"Hug me."

The instant Orion walked past the doorway, Amelia blocked his path.

"..."

Closing the door behind him with a faint smile, he then faced her.

"Sure."

He wrapped his arms around her head, gently pressing his chest against hers.

"Is that enough for you?"

Amelia embraced his body and sighed.

"Yes. It's perfect."

But, as Orion expected, this moment of affection was a disguised interaction.

Leaning her head toward his ear, she whispered.

(When are you going to take care of my mother?)

Orion's eyes aimlessly stared forward.

"Ah. I might have forgotten about this matter."

"I'm happy you helped Tetra, but please keep in mind others need your help, too."

She rubbed her cheek against his neck before pushing herself away with both hands.

"Hmm~"

This small interaction restored her energy as Amelia walked inside the living room and sat on the nearest couch while humming. She picked up the tablet and looked at her realm's state through it.

Orion gazed at her with a light frown, worried that she might have been holding back recently.

'I need to take a few days off to be with them. I might have proposed out of nowhere, but I still need to act like a husband.'

'If I'm not there when they need me, what good am I for?'

He closed his eyes and felt the energies in the realm.

As usual, it was mostly empty. Besides the fairy village that generated the most energy from the number of people living there, Horizon was mostly barren.

Searching for one particular signature, he turned around and left his house, while Amelia glanced toward him with a grin on her face.

After standing in front of his home for a few minutes, his eyes drifted toward the massive tree on his left.

The second Tree of Life, which was created by Titania before being transported to this realm.

Orion turned in that direction and took one step, disappearing instantly.

*Warp*

"Waah!"

"What in the-"

He successfully appeared in between three people, making one of them stumble backward from a root she was sitting on.

"Orion. Could you mind your entrance, please?"

"Oh."

He smiled while turning toward Titania, who stared at him with her arms crossed.

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"My bad. I didn't mean to scare you."

He bent to the side and grabbed Tetra's arm, who was struggling to get back up. Gently pulling her up, he then hugged her lightly before letting go of her arm.

"I forgive you."

With a bright smile, Tetra sat down. She began radiating energy as she expressed her joy.

"What a charmer. Are you here to make us fall for you, too?"

Titania glared at him with a hint of playfulness in her words, which Orion noticed immediately.

"It wouldn't take long for that."

Leaning closer to her face, he smirked.

"No!"

Tetra jumped forward and grabbed his arm, pulling his face closer to her chest.

"He's mine. I won't give him to you!"

Glaring at her friend with clear intent to stop this from happening, Tetra tightened her grip around his head.

"Haha~"

Relaxing her expression, Titania began to laugh wholeheartedly.

"This is quite entertaining. Perhaps I should tease you more often."

Releasing Orion, Tetra began to pout as she sat down.

"..."

The only one who stayed silent was Henrietta, lost in thoughts.

"Hi."

Orion placed one knee on the ground and stared at her.

"I'm just a little out of it. Don't mind me."

Shaking her head, she smiled awkwardly at him. It wasn't too difficult to see that something was weighting on her mind.

Her friends turned to her, forced out of the playful mood they were in. Their worried gazes were directed at her, even before Orion appeared in front of them.

"Let me guess. You've used your power again?"

"How bad are those nightmares?"

She sighed from genuine exhaustion and dropped her gaze.

"You're correct. There was no specific reason to use it, though. I needed to confirm what had happened in the past with my memories."

Then, her face took an anxious frown.

"For your second question... Can I stay silent?"

He nodded.

"That bad, huh?"

Henrietta closed her eyes while faintly nodding.

"It's my fault. I should've prioritized this matter after returning."

"What are you saying? Obviously, it isn't your fault. This is the price we pay for using a power that isn't ours."

Lifting her face, she stared into his eyes.

"That's where you're wrong."

He smiled, lifting his arm over her shoulder. Dropping his hand on it, he immediately went to work on her problem.

"This power is yours. These limits were placed as a gateway to protect you during the times you weren't familiar with it."

"But you don't need them anymore."

A white halo flashed above his head as white energy coursed through her body.

Orion instantly healed her exhausted body. This also helped her mental state stabilize.

Closing his eyes, he felt her entire magic system. Tracing back to her source, he let his magic do its work.

Finding the power given by Nature, his eyes, hidden by his eyelids, shone the white sigil underneath.

"It's like a curse, which is simple to break apart."

When he opened his eyes, he was already done.

"You won't have those awful nightmares anymore. I promise you that."

"If not for Amelia, it would've taken me even more time to notice. Even though I knew, let me apologize."

Dropping his face, he appeared genuinely regretful. With a smile, Henrietta placed her hand on top of his head before caressing his white hair.

"It's fine. But thank you."

Staying still for a moment, he stayed silent until she removed her hand.

As he straightened, he turned to Titania.

"What's your affliction? You've never told me."

Pondering for a brief instant, Titania appeared conflicted.

"If you don't want to, you can ignore that question."

Titania looked down before staring back at his face.

"It is not that I cannot tell you. It simply is not as damaging as it was for Henrietta and Tetra."

"I only suffer from blindness for a few hours after seeking the Threads of Lives."

Orion placed a finger under his chin before making his call.

"It can still be dangerous. If you were to be attacked after using this power, it could spell disaster."

"I'd rather avoid that."

He stretched his hand toward her and waited for her to grab it.

"..."

"Alright. Fine."

Seeing her friends gaze at her with weird smiles, she gave up.

Grabbing his hand, she let Orion remove the affliction that came with Nature's power.

After a minute, Orion released her hand and smiled.

"I'm going to check up on the other Remnants while I'm at it."

"I'll go with you."

Tetra grabbed his arm and glued her body to it with an alluring smile.

"Sure. Can I borrow her?"

"You don't have to ask us."

Seeing the ring around her finger, they both nodded.

"I'll give her back later, then. If anything happens after you use your power, come and see me."

After finishing his sentence, Orion disappeared with Tetra.

"..."

"This man always brings a tornado of emotions with him at all times."

"Right? You can never know what to expect."

They laughed at this and continued on to discuss other matters.

~

"Hmm..."

Elliott was sitting at the table in the guest house. Deep in his thoughts, he played with Vanitas, the blade inside the scabbard, by balancing it on his index finger vertically.

"..."

Layla was silently observing him with a smile, minding her movement not to bother him.

"I guess the only way to deal with this is to ask him, isn't it?"

He turned to his companion and frowned.

"..."

"It's getting worse. I don't like it."

His intense glare surprised Layla, but that's it. She never felt afraid of him. In fact, he was incredibly protective of her.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have given you Kagalkan's source. It is one thing for me, but I brought you into this."

"I am responsible for what is happening."

She shook her head with a defeated smile.

"..."

The frustration on his face only grew as he looked at her.

At that moment, Elliott heard knocking on the front door. He stood up and placed Vanitas on the table before going to open it.

"Orion."

He already knew who it was from the energy Orion released.

"I needed to know something. That's why I came to visit."

Elliott frowned.

"There's a little problem I haven't spoken about, so I suppose this is the perfect opportunity."

Letting Orion and Tetra inside, he closed the door behind him.

As they moved inside, Tetra suddenly stopped.

"I can feel it. You two are having heavy drawbacks from your powers."

Elliott's feet stopped moving, with his back turned to them.

"That's quite the accurate guess."

"It's not a guess. I'm also a Remnant, so I know for a fact."

Scratching the back of his head, he turned around.

"Sorry. That was a little severe."

Tetra shook her head.

"It's fine."

Seeing Layla fidget weirdly at the table, Orion frowned.

"I think I get it."

Orion warped away, only to reappear next to Layla. He made it so it would scare her.

"..."

The shock on her face was genuine, but no sound escaped her mouth.

"You've turned mute because of the Remnant's source."

"..."

She nodded slowly.

"And you?"

He turned to Elliott, who had an even harsher frown.

"I'm losing my sense of touch."

Orion straightened.

"What irony. The Remnant of Revelry cannot talk, and the Remnant of Chivalry can't feel his sword anymore."

Even though this sounded like sarcasm, it wasn't interpreted like that for them. It was genuine disgust coming out of Orion.

"That's on me."

Without wasting any time, he placed his hand on Layla's shoulder.