“Your face……. seems that you figured the discrepancies at the least”, she stated.

“Before I explain myself, I believe I deserve some answers too. I want you to answer my question. Who are you? And please be honest”, she said to me, in a stern tone. After a pause, she continued,

“But before that, Mrs. Corsica, I want to know why you believe in him so much? You must have already seen his memories then why is uncle Baren so wary around Ray. What did you say to him that he is so worried”, she stopped with a discontented look.

There was someone else with a lot of questions too. To be honest, even I want to know the answers. And if I heard her right, she mentioned Corsica seeing my memories. If that’s the case it doesn’t even matter what I say. Let’s see how this plays out.

“I believe in him because I have not sensed any malicious feelings within him. Even after I revealed that I know one of his secrets, he didn’t take any action against it. That’s proof enough of his innocence concerning his nature. In short, he is a good person. As for your second query, I couldn’t read all his memories. There was a major part of it that was inaccessible, protected by some strong magical force. But I did find some discrepancies like the name he gave us was probably fake as there was a strong bond formed with the name Reo than Ray. You see names are given to us when we are born, and they stick with us for our lives. Hence, Baren was not sure if he could truly trust because of Ray’s lies”, she replied.

Hmm, so she doesn’t know the whole story. This is good. She thinks that she has got me cornered here but I can still make it out alive. Using the memory loss blindly won't work this time. I must revamp my story, so it is satisfying but without revealing too much. The feeling of distrust is mutual here. And here I go’

“I am sorry for my lies but, in my defense, I was scared too. To be honest, I still don’t know what happened to me or how I ended up in the middle of nowhere. Yes, I am no merchant’s son, Baren found me in a crater formed in the desert, two days from the city, in the direction where the sun rises. He was kind enough to help me out. I was surprised when he was so friendly with someone, he had just met but then I came to know that he was equally capable of overcoming me in all possible ways. I still want to know how I ended up here and why can’t I remember anything”, I replied, with a pinch of sadness.

I had to sell it this time and make sure that this doubt doesn’t arise again. But I also wasn’t sure what she meant by protected memory. Honestly, I still don’t remember the few seconds before I reached this world. I want to know too about that protected memory. But still, it's scary how she knew me through and through from mind reading. I must be careful around her. If I get to know how to keep my memories protected, then I will be a lot safer.

I was not sure how to proceed from this point onwards. I was being constantly attacked and surprised in ways I wasn’t ready for. It was weird for Mrs. Corsica to have so much trust in me. I have a feeling she will turn out to be something like Baren; something hidden under her sleeves. I must be careful, now that they know I lied once, will probably suspect me of repeating it.

For now, let's see what Layna is hiding. Corsica mentioned something about me not being the only lair. I wonder why she is being so just and fair towards an outsider.

“Looks like it's my turn now”, she paused, took a deep breath calming herself.

“Let me start with my name. I am Liliyana Valtoch the daughter of Walkonic Valtoch and Merieal Valtoch. Sister to Mordreck Valtoch. They were the former ruling family of the County of Celest; one of the few places left after the war, that doesn’t discriminate against demi-humans.”, she paused again, she was losing courage.

Her eyes turned red foreshadowing what was about to come.

“They are all……….”, she couldn’t do it.

“It's fine I get it. I am not a heartless person, but I need to know why that is so important that it had to be kept as a secret”, I asked calmly.

“The story doesn’t end there Reo. Listen”, Corsica intervened.

“It all began on my 19th birthday. I wanted to surprise my family by giving them a surprise visit. I was pursuing my education at the Royal University of Mestlecair, a prime university around the eastern half, for politics. I wanted to become a great ruler like my dad and modernize Celest and make it one of the best places in the Alcius empire.”, she took a small breadth regaining the lost courage.

“I told my friend to give me a proxy so that my parents wouldn’t be notified. I was an A grade student, so I wasn’t worried about missing a class or two. I convinced Rugrid, my chaperon to accompany me and he was the one who drove me here. He was old but a reliant man.”, she paused.

There was fear all over her face slowly coming back to her as she was recalling it.

“I had a small disguise. We traveled with a merchant friend who was leaving for Celest so that wasn’t a problem too. It had been years since I had visited Celest publicly hence nobody in the city doubted my identity. When I reached Celest’s heart; the marketplace. I told Rugrid to wait there for me. I knew a secret passage to the Castle hence there was nothing to worry about me. That was the first time when I suspected something different; there were more guards on patrol than usual. Ignoring the signs I proceeded towards the passage when I saw a guard mistreating a woman. I was furious and wanted to stop him. When suddenly a man who I assume was her husband came to apologize and solved the matter which kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. When I finally approached the passage, to my surprise, many guards were guarding it. This was never the case because it looked like a common house from outside and it was meant to be a secret. Why are they revealing it like that? That’s when I got a second sign; I saw the atmosphere around. The people looked gloomy and discontented. There was sadness in the air. And then I heard……”, she couldn’t control her emotions anymore.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Tears started rolling down. The rest was continued by Corsica. She explained, in the crowd, Liliyana or Layna (so that I don’t get used to her actual name and accidentally spill it out) heard about the execution of the formal Royal family for non-cooperation with the latter king. The further story elaboration is a bit foggy.

So, this is what believed to have happened from multiple reliable sources. ‘King Walkonic was lured into challenging an unknown HUMAN (not acquainted with the king or his subjects) by lying about how he was discriminated against, by one of his subjects. The king, to save his pride and prove the innocence of his allegedly accused subject, challenged the human to an affair d’honneur or ‘justice by combat’. One of the common ways to settle an argument, especially between soul contractors.

This is the point where I lost it. What do you mean justice by fighting? That’s total stupidity. I am sure it was invented by some anarchical idiot and now followed by everyone. But what was about to follow was totally out of my comprehension capability.

She added that it wasn’t necessary for the people who had a conflict of interest to participate in the combat. They could choose a summon, the contracted soul which can do their bidding.

And this was supposed to be justice. A load of bull I say. Anyone with the right brain can turn this into their favor.

The story continues, where the human, since was the challenged party could now select the amount or the value of the wager. He wagered a bag of thousand gold coins. Supposedly, he was a rich merchant.

The fight began, the human had put forward a double-handed swordsman. With swords in both his hands and an intimidating look, he was a perfect killer. He was built like a tank with high damage sustainability. But the most astounding factor was that he was a demi-human and showed no regret of going against his kind. But Corsica elaborated that he was bound by his contract to do his masters every bidding.

King Walkonic, on the other hand, summoned his most trusted shadow. An assassin class combatant. Swift in his movements and highly lethal moves. All he needs is to land a few good hits and it’s over.

I know the result from the gloomy mood spread in the room, no need to elaborate on that but I listened quietly.

After the king lost was the most surprising and interesting thing happened. The king lost everything. The ownership of the palace and everything he ever owned inside it and the governorship of the kingdom. A devastating loss. It’s believed that the other human who was accompanying the merchant from the very beginning was a sorcerer of some kind and had placed a spell on the king to give everything to the merchant. The duel was just to convince the people.

And then the new king, King Darvious, the human’s name, asked Walkonic to call all his direct family members to come and accept him as their new king so there will be no revolt among the people. He gave him a day. In this time gap, the prime crown’s guard, Loreithen, who is Lucas’s brother. followed the new king into the sorcerer’s room and tried to kill him, when he was seeking advice from the sorcerer. He was unsuccessful and ended up killing the sorcerer. Then was knifed to death by a soldier who then became the new crown’s guard.

Later it was decided by King Darvious that it was Walkonic who had ordered his assassination, hence Walkonic’s whole family was sentenced to death. That day was Layna’s birthday. The day she had returned to Celest and is traumatized to date.

Lucas’s brother was no surprise. Getting the whole royal family a death sentence. He will soon get Layna killed too if she sticks around him so much.

On the other hand, this story sounds too fabricated. There were very few witnesses and can’t believe the Royal statements that were released. God knows how many people were concerned and the levels of fabrication it underwent before being released.

Although there was one peculiarity in the story that I couldn’t let go of; why did the merchant lure the king into challenging him? He could have himself challenged the king. No, he wanted the right to declare the ‘wager amount’. That could be a good starting point for my investigation. And a crown's guard fails to kill a single human in solidarity but instead kills the sorcerer? How could such an incompetent idiot be appointed as a crown's guard? or....... just maybe...... I think that guy with a merchant could be the key, he could be the mastermind behind the whole drama.

I look at Layna, who still hadn’t stopped crying. I felt sorry for her. I know, I know, the last time I felt so for someone made me end up here, but I couldn’t help myself at that moment. But then again, I had no idea what they were expecting from me? they had to have some kind of demand when they decided to narrate me this story or was this just some kind of trust-building session. Either way, I decided to depict that I had no idea of their expectation and keep my mouth shut. But watching Layna’s helpless state made me feel sad too. So, for the moment I thought of consoling her and offer my grievances.

“I am sorry to hear that. I had no idea that you had gone through so much. It must have been hard recalling that awful stuff back again”, I said in a low and calm tone.

Corsica had contacted Baren with some kind of telepathy magic I suppose. He reached within a few minutes. He rushed in and hugged Layna then looked at me and smiled. Later asked me if I was hurt in any way. Well, that was a bit partial of him. We both were around 20 years old with Layna being a bit younger. I admit I am in my world younger than Layna but still that was unfair.

We rode back to the inn. Everyone enquired about our wellbeing. Layna was incapable of speaking. Everyone thinks it is because of the stalker but I know the actual reason. Corsica didn’t inform anything about our chat to Baren, hence I did the same. I narrated briefly about the stalker and Baren asked for a description. I didn’t get a good look at his face, but I tried my best.

Later we had dinner immediately after my interrogation (not really) as it was ready. I didn’t see Layna after that for the rest of the night. I wonder how many of these people know the truth about Layna besides the few obvious ones. That’s right, I wasn’t told how she met Baren and the others. Well, I will have to ask it later. Though it’s a sensitive topic for her, it could be a crucial point in the investigation. I had this train of thought of different ways to approach and investigate this. With the same mood, I entered my room and lit the candles myself which would be normally lit. I think it was Layna. Well, I should put some effort here, at least for her sake.

“Well, you took your sweet time. I guess you are not as enthusiastic to meet me as I was to meet you. Shame”, the hooded stalker said with a faint smile.

He stood beside the open window holding Layna with a knife to her throat.

“I hope I don’t need to tell you what happens if you shout. Now, do I?”, he had held on to that same devilish smile.

As he took off his hood the image became more and more clear. It was the same man who had caused a ruckus a few weeks ago. Ray had no idea about the reason for his return and could only think that it was revenge for publicly humiliating him that day. Ray broke a cold sweat as his presumptions of Lucas getting Layna killed were on the verge of being fulfilled through himself.