A big grin accompanies Atreus as he finally gets out from the Ivor Residence and rides a horse to the castle. Apparently, it only took a night after Benetta left his home for a decree about his royal duty with Erhard to be released. Upon arriving, he goes to meet the King, who officially sends him and Erhard off, all in haste. However, rather than a majestic ceremony, a fight breaks out when the King announces that Atreus has to go outside the capital.

It all starts with Atreus’ father, Lance, who is also the King’s only younger brother. He has been proposing Atreus to replace Cenric as crown prince since Cenric went missing and the public execution decree is out, insisting the crown prince position should not be left empty. “A nephew is still proper for a crown prince” is his reason. He and his wife have been out here and there, promoting Atreus, and their proposal seems to be acknowledged by some aristocrats. 

“What nonsense is this, brother! You did not tell me anything other than to get here as soon as possible!”

The whole audience, consisting of ministers, Erhard, and Atreus stares at Lance. Atreus is tense, because the decree is his only hope to get away from whatever his parents have planned for him to do, so he can not afford to have it revoked. On the other hand, his parents can not risk losing him now, as they almost made him the crown prince. 

“Silence, Lance!”

“You can’t do this to Valria! How can you afford to lose the only one who can replace Cenric as the crown prince?! Atreus is our only hope!”

“And how he is a hope if Valria is no more, Lord Lance?”

A sudden interruption from a calm, familiar voice shifts everyone’s focus to Nicola. Nicola then exchanges a glance with the King, silently asking for permission, which is granted with a nod. Turning to Lance, Nicola gives him a firm look before speaking, “Valria is in danger. The King and The Ministers agreed that this calamity must be resolved as quickly as possible.”

“Then, answer me. What is he going to do? Where is he going?”

Nicola sends a glance at Erhard, prompting him to take a step forward. Erhard sighs before answering, “We are heading to the East, as my star and Lord Atreus’ are moving.”

“There’s nothing to see in the East. Everything was destroyed in the Last War. It's basically ruins!"

"Yet, Our Land Lord asked for my and Lord Atreus' presence."

The whole room falls into silence at Erhard's firm words. Erhard takes another deep breath before continuing, "I am no god. I can't speak to Our Land Lord. However, my job is to deliver the message, taking over from our last messenger, our late Grand General Daniil, by reading the stars and deciphering their meaning within its own limitations.

"Just as Lord Lance deeply cares for our land, so do our Land Lord, our King, and I."

Tension lingers in the room for a while until Lance realizes he will not win the argument. Further resistance is only going to make him look bad, so he loosens his fist and shoots a deathly glare at Erhard, threatening the pale white-haired man, "If anything happens to Atreus, I'll slice you with my own hands and feed you to the wolves. Carve that in your brain, Erhard."

***

For almost exactly an hour Ilze leaves the tower, before she returns, only to find Benette and Cenric still lingering in awkward silence, not moving an inch from the room on the highest floor of the tower. After letting out a deep sigh, she clucks her tongue and says curtly “We’re going to the East. Me and the man.”

“Yes, as the Land Lord told us,” responds Benette.

Ilze furrows her eyebrows, directing a questioning look at Cenric. Cenric takes a deep breath before speaking, “It’s true. I can talk to Our Land Lord now, and he is very noisy, bugging me to search for you.”

Benette stares at Cenric, showing her displeasure with how Cenric refers to Vrakh, the Land Lord. However, she remembers Daniil, the last messenger, now buried deep underground, who used to laugh and talk to Vrakh as if they were best friends of similar age. It’s just that Daniil was not blunt like Cenric. She never speaks to Vrakh, so she never knows, but Daniil once mentioned to her that Vrakh hates formality. 

She decides to push the matter aside and says to Ilze, “We’re worried about you, Ilze. That’s all.”

Ilze clucks her tongue again. She is now confused with her own feelings. She should be happy that a new messenger is assigned, but she is not for some reasons. She keeps getting the feeling that the past she hates the most starts to crawl back to the surface when she sees Cenric’s purple hair. It intensifies when she sees her and Cenric’s stars moving to the East –the very reason she returned to the tower. She knows Benette should feel the same, yet she can not comprehend why Benette is very accepting about Cenric and everything that is going to happen.

“Do you even know where we have to go?”

Benette gives both Ilze and Cenric a sorrowful smile, which Ilze understands but confuses Cenric, and answers, “I know. To where the mother of you both is now.”