Magi is a hereditary trait that enables people to use magic. Many experts believe that the trait started as a genetic mutation on some people and that all of the magus in the world right now is a direct descendant of them. Though the theory has never been confirmed for sure, a lot of people strongly believe in it.

Babies born with magi are born like blank canvases. Aside from inheriting their parents’ skin colour, they were born with hair and eyes in the lightest shade of grey. If their magi matured and developed, the colour would change into colours that would best suit their magical ability, and in the rare case of people having a “frozen” magi, a case where the magi never mature and develop and thus making the person without magic, the grey would stay for the rest of their life.

Sylva’s hair is as dark as the feather of a raven and his eyes are the most striking shade of green. In the past, it was believed that magus with the same colour combination as Sylva’s always turns out to be evil, but the stereotype is slowly disappearing today.

For Sylva, though, the stereotype might as well be real, as he was born into a family with a long history of owning one of the kingdom’s largest organised crime groups. Everyone knows that they are pulling the strings of most politicians like puppeteers, but it’s a secret no one dares to speak aloud.

Sylva Han was born in the Kingdom of Astevell with the name He QingYue; given name QingYue. His race is of a native ethnic race in the kingdom, and his family has been one of the most influential families there for generations. To Sylva, though, they are still just a criminal.

Listening to Ava’s story about her past reminds him of his childhood, to some extent.

Aside from the name-to-number changing and days-long time-out, everything Ava had told them hit close to home. The rigorous study and training, the public shaming, even the hitting were things that he had to endure throughout his childhood. His parents told him that it would make him strong and tough, and the heir to the He Family has to be both.

Sylva hates everything about his childhood.

He didn’t get to play as the other kids did, didn’t get the affection that children's storybooks told about, and didn’t even get appreciation whenever he did something good. It was only natural that the heir of their family is perfect in any way, they would say.

When he misbehaved, though, he would get yelled at, then they would hit him, lock him in a room, and starve him for the night. He could never forget the day he got his father so angry, he hit him until he had broken his arm.

If he had the option, he wanted to have nothing to do with his family. But then, he turned sixteen and they tattooed his back with the symbol of their family, and he knew that he would forever be affiliated with them, it doesn’t matter if he had quit his family’s organisation, had his name removed from his family registry, and changed his name—Sylva is, and will forever be, affiliated with them.

Ever since Sylva decided to start over and moved to a faraway kingdom, he had never spoken of his family to anyone. To this day, he’s afraid of them.

He’s afraid that even though he is far away from them, they can still hear him. They live inside his head, it doesn’t matter where he actually is.

It’s brave for Ava to recount everything she had experienced in what must have been hell for her, and Sylva admires her for that. Ava talks about dissociating as her coping mechanism, but he believes that no one can fully dissociate when they’re talking, especially when they’re talking about their bad memories. He knows that everything that she’s talking about is playing inside her head, and she must have been reliving everything as she speaks.

 Sylva isn’t very good with words. Being raised in a criminal family didn’t teach him how to connect with others as much as how to intimidate others. He wants to stop the interrogation, to let the girl rest for now, and continue tomorrow, but he’s afraid that he might say something wrong and offend Ava again; after all, she doesn’t ask them to stop the interrogation.

Sylva glances at his watch, it is 4 PM and they are in no rush with this case, so he takes his phone and types on it, then slides the phone in front of Seth when Ava is still thinking about what to tell them next. The Alchemist looks at him with a confused look on his face for a second before checking to see what Sylva had written for him, and smiles.

“What do you say we continue this tomorrow, Ava?” Seth asks, “A lot of things happened today, you must be tired.”

Ava shakes her head. “I’ll be okay. I can continue.”

“Perhaps so, but you still need to get some rest. We, all of us in this room, need to get some rest,” Seth tries again.

This time, Ava nods hesitantly. “So, what do I do now?”

Seth was about to answer her when Frans held her hand up and approached Ava to explain the procedure to the girl. Nodding, Seth turns to Sylva with a smile.

“I think she got this,” Seth says, “Shall we head outside, then?”