Edi stood with her mother outside the castle. Her mother already knew what had transpired inside, yet she remained, silently observing the polished walls.
"Mum… why isn't Papa coming back? Is he angry… with me?" Edi tilted her head, searching her mother's face.
"He won't come back." Her mother knelt to Edi's height, her voice soft but final.
"Did I do something naughty to make him angry? I'll… I'll apologize!" Edi's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her innocence amplifying her mother's sorrow.
"You didn't." She gently lifted Edi's chin, her own heart caught between truth and the impossibility of explaining death to a child.
"Then… why won't he come back?" A single tear rolled down Edi's cheek. She had never been apart from her father before; how could she comprehend this absence?
"Be quiet." Her mother pressed a finger to Edi's lips, words failing her tongue.
Edi stayed silent, though inside she longed to hear her father's voice once more.
Fate's Followers emerged from the castle, their movements calm and precise. Those wearing blindfolds were guided by those who did not.
Her mother stood and gripped Edi's hand tightly.
"You will be a maid in the Light's Mansion until the next execution," the executioner declared, his tone final.
"Why didn't Papa come with you?" Edi asked innocently.
"He… he's working inside. That's why." Her mother quickly interjected, covering the truth with gentle falsehoods.
The executioner said nothing further, understanding the need to shield the child.
Afterward, Edi and her mother left Fate's Domain, making their way back to the Light's Mansion.
Outside the Light's Mansion, Akarum punched at a tree, his small fists red and bruised. Neues observed a few steps away, calm and unflinching.
"It doesn't hurt that much," he muttered, ignoring the pain as he struck again and again.
"Harder." Neues commanded.
Akarum clenched his teeth and increased the force.
"Catch this." She threw a a stick, too fast.
Akarum moved fast, aiming to catch it though he didn't able to catch it however his finger tips had brushed against it briefly.
"I didn't able to catch it." He said in frustration.
"It's fine." Neues said picking another stick from ground and threw it forward this time less faster.
He moved, he was expecting failure though this time he caught it.
"I caught it." Akarum said happily, though he hasn't realised this time the speed was lesser then previous time.
"You are getting good at this." Neues complimented.
It's important if I let him win sometimes, he won't lose motivation.
"Now try punching again." Neues placed her hand on her waist.
Akarum began to constantly punch the tree but when the final punch landed, it broke the tree it's bark wide open that sent a shard of wood into his finger.
Neues knelt, took his hand, and a burst of white sparks glowed around her fingers. A water-like ring formed behind her head as the pain faded and the wound closed.
"My healing ability isn't perfect," she warned. "It removed the pain, but the wound might return. Let me bandage you properly."
She led him inside the mansion, the guards opening the gates for them. A maid handed her a medicine box, and Neues wrapped the finger carefully.
"There we go." She gave his back a playful smack. The maid moved aside.
Akarum tested the healed finger with his other hand, staring at it with intense curiosity.
"Mama," he said, looking up.
"Say it," she prompted.
"If I pay to play with them… will they play?" he asked, pointing toward the disappearing maid.
"You don't have to pay. They'll play if you just ask." Neues' gaze followed the maid, then returned to Akarum. She had grown used to his constant questioning.
"But what if they refuse?" He shifted nervously, legs moving restlessly.
"Stop moving your legs," she instructed. He obeyed. "And if they refuse… that's their choice. You can't force someone to do what you want."
"Then… if you ask them to play with me, they won't refuse?" he tried, already calculating outcomes.
"They might not refuse—but if you force them, it's no longer fun. They won't truly engage." She explained carefully, not growing irritated with his questions.
"And if I bond with them… then?" he pressed, seeking loopholes.
"It's the same," she replied. "Even if you bond, you can't make someone do something they don't want to do."
He frowned, puzzled.
She softened her words further. "Would you eat a potato just because someone you like told you to?"
He glanced away, then back.
"No. I hate potatoes."
"Exactly. If you can't do something someone else wants just because you like them, you can't expect them to do what you want either." She pinched his chin teasingly.
"Oh. I understand." A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Anything else on your mind? Mama will answer." She stood, and Akarum mirrored her movement.
He placed a finger on his chin, thinking.
"Mama...will you leave me ?" he asked, as if he already knew she will.
"No, why would I leave my princess alone ?" She replied, a small smile forming on her face.
"But, heroes always leave their families. I read in books." He spread his arms showing her the amount of books he read through the small action.
Neues smile faded, deliberately.
"They don't. Only the visible ones lose. The hidden ones… they aren't recognized because they never lost anything. Life isn't fantasy, Karumi."
A pause.
"Even heroes can be villains to someone else. No one is purely a hero, no one purely a villain. It depends on how they treated us, and we give them a title to make sense of it."
Akarum scratched his head. "I don't understand… it's too complex for my little mind."
Silence.
Neues didn't mind the pause. She had always waited patiently for his questions to surface, it was nothing new, only nostalgic.
"So, you aren't a hero." He said in confusion.
"I am and I am not, both." She pinched his cheek, softly.
"So.... would you choose the world over me ?" He questioned, innocently without knowing what he was actually asking, Neues had always enjoyed his questions. But this one was different. He shouldn't have asked.