Peeking over the window, Arthur watched as David took a swig of his amber-colored drink. The ice within the cup rattled as he raised it, then slammed it onto the table counter's surface. As he looked inside the tavern, it seemed as if the store owner was about to close the store for the night as most of the chairs were placed upside down on the tables.

Seeing how the tavern was about to close, Arthur didn't think he could just walk in, but as he was in the middle of reaching a conclusion, the store owner's eyes squinted in his direction. With batting an eye, Arthur ducked under the windowsill and hid, but upon the sound of footsteps drawing closer, it was pointless. The store owner pulled the wooden door open and stared at Arthur with an unamused expression.

"Ya here for the dork?" The store owner asked.

"The one by the counter?"

"That's the one I'm referring to."

"Yep." Arthur nodded as the store owner pointed at David with his thumb. "I came to check up on him."

"Well, he's my best customer so far, but I suppose he needs to get straightened up a bit by now." The store owner chucked and held the door for Arthur. "C'mon in."

The wooden floorboards creaked with each step they took. As Arthur sat down on the wooden chair beside David, their eyes met, but David immediately turned away with a look of pain on his face.

Acknowledging the awkward atmosphere, Arthur looked at the store owner and asked, "Can I get a cup of ice?"

The store owner raised a brow. "Just ice?"

"Yep, just ice. You wouldn't serve alcohol to a child, right?"

"Well, it's illegal, so no, but it's gonna cost ya."

"That's fine. Put it on this guy's tab." Arthur smacked David's back, causing him to nearly choke on his drink.

"Will do, boss," the store owner replied with a smile as he brought out a cup from under the counter and filled it with a scoop of ice from a nearby container.

"You can't be serious…" David grumbled, glaring at Arthur.

"Have I ever joked around with these things?"

David sighed and said, "I guess not. Don't tell me you're here to cheer me up or something."

"You know me pretty well, but is that really the first thing you say?"

"Ha…I would ask if you're okay, but I'm guessing you're perfectly fine since you came all the way here." David stared off into the distance with unfocused eyes that wandered aimlessly. The ice cubes clattered against the side of his glass as he rolled his wrist while holding the cup. "How did you find me, anyway? I heard you just woke up today, but there's no way you're good enough to track me down."

"I mean, you're down the street from where we work, and this is the closest place that sells alcohol." Arthur took out a metal flask out of his leather pouch and twisted the cap off. "You're not exactly doing the best job at hiding yourself."

David scoffed and sipped his alcoholic beverage before staring at the glass Arthur slowly filled with a clear amber liquid. "You know you can't drink, right? The store owner made it clear earlier."

"Don't worry, it's not for me. It's for you."

Arthur slid the glass in David's direction. Listening as the soft scraping sound resonated faintly in the quiet room. David glanced at the smooth, curved edges of the cup that reflected the wooden patterns beneath it.

Curious, he took the glass, brought it to his lips, and took a sip. David's eyes widened for a moment as he placed the glass back on the table. He smirked and said, "Apple juice? Really?"

"Alcohol is bad, and I stand by this belief." Arthur smiled brightly while leaning over the table and said, "Besides, we both know that's part of the reason I'm here."

"To get me to stop drinking?" David sarcastically asked.

"That and to find out why you're drinking so much again."

David gazed at the amber liquid in his glass and bitterly smiled. "It's not Stella this time if that's what you're wondering."

"I know. Paul told me that Stella was still checking up on you, so I figured it was something else." Arthur leaned back in his chair while tapping the counter with his fingertips. "You know, I'm not mad at you for choosing Stella over Raphael and Claire."

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David glanced over at Arthur without moving his head and quietly scoffed. "That's a lie. Even I know my decision was selfish."

"Well, even if it was selfish. To me, I don't think what you did was wrong."

"Don't give me that bullshit. I heard about what happened from the other guards who were fighting in the sewers." David kept his head down in shame and bitterly said, "I know you almost died because of me."

"I wouldn't say that, and besides, I'm still here, so there's no need to be so hard on yourself-"

With a loud bang, David's fist slammed onto the countertop, interrupting Arthur mid-sentence. In a fit of anger and disgust, he stared at Arthur while clenching both of his fists before looking back at the ground. The owner of the tavern gave David a stern look and rolled up his sleeve but stopped when he saw Arthur signaling him to let it go.

The store owner let out a troubled sigh before scratching the back of his head. "I have to close in thirty minutes. That's how much time I'll give you guys before I come back."

"Thanks." Arthur bowed at the owner, who brushed it off with a simple wave. The owner took one last glance at them before entering the kitchen. The wooden door shut behind him, leaving Arthur and David as the only two remaining in the tavern's dining area.

Arthur awkwardly glanced around the tavern, looking for something to start a conversation, but his eyes stopped for a moment as a silhouette quickly hid once he looked at the entrance. He squinted, but his attention was drawn back to the counter as David coughed.

After a moment, David spoke in a hushed voice, "I just couldn't bring myself to abandon Stella. I thought about it countless times after the battle. After you were taken into the infirmary and no matter how many times I recalled what happened, I still made the same decision."

"And there's nothing wrong with that."

"How can you say that so easily? If I were in your shoes, I would be enraged. If someone did that to someone, I cared about…I would hate them."

"Because I would have made the same decision if I were in your position." Arthur stared at David, who looked up and said, "It's always easy for others to say what they would do, but if they had to make a decision at that exact moment, then they would realize how difficult it actually is."

Arthur watched as David struggled to put his words together and said, "You don't need to say anything. For now, just listen to what I have to say, alright?"

As David slowly nodded, Arthur took the picture frame from his leather pouch and said, "At the end of the day, you choose what was important to you. No one has the right to tell you that it was wrong because they don't understand how much it means to you."

Arthur held the picture frame towards David. "I don't blame you for choosing to save Stella, and you shouldn't blame yourself either, regardless of what happened afterward, because it wasn't your fault."

"But it feels like it is." David took the picture frame into his hands and stared at the photo of him and Stella, who was pregnant at the time. "I just keep thinking that if they were my children…would I have been able to make the same decision?"

"Well…I pray you'll never find yourself in that situation, but what I can say is that you don't need to force yourself into thinking like that. Claire, Raphael, and I aren't your children."

"But still-"

"No buts." Arthur's determined gaze caught David off guard. "You don't need to convince and beat yourself over it. Even if I died, I wouldn't have blamed you for it because I wouldn't have regretted it. I didn't think about protecting myself when that demon emerged from the flames. The first thing that came to my mind was making sure Raphael and Claire were safe. Nothing else mattered to me. I know you're the type of person who cares a lot about those around him, but that was a nasty situation, so I don't hate you for what happened."

David brought the glass cup to his lips and slowly sipped it. He sat there in silence, thinking to himself about what Arthur said with a tired look in his eyes. After finishing his drink, he stared at the picture frame and said, "A while back, Stella and I were expecting to have a child, but it wasn't meant to be. Our child died at birth. That's why we fought and stopped talking to each other."

Arthur quietly listened to David and watched his conflicting emotions surface one by one. His sharp exhale and forced smile were hard for Arthur to look at. In front of him was a man who bottled everything up and hid his feelings from others. The silent battle that went on in his head was one that no one knew of except for the two at the counter.

"I kept thinking back to it each day since it happened. What if I had gotten another priest at the start? What if I had asked Paul to be there along with the other priest we requested from the church?" David shook the ice in his cup and said, "Even though they told me there was nothing that could have been done, I keep thinking back to it."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. The reason I'm bringing this up is because…if it was Stella and my son, what would I have done?" David stared at the empty cup with a gaze filled with uncertainty and pain. "What would I do?"

"It's hard to know what to do in that situation, but…if you could sacrifice yourself to protect them. Would you do it?" Arthur asked.

"Without a doubt."

"Then that's enough." Arthur shook his head as David tried to say something and said, "Just knowing that you would give your life to protect them is enough of an answer. You don't need to throw yourself into these crazy situations."

"But would Stella understand?"

"That's for you to find out." Arthur stared at the tavern's entrance as Stella slowly walked in.

David's eyes widened in surprise. "How long have you been there?"

"Since the owner went to the kitchen," Stella replied.

David's cheeks turned red as he glared at Arthur, who averted his gaze. With a slight smile, Arthur stood up from his seat and ushered Stella to sit beside David.

"I'll let you guys talk it out; for now, I have other things to do, so I'll see you tomorrow." Arthur quickly left the tavern, ignoring David's fierce glares, and simply waved from outside the building.

Arthur let out a deep sigh as he walked towards the western gate. He thought about what else he needed to do before leaving in the morning, and with a smile, a single idea came to mind.