The wooden door creaked open and a head of black hair peaked in. Inu sat cross-legged on the floor with piles of books in front of the fireplace.

"Um, excuse me for barging in," the boy said, still only halfway in the room.

Inu looked at Jakaan with a soft smile. "Quite the ruckus you make," he said as Jakaan snuck in.

Jakaan looked worriedly at his feet before looking at Inu and blinking. Then the boy was standing next to the fireplace.

"You've gotten even better," Inu complimented.

Jakaan beamed. He probably didn't get many of those. His father's influence surely. It was a far greater tragedy to be talented at the wrong thing than to not have any talent at all.

Jakaan looked around, his attention landing on a soft brown armchair close by. Inu gestured for him to sit. He did so, looking comically small in the big chair.

"Why are you on the floor?" he asked, leaning forward in curiosity

"The floor is nice," Inu answered with a smirk, patting the thing.

Jakaan blinked and touched the floor where Inu sat before blinking back to his chair.

Inu put the book in his hand away, turning his attention to the amusing boy. "Well, what did you think of the nice floor?"

He crossed his arms. "It's a floor."

Inu nodded. "That it is."

Jakaan stood to his knees on the chair and read the titles of the books on the pile. "History?" He looked at Inu with intelligent eyes. "But you hate history."

With all its meaningless disasters and cyclical tragedies that promoted the worst facets of human nature, how could one not hate it?

Still. "When lost, we easily turn to the things we hate."

Jakaan looked puzzled. "How can you be lost?"

Inu felt his eyes sink and answered quietly, "I am the most lost of any human, for I thought I knew the way of my life, but all I found was a dead end."

"Is that Nocrysto?" Jakaan asked, his voice cracking at the mention of the poet. "I thought you hated him too."

"I am doubly lost," Inu muttered.

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Though Inu was serious, it was fine if Jakaan got a little chuckle out of it. The boy deserved someone to laugh with once in a while.

"I'm sorry we haven't had the opportunity to talk in private after my return until now. But how have you been this past year?" Inu asked, shifting the topic.

He could see as Jakaan's mood shifted. "I— it has all been satisfactory. My education is processing as expected. And... and I'm doing well. Healthy, by all means."

"That's..." Inu looked up with a smile. "That's good. I can see how hard you've worked. Just remember to let life take you places."

"My father says one should never surrender to life. That if you let life take you where it wants to, it'll take you straight to your grave."

Inu's eyes wrinkled with complicated emotions. "Your father is a very competent man, Jakaan, and you should listen to him. But you have to remember that there is a truth for every individual. You should look within yourself and observe that truth without letting others affect your judgment of it."

"But when I look within myself, I don't see anything. Does that mean there's no truth for me?"

"Just... think about what life means to you. Is it a pursuit or something you exist in?"

"Isn't it both?"

"Yes, it can be both," Inu answered, growing a little more upbeat. "It should be, even."

Jakaan furrowed his thin eyebrows, the bit of magenta in his eyes gleaming. "But it isn't... to you... or to my father."

Inu's shoulders slumped slowly. "Ah, you could be right about that."

"So you're telling me I can't be like you."

"No. No, that's not..." Inu stood up and walked to the armchair before squatting before Jakaan. "You are better than me and your father both. The best man can separate his pursuits from the exploration of existence. As lesser men, we get caught up in our pursuits. Sucked into our egos, we start to think the world centers around us. The best man can reach heights whilst looking around themselves to see the heights of others and being proud to be a part of such a wonderful whole."

Jakaan scootched back in the chair. "My father is the best man. Everyone says so."

"Of course. Pursuits are easy to measure. A crown is easy to see when atop a head, but eyes cannot see a crown atop a soul which is where real royalty lay."

Jakaan's gaze turned scrutinizing. "You're talking illusions."

"I'm telling the truth. You're just too young to know it," Inu teased.

Jakaan leaned forward in protest. "I'm—"

"13. I know." Inu said with a smile before ruffling the boy's hair. "Maybe in 13 more years, you'll realize. I reckon you'll be the best man already by then." Inu stood up and turned around. "You have unlimited potential, Jakaan. Look forward to your future."

"My father says I won't make a good king. Not like my brother would have if he..."

Inu turned with an exhale. "Then you must prove him wrong. Become the best man you can be and he will have no choice but to be proud of you. Run as fast as you can, but remember to look to the skies and see the stars running with you. You can do that, can't you?"

Jakaan nodded, turning more enthusiastic, but then he paused. "If you know all this, why aren't you the best man."

"I thought I was on the path. Now I realize I am not. It is why I am here."

"To change your path?" Jakaan asked. Inu nodded in response. "Father told me you were here for temporary protection."

Inu gave a painful sigh, turning to look at the fireplace. "If I specifically needed protection, it would be better not to give me any. If Liv directed her anger at me, it would be best for everyone. But right now I am here waiting."

"For what?"

"For my judgment to come to me," Inu answered tiresomely. "For I have evaded it for too long."

By now, the battle at the Spine could've already been over and nobody would know. Liv was faster than any Space. There would be no warning of her arrival. And when she came, it would all be over.