"You want me to do what?" Aidan exclaimed. What Regent was asking of him sounded like a sick joke.

Both of them were standing on a field behind the Imperial Palace in front of a big lake. A bold fat guy was sitting on a tree stump next to the lake. He looked like one of those Buddha statues who seemed entirely indifferent to the human presence. So much so that he didn't even greet the Regent when they came up to him.

The sun was now blinding Aidan, and he was developing a splitting headache. He had gotten unaccustomed to the daylight after all the time spent underground.

"I thought you wanted to see Corus."

"Yes, but this feels like a trap."

"I don't care what you think. You either do it... or if you want to go back to the dungeon, I can arrange that too," the Regent spat out.

"I'd like to see you try," Aidan narrowed his eyes. He could easily break this guy's spine. Especially now that he was untied and had completely healed from the lashing.

"Come at me then," the Regent's lip curled up.

He didn't need to ask twice. Aidan charged at him, planning to knock the guy off his feet. The glass shard he had hidden in his pocket earlier was very eager to come out and play too. However, unexpectedly Aidan was blocked. Not by the Regent's sleek hand but by some kind of invisible barrier. Shocked, Aidan flew back a couple of steps and landed on his ass.

"On the scale of one to ten, how stupid do you think I am?" the Regent asked.

"Sneaky," Aidan stood up and dusted himself off. It was indeed a bit naive of him to think the Regent wouldn't have come prepared. Even if the guy wasn't originally from this world, he fit in very well.

"You do that again – you die. This was your last warning. So, are you going to continue wasting my time?" the Regent furrowed his brows,

Aidan thought again about the weird Iron Vow he had to perform and looked at the Buddha-guy in front of him.

"I have to let him sew my mouth shut? With a literal needle and thread? Is that right?" Aidan asked again.

"After the ritual is completed, the wounds will disappear, and the thread will be absorbed. It will reappear only in case you try to reveal information about this place to anybody else," the Regent repeated what he had told him before. One could hear in his tone that he was losing patience.

"And how can I trust you?"

"If I wanted to torture and kill you, I would have chosen a more efficient method and wouldn't be standing here trying to convince you."

Aidan sighed. It seemed he had to take the leap of faith.

He stepped towards the bold man who was holding the needle and dropped on his knees in front of him. Without saying a word, the man grabbed him by the chin and pulled Aidan towards himself.

At that moment, Aidan felt his head almost explode. He couldn't handle this man touching his face – another second of this, and he knew he would fly into a fit of rage. Aidan tried to calm down by steadying his breathing, but it didn't work this time. Finally, he pushed the man's hand away.

"What is it now?" the Regent rolled his eyes.

Aidan took a deep breath. "Can I just do it myself?"

The Regent raised his eyebrow.

"As you wish." He motioned for the man to hand Aidan the tools.

Aidan took a deep breath, bit on the inside of his cheek, and decisively pierced through his upper lip.

The pain was sharp yet bearable. But as he started pulling the needle up and down, it got progressively worse. His hands became unsteady, and he had to slow down. It would have been so much easier to let someone else do it, but he just couldn't.

Aidan used exactly seven cross stitches as instructed by the Regent and tore at the thread once he was done. An immediate burning sensation engulfed his lips. It felt as if the flames were burrowing into his skin, trying to scorch him from the inside. Aidan screamed, but all that came out were stifled moans. He was about to pass out when suddenly the pain disappeared without a trace. Confused, Aidan touched his mouth and was delighted to feel that it was good as new.

"You actually went through with it," the Regent sneered.

"Any more barbaric rituals you want me to perform?"

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"No. We can go now. We've wasted enough time," the Regent said and stepped directly into the lake.

"You want to go for a swim? In your clothes?" Aidan was confused.

"Just follow me. I don't want to explain anything anymore."

"Well, fuck you too," Aidan thought to himself, but he did as he was told. The Regent hadn't lied about the curse, so he probably wasn't trying to get Aidan to drown himself either.

He stepped into the lake just like the Regent did, without removing his clothes. He thought it would feel weird, but instead, he soon realized that he was not actually walking through water. It seemed more like walking through soft cold metal. The feeling was surreal – he was neck-deep in the lake, yet he was dry.

The Regent's head soon disappeared beyond the surface, and Aidan also let himself go completely under. He instinctively closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he wasn't standing in the lake anymore.

For some reason, he was back on the field.

"How? What?" Aidan asked.

"We're on the other side," the Regent said as if that explained everything.

"Where did the bold guy go?" Aidan looked around.

"He stayed behind. He is the Guardian, after all."

Aidan rubbed his face, trying to make sense of the situation. Everything around him looked just like before, yet it seemed a bit off. And not just because the mysterious man was missing.

"Where are we?" he asked, finally giving up.

"With your "genius" level aptitude, I wonder how you lasted as long as you did in this place," the Regent shook his head.

Aidan wanted to tell him to go to hell, but then he finally noticed where the weirdness came from. Everything here was mirrored. The crooked oak tree that previously grew to the left of the lake, was now growing to the right of it.

"Ah," he exclaimed.

"Ah indeed," the Regent said. "I was starting to get worried you might have an actual brain disability."

Aidan glared at the guy. "Is your magical protection barrier going to last forever?"

"It will last long enough, believe me," said the Regent and walked towards the woods. Aidan followed him. Soon they were inside a lush forest with trees so high that almost no light could pass through. The air got more stuffy and moist, as they continued to move forward.

"Does this jungle also exist on the proper side?" Aidan wondered.

"What do you think?" the Regent asked coldly.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking," Aidan sighed. This man was so difficult to talk to. "Isn't this world a bit too cold for jungles?"

"Keep walking. You'll understand."

They walked for another hour, and Aidan noticed the scenery become more and more luscious. He was just about to ask another question when the Regent suddenly stopped next to a giant tree. From the width of it, it seemed to be around a thousand years old.

"We're here," he knocked at the tree trunk three times, and to Aidan's surprise, a knotted ladder appeared right in front of his nose. He jumped back and then saw a pair of legs coming down. It took him a moment to recognize the man once he stood in front of him.

"Corus!" Aidan exclaimed. His so-called slave looked very different without his soldier uniform. Now he was wearing a white toga. But the biggest change was his face! It was around 20% less gloomy. Aidan didn't think that was even possible.

"General Minn," Corus nodded courtly.

"You're alive!" Aidan felt like a large stone was lifted off his chest. His drinking buddy, his rib-eating buddy, his primary informant in this world was not dead after all.

"Are you happy now?" the Regent asked.

Aidan ignored the blonde guy and turned his complete attention towards Corus.

"Is he keeping you here against your will?"

Corus smiled. Turns out, he was capable of that.

"No, General. I am glad to be here."

"Do you live... on the tree now?" Aidan asked.

"You could say that."

"Isn't it uncomfortable?"

Corus shook his head. "No offense, but it's more comfortable than your mansion, General."

"Duh, everything is better than my mansion," Aidan said. But then he remembered the dungeon. Well, maybe some places were slightly worse...

"So, what do you do here? On the tree. All-day long..."

"I'm with my people now. We are... building our lives here. And discovering who we are," Corus gave an earnest answer.

"And who are you?" Aidan didn't understand any of this. Did the Regent build some kind of hippy community in the middle of the woods? That was so not in his character.

"Whoever we are, we are not slaves," Corus responded.

"I never thought of you that way," Aidan said quietly. He didn't dare say it too loud, as he suspected that the original General Minn might have actually treated Corus like property. "But didn't you want to be a soldier? You trained days on end, you wanted to become stronger... and now you suddenly want to hang out in the jungle?"

"I only wanted that because I thought that was the only way to protect myself. It turns out it's not."

"What is the other way?" Aidan wondered.

"I'm happy you came to visit, General," said Corus, ignoring his question. "I didn't want you to think that I was dead or suffering injustices. His Excellency is actually helping us a great deal. You don't need to worry anymore."

Aidan started suspecting that Corus might be on drugs. His Excellency was helping? No way.

"Did you brainwash him? Why are you gathering all these people here? Are you building a cult?" Aidan turned to the Regent again. This person definitely gave him the creepy Charles Manson vibes.

The Regent just rolled his eyes at him again. "I think it's time for us to go."

"But we just came here!" Aidan was at the end of his nerve.

"You wanted to see Corus alive. He kindly agreed to meet you. We shouldn't overstay our welcome," the Regent insisted.

"Corus, are you at least eating all right?" Aidan asked.

"Yes, we grow our own food. We have enough of it."

"And what about meat? Should I maybe bring you something next time?"

"General, I am fine, I promise," Corus even waved his hands at him.

"Can I come to visit you again?" Aidan asked. He was desperate – the whole situation smelled fishy.

The Regent coughed impatiently. "General Minn, we should leave."

Aidan was just about to start arguing again when Corus suddenly handed him a bunch of dried-up leaves. "This is for you, General."

Aidan looked at the "present" in confusion. "Thanks...I guess."

"That's something to calm you down," Corus smiled at him again. With those words, he climbed up the ladder and quickly disappeared in the tree crown.

Aidan sniffed the leaves.

"It's not weed," the Regent shattered his hope in tiny little pieces.

Aidan gave him a dark look and carefully put the leaves into his pocket anyway.

The Regent didn't wait for him and was already heading back. As Aidan caught up with him, he looked into his cold blue eyes and said with all the seriousness he could master:

"Ok, Jakey-boy, now tell me what the hell is going on."