live without killing each other.

But he'd never fully understood how powerful the mastermind was. Now that he knew it was Hex, he finally grasped how she'd spread so many Sin Fragments across the land, though her rank remained a mystery.

"If she had massacred everyone in StoneHaven, would you still pretend that isn't death for you?"

The Prince adjusted herself.

"But she didn't. And even if she had, I would've carved out a path for her to run. I could've handled everything, but you changed her. Now, with those new Chaos Eaters you helped create, there's no one left who can even stand against her."

Halo frowned.

He intended to kill Hex someday and make her pay for what she'd done to Iris. If she feared anything, he needed to know what it was.

His eyes narrowed.

"What does she fear?"

"I'm not sure what her problem is, but she feared someone named Fade of Bridle. According to the stories, this person was only a myth and died centuries ago. She also feared Sleepy Hollow, Kysa, and the Mystic Clown. Out of all of them, only Kysa is familiar to me."

Halo sneered. Those people again.

He recognized only two of the names mentioned, Kysa, the strongest Knight to ever exist, and Fade of Bridle, his master, the one whose lessons had likely carried him through this Purpose.

But based on those two, Halo realized Hex feared impenetrable minds. Her seduction and mind manipulation would struggle against a martial arts prodigy like Fade of Bridle, and Kysa was no ordinary human either.

He smirked.

He understood now. If he could just master all of Fade's lessons, Hex wouldn't be such a threat.

Actually, he doubted he was in any shape to regain the level of serenity he used to defeat Spineless, at least not anytime soon.

"Aren't you supposed to be preparing for your next Purpose?"

The Prince struck a bizarre pose.

Halo frowned.

"You don't have to pretend to be a man in front of me, you know."

Prince's expression darkened.

"What did you say?"

Halo shrugged.

"Really… you think I'd fall for your little act? You're a princess through and through."

She gritted her teeth in irritation.

"Say that again!"

She got to her feet and locked Halo by the collar.

"I usually don't care how you see yourself, but in your case… it's downright annoying. You don't want to be a man, yet here you are forcing it. Even your eyes are screaming how much you hate it."

He sneered.

"Why not stop if it bothers you that much?"

The Prince stared at him intensely for a moment, released his collar, and walked away.

She wanted to assert dominance and likely believed she couldn't while dressed as a woman. Who'd fed her that nonsense was anyone's guess, but clearly it had taken root deep in her psyche.

Halo rested in his seat once more and smiled.

'Three months, huh? Guess I could take up a fishing course… or just start DoorDashing.'

He couldn't help thinking about his three months of freedom. But before that could happen, he had a promise to keep.

He needed to kill Noah! And he must tell a lie.

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