"Franklin, I haven't seen you in a few days, how are you feeling?"- Celera was the one to start the conversation.

"Yes Miss Celera, I am feeling very relieved right now, thanks to your help I was able to avoid making a terrible decision, once again, I thank you so much."

"Don't mind it, from now on you are both my people, under my protection everyone will have to think twice before trying to place a hand on you. That being said, Franklin, your mission will carry a fair degree of risk."

"What will you need me to do?"

"From today onwards you will be known across the kingdom as the head of the Double Helix Company, your duty will be to represent our company in front of the public, you will grow the company and expand its territory, you will be the face of the company."

Celera declared this with a serious tone, Franklin was disconcerted, the amount of responsibility being dropped over his shoulders was burdensome.

"Are you certain I am the best suited for this position? I may be a merchant, but I am still a commoner."

"Yes, I am certain you can do it, from now on you will face nobles and other merchants eye to eye, do not let yourself be intimidated by anyone, I will grant you full authority, even if you were to face Baron Callid in the future, you will never bow to him as you did before, be bold Franklin."

"Yes, I will do my best." – Franklin replied with determination.

"Nando will assist you, our network of spies and informants will be at your disposal, Nando is my Master of Shadows, he will keep you safe wherever you go."- Nando nodded, looking at Franklin.

"I will make sure to meet your expectations."- Said Franklin.

"Franklin, one more thing, I am sorry to do this to you, but I will need to take Rosalind with me."

"Excuse me?"- Franklin was surprised and lost his composure for a moment.

"I am sorry to separate you from your daughter as soon as you got her back, but Rosalind has a set of skills that I need with urgency, the truth is I have been looking for someone like Rosalind for several months, my plans for the future depend on it, and I cannot postpone it any longer, so I will need her to come with me."- Franklin looked at Rosalind with a face full of concern.

"It's okay Dad, Miss Celera and I already talked about it, I don't want to be separated from you, but I wish to help Miss Celera with her goals, Miss Celera says my Runecraft has the potential to change the world, and she wants to invest in me to become a proper mage, not just a battle mage who uses their magic to hurt others, but to help people."

Rosalind looked at Franklin's eyes while holding his hand and showing a warm smile.

"That look in your eyes reminds me of your mother, I know that no discussion will make you change your mind."- Franklin looked at Rosalind with teary eyes and then turned to look at Celera.

"Miss Celera, can you promise me that you will keep my daughter safe?"

"I cannot make that promise."- Celera replied with a serious expression, Franklin was baffled at this response, but before he could say anything Celera continued.

"We live in a world were nothing can be taken for granted, our paths are now the same and we will share the same fate, but I can promise you this."

"If Rosalind ever dies, it will be because I died first."- Franklin looked at Celera's resolute expression, there was no hint of doubt in those words.

"I appreciate your honest answer."

"And I appreciate you placing your trust in me as well."

Celera and Franklin continued talking throughout the night about their future plans and the development of the company, however neither Rosalind nor Nando revealed to Franklin the secret about Celera's real identity, as having too many people knowing such information only increased the risks. As they continued their conversation, Nando approached Rosalind.

"Miss Rosalind, would you mind accompanying me for a walk? I would like to get some fresh air."

"Yes, of course."- Rosalind stood up and followed him.

Nando and Rosalind walked together through the town's main road, most of the businesses we already closed, but the town was still well illuminated, a cool breeze ran through the streets, Nando was wearing a hood as if to keep his pointed ears hidden.

"I wanted to talk to you Miss Rosalind to express my gratitude."

"Gratitude? What did I do?"

"Ellie told me what you did for her, and that she told you the truth about herself."

"I really didn't do anything; she is the one who saved me."

"No, trust me, you may not realize it, but I can tell, what you did for her is meaningful. That girl has been carrying a great burden for many years, the fact that you pledged to support her is more important than you think, I haven't seen her smile like this in a long time, so thank you."

"Mister Nando, may I ask what your relationship with Elysia is?"

"Drop the Mister, we are colleagues now, we are on the same level; but well, I have been working for her family for many years, I have known her since she was born, so you could say I am like an older brother to her."

"So you also work for the Mendel Duchy?"

"Not exactly, I work for her mother's family, the Frye family. I was taken in by Elysia's aunt when I was younger, I had ran away from my homeland and was in really bad shape, she cared for me and gave me a home."

"I don't think I have heard of the Frye family before."

"Yes, that's normal, most people don't know about them, let me tell you a little secret, most of the major families in the kingdom were assigned a mission by the founding King over 500 years ago. The Mendel's protect the kingdom from the monster invasions form the Central mountain range; other families take care of food production, guarding the coastlines, and the Fryes are in charge of guarding the border in the North, you know what lies to the north of the kingdom right?

"The Sacred Forest Alliance right?"

"Yes, that is my homeland, elves, dwarves, beastkin, and a few other races live in the sacred forest. Hundreds of yours ago, humans and forest races did not get along too well, there were many cases of battles between them, but 500 years ago, Darwin, the founding king united all of the humans East of the mountain range into one country, he made friends with some of the races in the forest and established a peace treaty, that has been maintained to this day."

"I have heard a similar story before, Kind Darwin traveled all over the land with a group of friends, and when their journey ended they all returned to their homelands and became rulers, later on he united them all under his name."

"Yes, that's right, but the discrimination between the humans and the forest people was too strong, Darwin wanted the forest people to join his kingdom, but they still refused. In the end, Darwin respected their wishes and assigned his friend Frye to protect the border, so that no humans entered the forest to cause harm to the forest people."

"But why isn't the Frye family known for their mission now?"

"Because the mission changed, The Fryes are one of the few lineages in the continent to possess the Dark attribute. Many generations ago, one of the kings decided to give the Frye family a new mission, the Frye family was assigned the task they were best suited for, espionage and assassination. After that, the Frye family rose in wealth and power, trading in information and death is very lucrative, but it comes at the expense of our sanity. Even now, only a few high nobles and outsiders know about their true mission."

"What is so special about the dark attribute?"

"You don't have an attribute do you? Every attribute affects people in a different way, their temper and their personality sometimes depends on their attribute."

"I… didn't know that."

"Yes, fire usually makes people more passionate and driven, water people are usually adaptable and flexible, earth people are stubborn and determined, wind people are carefree and seek freedom, lightning people are eccentric and hyperactive, Ice people are cool headed and patient, light people are usually benevolent and kind hearted, and us darkness users have a strong mentality that protects our sanity from shock and loneliness. Most assassins possess the darkness attribute because it makes it easier to carry out their missions, we also excel at stealth techniques, of course there are always limits and exceptions as to how attributes affect people, people often mistake us darkness users to be psychopathic monsters with no feelings, but that is not true."

"That is really interesting, so Elysia inherited the darkness attribute from her mother right?"

"No, she didn't, Elysia did not inherit either of her parents' attributes."

"Uh? But isn't she an assassin too? How does she do that without the attribute?"- Rosalind replied in shock.

"She does it through sheer will, the training she went through to become an assassin is something many cadets with the dark attribute are not able to handle, many of them quit and many more die, but still, she persisted. Do you understand now why I am grateful for you?"

"I think so, thank you for sharing this with me."

"Rosalind, the path ahead will be difficult, none of us knows what the future holds, it is not too late to quit."- Said Nando in a serious tone, looking at Rosalind in the eye.

"No, I am sure, Elysia saved my life, if I can be of help to her, I am not afraid to lose it."-Rosalind replied with full conviction, there was no doubt in her eyes.

"I think you and I will get along really well."- Nando smiled at Rosalind while placing his hand on her shoulder.

Nando and Rosalind returned to the Inn, Celera and Franklin had finished their conversation as well, and like that, they all went to sleep.

The next morning the group was standing next to the town's entrance, Rosalind had spent the rest of the night bonding with Franklin, Murder returned late at night to the Inn, apparently the bird Casanova had been successful, as he was extremely happy upon return, the atmosphere in the group was lively, but now, it was time to say farewell.

"Rosalind, I am still worried about your safety, but as your father, I don't want to hold you back, I am sure you will accomplish great things."- Franklin held his daughter in his arms while saying a tearful goodbye.

"I know Dad, I will be careful, please take good care of yourself, we will keep in touch very often."-Rosalind as well was not able to hold out the tears from flowing.

"Nando, please take good care of Franklin, remember, you have one year left to set the main stage for me."

"Indeed, I can't wait to see how the kingdom will react when the Dragon Duchess makes her grand return."

"Franklin, it's time."- Nando said to Franklin.

"Yes, let's go, there is a lot of work to do and so little time."- Despite the uncertainty of the road ahead, and the need to separate from his daughter, Franklin was excited to begin this new journey.

"Rosalind, I can't wait to see the person you will become the next time I see you."

"Yes, I love you Dad."-Rosalind waved farewell to her father one last time, as he and Nando walked away in the opposite direction.

Elysia quickly changed her appearance back to that of a young blonde adventurer, Sara had returned, both ladies began walking to the north where their destination awaited, accompanied by an invisible dragon and a narcissistic raven.

"You know little doe; I am really grateful to have you with me."-Said Sara wearing a smile at Rosalind, but Rosalind replied in a serious tone.

"Elysia, please tell me… What really happened five years ago?"

Elysia was surprised at Rosalind's reply, her smile disappeared for a moment, but she faintly smiled again.

"Of course, I will tell you everything."

End of Volume one