I slept for many hours uninterrupted. When I woke up in the peaceful afternoon, Ly Giai was still beside me, soundly asleep. Her peaceful face held my eyes as I lost myself staring at her a long time before I broke myself out of it.

Tip-toeing out of the room, I eased myself to the other bedroom and saw Si was also napping.

Alone, I sat silently in the living room by myself with nothing to do. After some time fidgeting around, I glanced at the kitchen and had an idea, so I grabbed a bag and headed to the market.

"I'll cook us dinner while they are sleeping."

It had been some hours since we visited, but the market's chaotic energy remained the same. If anything, it felt like the place was even more crowded.

Moving through the crowd, I expected it would take me forever to buy all the ingredients. But surprisingly, I was able to navigate through the masses easily. My feet had minds of their own, stepping left and right to not hit anyone, yet I was able to move forward at a constant speed. It was unbelievable how effortlessly I was able to handle the crowd.

When I recollected myself, I had already stood in front of the meat shop.

"How did I…" I wondered, astonished at myself. But I quickly shrugged it off and continued my day. "Whatever, it doesn't matter," I thought and went into the shop to buy meat for dinner.

After that, I was able to quickly move around the shops and buy all the ingredients needed for that day. Although everything was quick and smooth, my legs were exhausted from all the maneuvers, so I stopped at a small tea shop to order a drink and sat down to rest.

As I had a relaxing time enjoying the rich aroma and taste of the black tea, I couldn't help but hear what the two men at a nearby table were saying.

"Did you hear? This morning, Ly Va declared Ly will return all of the east territory they took from us," one man said.

"Ly Va? The Ly's General that was able to go equal with our Great Princess?" his friend commented. Why did he give back all those lands?" he asked.

"I heard that was to apologize for the recent attack on our capital," the man whispered. "I heard that along with the declaration letter to return, he also delivered the head of the general that called the capital attack."

His friend scratched his head, puzzled, "But why did he have to do that? Why did he apologize?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" the man complained. "Last month, Sa and Ly signed a temporary peace treaty so that both sides can recover from this more than a decade war. The attack from that reckless general would stir up conflicts once again. A bigger war could break out because of that. Ly Va knew full well the current health of both Sa and Ly. He gave us back the east territory to ease our anger. Another war right now would crumple both countries," he explained.

Hearing how knowledgeable the man was about the subject, I couldn't help but reach out and ask. "Do you know what happened to South City?"

"South City?" he pondered for a moment. "I heard South City was recently conquered. But from what I know, Ly Va only gave back the east territory, so I think South City is still in their hands."

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"I see. Thank you, brother," I said to him, then quickly paid for the drink and left the shop. As I was leaving, I could hear the faintest of their talking.

"Wait. Does that guy look familiar to you?"

"Not sure… But I do feel like I've seen him somewhere… On a poster I think."

As I walked back to our new home, the market got thinner now as customers started to leave when the day was about to end. I can't help myself but fall into deep thoughts when thinking about South City. It was a mix of emotions hearing that the Ly wouldn't return it to Sa. South City was where I spent the last seven years of my life. It was my home, but it was also hell on Earth. The uncountable amount of insults and abuses I had to endure daily, no one should ever have to experience that.

But it was also the place where I met Ly Giai, my saving grace. The person who kept my string of life attached during the darkest moments of my life. If I hadn't met Ly Giai, I was certain I would have ended myself at South City.

And to Ly Giai, South City was the place where all of her most cherished memories at. Her family was there, her childhood was there, all her friends and acquaintances, and her innocence died there. After that incident, Ly Giai had become more mature, more thoughtful, more caring, more resilient, but I could tell that a part of her soul had died deep in that well.

In just no time, I returned to our new home. Putting the thoughts away, I entered and checked if Ly Giai and Si had awakened yet.

I set down the ingredients in the kitchen and went to check the closest bedroom, where Ly Giai and I fell asleep earlier. It was empty.

I then checked the second bedroom, and there they were. Ly Giai was standing next to Si, who was sitting at a desk. It looked like she was helping him with his school assignment.

"Evening," I greeted, notifying them of my presence.

"Do," Ly Giai turned to the front door. "Did you go somewhere?" she asked casually.

"I went to buy ingredients for dinner," I pointed at the kitchen.

I then got closer to them to see what Si was working on. "What is this?" I asked him.

"A phrase. Ly Giai is trying to help me understand it. The teacher will ask us about it tomorrow," he replied.

I took a quick look at the phrase, and it read,

[Disasters come from the mouth]

"Interesting," I whispered. For some reason, the phrase felt familiar, even though that was the first time I read it.

"Disasters come from the mouth. Disasters come from the mouth," Si kept repeating. "What does this even mean?" he got frustrated.

Ly Giai pondered for a moment and gave her thoughts, "I think it implies saying bad things can bring bad karma. Choosing the wrong words could be disastrous." She paused and added. "It could also imply watching what you eat. Your health is directly related to your food… That's all I can think of."

"Wow! Ly Giai, you are so smart!" Si complimented her.

Ly Giai smiled, "But I felt like there is something more to it. Those two ideas of mine are just surface thinking. What do you think, Do?"

The two turned to me to see my whole presence was completely consumed by the letters on the page. For unknown reasons, my body was shivering the more I kept staring at the words. A never-ending, indescribable feeling of anxiety and fear hit me in waves.

"Disasters come from the mouth. Good words to the bad people bring disasters. Even good words to good people could bring disasters. Not saying anything makes you a threat. Saying everything makes you exploitable," I kept murmuring on repeat.

"DO!" Ly Giai kept calling to bring me back to reality.

"Huh!" I snapped out of my thoughts and instinctively stepped back. I didn't notice then, but I was sweating furiously.

"Are you okay, Do?" Ly Giai asked concernly. She stepped up and tried to wipe my forehead.

But I stepped back without thinking. "I… I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to avoid you… I will come back in a bit." I finished and left immediately.

Rushing out of the house, the sky had become completely dark now. That night, the moon was clouded, so I could only rely on the faint lights coming off of nearby houses to see things.

I started running through the streets for no reason. "Why am I panicking?" I asked myself. "That quote. It triggered something in me, but what is it? Something from more than seven years ago that I can't remember? Why couldn't I remember anything at all? Was it related to the reason that I am Grass? Who am I really?"

I kept on running and letting those thoughts consume me. When I regained my sense of self, I unconsciously stood in front of Princess Sa Mi's palace.