The forest was silent, far from any conflict. Kenjaku remained leaning against a tree, with his usual tranquil smile.
In front of him, a figure with a cold and irritated expression. Uraume crossed her arms, clearly bothered.
"That fight..." she said, her voice heavy with irritation. "It was interrupted at the best moment."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You were fighting Kinji Hakari, weren't you?" Kenjaku let out a light sigh, as if it were no big deal. "You always take these things too seriously."
Uraume didn't answer. Her gaze slowly descended... to his neck.
A recent scar.
"...how did you get that?"
The tone was direct. No mild curiosity. Just analysis. Kenjaku brought his hand to his own neck, touching the mark naturally.
And then he smiled.
"Ah... this?" He seemed to remember. "I was having a little fun." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Fighting against Fumihiko Takaba."
Uraume remained silent.
"But, well..." Kenjaku continued, "things got interesting in the end." His smile widened slightly. "I ended up having my head... chopped off."
"By whom?" For a moment, even the wind seemed to stop.
"By Yuta Okkotsu." The name carried weight. Uraume showed no surprise.
He simply absorbed the information. "And yet you're here."
Kenjaku shrugged, unconcerned. "Yes."
Then, for a brief moment, his gaze changed. Something deeper. "Thanks to... the Witch of Envy who pulled me here."
The air grew heavier. Even Uraume seemed to pay more attention. Kenjaku tilted his head slightly, as if he found it curious.
"Interesting, don't you think? A power that doesn't even belong to this world..."
His smile returned. Calm and controlled. "...and yet, she is capable of interfering even in death."
Uraume remained silent. But her eyes... showed that she wouldn't ignore it. Silence lingered for a few moments after those words. The snow fell slowly around the two of them.
Kenjaku seemed thoughtful.
"From what I could observe..." he began calmly, "the sorcerers weren't all brought at once."
Uraume didn't look away.
...
"They are being summoned at different times," Kenjaku continued. "Like pieces being positioned little by little."
The wind passed through the trees. Uraume closed her eyes slightly. "I just arrived in this world."
The statement was simple and direct. Without room for doubt. Kenjaku smiled slightly. "I imagined."
He took a small step forward, sinking slightly into the snow.
"I, on the other hand..." he said, in an almost casual tone, "I've been here much longer than you, Uraume."
Uraume opened his eyes again.
"Long enough to observe... understand..." he continued, "and start to have fun."
His gaze carried something deeper.
Something calculating.
"This world is... peculiar." He tilted his head slightly. "Different energy... different rules... but still..."
A small smile appeared.
"It works for us."
Uraume remained silent for a few seconds. Then he asked: "And what is your objective here?"
Kenjaku didn't answer immediately. His gaze wandered for a moment in the surrounding forest. "I'm still deciding..." he finally said.
But the slight smile on his face said otherwise. Kenjaku walked a few steps through the snow, observing the sky through the branches.
"I have the impression that the more sorcerers appear..." he began calmly, "the more cursed energy will begin to emanate in this world."
Uraume remained motionless.
...
"And, as a consequence..." Kenjaku continued, "some curses would already begin to emerge."
His tone was almost... satisfied. As if this was exactly what he expected. Uraume slightly closed her eyes.
"So that's it." Kenjaku gave a slight smile. "Just the beginning."
The wind blew stronger for a moment. Then, he turned his gaze to her.
"But that wasn't the only reason I came to you." Uraume didn't answer, only waited. "There's a little girl who uses ice powers."
His gaze became more attentive.
"And I want to 'help' her."
The word carried a clear double meaning. "Help...?" Uraume repeated, emotionlessly. Kenjaku tilted his head slightly. "Her power is unstable. Dangerous. Wasted."
His eyes narrowed. "With the right guidance... she could become something much more interesting."
The snow continued to fall.
"And that's where you come in."
Uraume finally reacted, albeit minimally.
...
"I want you to help her control this power," Kenjaku concluded.
The air seemed to grow colder for a moment. Uraume looked directly at him. Without enthusiasm. "It doesn't seem like something worth my time."
The answer was curt. Kenjaku smiled. As if he had expected it.
"I figured you'd say that." He put his hands on his sleeves, relaxed. "But think of it this way..."
His eyes met hers. "She could be a perfect Vessel..." A brief pause. "She could be useful."
...
Uraume remained silent. His cold gaze didn't change. But neither did she. She didn't refuse again. The cold was out of control. Emilia's ice continued to advance, consuming everything around it, ignoring her will. Her eyes trembled, her breath uneven; she no longer knew where her power ended... and where the disaster began.
Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Not abruptly. But as if something greater had taken control of the cold itself.
The ice stabilized. The expansion ceased. The air became silent. Emilia's eyes widened.
...?
She was still trembling, but she felt clearly: it wasn't her anymore. Before her, the figure remained motionless. Uraume slightly raised his hand, and the surrounding cold obeyed as if it were natural.
Effortlessly. Without loss of control. Absolute dominion. Orthrus advanced. The two heads growling, ferocious, but it didn't even come close.
A single movement. Dense, perfect ice. The creature was completely frozen in an instant. And then broken. No resistance. No chance. The dry sound echoed through the forest.
Only one remained. The hunter. His eyes were wide, his body frozen, unable to even think of fighting.
Uraume didn't even look directly at him.
"Go away."
The voice was cold. Emotionless. There was no hesitation. The man stumbled in his own haste, fell in the snow, got up and ran. He disappeared among the trees as fast as he could.
Like an animal fleeing a predator. Silence returned. The snow fell slowly. And Emilia... was still trying to understand what had just happened. What lingered in the air wasn't just the cold.
It was control.
Emilia watched, still breathless, the trail of ice around her... but, unlike hers, it wasn't chaotic. It didn't advance aimlessly, it didn't hurt unintentionally.
Every inch responded to Uraume's will as if it were a natural extension of his own body.
No excess.
No waste.
No error.
Emilia's eyes followed this in silence. There was a clear difference. She opened her mouth, as if to say something...
But her body failed. Her vision wavered. The world suddenly seemed distant. The cold that had been outside... now seemed to come from within. Her legs gave way. And, unable to hold on, she fell.
Consciousness faded before she even fully touched the snow.
...
After waking up, Emilia ran to the village.
...
Her steps slowed as she walked between the houses. Everything seemed as always. As if nothing had happened.
Her eyes then turned to a small shop. She approached hesitantly. She raised her hand...
And knocked lightly. The door opened. The man appeared. And, the moment he saw Emilia, his face lost all color. Her eyes widened.
Her body began to tremble.
"I-I..."
Before she could say anything, he fell to his knees. Hard.
"Forgive me!!"
His voice came out desperate. Almost breaking. Emilia stood motionless.
"I... I had no choice!" he continued, lowering his head. "They said they were going to hurt everyone... I just... I only talked about you..."
Silence fell between them.
Heavy.
Cold.
Emilia said nothing for a few seconds. She just looked at him. Her eyes didn't hold anger. But... understanding.
She understood.
He was afraid.
Protecting others.
Like anyone would.
But even so...
The result was still there.
She closed her eyes slightly.
She took a deep breath.
And then—
Her expression changed.
"...don't do that again."
Her voice came out differently. The man trembled even more.
"I-I won't! I swear!"
Emilia turned her face away. Without saying anything more. She knew... If she stayed there... Maybe she would forgive him too kindly.
Maybe she would smile. And that... Wouldn't help anyone. Without looking back, she began to walk away. Her steps were silent.
But her heart... was heavy.
Because, deep down, she didn't want to be seen that way.
But sometimes, being kind wasn't enough. Emilia's steps were slow, heavy with what had just happened.
The snow crunched under her feet, the cold wind passing through the trees.
Then she stopped.
In front of her, standing as if she had been there for some time, was Uraume.
Her gaze was the same.
"I'm impressed," said Uraume, without emotion. "You can play the tough girl."
Emilia blinked, surprised by the direct approach.
"...you." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Who are you?"
A brief pause.
"And... why did you help me?"
Silence fell between the two. The snow continued to fall slowly. Uraume didn't answer immediately. She just observed Emilia. As if she were analyzing something.
"My name is Uraume."
Simple and direct. No further explanations.
Emilia mentally repeated the name.
"...Uraume."
"I helped you," she continued. "because of Kenjaku."
The name made Emilia even more attentive. "Kenjaku...?"
Uraume nodded slightly. "It was his request."
Nothing more. No emotion. No apparent interest. Just a fact. The wind blew again. And, at that moment...
Emilia realized. This was no coincidence. None of it was. The wind blew through the trees, lifting the snow around them. Uraume kept his gaze fixed on Emilia.
"Something worse is coming."
The voice was cold. No exaggeration. No threat. Just... certainty.
"And you're not prepared."
The words hung in the air. Heavy. Emilia felt her chest tighten. For a moment, another voice echoed in her mind.
"If anything happens to you... run."
Puck's words.
Clear.
Firm.
She squeezed her hands slightly.
Run.
It was the safest thing to do.
The easiest thing to do.
But...
Images came to her mind.
The little elves.
Frozen.
Momentary. Waiting.
She closed her eyes for a second. "...I can't." Uraume didn't react. He just watched. Emilia raised her gaze again. Now more firmly. "I can't just run away and leave them behind."
Silence returned. The wind remained cold. But there was something different about her now.
"I need to learn to control this," Emilia said, looking directly at Uraume. "Then..."
A short pause.
"Help me."
The words weren't loud. But they were sincere. Uraume was silent for a few seconds. His gaze swept over Emilia once more.
As if he were assessing. If it was worth it. The air seemed to grow even colder. And yet...
Emilia didn't look away. Uraume stared at her for a few more seconds, as if making a decision. "Then I'll be tough on you."
The answer came dryly, without any gentleness.
Emilia maintained her posture for a moment... but only for a moment.
"...will it hurt a lot?"
The change was immediate. The firm "pose" simply broke, letting slip her real concern.
Uraume didn't even blink.
"Yes."
No explanation. No consolation. "If it doesn't hurt, you won't learn."
Emilia made a small grimace, already regretting having asked. "...I understand."
Uraume had already lost interest in that reaction. "If you're afraid, you can give up now."
The wind blew stronger, lifting the snow between them. Emilia took a deep breath. "...no."
This time, there was no hesitation. Uraume observed her for a brief moment.
"Then don't complain."
And, from her tone... That wasn't a warning. It was a promise.
Uraume crossed his arms in front of her.
"Ready to begin?" Uraume asked, without irony, without a hint of gentleness. "Or would you prefer to spend another ten minutes dwelling on what's already happened?"
Emilia swallowed hard. Puck's face flashed through her mind, but she pushed it back inside herself. This wasn't the time for nostalgia; this was the time to become stronger. The curse of going back wasn't enough anymore.
"I'm ready," Emilia replied, straightening her posture.
Uraume let out a brief sound through her nose, something between disdain and resignation.
"Let's see. First, understand one thing: you're not a 'phenomenon' around here. Curse, barrier, magic, contract... all of that has rules. And if you don't learn to see the rules, you die quickly."
The words fell on her like a bucket of ice water. Emilia had always lived with a weight on her shoulders, but until then, that weight had been emotional: the origin of her powers. Now, Uraume spoke as if the universe were a precise mechanism, and any mistake could send her crashing down.
"What... what do you want me to do?" Emilia asked, trying to disguise her trembling voice.
Uraume raised a hand, and around it, subtle symbols glowed in the air, as if invisible marks had lit up. It was a technical barrier, a training ground that wouldn't let raw magic or uncontrolled curses flow through.
"I want you to stop just feeling."
Emilia blinked, confused.
"How?"
"You feel your magic as... what? A warmth? A flow? A distant memory?" Uraume asked impatiently. "For you, it's just a sensation. For me, it's a pattern. A kind of 'natural curse' that resembles an embryonic domain."
"A... domain?"
"You don't need to understand the term," Uraume replied, crossing his arms. "You just need to understand that if you want to train with me, you'll have to deal with real curses. Not magic 'focused' on decorating clothes and freezing potions."
Emilia held her breath. It was the first time someone had said, so directly, that what she did wasn't enough. It wasn't "wrong," it wasn't "weak"... but it was *incomplete*.
"How do I do that?" Emilia asked, lower but with a firm voice.
Uraume sighed, as if answering an obvious question for the tenth time.
"Close your eyes."
Emilia hesitated, glancing quickly at Uraume's serious expression. The woman didn't allow for dramatic pauses. Resigned, Emilia closed her eyes.
"Now, instead of focusing on 'casting' magic, focus on feeling the point where it begins within you. Not where you want it to go. Where it is born."
Emilia felt the air move around her hands. The usual coldness of his magic manifested itself, but this time, Uraume didn't allow it to shape him like before.
"Stop." Uraume's voice cut through the air. "You're pushing. That's not focus. That's command."
"But... that's my magic" Emilia replied, frowning. "I've always done it this way."
"And that's why you're behind."
The sentence fell like a hammer. Emilia opened her eyes, disturbed.
"What does that mean?"
Uraume did not respond immediately. Instead, he walked to a specific spot in the field and traced a circle on the ground with his finger, leaving behind a subtle trail of light.
"There are types of power. Some are born with pure curse, like us. Others gain curse by contract. And some... some, like you, have a type of power that looks like dominance, but with a strange "core". Almost as if it were a curse sleeping under a veil of magic.
"So... I'm...?"
"No." Uraume cut in. "This is not the time for you to define yourself. It's time for you to realize. Do the exercise again. Close your eyes. Find the point where the magic begins within you. Not where it ends."
Emilia took a deep breath and obeyed.
This time, he tried to relax his body. Instead of thinking about casting a spell, he just thought about remaining still. The cold began to spread, but she didn't direct it outward. Instead, he followed the flow inward, as if pulling on an invisible thread.
And then, for an instant, he felt something different.
It wasn't just the cold.
It was... pressure. A tiny dot at the center of herself, like an invisible knot pulsing in sync with her heart.
"Slower." Uraume grunted. "You're almost touching it."
Emilia clenched her fists, trying not to lose concentration.
Suddenly, the knot contracted, and a wave of more intense cold spread across his hands. But unlike any other spell, it wasn't uniform. There was an instant when the air seemed to *break*, as if something was trying to materialize behind the magic.
Uraume jumped back in an almost invisible movement, and a small fragment of black light spread across the ground, dissolving seconds later.
"Stop." Uraume's voice was firmer now, without a trace of noisy impatience. "Continue."
Emilia opened her eyes, panting.
"What was that?"
"The beginning of a problem..." Uraume replied, analyzing the point where the magic had fractured. "You're touching something you don't understand. And that's good. If you understand, it means you're already at your limit."
"Is this... dangerous?"
"Everything is dangerous." Uraume replied, bluntly. "But if you don't learn to control what's inside you, something else will. And Kenjaku isn't the type to wait patiently for apprentices."
Emilia thought about his smile, the way he watched her. The idea that he was interested in her was frightening... and, at the same time, inevitable.
"I want to train." Emilia said, more firmly. "I don't want to just be someone who needs to be protected."
Uraume looked at her for a long second, as if weighing every word that hadn't been said. "So stop thinking about 'protection' and start thinking about 'dominance.' Next time, don't try to control what is born. Try to understand what it is. And then, if you can, try to guide him. Like you do with your curses."
"Exactly." Uraume replied, with a slight air of pride that she probably preferred not to recognize. "And if you fail, you fail laughing. Or crying. But you will fail to learn."
Emilia swallowed hard, but nodded.
"I understand."
"Then let's go again." Uraume said, returning to the circle. "Close your eyes. Find the point. And this time... don't walk away from him."
Emilia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sank back into the inner darkness of herself. This time, however, there was already a way. An invisible knot, pulsing in your chest, eager to be understood.
The training ground remained quiet, only the whisper of a cold wind rushing between the marks drawn on the ground. Emilia kept her eyes closed, hands slightly raised, but her fingers were shaking more than before. The invisible knot at her center pulsed, hinting at something deeper than simple magic.
"Focus on the point, not the form." Uraume grumbled, arms crossed, voice impatient. "Stop imagining whatever happens. Feel what needs to happen. "
Emilia gritted her teeth. The air around his palms cooled, but did not solidify into a clear spell. Instead, as before, the energy twisted, ready to break, as if something was trying to escape from within it. She held on, forcing the flow to steady, and for an instant, she managed to shape a faint, intense ring of cold, vibrating in the air.
Uraume tilted his head, minimal approval in his eyes.
"It's better. But it's still just... containing. You're not dominating."
Emilia opened her eyes, her breathing a little more labored. The pale light of the sky was reflected in her hair, as if the air itself recognized what she tried not to accept: that this wasn't just training. It was preparation.
She lowered her hands slowly, letting the cold ring fall apart.
"Uraume..." her voice was low but firm. "I'm... training to fight who?"
For a second, the tension in the place seemed to thicken. Uraume did not respond immediately.
Then, a familiar smile appeared in the air, as if drawn by an invisible stroke.
"Against one of the Four Great Spirits." Kenjaku's voice sounded, calm, amused, as if he was just commenting on the mood. He materialized a few steps away, shoulders relaxed, hands in his pockets. "The kind of existence that doesn't respond to contracts, barriers, or honors. The kind that simply... remains."
Emilia took a step back, instinctively, not moving away out of fear, but out of warrior instinct.
"Why...me?" she asked, clenching her fists. "I'm not..."
"Exactly." Kenjaku interrupted, smiling wider. "You are not what you think. And what you carry inside is not just magic. It is an echo of something that pulses on another level, one that is beginning to move."
Uraume snorted impatiently. "You're making it seem grand again."
"But it's grand." he replied, without taking his eyes off Emilia. "And if you don't learn to manage it soon, something that neither you nor he will recognize will appear."
The he hovered in the air, heavy.
Kenjaku stepped forward, casually, as if he were not speaking of a threat greater than any enemy he had faced thus far.
"Puck is doing everything he can to stop him from showing up." he continued, voice low. "Limiting what you see, what you feel, what you can understand. You're holding on to the ropes, trying to keep your balance."
Emilia felt something tighten in her chest. Brief, fragmented images flashed through her mind: Puck's prolonged silence, the moments when her faithful family member didn't show up when she most needed his protection, as if something was... holding him back.
"That's why..." she muttered, almost to herself. "That's why he takes so long. That he doesn't show up."
"Exactly." Kenjaku replied, unsurprised. "He's trapped in a fight that he can't show you. And if he loses... what comes next won't be a curse, it won't be magic. It will be something that even he doesn't know how to name."
Silence fell heavily. Uraume watched Emilia, as if he were seeing her no longer a reluctant student, but someone who was beginning to understand the weight of her own power.
Emilia swallowed hard, looking up at Kenjaku.
"So... I'm not training just to fight you."
He tilted his head, a slight, almost respectful smile.
"No. You are training to face what is trying to break the space between what you are and what it doesn't want you to see. If you don't master what's inside you by then, someone else will dominate you."
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, there was less hesitation.
"Then make me train." Emilia's voice was firm. "Tell me what I need to do. If Puck is fighting to protect me from something I don't understand, I have to learn to understand."
Uraume made a brief sound, something between disdain and approval.
"I finally said something sensible." he muttered.
Kenjaku took a step back, as if retreating from a stage that was no longer his.
"Excellent." He looked at Uraume. "So, from now on, don't let her hide. If she feels afraid, let her feel it. If she feels pain, let her feel it. But don't move away from the point."
Emilia clenched her fists, feeling that knot pulsing stronger in her chest, as if responding to her decision.
"I... I'm not going to walk away."
Uraume raised his hand, and the training ground closed in on them, as if the outside world had been sealed off for an instant.
"Then let's go again." her voice cut the air. "Close your eyes. Find the spot. And this time... don't try to control what appears. Just follow it."
Emilia obeyed, feeling the cold take over, but deep down, calmer than ever, because now she knew one simple thing: she was no longer training just to survive.
She was training to face something that Puck did everything he could to keep away from her.
The training ground was quieter now, as if the air was also exhausted. Emilia breathed hard, body shaking, silver hair stuck to her forehead because of the sweat and cold that her own energy had spread. The ground around her marked the results of hours of trying: patterns of broken ice, grooves of energy that dispersed, and, in some spots, patches of light that dissolved before taking on a defined shape.
Uraume finally lowered his head, taking a step back.
"That's enough for today." His voice still sounded impatient, but there was a trace of something that was perhaps... almost pride. "If you insist, you'll faint before you learn to stand up."
Emilia didn't answer. Her legs gave way, and she simply gave in, too weak to stay standing. Her body slumped backward slowly, and, without realizing it, she ended up lying, unintentionally, on the lap of the person sitting right behind her.
Kenjaku didn't move.
With an automatic, almost unconscious gesture, he ran his hand through her hair, brushing the wet strands away from her forehead with a care that didn't match his usually ironic smile. The movement was gentle, maternal, as if he were calming a child who hadn't realized how tired she was.
Emilia, amidst the haze of exhaustion, felt the warmth of his presence, the calm touch, and something inside her relaxed. Throughout the training, what she had felt was pressure, cold, force, demands. Now, for a moment, there was only that simple, almost affectionate gesture.
"You..." she murmured, her voice hoarse, her eyes still half-open. "You're acting... like a mother now..."
The words came out loose, unfiltered, like many things that come out when the body is tired and the mind no longer watches its intentions so well.
Kenjaku chuckled softly, a sound that wasn't mocking, but amused.
"Oh, is that so?" he asked, still stroking her hair. "Are you saying I'm looking more like a mother than a father now?"
Emilia couldn't hold back a smile, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly.
"You're... taking care of me. Not just training me. So..." she closed her eyes, exhausted, but still thinking aloud. "If you're the mother... then Puck is the father?"
The question sounded innocent, childish, as if, in a world where curses, powers, and spirits were intertwined, she was still trying to fit people into simple, familiar roles.
Kenjaku laughed again, this time more clearly, an almost conspiratorial sound.
"If I'm the mother," he replied jokingly, but with a strange glint in his eyes, "Then Puck must certainly be the father. The kind of father who yells that you're not doing things right, even when you are."
Emilia let out a low sound, almost a laugh caught in her throat, but her body wouldn't let her enjoy it for long. Exhaustion took over, and little by little, her breathing slowed, deepened.
"Rest," Kenjaku murmured, his voice so low it barely broke the silence. His fingers continued tracing the contours of her hair, protecting, comforting, as if, for a moment, the maternal instinct in his gesture didn't care what he truly was.
Emilia fell asleep without realizing it, her head resting on his lap, her unconscious thoughts still lingering on a strange image: a Kenjaku as her mother, a Puck as her father, and herself, between the two, something she couldn't yet name, but which was already beginning to carry within it the weight of existences that weren't solely hers.
While Emilia slept, her breathing slow and steady, the silence around the training field lengthened. Uraume crossed his arms, looking at the figure lying in Kenjaku's lap, as if measuring something more than just her exhaustion.
"Can she summon lesser spirits?" Uraume asked bluntly, his voice cutting through the air.
Kenjaku didn't take his eyes off Emilia, but answered calmly.
"She can already. Puck taught her." He gave a slight smile, as if the familiar's name itself brought back a strange memory. "They were going to fight Melakuera."
The name hung in the air like an additional weight. Uraume raised an eyebrow. "Melakuera... what does she think she can do alone against something of that level?"
"Not alone," Kenjaku corrected softly. "She would have Puck. And Puck always does everything to be by her side, even when it seems like he isn't."
There was a brief silence, as if the very air recognized Puck's name in such a distorted place.
Kenjaku tilted his head thoughtfully, his gaze fixed on Emilia's sleeping face.
"When will Yuji be transported to this world?" he asked, more to himself than to Uraume, but letting the question hang in the air. "The connection point is already opening."
Uraume frowned, annoyed at how he treated everything as mere curiosity.
"Why are sorcerers being pulled here?" he asked. "It's not just one, it's not just two. There's a pattern."
Kenjaku smiled, this time with a sharper gleam, as if pleased that someone had finally asked the right question.
"The Witch of Envy is looking for someone," he replied, his voice low but full of understanding. "She doesn't just want power. She wants a specific piece in the game. Someone who fits into a place she doesn't even know how to name."
Uraume raised an eyebrow impatiently.
"So you don't know who it is."
"Not yet..." Kenjaku admitted shamelessly. His smile returned, but there was something more serious, almost... cautious, about it. "And that's why I want to find out too. Whoever she's calling must be someone who meddles with rules that even she doesn't fully control."
He looked again at Emilia, who was fast asleep, unaware that, somewhere in her dreams, the echo of a sorcerer yet unborn for that world was already beginning to approach.
"And if he is what she's looking for..." Kenjaku murmured, almost inaudibly. "Then this world will change in a way that not even Echidna could foresee."
Uraume snorted.
"If all this comes crashing down on her, are you going to let her bear the weight alone?"
Kenjaku didn't answer immediately. Instead, he ran his hand through Emilia's hair again, an almost involuntary gesture, as if his own body didn't care what his mind was thinking of saying.
"No..." he finally answered. "If he comes, everything will be different. And she'll need much more than 'mother' and 'father' to survive."
The silence returned, denser, as if the entire training camp contained the weight of a reality that hadn't yet finished forming. Emilia slept, unaware of what was to come.
End of Chapter 13