Selen and the duke left the inn early that morning. Before departing, they had checked on Sir Howard’s condition and paid the innkeeper and the doctor to take care of him until he fully recovered.

“We’ll stop here for the night,” Selen announced.

“We can still go a little further. The sun has only just set.”

Selen urged her horse forward until it was side by side with the duke’s. She placed a hand on his forehead, which he quickly brushed away.

“You’re burning with fever. Treated or not, your body absorbed a large amount of dark magic, and it needs time to recover.”

“And who are you to judge that? You may have healing magic, but that doesn’t make you a doctor as far as I know.”

Selen mentally counted to three.

“You’re burning with fever and sweating so much it looks like you just took a bath. I don’t think I need to be a doctor to say that you’re in worse shape than you think.”

The duke turned his head away but still decided to move his horse forward. Meanwhile, Selen had spotted a cave well hidden behind lush vegetation nearby and had decided that they would spend the night there.

“Go ahead if you want, but I’m going to settle in the cave I spotted until tomorrow morning.”

Selen took the path toward the cave. When she arrived, she moved aside the curtain of plants hiding the entrance before settling inside. It was dark, but Selen quickly lit a fire before leaning against one of the cave walls. At that moment, she heard the sound of a horse approaching.

So he finally decided to come, Selen thought, suppressing the laughter rising in her throat.

“It’s true that this is a good place to spend the night,” said the duke as he sat down across from her.

Selen noticed that he really seemed to be in bad shape. Without his obsession with finding his sister, he probably wouldn’t even be able to take a single step forward, she thought. She sighed and left the cave to fetch some fresh water.

When she returned to the cave, the duke had fallen asleep. She sat down across from him and placed a cloth soaked in cool water on his forehead. The duke tried to sit up, but Selen stopped him.

“Stop being so stubborn and let me treat you. You need rest, and don’t forget that if we maintain a good pace tomorrow, we’ll reach the port city during the day.”

The duke yielded to reason and closed his eyes.

“I’m going to get you a new shirt. This one is soaked and it might worsen your condition.”

As she stood up, the duke grabbed her arm.

“I’d rather you stop there. There’s no need to go that far.”

Selen sighed. Could this man not set aside his pride for even a second?

“I don’t know what you’ve imagined, but believe me, helping you change your shirt is not some act you’ll owe me for in the future.”

After a few seconds, Selen freed her arm and went to fetch the shirt from the duke’s bag.

“I can put it on myself,” he said as he sat up.

Selen didn’t even try to argue with him. Despite his reluctance, she helped him put on the shirt.

After he lay back down and she placed another cold cloth on his forehead, she went to prepare a soup using vegetables she had found near the cave and the meat they had bought in the village.

“You really don’t know how to cook,” the duke remarked. “You have to add salt to food, you know.”

“I was afraid it might be too salty. Besides, you can add some yourself, can’t you?”

Selen couldn’t believe her eyes. She was cooking for him and this was how he thanked her? During their entire journey, it had always been Sir Howard who took care of the food. And she was the daughter of a duke who, not long ago, had believed she was on her way to becoming empress. So yes, she didn’t know how to cook.

“How can a woman of the common people not know how to cook?”

The duke seemed to observe her very carefully.

“I’ve always noticed that you don’t behave like a simple young lady from a good family. You’re pretty enough to be from the nobility, but as far as I know, most nobles hate the North. So who are you?”

Selen felt a traitorous blush rise to her cheeks. Yes, the taciturn and proud duke had given her a compliment. So what? Back in the capital, all men had been at her feet, and more than one had complimented her in far more flattering ways. It was probably just because it had been a long time since she had heard a compliment.

“Try to sleep instead of asking ridiculous questions.”

“They’re not ridiculous questions. I know you’re hiding something, and believe me, I will eventually discover what you’re plotting.”

Selen stood up to fetch her sleeping bag before extinguishing the fire.

That night, she had trouble falling asleep. She replayed the events of the past few days in her mind. At first, her goal had been to come north to find allies against her enemies. Yet, while she had intended to turn the heretics into allies, she had ended up killing more of them than anything else. They were very strange, though. Their strange appearance, the dark magic… she knew something was wrong, and she was determined to uncover what was really hiding behind all of this.

⸻

Jason knew he was dreaming. It was an old dream that haunted him from time to time, but in recent days it had been appearing more and more often in his nights. He always saw himself again on the day he had learned of the deaths of his father and his twin brother. It was his uncle who had told him.

“I will take care of you both as my brother would have wanted,” he had said.

Jason had believed him, because why would he have done otherwise? After all, his uncle was the one who had stayed with them after the tragedy, even after his mother had begun to lose her mind.

His dream shifted directly to the day his uncle, under the pretense of teaching him how to hunt, took him into the forest. That day, he tried to kill him by plunging a hunting knife into his throat.

“Everything would have been easier if you had gotten into that damn car with them,” he had said.

Jason could no longer really remember whether it had rained that day, but in his dream it rained heavily. That was the day the hidden abilities inside him awakened. Upon hearing those words, he realized that not only had his uncle played a role in the murder of his parents, but he also intended to get rid of him and his sister.

He had run, run until he was out of breath.

The dream finally reached the fateful moment. He knew he would wake up soon.

Some knights who had remained loyal to Jason’s father had come to find him after his escape, and he had managed to slip discreetly into the castle. As he went to find his sister so they could flee, horror seized him when he found his uncle attempting to abuse her. His blood boiled. He grabbed the knife from a meal tray placed on a table and slowly approached his uncle.

It was the first person he had ever killed in his life.

Jason woke up abruptly, as he always did when he had this dream. His senses immediately alerted him—someone was approaching, or rather several people. There were two of them. He didn’t know how or why, but he possessed a sixth sense that had helped him avoid many betrayals and numerous assassination attempts.

When he sat up, sword in hand, he noticed that Selen was already standing at the entrance of the cave, as if she too had sensed the presence of the strangers drawing closer. They were not heretics, but Jason would have preferred if they were. He wouldn’t be able to get rid of them immediately as he would have with heretics.

He stood up and moved as silently as possible to stand in front of Selen. She tried to move in front of him, but he blocked her with his arm.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“Intruders are approaching. Let me handle this.”

“You’re sick, remember?”

“I’m healed. My body must have finished eliminating the remaining dark magic.”

As he said it, he realized that it was true. He really felt well.

“Stop—”

“Shh. They’re here.”

He heard Selen sigh, and a few seconds later the foliage covering the cave entrance parted, revealing two men wearing cloaks. Jason already had his sword raised, almost at the throat of the first one.

“State your identity or you die,” Jason told them.

“It’s the first time a stranger has asked me to introduce myself in my own home,” the stranger replied.

“I don’t have much patience. So either you speak now, or your body will end up in the stream nearby in a few minutes. Your choice.”

He heard the stranger let out a chuckle before raising his head toward him.

That was when Jason saw them.

The cursed eyes…