The familiar face with long platinum hair made Aaron exclaim in surprise:

“Tarisel!”

“Do you know what?” Orpheus asked in his calm, deep voice.

“What?” Eurydice gave a faint arch to her sharp, sword-like eyebrows, and her expression lit up with a trace of curiosity.

“If you had appeared at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, perhaps Troy would never have been destroyed,” Orpheus said.

“Huh?” Eurydice frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Because the Goddess of Discord would have given the golden apple to you,” he replied.

His golden eyes fixed on Eurydice, steady and unyielding, causing a faint blush to creep onto her cheeks.

“You sweet talker!” she scolded.

But the corners of her lips could not help but curve upward just a little.

“To be able to serve you is the greatest honor of my life,” Orpheus said with a bright and dazzling smile, as radiant as the sun.

That was the very first time they met, and that dream scene ended at that exact moment.

Then other scenes appeared one after another, as if replaying classic fairy tales: stories where the hero chased after the beautiful princess, overcame difficult challenges, and in the end, won her heart.

“Where? Where is the heart at? This thing is not it either.” Aaron was growing more anxious with every second. “Damn it! How much time has passed already? How much time do I even have left?”

He tried touching everything around him, but his hands passed right through them all; none of them was the heart.

“Oh my gosh, there are so many things appearing in each scene, how can I check them all? What if I already missed it in one of the earlier dreams? Then I’m doomed for sure,” Aaron cursed.

Even though he was scared and frustrated, there was nothing he could do except keep trying.

In the next dream scene, tragedy struck. Eurydice did not die from a snake bite as the myths often tell.

“Bang!”

The large gate of Kalydra Palace, where she lived, was flung open by a rude kick.

A tall and muscular man stepped inside. He was wearing heavy, thick armor, holding a bloodstained spear in his hand, and his hawk-like eyes burned forward with a piercing glare.

Behind him followed a group of well-armed soldiers, their faces filled with murderous intent.

“Thud!”

“Aaaa! Please spare us!”

“Slash!”

The palace guards were slaughtered by the soldiers in just a matter of minutes.

“General Leonidas, what are you doing? Stop, now!” Eurydice shouted.

A middle-aged woman standing beside her screamed:

"Princess, run away right now, let me hold them off!"

She raised a magic staff and began chanting a spell.

“Swish.”

Her head flew into the air.

Leonidas’s hair unraveled like a storm, each strand transforming into roaring currents of wind. The gusts howled and tore through the hall, and in the next instant, a colossal tornado erupted, engulfing the entire Kalydra Palace in its spiral wrath. Leonidas’s cloak snapped and thrashed in the gale, as if the storm itself bowed to his command.

“No! Lady Nira!”

Eurydice burst into tears, and then fear appeared on her face as a sudden realization struck her.

“You … you’ve reached the grand rank!” she exclaimed, stepping backward.

“That’s right, my princess. Don’t you think you would be much happier as the wife of a Grand Being than of a guy who only knows how to sing and play music all day?” Leonidas said.

“In your dreams! You can’t even compare to him. Do you even realize how old you are now? And he’s just in his twenties, yet he has already become an elite knight!” Eurydice said.

“What does that even matter when he will forever remain at that level?” Leonidas replied with a mocking smile.

Eurydice’s face turned pale.

“My father will not forgive you for this! He will kill all of you!” she threatened.

“King Theon? That man is far too old already. If he still thinks he has the strength, I won’t mind dealing with him as well. My beautiful one, be good and just tell me where Orpheus is. I promise I will give him a quick and painless death,” Leonidas said as he stepped closer and closer.

Eurydice pulled out a sword from her waist and pointed it forward at him.

“Don’t come near here!” she shouted.

“Oh my. When you hold a sword like that, you look even more stunning,” Leonidas sneered. “After I cut off Orpheus’s head, I want you to dance with that sword on his corpse for me.”

He licked his lips with twisted excitement, then gave a small beckoning gesture with his finger. A woman stepped forward. Her eyes were covered with a white cloth, and she wore a long white dress embroidered with black poppy flowers.

“Callia, ask her where Orpheus is hiding,” Leonidas ordered.

Eurydice asked through her gritting teeth:

“So that’s how it is! So it was because of you that they were able to break in here so easily. Callia, you treacherous wretch! Do you still remember that you were nothing but a starving beggar girl when I took you in as my maid?”

“I am so sorry, my lady. Lord Leonidas has already become a Grand Being. Sooner or later, His Majesty Orpheus will die at his hands. This is the only way for you to survive. After everything is over, I will kill myself to atone for my betrayal,” Callia said as she approached Eurydice.

The black poppy patterns on her dress began to move, making Eurydice feel dizzy, and her sense of reason started slipping away.

Her hands holding the sword trembled. She closed her eyes and muttered:

“Goodbye, you sweet-talking fool.”

She raised the sword and aimed to thrust it straight into her own chest. Leonidas laughed out loud and said:

“You think you can kill yourself right in front of me?”

A whirlwind swept toward Eurydice, but a faint golden halo burst forth from the necklace she wore, shielding her from all external harm. The radiant shockwave also hurled everyone around her hundreds of feet backward, scattering them like leaves in a storm.

“What? No! Stop!!!” Leonidas roared in fury and lunged forward.

He pushed himself up and charged at Eurydice, only to realize it was too late.

The tip of the sword already pierced through the young princess of Thrace’s heart. She collapsed on the ground, and a pond of blood started forming around her body.

In a land far away, a magnificent stone coliseum stood on a vast prairie, towering into the sky. Hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands roared with thunderous, deafening cheers, while below, a warrior fought for his life against two gigantic black lions, blood splattering everywhere.

Up in the highest stand reserved for the most important guests, a blond-haired young man sat with one foot up on the table, and next to him was a towering man more than fifteen feet tall. Around them stood beautiful maids with flawless, white skin, attending to their every need.

The blond-haired youth yawned. His hand petted a small lizard lying in his lap: a dragon with six wings and thirteen horns.

“Your Highness Orpheus, are you bored? Do you want me to switch to another pair?” the giant man asked, his voice booming like thunder.

“No need, the audience is really enjoying the fight. Let’s not ruin their fun. I’m just a little sleepy,” Orpheus replied.

I shouldn’t have accepted this damned invitation. If it weren’t for grandma asking me, there’s no way I would have come all the way out here. I wonder what Eurie is doing right now? And the kids, too. Are they behaving themselves, or are they causing a huge mess again? His eyes glanced over the battle below, but his mind wandered elsewhere.

This time, when I went back home, the old man seemed a little less angry. Maybe when the New Year comes, I can finally bring them all to meet him. What kind of expression will Eurie make when I bring her back to Lumenos? She might even lose her temper and chase me around with a sword. He smiled at the thought.

All of a sudden, the golden sun-shaped pendant on the necklace he was wearing came alive in a blaze of light. His eyes widened, unable to hide his fear.

“Sorry, I must go now,” he said, then shot into the sky carrying the small dragon with him.

A colossal figure of light tore through the walls of dimensions, crossing the Lattitude of Chaos, entering the Dimension of Life, and rushing toward the distant sandrealm at unimaginable speed.

When Orpheus stepped into Kalydra Palace, the sight inside almost made the young god collapse. Two children were clutching Eurydice’s lifeless body, crying out in heart-wrenching agony. A faint golden halo emanated from the necklaces they wore, shielding them from all outside enemies.

Callia was kneeling on the ground, trembling and sobbing, while Leonidas and his soldiers were attacking the shield of light with madness in their eyes, but it was useless. Their faces were full of doubt, disbelief, and fear.

The soldiers guarding the entrance noticed Orpheus.

“He’s here!” one of them shouted.

Leonidas snapped his head around.

“Capture him! Capture him alive! Eurydice died because of him, and I want him to live a fate worse than death!” he roared, tears streaming down his scarred, angular face.

More than twenty soldiers raised their weapons and charged at Orpheus, but they all turned into particles of light in midair before even reaching him.

Leonidas stood frozen, his spear dropped on the floor.

“Y-you … who exactly are you?” he stammered.

He received no answer. Orpheus did not even bother to glance at him. The ambitious general and all his soldiers turned into countless tiny dots of light and were carried away by the wind, as if they had never existed at all.