Anastasiy watched the landscape passing by without really seeing it. The conversation from this morning was constantly replaying in his head. The news of his familiars, who were not really, had affected him more than the loss of his memory. After all, he could make new memories, rediscover the world and the people around him. For magic, that was impossible. Once the core was broken, it was impossible to repair. The only thing that awaited a person without a core was a slow and painful death since magic was a poison. That was what Jason had told him.

But none of this had happened to Anastasiy. By some impossible miracle, his core continued to exist through the two slimes. As long as both creatures were alive, Anastasiy could live without fear of dying from the magic.

“Are you okay, Stacie?”

“I think I've been better…” he replied, turning to Serafim.

“If I were in your situation, I wouldn't have been so calm. After all, we kept from you the fact that you could have died.”

“You had your reasons.”

“Selfish reasons,” grumbled his brother, who had objected from the start to hide the truth from him.

Anastasiy couldn't hold back a smile from forming on his face. Serafim was terribly honest with his family. He couldn't lie to them, but with others, especially other nobles, Serafim had no scruples. At least, that was what their mother had told him, who had been the most present person at his side for the last two weeks.

This time he didn't try to hide his smile, thinking back to the laughter that had overwhelmed him as their mother told him stories about his brothers. But his smile disappeared when he remembered the horrible truth that had seized him.

“Are you really okay, Stacie?”

“I think…”

“Is this about Before?”

Anastasiy could only nod, thinking back to what Serenity had told him.

“I don't know why, but one day you cut us off. You wouldn't talk to us, wouldn't see us. It was as if we suddenly didn't exist for you anymore. When you reached adulthood, you left home and moved to the Lower Town, without taking on any staff. After the explosion, that was the first time we saw you again.”

He didn't resist when his brother pulled him into a hug, gladly accepting the embrace.

"I'm afraid to remember."

"I'm also afraid you'll remember. But at the same time, depriving you of your memories would be cruel. We don't know what we did to make you part from us like that. If you remember, we could finally fix our mistakes."

"What if it was for some stupid reason? What if it was because I hated you for having a mother and erasing mine?"

"Then we'll rectify that."

The confidence in his brother's voice calmed him, allowing him to regain control of himself, to cast that fear deep within him. Taking a deep breath, Anastasiy pulled away from his brother with a smile, ready to face his past.

When the carriage stopped, Serafim was the first to get out, before helping him down. Immediately, Anastasiy was seized with horror. In front of him, despite the scaffolding and the people bustling around them, he could see the damage from the explosion. Black streaks remained, casting human shadows on the walls. The wooden buildings continued to smoke as magicians doused them with water. The craftsmen were repairing the buildings despite the lingering flames.

"Why?"

"We don't know, but little by little we manage to put out the flames."

"Is that-"

"No. The magical traces in the flames don't match yours. But since we can no longer access the Nyzmos Registers, it is impossible for us to discover the identity of the culprit."

Anastasiy released his breath, which he didn't remember blocking, before following his brother. He was more than ever determined to discover the source of the explosion.