All Yuder could do while lying still was gaze at the face before him. Through the blurry vision, he found himself naturally reminiscing about a particular time in the past as he admired the handsome features reflected in his sight.

In his previous life, a life full of undone things, they often shared the same bed. Most of the time, it was for relations. In the darkness of unlit nights, even the sharpest eyes could hardly discern the outline of the other's face. Therefore, Yuder's memories of sharing a bed with Kishiar were mostly dim and hazy, marked by instances like the hand gripping his waist when they were lying face down, the cold intrusion beneath their clothes in their sleep, or the fleeting warmth when they were lying on their side, back touching back.

Thinking about it now, we mixed our bodies well even without showing each other much, Yuder mused.

After Kishiar's death, he hadn't shared a bed with anyone else. He was aware that others found his preference for solitude over the Emperor's marriage proposals, without even having a lover, quite off-putting. But he didn't care. He neither wanted to lay body to body with another, nor desired sex; he found it much better to spend that time working. After all, no one showed genuine interest in Yuder, a commoner. Even now, he thought his choices were right.

But the irony wasn't lost on him that it was Kishiar he found himself back in bed with. Even if he had decided not to deny the attraction he felt for Kishiar, he couldn't stop a bitter laugh from escaping his lips.

It's as if after all these years, I've circled around just to come back here, he thought.

However, even though they were lying in the same bed, things were different from before. For starters, they had never lain facing each other and looked at each other's faces in their past life. Despite knowing that Kishiar was an Alpha Awakener and that there was a chance of being overpowered at any time, Yuder didn't feel any apprehension or tension toward him. In fact, the transformation was so drastic that he was struggling against the urge to touch the face before him, which was quite chilling to consider.

He had noticed the changes in him for a while now, but today everything seemed even more apparent. He wondered how it would have been if Kishiar had drawn him into bed like this before his second gender manifestation. Although he wasn't certain, he wouldn't have minded using all his strength to escape.

Unlike other emotions, trust and faith required time. The man who loved breaking walls had indeed spent a long time breaking all the walls that surrounded Yuder.

After tearing down all these walls and gaining complete access, what did that man intend to do? What would become of the Yuder Aile of before? If Kishiar were to discover that he now felt more than just relief towards his endless patience, how would their relationship change?

Kishiar had handed Yuder the key that could change their relationship. Yuder had yet to fully grasp the weight of that small key in his hands, but at this moment, he had a vague sense that something would change if he decided to turn it.

Everything would change. The tranquil yet tense silence, and the desires both of them had melted and lumped together within the sweet serenity.

Those condensed feelings would burst out the open door, consuming everything. And then, there would be no going back to how things used to be.

Could he truly handle that?

In stark contrast to his cool and rational mind, a tumultuous unease arose and subsided within his chest, as volatile as a flaming fire.

Yuder drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. His intention was to remain so only for a moment until he woke Kishiar, but when he collected his senses, daylight had already broken.

"..."

Yuder jolted upright, looking down at the blanket that covered him snugly. The adjacent space was empty, but a paper-folded flower, glittering charmingly, was laid on the pillow. An overwhelming emotion swept over him speechlessly the moment he realized that the flower was fashioned from the candy wrapper he had left behind from his breakfast the previous morning.

'In celebration of your recovery. The real one will come later.'

On unfolding the paper flower out of curiosity, a line of text that seemed almost teasingly playful was revealed. At first, it appeared to be some sort of prank, but it was clear that it wasn't just a simple jest, but a genuine gesture to celebrate his recovery.

'...I should let him know that it's unnecessary.'

Yuder silently folded it back. He was beyond startled, even somewhat embarrassed, by the fact that he had slept unaware while Kishiar had gotten up, written this note, and folded this candy wrapper into a flower.

However, Yuder didn't discard the paper flower. He stored it in the deepest part of his bag where no one else could find it.

The Cavalry members were elated by the news that Yuder had recovered enough to walk on his own. Although they had taken turns keeping watch over the Magic Spring Ruins throughout the night, none of them seemed fatigued.

According to them, strange sounds resembling wind and trembling earth echoed throughout the Magic Spring Ruins all night. Kishiar, who had inspected the area with the members, agreed that his predictions seemed to be coming true.

He finally had a long conversation with Micalin, the head of the Western Mage Union, one-on-one. It was impossible to know what had transpired during their talk, but after coming out of the room, Micalin announced surprising news with an expression mixed with exhaustion, admiration, and a hint of fear. The Duke of Peletta had agreed to fully support the research that the Union was conducting.

However, the research would not focus on trapping and amplifying the energy present in the Magic Spring Ruins. Instead, it would monitor the current slow leakage of power and future changes, and examine the monsters appearing in the Great Sarain Forest. Although much had changed, the essence of the study researching the effects of pure magic power remained the same. Not all the remaining mages were excited about this proposal, but most of them had seen and felt firsthand how uncontrollable power could bring catastrophe. In the end, they all agreed this was the best course of action.

"They said that if no results are produced within this year, the Western Mage Union would have had to abandon the research due to lack of funds. I guess this worked out well, given how expensive it is to conduct magic research."

"In truth, discovering a method to neutralize the effects of the monsters that have absorbed the amplified power is regarded more highly among mages than grand dreams of harnessing pure magic power. After all, monsters are an immediate, practical problem. They say this result will set a great precedent."

Following Gakane's comment, Kanna grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"While I suppose the Commander and Yuder agreed partly out of fear and remorse, it's clear they didn't make their calculations without any benefits in mind."

Emun grumbled, and the other members nodded in unison. They had all gathered for breakfast, waiting for Kishiar who had left to personally receive the imperial edict.

Yuder, half-listening to his comrades' conversations, watched the mages wandering nearby. The mages, unable to dare approach the Cavalry members confidently situated in the middle of the base, wandered from afar. Occasionally, when their gaze met with Yuder's, they would flinch their shoulders, seeming both terrified and fascinated, before disappearing.

'Seems like my reputation is quite something.'

Just then, the door opened and Kishiar entered. In his hand, he held a small folded letter, and his expression was significantly more serious than when he had left.

"It seems we all have to move immediately."

His words caused a sharp change in everyone's gaze.

"What happened, Commander?"

"It seems that the 'village' that was in the Great Sarain Forest until yesterday has suddenly disappeared this morning."

Though he ambiguously referred to it as a village, there was only one village that could exist in the Great Sarain Forest. Yuder, recalling the members of Star of Nagran that popped up in his mind, opened his mouth.

"Did they... run away to avoid us?"

"That's the most likely scenario."

Kishiar had planned to secretly send a knight from the Peletta Order to the base village created by the Star of Nagran to gather information and initiate contact. He had predicted that they might flee after the rumors about Yuder spread, but it seemed even the knights hadn't expected them to disappear overnight without a trace.

"What about the people in the village who aren't Awakeners? Did all of them disappear as well?"

"The reports suggest so. However, not all may have vanished, so a search is underway."

The Peletta Knights were in the process of tracking the village and its members who had disappeared in an instant and looking for information left by, or potentially to be left by, those connected to them in the village.

However, there were limits to the search and tracking within the Great Sarain Forest by the non-awakened Peletta Knights alone. Kishiar had ordered some of the Cavalry members to join them to assist in the search and collaborate with the second detachment soon to arrive.