After being fed a lavish dinner by Nobu and Luna Ito, Sarman moved into the center garden and sat down under the night sky. The crisp night air carried the soft smell of greenery and flowers from the garden. There was a hint of salt in the air from the nearby ocean. He could feel the fine dirt shift under his hands as he leaned back and stared up at the sparkling stars throughout the sky. The kimono he had been given was quite effective in blocking the cold of the air.

There weren’t any visible constellations, but seeing those tiny glittering lights reminded Sarman of just how vast the world was. He knew that if his father was looking at the sky in Sanum, then he would be able to see the same stars. The world was so widely vast that Sarman would never be able to visit every corner and people. He was a single, lone demi-human.

And the next day would be his last.

“One week. Betrayal and death await you in one week.” Sarman could still hear the ancient dragon M’kara’s words in his mind. It had already been six days.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to the others?” A senile old man’s voice whispered into Sarman’s ear as a small lizard made of fire hopped onto his shoulder.

“No. M’kara made it clear that I shouldn’t try to oppose my future.” Sarman quickly shot down any idea of telling his friends about his upcoming death. The dragon had made abundantly clear the dangers of trying to change the future. Sarman had to die for Yuuki to gain the strength she needed to live in the future.

And if he did somehow live, someone else’s life would be taken instead.

As much as it pained him to say it, Sarman knew that he ultimately was the most expendable out of the small group of friends he had. He couldn’t risk Aria, Nic or Yuuki dying in his place.

As he thought of his friends, Sarman found his gaze lingering on the southern building. He watched as Nic and Aria laughed while walking into their room. Once Nic had noticed Sarman’s gaze, he waved at him. Sarman responded in kind with a wave.

Nic had mysteriously disappeared earlier in the day, and when Sarman and Yuuki had tried to get info out of Aria, she had simply told them to “trust him”. When Nic finally returned right as dinner was starting, he came back with Nobu, laughing and talking like the two were old friends. Sarman wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. He simply hoped that whatever it was wouldn’t affect the next day.

“Salamander?”

“What is it?” The lizard’s tongue flicked out as it spoke.

“Can you go watch over Nic and Aria? I want to be alone for a bit tonight.”

“Got it. Just remember, I’m always a thought away.” The lizard seemed to be sad as it disappeared from Sarman’s shoulder.

His mind cleared, fear from the burden of hosting another living being's thoughts. Sarman knew that Salamander wasn’t quite gone. If he thought it, the spirit would be by his side again in an instant.

It wasn’t often that Sarman asked for full solitude from his contracted spirit, so when he had asked for it that night, the Salamander knew that Sarman was truly grappling with his own death. Salamander had decided to leave the job of fixing Sarman to another Demi-Human instead of the spirit progenitor.

Tonight’s the last night. Sarman thought as his mind wandered. His heart was longing to talk with Yuuki. He had so many feelings that he wanted to tell her before it was too late. Yet, he still thought that if he walked over to her room, he would end up telling her the truth.

He wanted to hold her tight one last time.

To tell her that everything would be fine.

Feel her ears twitching under his hand.

“Are you okay?” A familiar voice shook Sarman out of his small reverie. As he was about to say her name, Sarman didn’t find the purple cat ears in front of him. Instead, there was a pair of brown ears.

Luna Ito was standing above him, looking down with a quizzical look as she kept her hair from spilling over with her hand.

“Mrs. Luna!” Sarman bolted up right, almost hitting his host on the way up. “I’m fine. Everything is good. Nothing to see here.”

“Hmm? You looked like you were in pain.” Her words stopped Sarman in place. Pain? Him? Was it that obvious?

“Ah hah hah.” Sarman let out a pathetic chuckle as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Sorry. I was just thinking about some things I left undone back at home.”

“I see.” Luna murmured before walking up to the large tree in the center of the garden.

As she glided her hand across its trunk, a line of vivid blue flowers began to sprout. Each one’s petals starting from black and slowly becoming a blue as vivid as the ocean. The scent of Lavender mixed with a hint of lemon tickled Sarman’s nose as he walked closer to the tree.

“Those flowers will be beautiful once they fully bloom, won’t they?”

“They’re called Azure Lilies.” Luna smiled as she pulled her hand back.

“Azure lilies?” Sarman tried to reach out his own hand, but found it slapped away by Luna.

“Don’t touch them!” Her voice was raised as she admonished Sarman for foolishly acting without asking. “They’re poisonous to the touch until they bloom.”

Sarman recoiled his hand quickly when he heard the truth behind the flowers. “Gotcha. Don’t touch them.” Sarman bowed his head slightly. “I’m sorry for acting so rashly.”

“You’re fine. You didn’t know.” Luna gave him a soft smile as she began to head for the main building. “Oh, one last thing.”

“Hm?” Sarman walked alongside her.

“Some advice, from someone old enough to be your grandma.” Luna softly smiled at Sarman. “If you have something left unsaid, or left undone, do it sooner rather than later. Life is unpredictable. You never know when you won’t be able to say or do something in the future.”

Leaving Sarman with some parting words, Luna disappeared into the main building. She had seemingly disappeared with the wind of the night.

“Say it now, huh?” Sarman found himself looking at the northern building. “Fine.”

With a determination in his step, Sarman moved through the garden, coming out in front of the center point of the northern building. There were 2 sets of doors, one on either side of him. On the left side was a bigger door that Sarman had learned earlier led to a dojo that the entire Ito family used to practice sword fighting with Nobu.

The other door was much simpler and made of a thin wood. With the walls being as thin as they were, it didn’t take much for Sarman to hear the woman and the girl inside talking with each other.

Yuuki had told him earlier that her room had been attached to the Dojo because she had spent so much time in the latter when she was younger. It was similar to the amount of time she spent in the Ordwell household inner garden practicing her sword skills in Sarman. Because she had often come over to practice in Sanum, Sarman had a pretty easy time imagining her doing something similar when she was younger.

Sarman walked up to the smaller door and softly knocked on the wood border of it. He could hear the two female voices inside.

“I’ll get it!” The much younger voice called out seconds before the door slide to the side.

Standing in the doorway was Yuuki’s younger sister, Mirai. Her eyes went wide and her cat ears stood on their ends when she saw Sarman. “Sis, it’s one of your friends.”

Stolen story; please report.

With the door open, Sarman was able to look past Mirai and into the room itself. The layout reminded him a lot of the rooms that Yuuki had lived in while in Sanum. Yuuki was sitting at a small table near the center of the room, looking into a small mirror. She was wiping away the makeup she was wearing with a small towel. As she looked up and saw Sarman, Yuuki gave him a soft smile.

“Sarman, what brings you to my room?”

“I was hoping we could talk a bit. Before tomorrow.”

Yuuki nodded along to his answer. “That’s true. Mirai,” She looked at her little sister. “Do you mind heading to your room? My friend and I need to discuss some things privately.”

Both Sarman and Yuuki could hear the small sigh that Mirai let out. Her breath had a gravitas unbecoming of someone so young. “I understand. But tomorrow, I’m sleeping with you!”

“It’s a sleepover, then.” Yuuki smiled at her sister.

With a small “hmpf”, Mirai left the room. Sarman watched her run off into the garden in the middle of the night before turning back to Yuuki’s room. After taking a sharp breath, he slowly stepped into her room, closing the door behind him. With shaking legs, he quickly took a seat on the edge of the bed.

The bed took up a sixth of the room and was tucked into the corner opposite the door. Where Sarman was sitting, he had a clear view of Yuuki from the side. Looking at her, his face was growing warm, and his chest was feeling like it was going to burst.

Sarman began regulating his breathing, hoping to calm himself down.

“Uh-”

“Before you say anything, can I say something first?” Sarman was cut off by Yuuki. She was frozen, looking at herself in the small mirror in front of her.

“Sure, uh, go ahead.” Sarman was caught off guard and stammered out his response. Had she figured out about his death? The thought of that scared Sarman more than anything else.

“Since we got here earlier today, really since last night, I’ve had this thought. What if I didn’t feel like I fit in here anymore? What would I do then? Would everything still work out? And then I saw Kyouta and Mirai today when we got here. I was happy. I really was. But as we had dinner and the small time I spent with Mirai after, I realized.” Yuuki took a deep breath and got up. Before speaking again, she sat down next to Sarman and rested her head on his shoulder. “Sarman… I don’t feel at home here.”

Her words came as a shock to Sarman. He never expected that this was what she wanted to say. Yet as he felt her touch cooling him down, Sarman wanted to wrap his arms around her. He knew how it felt.

“Is there something in particular that doesn’t feel right about it?” Sarman needed to know more. Was she feeling the exact same way as he did? Would he really be able to help her through this?

“I… I think it’s because I’ve spent more of my life in Sanum.”

“Huh?”

“I left here originally when I was eight years old. I just turned nineteen, Sarman. I spent ten years of my life in Sanum. That city, and the people there,” As she said that, Yuuki interlaced one of her hands with one of Sarman’s, interconnecting their fingers. “They feel more like home to me than this estate or city.”

Sarman found himself slightly smiling when he heard that. A part of him was genuinely happy that Yuuki saw him as family.

But that happiness would soon turn to sorrow. Sarman knew this. His death would happen the next day, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“You know, I felt something similar recently.” His words caused Yuuki to perk her head up. She was staring at his face, and all he could do was smile weakly back at her. “When you disappeared after Jack’s attack on Sanum, I felt like a hole had appeared in my life. But it wasn’t just my life. As we desperately searched for you day after day, it quickly became apparent that the hole wasn’t just in my life. It was in my heart as well. I felt like something precious to me had been ripped from my hands without me even noticing.”

Yuuki’s ears flattened on top of her head as her face was flushed red. Despite that, Sarman couldn’t help but stare at her pristine skin. It was almost glowing in the candlelight. Her violet eyes were cast to the side, trying to look anywhere but Sarman’s face. Her soft lips were trembling slightly, like she was about to say something.

Sarman didn’t give her the chance as he leaned in. Their lips connected in a kiss and Sarman closed his eyes. He could feel a soft tail wrap around his waist. Yuuki was pulling him closer. The two both wanted the same thing at that moment. An eternity of bliss passed before the two separated from each other.

As soon as Sarman saw Yuuki’s face, he couldn’t help himself and kissed her again, far more aggressively this time. The soft sweetness of her lips was a drug to him that he never wanted to let go of.

The two only stopped when they needed to breathe. With ragged breaths, Sarman looked down and noticed that Yuuki’s kimono was ajar, and her shoulder was visible. Seeing it, his mind started to blank out.

“Stay with me tonight.” Yuuki’s whisper tickled in Sarman’s ear.

“Of course.” Sarman enthusiastically agreed.

The soft chirping of birds woke Sarman up. As he slowly opened his eyes, memories of the night prior slowly came back to him. He was naked, lying in Yuuki’s bed the next morning. When he looked over at where his partner from the night before should be, she was missing.

It didn’t take long for Sarman to start hearing her grunts from the dojo next door. She had already started her morning training. Sarman slipped off the bed and grabbed his clothes from the floor, quickly throwing them on.

He quietly slid the door open and watched as Yuuki thrust a wooden sword through the area. It was a training routine that Sarman had seen many a time within the courtyard at his family’s home in Sanum. Yet on this morning, Sarman felt like he was seeing someone completely different do it. He saw many more details than he ever had before.

After a while, Yuuki finally noticed Sarman and quickly ran over to him. As she reached him, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down into another kiss. When Sarman finally pulled back, he saw a smile that warmed his heart beaming up at him.

He desperately wanted to stop time now. To run away with Yuuki and defy his death that afternoon. They could live out their lives in the countryside, peacefully raising kids and creating a family.

But he couldn’t.

If they ran, Yuuki would never reach her full potential.

Nic and Aria would likely die.

He couldn’t do that to them.

His life with Yuuki wasn’t worth risking the fate of the world.

“What’s wrong?” Yuuki’s voice was tinged with worry.

“Huh?”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

Sarman instinctively reached up to feel his own face. Did he really look that pained to her?

“I guess I was just worried about what your dad would do if he saw us.” Sarman quickly said something that he hoped would get him out of the situation quickly. He flashed a fake smile, hoping that it would calm her down.

“Hmmmm.” Yuuki looked like she was about to say something when the two heard knocking at Yuuki’s door and froze.

“Yuuki? Are you awake?”

Speak of the devil, and you shall see them. Sarman felt sweat bead down his forehead as Nobu’s voice echoed through the dojo.

Yuuki quickly swapped places with Sarman and went to shut the door between her room and the dojo, but Sarman put his hand in the way and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “No matter what happens today, know that your smile is the most important thing to me.” Yuuki blushed as she finally closed the door, blocking Sarman from being seen in the room, before responding to her father.

“I’m awake!” Sarman could hear her footsteps as she walked to the door and opened it. Sarman copied her on the other side, waiting at the door to open it once Nobu had left.

“Before the meeting today, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh? Come in then.”

“Thank you.”

Sarman listened intently to their conversation. A part of him wanted to know what Nobu was going to say, but he had to leave.

As Yuuki began to close her door, Sarman quickly opened the dojo door and slipped out.

Darting into the garden, Sarman didn’t stop moving till he was once again in front of the big tree in the middle. Flashes of his talk with Yuuki’s mother the night before intruded on Sarman’s thoughts. The Azure flower should’ve bloomed that night.

“Finally out of there, huh?” Before Sarman could look, a familiar voice filled his head.

“Anything eventful happen last night, Salamander?”

“Besides you becoming a man? I just met with Aerial and Sterling and had a small chat with them. I got them to agree to not interfere, no matter what happens today.”

“Sterling? The Steel progenitor? They’re here in Kyoku?” Sarman hadn’t realized that another spirit king was so close. Had they already met? Was it someone in the palace?

“Not just here. The Shogun is their contractor.”

Sarman was dumbfounded, hearing the truth. There were rumors that the Shogun was tied to a spirit king, but Sarman didn’t think that the Shogun was the spirit king.

“So, what were you doing at this tree?”

“Yuuki’s mother was growing a flower I had never heard of before last night. I wasn’t allowed to go near it at the time because it’s apparently poisonous before it blooms.” As he was explaining the Azure Lily to Salamander, he was looking for the flowers but couldn’t find them.

“Azure Lilies? Never heard of them. Which flowers are they?”

“They’re… not here.”

“What?”

Salamander looked once again to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. The vine of flowers was truly gone. There wasn’t even a mark to show that it had once been there.

A maid was walking by so Sarman flagged her down.

“Mrs. Luna was growing some flowers here last night, do you know where they went?”

“Flowers? No. Mrs. Luna did leave very early this morning, though. It was unusual how early she left. The sun had barely started to rise. I think she was carrying a bag of something with her. Maybe it was those flowers.”

“I see. Thank you very much.” Sarman said.

“Mysterious poisonous flowers, eh? Sounds like a recipe for a fun time.” Salamander was making attempts at jokes, but Sarman couldn’t shake a horrendous feeling in his gut.

“Salamander, you have never heard of Blue Lilies, correct?”

“Yup. I said that earlier, did I not?”

“And I had the feeling last night that I shouldn’t touch them till they bloomed. Even if Mrs. Luna was the one who said it, it was like I instinctively knew as well.”

“What are you thinking?” Salamander’s voice was growing concerned.

“I think I just found out who the ‘betrayer’ is.”

Sarman looked at the door to Yuuki’s room and desperately hoped that he was wrong.