He woke up with an uncomfortable feeling of sadness and happiness. He didn't understand it at first then he realized the change in color in the darkness. Soon the light moved and he noticed that he was not in the middle of darkness anymore. The light actually came from the two lamps hanging on his side of wall in his room and the darkness that he first saw was a stony dark ceiling.

But the brightest source of light that made him cover his eyes was the morning shine from a small window. It was small enough to fit only half of the body but it was enough for him to see and feel the warmth simultaneously.

For the first time in years, he can finally see again with his own eyes.

Tears suddenly formed, blurring his sight. Even after wiping several times, the pouring emotion that he had pent up for years had burst. Disbelief that he had regained something that he had lost and had given up in the past.

Then as if an effect of releasing his pent-up emotions, his feelings for his home and friends also sprang out. The memories that he had considered to be unnecessary entered his mind. Amidst the complex emotions that was swirling in his heart, he found one that was the strongest.

The resolve to live.

For years, he had given up on continuing his life. Waiting for death in solitude away from his homeland. Now, he had again regained his motivation to move on. He raised his head even in tears, thanking the world for giving him the chance to live up to this point. To feel this way again.

"Are you done?"

A voice interrupted his moment of self-appreciation. He turned to the source of the voice.

It was a person in full-body black plate armor standing near the only door of the room. Shin wondered how he could see through such limited vision after seeing single horizontal slit on the helmet. He once again was so deep in his thoughts that the knight asked again.

"Are you done?"

"My apologies for making you wait." Shin quickly tried standing up but wobbled as his body seemed to be still trying to adjust to his sense of sight. The armored guard caught him just in time before he hit the wall.

"T-thank you!" Shin embarassedly smiled. "It seems I am still not used to it."

"It's fine." The armored man replied after assisting Shin back to his bed. " Will you be alright now?"

"Ah yes. A little bit of rest and I'll be able to walk on my own."

"Good because Lord Mortred needs your presence as soon as possible."

"Really? Then-"

"But he also told me to prioritize your health. He mentioned that the surgery that you undertook was enough to knock out a normal man for several days and only commanded me to tell you about your needed attendance once you open your eyes and I judged that you are well enough to walk on your own. So take a rest until you feel that you can make it to the dining area on your own to take your breakfast."

"Thanks. I'll do that then." Shin lied down again on his bed. Then the armored guard went back to his post near the door and stood in silence. But Shin decided to get information if he could while waiting for his body to recuperate. "By the way, can I ask several questions?"

"I don't mind. Although I cannot promise an answer to every single one." The armored man nodded.

Shin nodded back and started.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Three days."

Really? It seems that the operation they did to me probably exhausted my body also.

Shin was surprised at the time he had knocked himself out.

"By the way, can I know your name?"

The armored warrior seemed to have hesitated for a moment as he kept quiet thinking about something. Then he turned back to Shin.

"Well, Lord Mortred never told me to withhold anything from you so..." She sighed and replied. "You call me as Lydia."

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The morning warmth was not that hot yet so Mortred laid on his stomach on a warm long stone bench enough for several people. It was comfortable that he sighed in relief. It was a very long day for him yesterday. One of the most dangerous surgeries that he had ever attended. He had just woke up but the exhaustion that his humanoid body still carried was enough to make him feel the pain on his joints.

Then he felt an itch on his back. Probably either a bed bug or a mosquito bite last night. He made a mental note to cast an anti-insect ward on the entire castle later. He had several thoughts in his mind and was about to scratch it with his right hand when he felt someone sitting beside his waist. Two hands stopped his right hand from heading to his back and instead these hands started undressing his top clothe on his back.

"Uhhh..." He got confused on what the person wanted until those two hands also started scratching his bare skin. The sound and texture of nails pinching and nitpicking on his back muscles and skin made him melt on the stone. His face showed his confort from the service. Then the other hand started making several strange drawing on his skin which he immediately understood. He smiled as he was glad that she was learning his language.

"I don't know Fang. We could only hope." He replied. "Besides if we fail to persuade him then we still have an option to visit your home."

Fang pinched harder that made him yelp in pain.

"Owwch! I know! I know! Don't worry! I'll visit it with you."

She somehow got satisfied with his answer and resumed her nitpicking on his back. The chirping of passing birds and warm morning air made everything perfect for him. He started thinking to slow down time to enjoy it much longer.

Then she made another drawings on his back asking if he likes it. It wasn't even a question.

"I love it. Thanks"

Smiling, the mostly stoic and gluttonous Fang also felt satisfied. It was the only thing she could do for him every morning. Her other hand started messaging his right shoulder while still pinching the same spots on his back that she knew to be his sensitive and itch points. She would sometimes playfully pinch the red scars he had that he obviously gained from her nails the night before.

Wiping his sweat with her palm and continuing to pinch and scratch his back. This had started to be their everyday routine on the highest-hanging balcony of the Skyhaven.

"Oh that looks comfortable all right!"

A voice interrupted their relaxing time together.

"Now that's a man with a good-looking face. You are actually a lot younger than your previous appearance, Shin." Mortred honestly praised the person who entered his vision. For others, it may seem that he was a different person from the former old blind malnourished man that was assisted by several guards just to walk into the temple, days ago.

Vitality had returned to the man, pushing the deathly aura out from his body and spirit. Aside from long black facial hair, Mortred could see a young man at the age probably between 25-27 years old or even younger. He was proud to see that the potions and treatment that they gave him after the surgery have an immediate result with no side effects.

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"I could have Lydia massage your back." Mortred offered.

Shin was confused at first then remembered who Mortred was referring to.

"Eh? N-no! I'm fine actually. I already rested enough." Shin flusteredly rejected the offer. Lydia just silently stared at the two. Not showing anything whether he liked what Mortred offered to do. Although Shin thought that the armored man massaging his back seems awkward and uncomfortable at least.

"I'm glad that the potions we applied on your body worked." Mortred said.

"Yes, please do send my gratitude to your chemist." Shin bowed.

Chemist? Short for alchemist? Mortred thought.

"Mmm." Then Mortred looked at the armored soldier that was walking beside Shin. "Did you also take your breakfast Lydia? I may need your assistance later in full stomach."

"Yes, my Thane." Lydia kneeled in salute and replied. "Both of us just finished our meal from the cafeteria and followed the procedure that you left with me after that."

"What? That was your breakfast? You just ate several eggs and a cold mead!" Shin was shocked to know.

Mortred actually sent Lydia not just as an escort but also as a guide. She was the best candidate for guarding and guiding Shin away from any interruption such as the over-enthusiastic scholars and mages that obsessed in meeting a real life Akaviri. Her great sword on her back and short sword on her hip was enough deterrent to anyone that will try to stop them for a long curious talk. Her strict by-the-book and to-the-word sense of responsibility made her reliable on these kind of situations. Which made Mortred slightly amused on what probably happened on their way here.

"Anyway, Shin. How was your sight now?" He asked.

"It is still awkward to me as I got used most of the time in closing my eyes and depending on my sense of touch and hearing to know my surroundings." Shin smiled childishly. "But I am more or less starting to get used to it slowly."

"That's good." Mortred was actually more interested in his eyes. Lesther told him that the surgery that he did on him was not just abnormal but also with something dangerous that Mortred would always take precautions against.

But this time also, he could now sense it clearly. It was like he met another Aura but this time instead of an insatiable appetite, it was a pair of strange eyes. He didn't witnessed anything about the cability of Shin's eyes yet but he still felt the daedric essence that had grown stronger.

Mortred could sense how reality seems to be wobbling around the pair of eyes.

Is the daedric prince watching us right now through those eyes? If he or she is... I still sense nothing. No possession or even traces of manipulation. Although I have nothing to hide if that is the case, I still have to be cautious until I could confirm what those eyes are. Mortred thought.

But like what Lesther had told him, he don't know which prince. He had no idea of what kind, if the daedric prince was not on the list of suspects. He was now assuming that Shin was probably a champion of a daedric prince back on his homeland which they mistakenly thought to be a god. He decided to shove the topic away for now as he didn't want his plans to go awry if Shin got threatened by his questions about his eyes. For now, he strengthened the guards around the city and even used summons to counter any attack that may happen during the reading from a possible daedric assault.

"Please also do send my thanks to the doctor!" Shin strongly asked.

"Of course." Mortred nodded. "But it was not without an exchange though, pardon me for being frank about it."

Mortred scratched his chin. He had to be honest about what he wanted from Shin.

"It's only fair. What you did showed me that the world actually had a lot of things than what I know." Shin shook his head. "You need my eyes to read something for you isn't it?"

Mortred stood and put on his shirt with the help of Fang who also fixed his shaggy bed hair.

"Yes follow me."

Mortred led the way, followed by Fang, Shin and Lydia.

"By the way, did you know? The first contact between our people and yours was during the invasion of your homeland to this continent." Mortred revealed as he walked. "Your people was the first outside to ever land on our shores."

"Wait what?" Shin opened his eyes in surprise. This was new to him after being told that the prophecy was written by his people.

"It had been probably one or two millennia since that first contact. And since then, your homeland and this continent had become tied to one another with strong and unbreakable bond." Mortred said. "It doesn't matter if it's people knew about it or not"

"W-wait..." Shin got an uncomfortable gut feeling as he digested the ancient past of his home. He stopped and mused for several seconds before slowly raising his head towards the man leading them. "Mortred..."

Lydia made a grumbling sound at the sudden common treatment of Shin to Mortred but made no reaction to stop him.

"Y-y-you aren't going to invade my homeland... Are you?" Shin looked at Mortred with caution, fear and a prepared hostility.

For Shin, all of these events and twists had suddenly assembled in his mind then revealed only one possible outcome.

Invasion to his home.

After getting this idea in his thoughts, he suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling of falling into a trap.

However, contrary to his expectations and before he could do anything, Mortred just showed a dumbfounded, surprised expression at his question. As if he was thinking on how in the world did Shin even came up with that conclusion and he couldn't believe that Shin's conclusion was worse than he had been expecting. Then Mortred resumed walking right after, leaving a scoffed breathe. Then he stopped. Shin quickly ran to catch up with the pace of Mortred.

"If I wanted to invade, I wouldve just simply captured you, manipulate your memories, and used you without asking for your cooperation. And I already have four daycares under my name that I honestly never even wanted in the first place. Why would I want another pain in the ass continent to administer?" Mortred just shook his head in frustration.

"Ehh... Wait! You can do all that? Hypnotize me?

"I can do it without even touching you or letting you even know about it. Don't underestimate a mage." Mortred waved his right hand. "In fact you can even think that what you're seeing right now may be a fake reality that I am using to gain your trust."

Shin's brow twitched upon hearing that. He immediately comprehended those words and stopped walking, as if deep in his thoughts. In fact, in the past he was capable of doing such feat but dont know if he still could now. And he did not know if he could test it without gaining suspicion or antigonizing the other party.

Mortred grinned after knowing that he caught Shin again.

"That was a joke."

"Eh... Oh okay."

"But it isn't entirely impossible."

"Wait! What?! What is it really?" Shin was panicking.

"Nah, it's only natural for you to be cautious anyway." Mortred waved his hand again. "After all, only the insane would make this much effort without getting some kind of profit."

Mortred mocked himself with another grin.

"So are you insane then?" Shin asked with the same kind of grin.

"I'm not insane." Mortred turned to Shin and they stopped at the double wooden door that was the entrance to the first floor of the temple.

"It's my maddening wanderlust," Mortred replied and used his magic to open the door. "After all, this world have a lot of cool and new great places that are yet to be known."

They were welcomed by a sight of countless scholars, mages, artisans, servants and dragon priests. All surrounded a massive structure at the center of the room.

As Shin stepped inside, he was awestruck by the sheer size of the monument. It was not his first time to see such a thing but it was his first time to witness such grand majesty of art and creativity. The structure was a pillar with sculpted images with distant scripts. He immediately realized that this was thing that they wanted him to read. And another thing that shocked him was the sense of familiarity with the structure, this was made made obvious as he walked closer. The pillar itself had designs that was eerily similar to the architectural creations on homeland.

"So what do you think?" Mortred asked.

"It's magnificent."

"You should be proud then, because it was your ancestors who built this." Mortred shrugged.

Shin continued to gaze at the spectacle with a send of pride after knowing about it's legacy.

"So its really that huh."

Then he noticed the stares of the people around him were not focused on the pillar but on himself. He sensed no hostility but it was still uncomfortable be the only center of attention. He whispered at Mortred who was busy giving intricate orders to his servants.

"Why are they looking at me?"

"Huh?" Mortred then turned and noticed the stares towards Shin. He laughed and answered. "Well it's been several hundred years or even millennia since the people of Tamriel saw a living Akaviri. And these are the known sages, mages and scholars that was invited to help study this Akavir structure due to their related study and knowledge about Akavir. So in their eyes, you're a living relic walking in front of them."

"Ehhh?"

"Don't worry, none of them would dare kidnap you and freeze you in a museum as a display." Mortred joked.

"That's reassuring I guess."

"Although you will be attacked by relentless questioning and interview from these people so prepare yourself later." Mortred gave a teasing grin.

Shin made a depressing sigh that made him laugh. However Mortred was still studying Shin's expressions. He was trying to bait some kind of reaction from his eyes. Then he got an interesting idea. He mulled for several seconds before deciding to begin his plan. Mortred apologized inwardly towards Shin but thought that Shin should blame the daedric prince that obviously manifested it's influence on his eyes.

He had to know.

As such amidst the preparation, Mortred hatched his plan to expose the secret behind Shin's eyes.