Cæ and Serulia walked together down the spacious hallways of the Lumens Luxury Hotel, hand in hand. Cæ's expression was calm and composed, but his stormy, gray eyes were serious. On the other hand, Serulia found it hard to suppress the butterflies that were flying about in her stomach, tickling her stomach walls.

She found it especially embarrassing because she was twenty years old, not some girl in middle school. But even such a lukewarm gesture made her feel embarrassed and overwhelmed. She hadn't had much contact with the opposite sex for much of her life, and disdained boys categorically. When her father started introducing suitors to her from the age of sixteen, she grew even more venomously opposed to the idea of accepting any of them as her husband.

Now, for the first time in her life, she found herself actually attracted to a man five years older than her, and was entirely inexperienced on how she ought to have handled it.

"How do you feel?" Cæ's tone was gentle.

"Hm?" she turned to him as his voice broke her from her reverie.

"As in, you just woke up today after falling unconscious," Cæ remarked, shifting his eyes to her. "How are you feeling? Are you doing alright?"

"Ah, yes. I have recovered just fine, thanks to you."

Cæ raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do much for the recovery, you know."

"You ensured that my injuries were minimal," she replied with a smile. "That is the reason that I'm walking about just fine."

Cæ's expression softened at those words. "…More than your physical injuries, I'm concerned about your mind. Healing the mind isn't as easy as healing the body."

"Mind?" she huffed lightly. "I am quite vigorous and in a good mood."

"Really? You look a little flushed, and your skin is a little red."

"T-That is for some other reason…"

"You should get it looked at."

"It is not that serious…"

"Hmm…" Cæ studied her face, which only caused her to become more self-conscious. "I'm not sure about that, Serulia. Your behavior has changed ever since you got woke up. You're less composed. Your face flushes red more often, like you're having a headache, even now…"

His finger poked at her cheek. "…are you sure you're ok?"

"I-I am fine."

She found the gesture to be overwhelming despite the fact that they held hands.

Cæ's gaze remained fixed on her intently.

'Maybe she really does remember, I can't find any other explanation. Damn, should I just come clean and beg her not to mention it to anybody? If I don't get on top of this, there's no telling what might happen.'

On the other hand, if she didn't remember, then he would have just created the problem that he falsely feared existed.

"It's not going to be easy for you over the next few months, to potentially a year," Cæ remarked as his gaze shifted back front as the two walked together hand in hand. "Your family is going to put you through many depositions and mock interrogations where your testimony will be put through the wringer. It's a very stressful situation, and you're going to be under a lot of pressure until this thing ends. Not to mention, it will affect your social life at the magicademy, people will start looking at you differently. You will be approached by journalists anytime you step out of the campus, trying to get a statement from you personally, the victim."

Her former demeanor of serious composure returned as she huffed. "It is of no consequence. I am the daughter and heir to my family, and I have been trained to handle such occurrences since it is a simple reality of my position and my destiny."

"I see, it makes sense that your family would groom you for the burdens and the challenges that come with your life trajectory," Cæ replied with a thoughtful tone. "However, the interrogations and depositions will be different. They will scrutinize your testimony through and through. They will test not only your consistency, but also your accuracy and your precision. Which means…"

He turned towards her with a pointed gaze. "They will ask you about exactly what you saw, action for action, step for step, moment by moment, everything that unfolded before your eyes before you lost consciousness."

"Everything that unfolded before my eyes…" she murmured, engrossed in thought.

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"Yep," he casually remarked, trying to hide his rising nervousness. "So, for example, they will ask you exactly when you saw me enter your field of vision and exactly what actions I took, step by step. What would your answer be to that?"

Finally, Cæ gently guided the conversation to exactly where he wanted it to be. He feigned it out of concern for her due to how difficult and troubling the depositions and the witness cross-examination would be, and asked her exactly what he wanted to while contextualizing it as something else entirely in the conversation they were having.

He stared at her intently as she fell into thought, trying to think of the answer.

"Hmm… I saw you… appearing in front of me just a moment before the conjured elemental magic of Miranda's spirit reached me," she closed her eyes. "I… felt your… warmth and your protective touch. And also…"

She winced as a glint of pain flashed through her head. "I remember seeing something… impossible."

Cæ's felt chills crawl his skin as his hair stood up on end. "…Impossible?"

It took effort to make his voice not shake.

"I…" she held her head as her expression grew more concerned and pained. "I don't remember…"

"It's okay." He lightly put an arm on her shoulder with a hint of concern and relief in his gray eyes. "No one would blame you even if you don't remember anything. So just tell them you don't remember the exact actions, but are extremely clear on the most important details that Miranda attacked you."

She nodded with a hint of uncertainty while Cæ's expression grew tense.

She used the word impossible.

That was only one 'impossible' thing that had happened.

This confirmed that she had understood what she had seen.

She even remembered the thoughts she had when she had seen his pure magic.

She had yet to remember what the actual impossibility was.

His expression grew ever so grave.

It was just a matter of time.

This was something that he had strongly suspected, but with this, it was confirmed that this was only a matter of time. In fact, maybe not even that much time, as simply describing that she had seen something that should have been impossible was enough to potentially ruin things forever.

His stormy, gray eyes sharpened as some of his darker thoughts returned to his mind.

'I might have to kill her.'

Everything was at stake here.

Life as he knew it.

His freedom.

His agency.

His safety.

His life would derail beyond his control, and his ambition was likely dead in the water for the time being if the worst were to happen. He truly couldn't bring himself to put the matter aside, even if he had previously resolved not to kill her.

"Cæ…?"

Her voice contained a hint of fear as her gaze was fixed on his face. "What is the matter? You are making a really scary face, and you are holding my hand a little tightly."

"Ah…" Cæ's expression softened. "Sorry, I was just so angry at Miranda when I thought about how close she came to killing you."

Her expression grew bashful as she stopped walking, turning to face him with a deep gaze.

"I am okay, Cæ. I am here and I am alive… all thanks to you."

She took his other hand, gazing deep into his eyes.

Cæ simply stared at her with a lost expression.

He found himself truly conflicted on what to do. Even if he put aside his darkest thoughts, how in the world was he supposed to navigate such a problem?

The silence between them grew loud as they bore deep into each other's eyes with differing emotions. She gazed at him with affection and longing while he simply gazed at her with a solemn, yet soft intensity.

"Serulia…" he began with a low tone. "If there ever… if there ever came a day when I needed your help to protect my life and everything that I've ever built… would you be willing to help me?"

The air grew heavy with those words as the atmosphere between them tingled at the nerves.

She smiled at him warmly. "Of course, I would do anything for you. You saved my life."

"...Even if it meant lying to the world for me?"

"Yes," she resolutely declared. "Lying is a small price to pay back the debt I owe you.

His expression softened. "…Thank you."

Perhaps he could truly trust her. Perhaps he could trust her with the most important secret of his life. Of course, that didn't fix all his problems. Even if she was actively on his side, the fact of the matter was that both the Vritra Family, the Walyn Family, and the legal and political circles of the nation, not to mention the media, would be combing over the testimony that she would give regarding what happened.

It was entirely possible that his secret would be revealed live in court in front of ten different cameras panning at him while he sat in the witness seat. It was possible that even with Serulia's greatest effort, his fate was sealed the moment he used pure magic to protect.

And yet, even that possibility did not bring about even a tinge of regret.

As he gazed into her eyes, he found a single realization dawning upon him.

"I think I would save you even if it ruined my life."

He had wondered what he would do if he had had the opportunity to weigh the risks against the dangers of saving her with his pure magic. Now, he felt as though he knew the answer.

His words froze her where she was as she gazed at him with an expression of wonder.

She gave way to the passion that emerged from within her heart, drawing closer to him as she stood on her toes. Her lips pressed into his as she felt a surge of warmth bloom from within the deepest parts of her heart. Her nerves tingled electrically at the moment of tender intimacy, as her hands brushed past his arms.

Her soft lips stirred him in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Serulia's light blue eyes opened with a daze as she drew away from him. Cæ's facial muscles loosened as his perpetually sharp eyes lightened up. A little bit of the stiffness in his demeanor disappeared as he relaxed in a way that he hadn't in a long, long time.

A warm, soothing sensation came along with the pleasure of her soft lips, filling him up.

They gazed at each other, basking in the afterglow of the moment of intimacy.

Serulia's cheeks were flushed red, and her expression was embarrassed.

Yet, she didn't avert her gaze this time.

"Serulia…" Cæ's gaze grew solemn. "I—"

"I love you."

His eyes widened at those words.

Her tone was one of passion and a soulful sincerity, without even the slightest hint of hesitation. Her eyes were clear and bore deep into his with a heavy emotional intensity. It was in that moment that he finally understood why she had been acting differently around him since she woke up.

He hadn't realized it until she made it absolutely clear with no ambiguity.

Now, he found himself gazing into the eyes of a girl who professed to love him.

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