Love is good...

My mother said that, and I believe she was right, as she always had been. But what do I know about love...?

Nothing, really...

Is what I shared with Crimson love?

I don't know. I doubt it... but at the same time, it didn't feel like a mere one-night thing.

And now I'm curious... I want to explore it more, because I feel drawn to it. Just like I've always been curious about my mother's cryptic nature.

And for some reason, it feels like trying to understand my mother... Although, perhaps this is easier.

I'm well aware love is not something so simple to be understood in a single night, but I'm also aware that it has multiple facets.

The love for a cherished one... the love for something you're passionate about, like a hobby. Fraternal love, the love towards friends, towards comrades, guild members... The love for good food, for a loyal puppy... And then, motherly love, and the kind of love a daughter feels for her mother...

Without a doubt, I loved my mother, and she loved me. So, even if I may not know what love is supposed to be, or what truly it is, I know part of it. And now... I feel like wanting to know more of it.

I want to know what my mother meant by true love, I want to know what she felt...

Crimson said she loves me. Well, to be more exact, she said she's in love with me. But... I don't really think there's a difference... right?

Anyway, for all I know, that could also be a lie, though she did sound sincere. But is this true love?

Once again, I don't know... I know that she made me feel excited, my heart racing and all... but that could be just plain lust, a desire to escape from all the ugliness of this world just for a night, and that probably is.

But then, again, what do I know about love...?

Not much...

...

I woke up to the gentle rustling through my hair, surrounded by warmth. Apparently, the sun was already high; the morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a golden glow over us.

"Are you awake?" Crimson softly asked me, in a raspy, morning voice.

I was cradled in her arms, with my head resting against her chest until I raised it to meet her eyes.

"Hmm-hm," I replied, still groggy.

Waking up with such warmth, being cuddled, felt lovely, too...

"You're adorable even when you're asleep, Snowflake," she remarked.

"Did you watch me sleep?" I asked.

"Yes, you seemed tired after yesterday."

"You're a creep..."

My comment made her chuckle. "You seem to be in a good mood," she said, leaning down to plant a tender kiss on my lips.

"Don't kiss me," I murmured.

She looked at me with a puzzled expression. "I thought you liked it?"

"Yes, that's the problem."

Now she looked even more confused. Internally, I was confused as well. But I aimed to clear my doubts. "Crimson... what did you mean when you said you love me?"

She blinked, her puzzled expression giving way to a subtle smile. "Hmm, what could I ever mean by that..." she jested. "What do you think I meant?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."

"My words have no hidden meaning, Snowflake," she said, rolling over me, intending to give me another kiss.

"No, Crimson..." I countered, pushing her to the side as I got over her. "I want you to listen to me."

"Alright... Then speak, what is troubling you?" she asked, with a less tender voice.

"Everything is... Love is not something I want to take lightly, Crimson. My mother advised me. For starters, why do you love me? We barely know each other, and yet, you keep going after me relentlessly. Why?"

She smiled, bringing her hand to my cheek. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You're beautiful, Snowflake..."

"That is not enough," I retorted, seizing her wrist in my grip. "You mean you love me just because I'm beautiful? I need something more to believe you. You're the kind of girl who would use force to get what she wants, am I wrong? Then why are you acting like this with me? Why me? What are you truly after?"

"Hmm, you're right," she proudly said with a faint nod. "Were you someone else, I wouldn't think twice about taking you by the hair and making you an obedient pet at this very exact moment. But you're different..." she murmured, her voice slightly raspy. "When I first met you, I was indeed only interested in you because of your cute face, and your mana caught my attention too. But when you punched that monster back then... I immediately understood you deserved more attention. You're the very first person to pique my interest like this, Snowflake, and this is why I want you to be mine, and not just for a night. But were I to be my usual self, you'd run away... so I have to play by different rules."

Her words seemed sincere, though at the same time, sick...

"So the very moment you find someone more interesting than me, you're going to throw me in the trash?" I asked, tightening my grip on her wrist.

She laughed. "Finding someone as interesting as you sounds impossible, my little snowflake. And, trust me, such an event would ever occur," she said, leaning in to meet my gaze head-on. "I've got eyes only for you."

"Hmm..."

"You're scared, aren't you?" she asked after a moment of silence. "Scared that I may betray you, that you would put trust in me, only to find it misplaced..."

"I am..." I admitted. "I want to feel what my mother felt, Crimson. I want to know, and... and I don't know... I know nothing."

I sighed, letting go of her hand, and she returned caressing my cheek.

"You're overthinking it too much," she said, softly. "The more you'll think about it, the more you'll have doubts. And don't think you're alone in this. I'm also surprised by the effects you have on me, you know?"

I scoffed, realizing her words were painfully wise, easing my guard as my mind roamed elsewhere. "You sound like my mother..."

At my comment, her lips turned into a smug smile, making me snap to attention.

"No, shut up," I remarked, bringing my finger to her lips.

"Hmm? I said nothing," she quipped.

"You were about to say something stupid, I know it."

Her stupid grin grew even wider. "Oh? What about? Enlighten me."

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"No." I completely shut her mouth with a hand. She laughed at it, its sound muffled by my hand. After a while, I released her lips. "Don't say another word, Crimson. Let's change topic."

She looked at me with a satisfied smile. "Well, alright. But I still want to talk about us. We're officially a couple now, after all, no?"

I blinked. "Did I inadvertently sign a paper in my sleep?"

The sound of her laughter was enough to make me smile. "Come on. Don't tell me that after such a lovely night you still see me as a fling."

"Well, no... I've told you, I want to take love seriously. But... a couple? Aren't you running a little bit too fast?"

"Am I?" she countered, leaning in closer, stroking my hair with her hand. "Aren't you the one who wants to take things rather slowly?"

"I..." once again, my eyes abandoned hers. "I don't know..."

She crawled her way out from beneath me, sitting in front of me and bringing my face to meet hers with her palm. "Listen, I'll soon have to meet the other coordinators to talk about Silveandria, and we probably won't be able to spend much time together for another two painful weeks. Think about it during this time, will you, Snowflake?"

I thought about it for a good minute, my eyes constantly dancing back and forth between hers. "Fine... I will."

A subtle smile graced her lips, leaning in to give me a slow, tender, yet passionate, kiss.

Of course, her stupid lips were just as sweet and irresistible as ever; the sensations that kiss gave me were more than enough to make my resolve waver.

Then, she let me go to give me time and space, and went her way for her morning routine as I remained in her bed. Once she left the room, I kept staying there, burying my face in a pillow to muffle a groan. "Love is hard... and complicated."

Alas, I couldn't remain there forever. So, releasing a heavy and overly dramatic sigh, I made my way out of the bed and stole some of her clothes to get dressed. They were pretty bigger than my usual size, but they felt extremely comfortable. Still, I couldn't really go around wearing them. So, eventually, I just went to my room and wore mine instead.

When I descended to the main floor, Crimson was already nowhere to be found. This girl has a remarkable ability to vanish...

The rest of the people, instead, seemed quite busy, preparing themselves to depart for Silveandria, while Joey was in the kitchen, intending on cooking.

I approached him. "Good morning, Joey."

He greeted me back, pausing his job to engage in a conversation. "Aren't you going to prepare for tomorrow?" he then asked me. "This is the last day we'll spend here before leaving for Silveandria."

"I don't have that much that would require me a whole day to get ready," I replied, waving my hand. "But what about you? Are you coming as well?"

"No... Along the way, I'll part ways and return to Zafferbridge. I'll be waiting for you all there," he said with a smile. "How are you feeling? You're going to such a dangerous place..."

"I'll be fine, Joey. Did you forget already what I did in the last dungeon?"

"I haven't, but we're talking about monsters that destroyed a whole city... Be careful."

Joey looked worried, pursing his lips together as always, giving away all of his concerns. But for some reason, I wasn't concerned at all about the city, or the dungeon. No... for some reason, my mind roamed to Crimson, constantly, on and on... I wondered if it was for the best, or for the worst.

I spent the day doing practically nothing, filling it with my sighs. And the journey to Silveandria was really not that different. Though, Elizabeth continued to seek my attention throughout the entire trip. As time went by, I felt like she idolized me. In a way, I didn't dislike it; being idolized by the strongest mage felt good, though weird, and, after all, she kept me distracted from thinking about Crimson, which was good. Yet, at the same time, I felt like I needed to think more about her... I believe people can go crazy with such mixed feelings; it was a never-ending mental loop.

I asked myself many times what was the right thing to do, whether or not I was just overthinking. My mother had always been right, after all; I overthink too much, and this seemed to be just the case, as usual.

What if everything turned out to be just fine? If I could truly be loved, without having to worry, keeping my guard high all the time?

Of course, once more, I sighed at the thoughts.

Crimson was right in the end; we didn't really talk in the two weeks of the trip. Along the road, Joey, Laura, and Herbaleon went back to the guild's headquarters at Zafferbridge, together with Rosemary, and some guards, while the rest of us proceeded on for Silveandria. Even though we were traveling with the first and second-ranked guilds, we didn't really exchange many words with them; the coordinators did most of the talking.

When we arrived there, we divided into many squads to liberate the city from the monsters in such a way that we'd eventually rendezvous in front of the dungeon entrance. The team I was part of consisted of: naturally, myself, Jerald, the new guy Caligo and, obviously, Crimson. She's the one that made it, after all. Though, even there, we haven't really talked much, we just focused on defeating the monsters in a part of the forest. The idea of working with shield boy didn't appeal to me, but I endured and worked as a part of the team, while Caligo had to be there to be tested by Crimson.

The monsters were tough, but they were no problem for my lovely and trusty dagger, and they were even stronger and sturdy now. Supposedly, inside the dungeon they would be much worse.

When evening descended, Crimson left us, summoning her beast to report the progress to the other coordinators and check the situation alongside the Guild Leaders. Meanwhile, Jerald and Caligo set up the camp for the night while I stood guard.

For some reason, however... things didn't feel right; a pressing concern kept nagging at me, a constant ringing inside my mind.

The monsters were hard to get rid of, surely, but their numbers felt significantly smaller when compared to what I could glimpse of in other areas. And glancing towards the following ones, they seemed even thinner. Besides that, coming from ahead, I could feel numerous gazes pointed at me. Initially, I thought they were monsters, but their sharp bloodlust was suggesting otherwise.

"A trap?" I thought to myself, narrowing my eyes, squeezing out the idea of others adventurers being sent there; had that been the case, we surely would've been informed. "But why...? Something really doesn't feel right. Yet, it does sound inviting..."

"Hey," I shouted to the others. "I'm going to check something, don't wait for me, and tell Crimson."

"What?!" Jerald shouted. "Hey! Argenta, wait!"

Unfortunately for him, I ignored him, and proceeded my way, casting my first spell while he kept shouting at me.

I quickly approached where I felt the glares coming from, but as I stepped in the area, the presences I had felt before completely faded, leaving nothing but the sound of insects singing and the crunch of leaves under my feet filling the air around me. The, now, dark sky was not helping me either.

I slowly scanned the area around me, but I couldn't detect anything. No humans, no monsters...

It took me little to understand: whoever lured me there, was waiting for my spell to fade away. A smart plan, surely; a few minutes had already passed by. But at the same time... boring.

I was so gentle to step straight into their trap after they took the trouble to clear the area, and then they make me wait?! People truly have no respect for a lady's time...

I sighed, and relaxed my body. Indeed, as soon as the dim purple light bid farewell to my skin, I could feel a presence on the side.

I immediately tightened the grip on my dagger, deflecting whatever was coming my way.

"A throwing knife...?"

Not even the time to process my thought that a person appeared from behind a tree, plunging at me with a dagger in hand, the face concealed by a cloak.

I quickly intercepted it, blocking the attack and counterattacking with my dagger, directing it at the neck, but I swiftly had to jump back as a purple energy was coming on my side. That was a spell.

"Idiot!" a guy screamed to the one who tried to face me. "Don't face her directly! She's the Silver Witch's daughter!"

Again, a title I didn't recognize. Now, this is the second time someone had called me that. The first time I ignored it, overjoyed by my dagger, but now it had my full attention...

"The Reapers," I regarded. "So, you're that stalker's friends."

Suddenly, all my senses sharpened; an alarming wave of goosebumps traveled all the way up and down my entire body. From every side, the presence of multiple people manifested, accompanied by their bloodlust.

Two, three, four... seven! Seven people in total were surrounding me; the ones who just appeared invoking their spells and brandishing their weapons towards me.

"Bianca!" I instantly and instinctively summoned in response.

"Isolation!" someone shouted back.

As my ears caught those words, it was as if all my senses abandoned me.

"Huh?!" I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't sense anything and I couldn't feel anything. Everything went dark around me, as if I'd been teleported into nothingness.

"I have to use my dagger!" Remembering of my mother's spell, I raised my dagger to the sky; if this wasn't a situation where it was absolutely necessary, then I surely don't know what she meant.

But as I opened my mouth to pronounce the word, a searing pain manifested on my arm, dispelling the spell that kept me into nothingness, giving me back my senses, and the possibility to view as my arm flew away from my body, with my dagger still in its grip.

"Ah..."

Almost simultaneously, another pain on my leg, bidding farewell to my body as well. A pointing pain from my back followed, forcing me to kneel in pain to the ground, impaled; it was a spear.

As my body spurted blood, I heard my demon fighting behind me, the others casting powerful and flashy spells to make it busy until, eventually, it vanished; it didn't take long. Apparently, they had thought of everything...

"Well," said a man, approaching me from the front, "it seems like the Silver Witch's daughter is not even half the real deal."

Once again, I didn't understand what that meant. But I really couldn't do anything but listen and endure the pain. Both my arm and leg were gone; this was a rather common technique by assassins who enjoyed to torture their victims. First, you deprive them of their arms, so they can't fight back. Then, of their legs, so they can't run away. Finally, you can torture them until their soul leaves their body, along with their blood.

My chances of survival? Low... but not zero.

With a knife on my throat, he forced me to meet his gaze. "Where's Lu's book?"

I scoffed; he didn't scare me. "Oh, so he didn't find it, and he wasn't invited to the party, was he?"

"Speak, or we'll make you."

"And you really think I would?"

He squinted, taking his sweet time before continuing. "No, you're right... someone like you wouldn't," he said, raising the knife to the sky. "Die, Witch."

With that, in a deliberate and clean motion, the knife sliced through my neck.