“Stop following me!” Running, Lya glanced back to see Tar chasing after her. “Why are you following me?”

“Aren’t we saving your sister?”

“I can do that myself! So stop following me!”

One at the front, one at the back, the two children ran across the streets. If anyone saw this, they would probably think that a pair of siblings was playing catch.

After about ten minutes, the duo grew tired but kept on running. One away, one after.

“Get away from me!”

“Lya! I just want to talk.”

“Then apologise!” Facing away from Tar, Lya stood still. “Apologise for telling me off! Apologise for not saying thanks to me when I was the one who cared about you! Apologise! Apologise! Apologise!”

Tar wasn’t going to let this chance go away easily. He grabbed Lya’s arm and pulled her to him. “Stop throwing a tantrum. We’ll miss the opportunity to save your sister.” In the corner of his eyes, Tar saw some beggars waking up and walking toward Revelle’s castle.

“Apologise first.”

Remaining silent, Tar continued pulling Lya. After all, he was only twelve. Even if apologising, even if half-heartedly, would smooth everything out, why should he? It was simply the case that he didn’t do anything wrong, so there was no reason to apologise.

“If you don’t want to apologise, fine. Get away from me.”

“Come on. Let’s save your sister.”

Lya turned around and stared at Tar with watery eyes. Tar figured she wouldn’t run away from him and let go of her.

“Tell me. Why do you want to save my sister? She’s not your sister. You don’t know her. Why did you tag along?”

“I promised you. I promised Mr Urn.”

“But why?” Lya’s face contorted. “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why are you even here? Why can’t you leave me be? Why didn’t you leave me be?”

“I… I… I don’t know.” After being bombarded by a barrage of questions, Tar was stunned. “I just thought that’s what I should be doing. After all, I promised you and Mr Urn.”

“Why are you so hung up on promises? You know you can just break them, right? You can just run away, right here, right now, and you don’t have to risk yourself saving big sis!”

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“But you can’t break promises.”

Lya went speechless. She didn’t know if Tar was mocking her or if he hit his head while chasing her.

“Mr Compass told me that I can’t break promises.”

“W-what? W-who?”

“Mr and Mrs Compass brought me up. Remember the place I brought you and your sister? That’s where we live. Lived.”

“And he taught you not to break promises?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t question it?”

“No.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Can you stop calling me that?”

“But you are.”

“Whatever. Suit yourself.”

“You’re stupid, and an idiot for blindly following him.”

“But I know he’s right.”

“He’s not even your dad.”

Tar furrowed his eyebrows after hearing that. “So what? It only makes sense that you should follow through a promise you make.”

“Didn’t your dad teach you anything?” Lya let out a sneer, to which Tar stared at her in silence.

“W-what? I’m not gonna apologise.”

“Then don’t.” Tar sighed. “I’m not going to either.”

“Fine.”

A shroud of silence surrounded them. After an uncomfortable minute or so, Lya broke the silence.

“I’m saving my sister now. Are you coming or not?”

“I’m coming.”

The two of them started walking back to the castle. Lya was curious about Tar’s family, so she asked Tar about it along the way. Normally, asking about people’s family, particularly dead family members was insensitive, but Lya wasn’t mature enough to understand that and Tar was used to having people berate his dad so he didn’t mind.

“My dad was murdered when I was seven. I remember hiding in the closet, peering outside. And yeah. I guess that’s how he died. The Compass’ took me in after I ran away.”

“Did you see who killed your dad?”

“No.”

“Are you going to take revenge?”

Tar looked down on the ground. Lya saw the pained expression he was trying to hide.

“What? He killed your dad! How can you not feel the rage to kill him?”

“At first I do. But what if… what if…” Tar looked at Lya sincerely. “What if my dad wasn’t a good person? What if he… deserved to die?”

Lya couldn’t find the right words to respond. She never thought that the reason Tar was hesitant to take revenge was because he thought his dad might have deserved it. She would’ve understood if Tar said he was scared, or he wasn’t strong enough, or he forgave the killer. But the real reason was none of the above.

After a while, Lya said. “But he’s your father. You loved him, right?”

“Yes. Of course I do! There wasn’t a day that went by I didn’t think about him!” Tar had been hiding his feelings for years, and even though there was sorrow behind his words, he also felt relieved, relieved that he could finally get this feeling out of his chest. “But what if my image of him was entirely different from the world’s? What if my dad’s only a good person when I look at him but was an irredeemable villain when other people look at him?”

“How bad can your dad be? You loved him, so take revenge on whoever killed him. Simple as that!”

“I… I can’t.” Tar thought for a while. “I’ll find out who killed him, but after that… I don’t know…”

“Argh! Idiot! Even if your dad was the worst person there is in Eustacia, you just have to redeem your father’s name and honour! If you become someone like Mr Scalp, then no one will be opposed to you taking revenge! Who cares if they think your father’s a bad person? Who cares if they think your father deserved it? Oh I know!” Lya smiled cheekily. “After you’re prepared to take revenge, we’ll do it together! You’ll help me kill the White Fox. I’ll help you kill your dad’s murderer. This is fun!” Lya clapped in excitement.

Tar smiled bitterly. “Haha… Who knows?”

Right before Lya wanted to encourage him again, they reached the Revelle’s castle gate. The gate opened and hundreds of beggars all swarmed up to the guards handing food out. Tar and Lya looked at each other and joined the group of beggars.