For the first time, he truly understood. This village was poor and starving. If he ate all of this, would that boy even have dinner tonight? With the little strength he had, he broke the bread in half and held one piece out toward him. "Here, let's share it together. I'm not that hungry."
After all, he too had once known starvation, and even in his weakened state, he could still spare a little for someone else.
The boy gulped and glanced over his shoulder a few times. He didn't know why Max would share his food with him, but the hunger twisting in his stomach had his mouth watering.
"A-are you sure? Is it really okay for me to take half? Just a little piece is enough—"
"It's okay, come sit here." Max patted the chair where Rosalia had sat before.
In the end, the boy gave in and accepted his half. "Just please don't tell Miss Rosalia..." he said, already nibbling at the bread as if afraid someone might snatch it away.
"What's your name?" Max asked.
"I'm Light, and you're Max, right? Miss Rosalia already introduced me..."
The two of them didn't even notice how much time had passed until several hours had slipped away. Max learned a lot about the village from Light. Now he understood it fully—every piece of bread mattered there, and none of them were allowed to leave the place without adult permission, for reasons Light could not reveal to him.
"So what is your power, Light?" Max asked excitedly as their talk turned to magic.
"Despite my name... I control shadows..." His hollow cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"That's so cool! You have to show me, if it's not too much!" Max said, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
The room soon filled with shadows dancing through the air, taking the shapes of monsters he had never seen before. What stunned Max the most was that the shadows were three-dimensional, almost real, as if they had stepped out of some hidden nightmare.
Light's face was beaming with so much excitement that neither of them noticed Rosalia stepping into the room. She stood to the side, momentarily stunned by what she was seeing.
She knew Light well, and she knew how shy he was around people, so what had made him open up and play around with Max like this? She couldn't help but smile as she watched them. Her eyes lingered on Max's face a little too long, studying his genuine joy, wondering if what he had said about never witnessing magic before was actually true. But deep in her heart, she still was not ready to trust him the way she trusted her own clansmen.
"Ahem..." She coughed lightly, making the shadows vanish in an instant as Light's whole frame trembled.
"Miss... Rosalia?" he blurted out as he turned around carefully. A few breadcrumbs still clung to his lips, making her understand exactly how Max had won him over.
"I'm glad the two of you are having fun here, but it's quite late now. How about you go and rest, Light? You can come back again tomorrow." She giggled, looking at him with a softness that made her seem more like an older sister than the future leader of a clan.
"Y-yes!" he replied in a high-pitched voice and sprang to his feet. Before leaving, he waved at Max, promising to come play again the next day.
Max saw him off with a smile, feeling something strange twist in his chest, as if he had somehow gained the younger brother he had always wanted.
"So... how's your stay here?" Rosalia asked as she walked over to Max and sat down on the chair, crossing her legs, her elbow resting on her knee and her hand supporting her chin. Her eyes studied his with quiet wonder. She truly wanted to understand him, to peel back every layer and find out what kind of person he really was. To her, he was a mystery she wanted to crack.
"It's great." Max scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Thank you for the meal before. If it's too much, I don't need that much food—" he blurted out, but Rosalia cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Nonsense, we can treat our guests this much, and most importantly, you need to recover. If you don't eat, you might die from exhaustion. I can heal wounds, but I can't replenish your strength." She sighed. "And don't share food with Light anymore. He's a hungry rascal... ahhh... all of them are. This entire place is filled with kids much younger than us, so..." A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"So it's quite nice to meet somebody my age." She looked at Max, feeling both excited and shy at the thought of asking him to be friends. She had to admit he was handsome, but he was still a stranger she couldn't trust so easily, and with her clan's secrets and her duties resting on her shoulders, she didn't even dare let her thoughts wander toward anything more.
"Likewise," Max said awkwardly, but deep inside, it felt as if he had finally found a place where he belonged. In all his years, he had never had as much fun as he had in a single day here. For the first time, he truly wished he could stay in this place forever.
The two of them exchanged a few more words before she left. It took Max an entire week to slowly feel strong enough to walk again. During that time, he spent many hours bonding with Light and Rosalia.
While he believed he was becoming close friends with her, Rosalia observed him every day, quietly searching for cracks in his character, for some hidden ugliness he might reveal. But after a whole week, she had come to believe he was telling the truth. After careful consideration, she had finally made her decision about what to do with him.
On the seventh day, the sun replaced the moon, bringing a new day.
Max's eyes opened with difficulty, his head splitting with a sharp ache. Today he felt dizzy for some reason, but when he checked the timer on his system, he noticed that his promised magic would soon awaken, making him wonder if the two were connected.
He turned his head to the side, feeling as if he had been run over by a train, but then he nearly fell off the bed.
"Rosalia?"
She sat on the chair, watching him silently with gentle eyes.
"Did you sleep well, Max?" she asked cheerfully, though faint dark circles lingered beneath her eyes. She had not been able to sleep at all because of the weight of her decision. "Follow me. It's time for your magic awakening..."