"Open your mouth, I don't have all day for you," mumbles Nara, and when Alfonse again refuses to do as she says, she simply places a bowl with a spoon in front of him. "Just feed yourself then." She gets up from the table and looks around. They found a place to hide, but the cottage is in terrible condition. Dust is everywhere, and the air is stale; the old wooden furniture is eaten away by mold and almost falling apart. Even if she were to clean it up, it wouldn't help much.

"Simon, look!" Heinry's voice comes from outside, and Nara goes out, with him rushing towards her, holding a cloth handkerchief with something inside it.

"What do you have there?" she asks and approaches him.

Heinry opens the handkerchief with a smile, revealing toxic berries. "Look what I found for you!" He bounces with enthusiasm from side to side.

Nara reaches out her hands, and Heinry pours them into her palms. "Clever boy, thank you," she says with a smile. "Did you have some yourself?" she asks, and Heinry shakes his head in disagreement. "Let's give them to the birds, okay?"

"Birds? But these are for you," Heinry says confusedly, his expression turning sad. "Are they bad?"

"Yes, these berries are for little animals," Nara replies, and Heinry thinks for a moment.

"There was a bit of water, should I bring it?" he asks. Unlike Alfonse, Heinry is trying to help. Although Alf is younger, compared to what Heinry was like at his age... Nara sometimes wonders what she did to make him so different towards her.

"You can, but be careful not to fall, okay?" She smiles at him, and he happily runs away. Nara straightens up and goes back into the cottage. As she closes the door behind her, she notices that the bowl of food she gave to Alfonse is exactly as she left it, but the boy is nowhere to be found. "Where did that little imp go again..." she grumbles while searching for something to cover the bowl, she will give it to Heinry, who will gladly eats it, better than wasting it.

Nara takes some dirty clothes and checks the wardrobe to see if there's anything there. The only thing she finds is a huge shirt; maybe if she cuts it, she could make something like quarter-shorts for the boys.

Suddenly, there's a knocking on the door. Did she not close it properly, and Heinry couldn't get back in? With a sigh, she stands up and opens it, but instead of Heinry, there stands a soldier. Nara notices that Heinry is hiding in the nearby bushes.

"G-g-good day," she greets, trying to appear as calm as possible. "What brings you here?" she asks.

The soldier remains silent for a moment. "Have you seen a human woman with black hair around here? She should have two children with her."

Nara clenches her jaw; Alfonse should be somewhere nearby, hopefully not revealing himself. Mai never spoke about her past, but if soldiers are still looking for her after all this time... "No, I haven't seen anyone," she replies with a smile.

The soldier sizes her up, not seeming to believe her. "Do you live here alone?" he asks suspiciously.

"Yes," Nara replies, and when the soldier starts rummaging in his bag, she looks at Heinry and nods her head. He immediately understands that he should go hide somewhere else, farther away. It's too risky for him to be so close.

The soldier takes out a paper and unfolds it with his other hand, raising it so that Nara can see. "With this permit, validated by the seal of Geonal Aska Edrich Millelia, I will search your house. If I find nothing, I will leave," he says, rolls up the paper, and puts it back in his bag.

"S-sure," Nara responds, stepping aside. Even if she tried something, she probably wouldn't succeed, even without the sword around his waist. His armor looks ordinary from a distance, but up close, it's evident that it's anti-magic, a specially tailored material. Even if she managed to surprise him and do something to him... It probably wouldn't end well.

The man enters the room and looks around, then covers his mouth after a while. "Could you please open the window?" Nara looks at him for a moment, but as soon as she recovers, she opens all three windows. She heard that soldiers can be quite rough, but this one seems to be quite okay. "Thank you."

The man looks under the bed, pushes aside cabinets, and partially opens all the cupboards and furniture in the room. She has no idea where Alfonse might be hiding, but it seems that for once, he managed something on his own.

After a while, the soldier returns from the kitchen and stands in front of Nara. "It seems everything is in order. I apologize for the inconvenience, but orders are orders," he says, slightly bowing his head in farewell. Nara, relieved that everything went smoothly, takes a deep breath.

The man opens the door, and there stands Alfonse. Nara feels her heart stop. Everything could have been fine. The soldier looks at him for a moment and then turns to Nara. As she tries to think about how to explain this, nothing comes to her. The man's eyes dart between her and Alfonse, who casually enters the cottage as if nothing happened.

Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot. Nara repeats in her head, why does this child keep causing problems?

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Nara only innocently smiles at the soldier; he will probably chop her head off and drag the boys who knows where.

To her surprise, the man just sighs in frustration. He rubs his forehead and turns to her. "You're lucky, miss, that it's me here," he says, and Nara just looks at him, confused.

"W-what do you mean?" she asks, with a slight hint of fear in her voice.

"About having the boys here, I know about it. Why do you think I'm here?" he asks, but Nara has no idea. "You don't know?" he inquires when he notices her puzzled expression. "You must be kidding," he sighs again.

"I don't know, really, I don't know," Nara confirms.

"We received a tip that in the Hidden Village in the Confusing Forest, the corpse of Mai Geonal Naushe Millelia was found." The soldier says and closes the door. "What can you tell me about that?" He doesn't pose it as a question, even though it sounds like one.

"The village was attacked by rogue soldiers," she replies. When the man remains silent, she continues. "There was a human woman in the village who appeared out of nowhere; no one knew anything about her, but we let her stay with us because she was running from something."

"There should also be two human children in the village, probably Heinry Geonal Mai Millelia and the other unnamed son." He turns to Alfonse.

"Alfonse," Nara responds.

"When this information reached us, expeditions were sent, but none found that village. A few months later, the barrier protecting it collapsed, probably because the forest couldn't contain so many dead souls inside and released them, thereby exposing the village." He pauses before continuing. "According to all reports, a woman left the barrier, and the market showed that the children weren't in it, hinting; the woman should be with the children." He continues, and Nara has no idea where he's going with this.

"Where are you going with this?" she asks.

"You've been taking care of the children all this time, haven't you?" He poses a question, and Nara simply nods. "According to witnesses, Mai was with you the whole time from the birth of the younger son, is that true?" He asks again, and she nods once more. "Mr. Heinry and Mr. Alfonse are potential heirs to this land. Did you know that?" This time, she shakes her head in disagreement. "I can give you only a week, no more."

"A week for what?" she asks confusedly, for her life?

"For consideration. In a week's time from now, I will return, and if you and the boys are still here, I will take you to the estate. If not, I will pretend I saw nothing, and at worst, I will declare the boys dead." He says and prepares to leave.

"Wait, wait, why?" She would never expect this; why doesn't he just take her and the children back? They have been searching for them for so long, and if what he said is true, the boys are very important. Not only are they humans, very rare in themselves, but also nobles.

"It's just an order," he replies and leaves.

If Nara understands correctly, if Alfonse hadn't shown up, they could have stayed here. Especially if someone else was here instead of this man... He would probably drag the boys away, and her with them, or just kill Nara outright.

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Nara stands with the boys in front of the house. Heinry is doing laundry, and as for Alfonse... who knows where he is. It's already getting tiresome for her how he constantly disappears and then brings problems. Honestly, tomorrow that soldier is supposed to come, and she's considering leaving Alfonse here and taking Heinry with her. But would he even go with her if she decided not to take his brother? Not that they interact much, Heinry probably realizes that Alfonse constantly brings trouble, but they are still brothers.

"Heinry, come here," she calls to him, and Heinry immediately leaves everything he's doing, walks up to her, and sits on her lap. "Do you remember the soldier who was here?" she asks him, and he simply nods. "He offered to take you and your brother to your father tomorrow." Heinry doesn't say anything, so she continues. "Do you want to go with your brother to your father, or somewhere else with me?" she asks him. Heinry doesn't think for a moment and just hugs Nara.

"With Simon, I don't want to go to Dad," he says as he pulls away again.

"Do you even remember your dad?" she asks him, and he shakes his head in disagreement. "And are you sure you don't want to go with your brother?" This time, he nods in agreement.

"I don't want to be without Simon..." he mumbles, and she just smiles at him. "So tomorrow, when we wake up, we'll go. We'll leave your brother here, and the soldier will pick him up."

"And won't brother be sad?" Heinry asks.

"Will you?" she asks him, and he thinks for a moment.

"I don't know, Alfonse doesn't talk to me much..." he mumbles and looks at Nara. "And couldn't we all go to Dad?"

"I don't know; the soldier didn't say anything about me." Nara replies. "I'll finish the laundry, so go play or do something," she says, and Heinry jumps off her lap and runs away.

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"Simon, Simon, Simon!" Heinry calls out in fear and runs to her, holding Alfonse's hand. Nara turns around, confused, and what she sees terrifies her. A massive bear is chasing the boys. Both hide behind Nara, and the mother-bear approaches, angrily raising its paw.

Nara quickly conjures a fiery shield, but the bear easily breaks through it with a roar. Her paw is severed, accompanied by a crackling sound, and the scent of burnt flesh fills the air. Fortunately, it scares off the bear, and it runs away. Nara turns to the boys. "Are you okay?" she asks them, and Heinry nods. "What happened?" she inquires, and Heinry just glances at Alfonse. Of course, she thinks to herself.

"Are you okay?" Heinry asks, his voice trembling.

"Y-yes, why-" She doesn't even finish when she notices her reflection behind the boys. She touches her lips, blood dripping. Her insides seem to be burning, and the tips of her fingers are black, rapidly devouring the rest of her hand. She coughs and spits out ash. It hurts. She leans towards the ground, trying to stay on her feet. The fiery magic she used has engulfed her, spreading uncontrollably. Deep inside her body, she feels a burning heat, as if flames were smoldering within her. She screams in pain, but the sound of her voice is distorted, almost as if the core of her being has consumed it. The boys, shocked and horrified, watch as the magic becomes entirely uncontrollable. Nara tries to utter a few words, but each word only tortures her more. Her eyes are filled with desperation as she realizes she has become a victim of her own spell.

In the moment she attempts to take a step, her leg gives way, and her knees send her to the ground. Though every loud breath is now a challenge for her. The burning in her body persists, as if adding another layer of flames with every passing moment. Flashes of fiery tongues are no longer just in her eyes, but it seems her entire body emanates from them. The boys desperately look at her, feeling helpless and incredulous. Nara tries to articulate some words, but pain and the fiery heat hinder her. Her own magic, intended for defense, is now consuming her. Helplessness and despair fill the air around them as Nara loses the battle against her own magic.