In Rayen’s World. When Bella ends the day with her last story, he always returns to this endless world. It’s a tragedy that this world, covered by the canvas of beautiful colours, lacks a person who can admire that beauty. Someone who can marvel at them, admire them and uncover the mystery about them. They radiate a hue of colour they have, like to fill the endless void of this world with the multitude of colours. Like a breathing cycle, they brighten themselves like tiny suns, but then it might be because this world is just so big that their strengths fall short and they have to give up, and thus, the world dims, allowing the darkness to conquer this uncharted land.

It’s like the world only contained darkness that appeared and disappeared, and the canvas as the sky which breathed colours and vanquished the dark, both in a perennial state of war for the control of this world. And then there was a drifting anomaly called Rayen, in his greyish-smokey body that resembled a human.

Unconcerned as always, the rays of myriad colours that fell into his greyish form couldn’t unnerve him, and neither could the darkness that followed. He once looked up towards the vast sky, but never admired it, for he didn’t know how. Bathing in the silence of darkness, he never felt scared, for he was born in darkness.

He knew many words, taught by Bella and Cellia. He could identify many things by looking at them, for he knew what the dark was and what the light was. But never did he ever stop and ask himself what they signified. Like asking a child what’s breathing or moving his hand. He can do both if one asks for it, but can’t explain the how and what. For he never thinks much, and why should he? He was born in eternal darkness. If he ever felt the need to talk or think, that will to think ended as he roamed the endless world without meeting another soul. At one point, it became the only life that he ever knew. Just him and the void, that’s all he had, all that he would ever have, at least until he met Bella and everything changed.

Now, when drifting, he would anticipate the moment he could see others, Bardar, Cellia. For them to stay longer, he would try to do what they told him to. It always worked, and they all stayed with him. He didn’t care what else they did in the meantime, for he just wanted to admire them. And that’s why he doesn’t like the one called Cherry, for she stopped him from doing the things that can make him be with others. But that’s just a minor episode as Bella pulled her away when he finished with his fifth eye blink. It was now a cycle for him, practise till others appeared, admire them as they have him do something, repeat until everyone disappeared, and keep doing it till he saw them again. This is how he lived and how he will live.

That’s how it was all supposed to be until a change happened. As he was practising with his metal spheres, he felt warmth pulsating through his body. He looked down at his chest and found the golden orb nestled in his chest, thumping. And with each thump, a warmth coursed through his entire being and radiant light pierced through his greyish body and made its existence known to the world. Small ripples surged through its inside that soon turned into turbulent waves and the orb moved. Passing through the smokiness of his body, the orb floated in front of him. The light that it released bent and circled, forming a vortex with the open end being towards the sky. From the size of a few centimetres, the vortex enlarged to several hundred metres high.

And then it started. Like a hungry beast awakened from its slumber, the vortex opened its mouth wide and released a suction with all its strength. Its target was not the grey Rayen, nor the metal spheres beside him, but the very sky itself. A deep rumbling sound reverberated across this ever-silent world as different hues of the multi-coloured sky started moving towards the vortex. The force was so strong that it peeled the hues from the canvas above and mixed with the golden colour of the vortex.

Sky seemed to have the will of its own as the hues became concentrated into a much darker colour and the hues on the verge of being pulled into the vortex froze midair before they moved back into the canvas. The vortex responded with even more intense suction. The world became a mess, like an artist throwing a fit, the colours spilled everywhere. One even passed through Rayen’s body, though that failed to taint his greyish form. But the vortex didn’t give up and its size expanded and before long, it was a few kilometres wide and the resistance of the sky became useless and even more colours ended up being pulled.

Then a sound of rumbling entered Rayen’s ears. He looked up and unknown to him; the sky had changed. The myriad canvas rotated around the vortex while the dark clouds appeared instead. Within them, lightning flashed from time to time and kept getting brighter and brighter. And then, with a loud roaring sound, it struck the vortex that was swallowing the vibrant colours. The force materialised in front of Rayen and sent him flying, along with everything close to the vortex. The vortex became slow and pale.

“YOU!” As he was flying back, the sound of an unknown woman entered his ears. “How dare mere fragments of soul dare to resist me!” Another rumbling resounded from the sky and hit on the vortex. This time, the vortex collapsed as soon as lightning smashed into it, and the culprit appeared. No longer in its golden colour, its surface reflected the colours that were once a part of the sky. The moment the vortex disappeared, the dark cloud receded back and thus the hues of colours returned to the canvas of sky. Rayen, meanwhile, finally stopped his body and found tranquillity returning to his world.

He looked to his side and found the metal spheres in the distance. But before he could do anything else, the orb appeared in his front, with its surface boiling with different colours and sunk into his chest. The moment it touched his body, the greyness evaporated like ice meeting hot magma. But that’s just the after-effect as the now mixed colours branched out from the orb. They roamed on his body like tiny snakes with a bunch of them concentrated on his top. The moment they reached his head, they divided into countless threads before intertwining among themselves. Rayen felt dizzy and unusual heaviness. In his head, beneath the usual greyness, one could see the outline of what appeared to be a brain, made with colours from the sky and connected to it, the dense mesh of lines that spread throughout his body.

The rainbow coloured eyes replaced his otherwise hollow black eyes, which felt too heavy for him to open. He felt the urge to close them, and his consciousness began to fade. When he was about to close them, he felt something rush into his head, but he was too tired to do anything and fell asleep.

***

In the innermost land of Terralea, surrounded by mountains on every side, a small river flowed in the deep valley with crystal clear water that reflected the moonlight in the dark of night. Along with the moonlight, the water also reflected the bright light from the many runes on the high, reinforced walls.

A group of flying beasts flew from one side, passing over the river, with their riders on the top, their wings making gusts of wind and ripples appeared in the water. There were ‌five beasts, each holding a group of twelve men on its back. Covered from head to toe in dark red-coloured robes with only their glistening blue eyes visible from the darkness. The leader who stood on the first beast had a four-star badge on his chest, the symbol of the second highest rank of power one could attain.

But that didn’t stop his eyes from scrutinising every single thing below despite this being his twentieth time passing through here. How can he not? This place, known as ‘Nebula’ was the most guarded of the alliance and sometimes called The Centre of the World. In another place, he could be a person worthy of respect, but here he was, just a leader of a patrolling unit. One among many.

Inside the reinforced walls, groups of knights and mages kept patrolling throughout the year. Trespassing here was nothing less than the declaration of war against the alliance. In one of the deepest places, a figure of a woman with long hair lay in peace on the highest quality bed. Each strand of her hair was of a different colour, other than black.

But the most noticeable was not her hair but her dress. An off-shoulder dress with sleeves that wrap around the upper arms, leaving her shoulders and collarbone exposed.A mystical, smoke-foggy essence enshrouded the fabric of her clothes. A delicate mist atop its surface, creating an entrancing play of opacity and translucency. The smoke-fog-like tendrils wrapped around the fabric, lending it an ever-shifting appearance.

Her delicate features had otherworldly beauty, entangled by the deep frown on her sleeping face. Slowly, the woman opened her eyes, but only up to half a point. But that was enough for her eyes to be glimpsed at. They were the same as Rayen’s eyes, in colours of a rainbow but brighter. She stretched her arms as a deep yawn emanated from her rosy mouth, contradicting her beauty. She ignored her dishevelled posture and gazed into the distance. A deep sigh left her mouth mixed with tiredness.

She turned her head and looked towards her left, which seemed to pierce past the walls and the distance as the sleeping body of a boy appeared in her vision. “If I knew you were going to be this troublesome, I would never have allowed you to enter my world.” Her eyes got tired as she spoke. She turned back and let her eyes be and once again receded into her sleep.

***

Rayen opened his eyes. The darkness of night was still present, but that was even more good for him. As he felt the mana inside him, everything remained the same as he practised. From the total amount to the murkiness. He knew what he needed to do next, and under his will, the mana surged to cover his body. Moving through his many tendons and muscles, it made its way into his legs and hands.

As he raised his left arm, he heard a crackling sound. He ignored the constant crackling sounds, not because he knew what they represented, but because he knew nothing was getting broken. He had practised it until he could execute it with his whole body, and he kept repeating it even after that. From his heart thumping minuscule amounts of blood to the brittle bones that, at most, could sustain his weight, he was all too familiar with them. When he first woke up in his inner world, he felt something was different, but he couldn’t tell what. But there were already some memories inside his brain, something about how to move and he decided to just practise it.

He supported his body with his arms and changed his posture to sitting. From here, he needed to make his mana support his bones or else they would collapse, irrespective of whether he tried to move them or not. A sound of glass grinding echoed in his body, audible only to him. His knees were being rubbed against the bones, and thus he needed to make a protective cover around them, to prevent them from wearing and tearing.

With an effort from his hands, his body left the bed, and the legs touched the ground. But he never practised walking and thus, despite knowing what to do, his balance shifted to the front and he fell. He avoided colliding into the furniture as Bardar removed them earlier to make room for kneeling beside him. By using his hands, he got on his knees, with a figure that wobbled with every effort. He tried to stand up. It took some effort and the support of the bed, but he stood up. However, he fell as soon as he let go of the bed and needed to keep holding it.

It was a little hard to see because of the lack of proper light, but his goal was clear. With the bed supporting him, he raised his legs and walked towards the door. It took more effort than before. And soon reached the edge and paused. If he continued from here, then his vision would change from the door and the thing below him would take centre stage. The thought came to his mind, a sign which would otherwise be called a fall. Undecided on how to proceed from here, he became lost in thought. And so he didn’t notice the knob getting turned.

Bella entered the room with confused eyes as she heard strange sounds from Rayen’s room. She thought Cherry was trying to do something in Rayen’s room and decided to make the sourest food for her.

Her thoughts stopped in the middle, as her body froze at the sight of Rayen standing by the edge of the bed. Seeing her, he stepped forth, but the balance was off and started to fall. Her stupefied body flashed and appeared right beside him in an instant. She reached with her hands and pulled him into a hug. Looking down, she couldn’t help but check his body for any injury. Her hands could feel the mana coursing through his body. Why was he like this? How was he moving the mana like that? So many questions came to her mind, but the eyes that were looking at him softened with moisture. The boy just stood in her embrace, without replying as she tightened her grip around him.

***

“How in the sands did he‌ do it?” The sound came through the living room.

“Stop being a party spoiler. Rayen, come to your sister here.” Bardar scratched his head as Rayen tried to walk towards Cellia, though he doubted his actual goal being Bella instead, who was standing just beside her. He knew no one was going to answer him about how Rayen began walking suddenly. ‘I mean, the principal being simple and all. Nevertheless, shouldn’t they be a little more curious?’

“And what happened to you?” He turned his head and found the only one with a downcast expression: Cherry. She slouched on the ground, her head resting on a book—a sight he knew all too well. She made small noises to respond to him, without raising her head or swinging her tail.

‘Am I the odd one here or the most sane one?’ Bardar thought as his face twitched hearing her reply. Apparently, since her less than ideal results yesterday, she was going by the motto of the early bird catches the worm. And so woke up much earlier today and with renewed vigour grabbed her book in her mouth and walked towards Rayen’s room, hoping to get some woofs into his head before Bardar came. But the moment she entered the room, she found Rayen standing while being hugged by Bella. The shock made her drop the book. Now her fear manifested in front of her. Bella would be teaching him how to walk and she would never get her chance.

Bardar shook off the thoughts of living among weirdos from his mind and, since no one was worried, why should he? But he couldn't see himself watching Rayen trying to walk all day and decided to attend to his other important things. “Grandma, Cellia, I am going to my lab. Call me if you guys need anything.”

“Just like this Rayen. I can already see you running any time now.”

“Wait, Grandma, isn’t it too fast? We should let him jump first.”

Bardar sped up when the words reached his ears, lest he became the same as them. Soon he reached the door of his lab. The lab was in the basement and looked no different from others from the outside, but as soon as he opened the door, a big, well-lit space appeared in front of him, filled with all kinds of things, from smelters to the small crafting bench. At the rightmost corner, he could see another door with the words ‘Storage Room’ written on the top.

On any usual day, he would go straight to the centre where all his crafting benches were, and would start working on the still half-completed golem, which was just hanging on the far left part of the room without the chains holding it. Like being glued to the air itself, with many spider-like legs above the ground. He sat on the chair and took out a small red box from the drawers.

His casual expression became deep as the frowns appeared on his face. His eyes gazed deep into the box, like piercing through the cover to look inside.The fingers of his right hand tapped on the desk, which was covered in metal. He took a deep breath and held the box with his left hand and put his right hand on the lid, opening it. What appeared before his eyes were the two rings, made from ornate silver settings. They also showcase a resplendent blue-green gem at the centre, radiating an enchanted ocean glow,

He took out one of them and ran his fingers over the fine metal before standing up. With a wave of his hand, a doll with loose armour appeared before him. He steadied his heart, which was beating faster and faster, and came close to the doll, kneeled on one leg.“My lady, would Y-you be…” As the face of a blue-haired woman overlapped with that of the doll, the words clogged in his throat.

Seeing his attempt fail once again, a deep sigh left his mouth. “Haa … it's not working. Maybe I should just w-”

“Woof?”

“WHAA…!?” He screamed at the sudden sound he heard beside him, throwing him off balance and smashing his body right into the doll. “Ouch…! Wait, where did the ring go?” He didn’t even get the time to scream in pain as his hands moved to lift the armour in panic to find the missing ring. Fortune favoured him as he discovered the ring just a short distance away. He released a breath of relief as he held the ring with two hands. There was some dirt on it and as he tried to clean it, he felt an unknown gaze bore into his back.

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With a stiff body, he turned, only to find Cherry with her questioning gaze. ‘Human, what are you doing?’ The eyes seemed to scream at him with absolute disappointment, making him fudge with unease. He cleared his throat as he slid the ring into his pocket.

“Ahem! Cherry, for how long have you been watching me?”

“Woof!”

“What I was doing? Well, you see, I got these extra rings on me and so I was, umm… planning to gift one to Cellia. Yes, that’s all I was doing.”

“Woof!”

“What do you mean, look in your eyes and answer? I am looking at you, aren't I?”

Cherry looked at the man in front of her and noticed his eyes focused on the metal armour he had bumped into headfirst. But she had seen enough. She turned back, not aspiring to be associated with a weirdo, and decided to leave. But as she took her first step towards the door, Bardar grabbed her collar.

“Wait, since you are already here, why don’t you help me?” She put more strength into her legs, but stopped as soon as she heard the next sentence.

“I will pay you.”

“Woof!”

“What!? Where the hell would I get five ml of nectar from? Do you think I can just barge into the Lady Wasp’s nest like you? No, Don’t go! W-what I was saying is that I am not that close to her. Yes, that’s right, you are just too special to her.”

“Woof?”

“Yes, don’t you see how Lady Wasp gets frozen every time you visit her? She gets dazzled by the shine of your golden fur.” Bardar wiped out the sweat from his face as he breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Cherry no longer walking away. “How about three ml? That’s my whole savings. You will give a family discount, right?” After a round of negotiations, Cherry at last agreed with him for three ml of nectar and a recommendation from Bardar to have Bella make something sweet.

Then he positioned her in the place of the doll and kneeled. But Cherry got annoyed by him soon. “Is my posture correct? I think I should do another one.” He kept asking the same question, alternating between both of his knees. So much that Cherry began baring her teeth, which made him flinch back a little.

“I am doing it, alright. How can I just put the ring on? These things take time, you know. My future depends on it. It's delicate work.” He took a deep breath and when Cherry thought he would pull the ring, he said, “I got it. It’s your appearance that is the problem. Wait a minute.”

He ran to the other drawer and pulled out a neat one-piece cloth that made Cherry stare with full, round eyes. Only one question came to her mind. ‘Why does he have that?’

***

Outside Bardar’s lab, Bella decided to have Rayen walk all over the house while Cellia went to the kitchen to prepare for the night. “Come on Rayen, this is our house’s storage room, but your big brother turned it into his workshop, though he called it a lab.” She urged him to open this door by himself.

Rayen had no problem following what she said. After all, this was his fifth time opening the door today. He already mastered this, and so put his hand on the knob and opened the door. A room with a high ceiling greeted his eyes. Larger than what he saw today but also small as various unknown things occupied the space. But instead of looking at the different things, his eyes drew to the two occupants in one corner of the room. The one called Bardar was kneeling in front of the irritable Cherry with a strange cloth on the top.

Bardar had a ring in his hand while Cherry had a blue wig on her head and a blue-coloured one-piece that fit loosely on her body. Both frozen at the sight of Rayen.

“What’s wrong, Rayen? Why did you stop?”

Bardar's body jerked the moment he heard Bella’s voice. His mana surged, and with an accompanying scream from Cherry, he threw her to the right, colliding with the door labelled "Storage", and closed the door.

Bella entered the lab and found Bardar sitting in his chair near the crafting bench with a hammer in his hands. She looked at his serious face and got confused for a moment. “I thought I heard Cherry’s voice. Was she with you just now?”

“Cherry? I don’t know. I was busy with my work.” He said with a straight face. Rayen found a wave on the brown orb and found it kept making fresh waves.

“Are you sure? I seemed to have heard something”

“That’s your misconception.”

“If you say so.” She didn't dwell on this much. Cherry had a habit of doing strange things and thought it might be one of those. She took Rayen’s hand and walked towards the door on the right.

“W-wait, grandma! Where are you going?” Badar became flustered.

“To show Rayen our storage.”

“But there is nothing there. Why not go and show him the garden instead?”

Bardar wanted to say more, but Rayen’s hand was already on the knob. When Rayen opened it, the room too had many things inside, and a thick layer of dust covered everything. Except for the central portion of the floor, where a straight line cut through the dust. Bella followed suit and lifted her eyes at the scene.

“Did you drag something here?”

“No, it might be Cherry... didn't you say you heard some voices.”

“Well, I will ask her later.”

“Don’t!”

“Sorry?”

“No, nothing.” Bardar looked away as Bella’s eyes dug into him. His brain ran at full capacity to find more reasons, and the messy scene of fallen wooden barrels entered his sight. “I will take care of this mess. Why don’t you take Rayen away? We don’t want him to get dirty, right?”

“Hmm … If you say so.” Her eyes ran over the mess in front of them. “How did she even make such a mess?”

‘That’s probably where she got hit after sliding.’ Bardar dared not to say his thoughts. He bowed down and tried to pick one barrel, but bumped into another one since they were all placed together.

“Be careful!, you shouldn’t…” As another barrel fell, Bella wanted to warn him but stopped. The barrel's head came off the moment it struck the floor and its contents spilled out in front of them. A long sword, wrapped in a leather sheath. A frost formed surrounding it the moment it landed. Her eyes remained glued to the sword, covered with black leather, engraved with outlines of some beasts. Because of the dust, it was difficult to see them. Her thoughts became clouded and an irresistible urge to hold the sword overwhelmed her. But Bardar snapped her back. “Grandma, STOP!!!”

“Huh…” Her eyes snapped back, only to find herself half kneeling and her left hand just a few centimetres away from picking the sword. With a forceful jerk, she backed away and held her left hand with the other. With ragged breathing, she turned to Bardar, eyes burning with anger. “I told you to throw this thing away. Why is it still HERE!?”

Under Rayen’s eyes; the mana emanated from her words and mixed with them. The force made the dust fly away and struck Bardar head-on. Making him slam into the wall behind and coughing in pain as a magic shield appeared before him."G-Grandma, I..."

Rayen watched as the golden orb began losing its original colour. Instead of that, a new snow-blue colour emerged from the centre and kept expanding. That colour gave him a feeling of uneasiness as his ears filled with the sound of crystals cracking. He moved his hand and grabbed on towards the golden orb, wanting to stop the unusual change.

Bella’s cold eyes glanced at the touch that bumped into her. A boy covered in frost came into view. With haste, she took back the frost and with a hand on Rayen’s, a warmth travelled from her into him.

“Are you ok!? It didn't hurt, right?” Rayen looked as the golden orb recovered and stopped himself. Though he didn’t get the chance to do anything, he felt he didn’t need to move anymore.

Bella confirmed he was ok and moved to Bardar, who was on the ground. He released a small grunt as she checked up on him before making a grabbing motion and a bottle appeared in her hands. “Sorry. This should help with the pain.” Her voice lacked empathy.

“I-it's ok, I am not hurt anyway.” Bardar coughed as he stood up with her help. He smiled, unconcerned about whatever happened and looked at the room. “In fact, I should be thankful to you, Grandma. Now I don’t have to clean this room. I was planning for it in the future, but you always took care of such things before I ever could.”

Bella sighed at him at his attempt to shift the topic. “Well, I am taking Rayen back. Be sure to get ready for tonight’s party. And–”

“Throw that trash away. It has no use in this house.” She rubbed her left hand with a soft touch and gave a last glance at the sword. Without waiting for his answer, she took Rayen away. Her steps were fast, almost like running away from this place. Bardar waited for them to leave and walked towards the sword. It lay in the now cleared space. He picked it up, and the frost formed on his hand. A small roar echoed in his ears as soon as he touched the sword. With a wry smile, and in an almost inaudible voice, he said, “How could I?”

***

The night soon came. The house was lit with lights and joyous decorations from outside. Bardar and Cellia had been working on this for some time. The initial party for Rayen’s recovery was supposed to be given much earlier, but it kept getting delayed. Today, despite much of the work still needing completion, they all decided the moment had come. Though Bella and Cellia were the only ones who felt the decorations were lacking. Bardar felt it already exceeded expectations. While Cherry, who just wanted to eat, instead had to bring various decorations and help with the work.

“Rayen, pick your glass like this, and when we say cheers, touch it with ours.” Bella was busy instructing Rayen, who was wearing a black suit with a small bow tie around his neck. She wore a new snow-white attire with loose sleeves. In the front, Bardar also wore a black suit with well-combed hair, almost the same as Rayen. He kept his top button open.

As Bella was busy looking at Rayen, Bardar was busy staring at the person beside him. Cellia was wearing a long dark blue one-piece with much of her tender white hands visible. “What are you looking at?”

Under Bardar’s eyes, Cellia’s fair skin glowed with a tint of red, with a smooth neckline behind her short hairs. Seeing her eyes filled with thin mist, his heart thumped, whose sound overwhelmed the sound from outside. He took a deep breath, and for the first time, decided to be honest with himself. “ You … look beautiful.”

“Thanks,” she smiled hearing him and looked away. Her institution told her that something was different about him today. But that didn’t stop the warm feeling rising inside her chest. Even her face felt a little hot. For unknown reasons, she felt her skin too thin today and was unable to maintain her usual demeanour and shifted her eyes to the table. There were many types of food placed on it, from all kinds of seafood to Curries, but her eyes then threw to one particular dish, Shahi Paneer.

It was creamy, fragrant curry embracing tender paneer cubes, a symphony of cashew, tomato, and aromatic spices. ‘I don’t remember making it?’ She grabbed the opportunity to change the topic. “Did Grandma make that? I don’t remember seeing her make something like that.”

“Um…I made it.”

“You can cook?”

“A little,” He scratched his head with a sheepish face which raised her eyebrows. “It’s your favourite dish, right? So I thought maybe…”

“You know about it?” A little surprise flashed on her face, she didn’t expect him to know since she never told him about it.

“Well, considering how close we are, it's only natural that I would know."

“U-m…”

‘Right, we are close…close.’ She felt blood rushing into her head. She got distracted for a second and didn’t notice that her right hand was touching the hot soup.

“Be careful.” Bardar grabbed her hand. She looked at him as he examined her hand with a serious look and felt the warmth from his hands. At this time, Bella’s voice reached her ears and she hastily pulled her hand back.

“Ahem! Now let’s all raise our glasses.” Bardar and Cellia both followed and from the corner, Cherry also grabbed her empty bowl and raised it with them. The party was small, and Bella felt the stares of Cherry from her side and felt they shouldn’t waste the time with words, and decided against the round of speeches she planned. Nevertheless, despite all this, the party took more than 3 hours for them to conclude. They had to stop as she didn’t want to put a strain on Rayen. She took him to his room and Cherry followed after her while Bardar and Cellia decided to take a walk outside.

“It’s cold.” Cellia said the moment they entered the garden. Bardar felt the chilly winds hit him. He took out the shirt and put it on top of her.

“Thanks.” She could no longer feel the cold wind and her complexion became rosy again. She found him looking at her and to hide her embarrassment, she walked to the front.

“Careful!” It was because she was wearing heels that she forgot and walked too fast and got her ankle sprained. It threw her body off balance and she tilted left. In panic, she closed her eyes, but the anticipated fall materialised. Instead, two warm arms enveloped her in an embrace.

“U-m..” She opened her eyes and the hot breath from him hit her. She couldn’t form coherent words as the next moment, Bardar carried her in his arms. “ I-I can walk.” Her voice was so small that even she had difficulty hearing it as she buried her face in his chest.

“Here, let me take a look.” He placed her on the bench near the fountain and kneeled. His hands tenderly grabbed her ankle and removed her heels. “You should take care of yourself.”

“Um…” He looked up at this moment and found the moonlight glinting on her face, the slight wind blowing her hair with her eyes that gaze deep into his. The view was so mesmerising he lost the words he was going for and both stared at each other till Cellia decided to ask. “You … look very different today.”

“Do I?” He looked at her ankle and didn’t find anything to worry about. “I just wanted to be honest with myself for today.”

Cellia felt his hands rubbing her ankle, but she didn’t interrupt him.

“I thought so much about tonight. I wanted it to be a grand moment for me-us … But I am not that good with many things … politics, fighting…expectations.”

“That’s not true. How can you think of yourself like that?? There are many things that only you can do.”

He ignored her, his eyes lost in his world.

“I was not originally from Thar. I lived as an orphan on the streets of Terralea.”

“...”

“I used to beg every day, sleep anywhere that was warm. I always wondered if I'm gonna survive the day or not. That was until I woke up in the middle of the night and found the face of a dog staring at me with her mouth wide open.” His words paused, as he remembered the time, the scene of a golden-haired creature with his mouth as wide as his whole body, filled with thousands of teeth that keep getting closer. Unknowingly, the corners of his mouth pulled to the sides. “I still remember how I screamed‌. I thought that I was going to be eaten and die for sure.”

“What happened afterwards?”

“Well … A small ruler flew from somewhere and hit the face of that creature, followed by the sounds of hurried footsteps.”

“Cherry and Grandma?” He nodded at her.

“I remember Grandma yelling along the lines of ‘Not taking humans as food’ and me shaking at her words.”

“...”

“After screaming at Cherry, she turned to me and asked what my name was and I shook. From fear and helplessness, as I don't remember anyone giving me one, so how could I tell her? I was worried about her feeding me to the thing beside her.”

“Then…”

“I remember her hand reaching out towards me and somehow my body grabbing it.” He looked at his right hand and the touch from years ago still felt like yesterday. “Before long, I was being called as Bardar. I soon found out she was a big shot and panicked. I didn’t have mana at that time, and was always worried if she would throw me away.” Bardar felt Cellia's hand gripping on him.

“It was only after she got me a mana awakening potion that I could do something, but again, I was not good enough. I was not good at fighting, nor healing. It took me ten years of constantly trying to pass the Academy’s entrance exam while my uncles all did in their first. You know the rest.”

He paused, and looked straight into her eyes, but his heart rate was getting faster and faster and only calmed down after he took some deep breaths. “All I am saying is, I am not good enough with expectations. I always disappoint people around me.”

“It's not true.” She can’t help but say this to him. “I am not disappointed in you and neither is Grandma Bella. You shouldn't treat yourself like this.” She didn’t know why he suddenly started to talk about his past like this. He never talked about it in the past and changed topics whenever she asked about his childhood. She felt at ease about him finally opening himself to her.

He looked down, and she couldn’t see his expression. The silence remained between them until she found him taking huge breaths and pulling something from his pocket.

“I may not be good with expectations.” He said as he opened the small box and two rings appeared inside, which made Cellia’s pupil contract. “But sometimes … I too dream of things that I want to cherish, even though they might be just my disillusionment. That’s why, Cellia, here, on this everlasting night, I ask you with my bare-naked emotions put together. Despite many flaws, would you be willing to marry me?.”

“You know?” She took a deep breath as Bardar felt his heart reaching his throat. “I always told you, from the time I met you for the first time, that you shouldn’t do things like that.”

“Does it mean..” He felt his being crumbled, but he fought hard to maintain it.

“You should have more confidence in yourself.” She reached out her hand to him and felt the slight tremor in her own body and in his the moment he grabbed it. “Well, I think we will have enough time to deal with that.” She felt the cold ring slide on her finger and noticed his face coming closer and welcomed it with her eyes closed.

***

Some distance away, from the window of Rayen’s room, Bella and Cherry glanced at the scene below with a smile on their faces. But that smile soon crumbled and her face twitched as the dog beside her made strange sounds and pointed her paw at Bardar.

“What do you mean you raised that boy?” Cherry heard her and turned her body back towards the door, and walked in slow motion and disappeared into the light with a final woof.

“Professionals have standards?” Seeing Cherry not getting back, Bella shook her head. She decided to not think more about the antics of her long friend. She closed the curtains and gave a light kiss to the sleeping Rayen. “Hope you have a pleasant dream,” and left the room, closing the door behind.