"Maria! Please wait a second! Don't be in such a hurry!"
Kasuur hurried after Maria, worried by her angry demeanour, and tried to calm her down. But Maria was furious; after everything that had happened that day, she wanted to put an end to it all.
"He poisoned me, Kasuur! What kind of friend would do that?!"
TIRIRIM...!!
At that moment, a chill ran through their bodies. Kasuur nervously raised his head and saw Maria standing by the window of her room on the upper floor of the mansion. He caught just a glimpse of Mais through the glass. He still had long hair and was clearly blind. Yet, there seemed to be a change in his attitude. He hadn't seemed like this when they met yesterday.
Meanwhile, Maria frowned even more. She could sense an angry, threatening presence emanating from the house. It was a final warning before entering. Death was cold, and Maria thought she could see death approaching. The house was trying to tell her that it would be her end.
But would Maria turn back at the door? Her anger had not subsided, and she wasn't afraid of Mais at all. How dare he try to poison her? She thought he was her friend!
"I'm sure he has an explanation!" Kasuur cried.
"Then let's hear it from him."
Ignoring the cold, Maria burst into the house. Neither knocking nor paying attention to the servants, she broke the lock and went straight inside. The servants didn't dare stop her. Yet, at that moment, Anika stepped in front of Maria. The other servants looked at this fearless woman with admiration.
"My lady, the young master is not available at the moment. You may wait in the hall if you wish, but—"
"Have you forgotten your mission, Anika?"
Maria looked directly into Anika's eyes—wild, sharp, and fiery. There was a monster in Maria's gaze. Anika, who hadn't even feared Mais's demeanour, paled at the sight and took a step back. Maria pushed her aside and began to climb the stairs.
'Her mission?'
Kasuur frowned. Although he was a pacifist and a naive person, he wasn't stupid. Didn't Anika's earlier words imply that she had been sent here by Maria or, more likely, the City Lord? Everyone except Valeria had been sent by the City Lord. They must have been watching Mais and reporting everything he did to Baro. From the beginning, Mais had no chance of hiding anything. Perhaps Mais knew this. No, he absolutely must have known.
So why did he poison Maria?
Kasuur thought back to what had happened with Maria a few hours earlier. He had been trying to calm her down, and they had done some training together. Afterwards, her father had called her, and after they talked for a while, she had stormed off. All Kasuur could get out of her was that Mais had poisoned her.
'So when did he poison her?'
Kasuur couldn't remember Mais taking any direct action to poison Maria. Of course, he didn't have the same level of alchemy as someone like Mais, but still, he thought he would have noticed something. He watched Maria storm upstairs angrily. At that moment, he noticed how seriously the servants were acting—just like... soldiers.
Was Mais truly in the wrong here?
Kasuur followed Maria upstairs. The moment he reached the landing, he saw the young girl pull back her fist as if she were about to pound on the door.
"Maria!"
BOOM!
The door shattered, and an icy chill swept through the room. Yet Maria entered without hesitation. Kasuur felt compelled to follow her.
Mais's bedroom wasn't small; in fact, it was more like an eighty-square-metre house. The moment they stepped inside, they felt as if they had entered a throne room. Only the water in the glass hadn't frozen. The floors and walls were covered in ice. The windows were cracked, and there were traces of frozen tissue everywhere. It was as if nothing living had ever existed in this room.
And there he was: a living being. He was lying in his bed as if nothing had happened, with his back against the headboard. He wore a sleeveless, fur-like jumper that resembled an apron. His cane rested against it. Mais lay in his bed like a dead man in this cold room, silently staring into the distance.
"Hello Kasuur and... Maria, I believe."
Mais smiled. Ever since the events of the False Dragons Legacy, Maria's behaviour and movements had been different. So when he heard voices belonging to someone else, it took him a while to realise it was her.
She took a few steps and stood a few metres away from the foot of his bed, just looking at him. She frowned.
"You poisoned me."
Kasuur approached. His heavy body pressed so hard against the floor that Mais could not fail to recognise him. He was almost thirteen years old, and Mais believed that he had never met anyone fatter.
Mais got out of bed and dragged his cane along the floor. Although the ice crackled, when he walked on it, it didn't feel like ice at all.
"I am a blind child. I struggle to leave my room without help. I make a mess in the toilet everywhere. I struggle to eat. Everything I do puts me at risk of hurting myself. Despite being a Sage, my senses don't allow me to be aware of my blindness."
Mais walked towards the mirrored table parallel to the bed. His reflection was there—a frosted, cracked, and indistinct image.
"I wonder how I look."
He remained silent for a while. Maria listened intently. On one hand, Kasuur felt sorry for Maria, but on the other, he felt that this conversation brought with it a frightening feeling. Ropes of fate—the tracks around them—kept appearing and disappearing. Something was happening. Fate was taking shape.
At that moment, Mais turned his head towards them. They could see an absolute coldness in his eyes, and if they looked even closer, they could see a disturbing hatred.
"Yet people aren't that merciful, and I can't trust anyone but myself."
With a single movement, Mais removed the furry apron covering his head and torso, revealing his bandages. His body was covered in countless wounds, bruises, and contusions. Maria's face contorted with revulsion. Kasuur was astonished.
"City Lord Baro may appear calm and composed on the outside, like a genius, but inside he's afraid and panicking. I wonder who's chasing him? Don't you, Kasuur?"
Maria became completely serious. At that moment, an aura that did not belong to a Sage rose from her sleeves. Mais noticed the aura but didn't react. By contrast, when Kasuur saw Maria preparing to draw her weapon, he reached for his sword's scabbard. A similar aura emanated from the sheath. The atmosphere became increasingly tense.
"Stop the nonsense!" Maria shouted. She didn't want Mais to pry any further.
CRASH!
Yet this seemed to enrage Mais even more. The mirror shattered instantly, shards of glass scattering everywhere. A cold air emanated from the blind child in front of them.
"Your father attacked me, and you dare to make a fuss about whether I poisoned you or not. You fool! I didn't poison you!"
Mais raised his cane. Maria was shocked, and Kasuur felt the same. They had both truly thought that Mais had poisoned Maria. Mais shook his head while they were still in shock.
"Well, not yet."
Both Maria and Kasuur were stunned, but Mais didn't stop. He struck the ground with his staff and the floor began to shatter. Twin Sai daggers fell from Maria's sleeves, like Raphael's three-pronged daggers in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Kasuur drew his sword from its sheath. Both weapons emitted an aura extending beyond the Sage Realm into the Origin Heart Realm.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Would they fight?
"I have no choice but to follow the path your father forced me to take, Maria."
CRASH!!
Maria's frozen aura rose as she hurled o