At Lady Sora's words about the Golden Son wanting to see them, Aurora managed, albeit with great difficulty, to convince her to let her rest first before going.

She complained that today had been a hard day, and she didn't want to meet her prince while thinking of how soft her bed must be.

That situation was strange for Aurora, for it was the first time she had ever tried to avoid a meeting with her prince. Under normal circumstances, she would never have given an excuse. She would have gone, even if it meant crawling there in exhaustion.

This made her realize she was changing more and more inwardly.

Was it good? Or was it bad?

Aurora had no idea.

Lady Sora had no choice but to accept her request, seeing the logic in it. Still, she couldn't afford to make her prince wait too long, so her decision was that they would go the next morning, early at dawn.

Aurora accepted with a grateful smile, before going straight to her room. Kaden followed behind with a neutral expression, one he managed to soften into a faint smile as he passed beside Lady Sora.

Lady Sora returned it gracefully.

Next, they entered the messy room together. Aurora immediately took a seat on her chair, leaning slightly backward, exhaling softly through her nose as her gaze fell on her painting board, where the beginnings of what looked like a starry sky rested half-finished.

She said nothing, just stared at it. the silence she left behind loud enough for Kaden to understand her mood.

She was panicking about the looming meeting.

"Suddenly," Aurora said, a wry smile on her lips, "I'm praying for the night to last longer."

Kaden spared her an amused smile. "Well, why not? But tell me, wasn't it you who said you fancied the Sun very much?" he teased, trying to ease the tension. "What changed?"

Aurora's lips twitched heavily. She snapped her head toward him and snarled, "What changed, huh?" She mimicked his tone with a distorted grimace. "Look around you and see if there's anything new in this place besides a certain someone."

She turned her head back toward the painting.

"That's what changed, idiot," she whispered.

Kaden allowed a smile, before it slowly faded, his mind drifting back to the weight of his current situation.

"Do you, maybe, know the reason he wants to see you?" Kaden asked, standing behind her, his thoughts flattened beneath the pressure of what was about to come.

Aurora stifled a dry laugh at his question. "Of course," she said, "it's because he misses me. What else could it be?"

Kaden spared her a glance, then darted his eyes away, unwilling to dwell on how naïve her words sounded. He had far too many matters to think about in that moment.

Now that his Will had altered his Evolution Quest, Kaden had no choice but to accept it. He needed to, if he wished to succeed.

True, he could use Death and rewind time to before his quest had been changed, but the difficulty of the task did not change the fact that he still did not want to see Aurora dead.

It was strange for him to care so fiercely for someone he had known so little. But perhaps that was how things worked.

You did not necessarily need years to care for someone. Sometimes a single gesture, one word, one look, one smile could bridge the distance of years between two people.

Kaden had found in Aurora a novelty he had found nowhere else. His time with her had been eventful precisely because of who she was, and somehow that upheaval had been a good alteration of his daily life.

For once, he had been made to care for someone by following orders. That gave him perspective, making him understand his maid Sabine, his Knight Nasari, and the whole of the Crimson Veil in a way he had not before.

To understand their position was to understand them, and by understanding them he could lead them better.

The wise were truly right…

You can only understand something after living it, not by studying it.

So for that gift of perspective and newfound clarity…

It would be a shame, he believed, if Aurora's bright light dimmed and faded because of a man who only saw her worth when she smiled for him while he pierced her heart.

'Ah… I am becoming unreasonable,' he whispered inside his head, aware he was involving himself in matters he should not.

But it was far too late.

He who followed his heart must be ready to betray his own principles.

The heart was an organ that walked with emotion for fuel, not with logic, and being ruled by emotion was the mark of fools.

'So a fool I am,'Kaden added dryly to himself.

"Why do you look so dazed?" Aurora's voice cut through his restless thoughts, bringing him back to her.

He looked at her and saw her eyes fixed on him too, glowing with a quiet vulnerable light.

Kaden held her gaze for a long time, thinking of what he must do and how to make Aurora understand that for her to live, he would have to stand against the Celestial Empire.

It would be a tragedy if he undertook that endeavor only for the one he sought to protect to turn away from him, such a betrayal would wound him badly.

If that happened, he would let her die and go back in time.

So before anything else…

"My lady," Kaden said softly, "you know I want you to live, don't you?"

Aurora nodded, trying to suppress her smile.

Since meeting Kaden, she had been feeling… weirdly happy.

Was this how it felt to be cared for?

Gods, she wanted more of it. She wanted to see him care for her again.

Now, even the thought of living just to feel this feeling again was too tempting to decline.

It was like a being that had been suffocated all its life finally tasting what it meant to breathe. Once it did, there was no going back.

So, to Kaden's question, she nodded a little too eagerly. "I promise you I won't use my power. I have two years, I might as well enjoy it as long as I can." She smiled, eyes glimmering faintly. "I will follow you, and let you be the kingmaker."

Kaden nodded faintly, quietly happy to see that she now wished to live after hours of talking inside that wretched place.

Well, she had already wished it, but now she had the courage to say it aloud.

Next, he moved, stepping in front of her, he crouched down to be at eye level, then gently wrapped both her hands in his own.

Aurora shivered, feeling the warmth of his palms seeping through her whole body. Her face flushed crimson, her heart stomping again her chest like a team of furious horses.

She suddenly became afraid he could hear how loud it was, that he would notice how much influence he now had over her.

But that was when her thoughts stopped. Her senses caught the erratic rhythm of Kaden's own heartbeat.

She stopped averting her gaze and looked at him instead, and saw that he, too, was barely managing to hide his embarrassment, the corner of his lips twitching slightly.

He was weirdly cute at that moment.

Instinctively, Aurora smiled, her heart still loud but now accepted gladly, her hands tightening around Kaden's own.

Kaden felt both happy and guilty. Happy for the warmth that came when her fingers closed over his, and guilty for the emotions he had no business feeling now coursing through him.

'I'm digging my own grave. Bloody hell. This quest will be the death of me,' he cursed inwardly, though he smiled outwardly.

"I have a question, my lady," he said.

Aurora nodded.

Taking a quiet breath, he parted his lips. "Are you sure you're in love with the prince?"

At that sudden question, Aurora found herself robbed of words. Once, she would have sworn she loved him, but lately, things had begun to change.

Since meeting Kaden, there was something about him that made her mind… what? Clearer? She supposed so.

She didn't know how to explain it, but it felt as though something had been clouding her thoughts, and Kaden's presence had slowly thinned that haze.

With it gone, the overwhelming dependence and mindless love she had once felt for the prince began to fade, leaving room for other things to sprout…thoughts, questions, feelings she didn't quite recognize.

That sudden clarity made her question everything. And, more importantly, it made her remember something about her prince.

"My prince, no, the Second Prince has two Origins," Aurora said suddenly, her voice strained, making Kaden raise an eyebrow in surprise.

She continued, slower now.

"One Origin he inherited from his bloodline as a Sun, and another related to the mind." The more she spoke, the clearer everything became. "Tell me, Fraud…"

She paused, her hands tightening even more around his, as if searching for comfort.

"What is the probability that the prince used his power to tamper with my mind?"

Kaden's eyes widened slightly, realization dawning. "How? Weren't you two just children when you met?"

"We were ten," she said quietly. "And we had already awakened our Origins. At that time, my power as the Guiding Star was already known." Her voice trembled faintly. "And I had just lost my parents, the same way I'm losing my life now."

She paused, then continued, her tone steadier,

"After all, my parents were the subordinates of the Sun Empress." Her eyes gleamed clearer now, sharper. "And everyone knows that the Second Prince is the favorite of the Sun Empress."

She didn't need to say more, Kaden understood perfectly what followed.

How easy must it have been to manipulate a girl broken by grief, with a mind talent and a few gentle gestures?

Kaden now understood why he had felt the prince's influence trying to creep into his mind when they first met. And he understood even more now why Aurora had begun to free herself from its overwhelming hold.

'My Will…' he realized. 'Is this what makes a unique Will, something that doesn't only affect me, but also alters the very space around me?'

It was like his master's Will, one that could make not only himself untouchable, but also the weapon in his hand, and even the air around him.

Anything could be made undefeated like him.

This was…

'The true horror of a unique Will.'

How had he failed to notice it before? His Will had already changed the very nature of his quest without him consciously using it.

That meant…

'I can completely dispel the mind ability cast by the prince on Aurora and then…'

He smiled.

Now, at last, he could see a way out of his bloody quest.

—End of Chapter 316—

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