Vivi Sacrificed Herself to Save Her Country

Vivi curled up on the stone platform, her thin shoulders shaking violently as crystalline tears kept sliding down her pale cheeks, leaving tiny wet marks on the dust-covered ground.

At that moment, a curly-haired burly man lay sprawled before her. Three gruesome holes gaped in his massive body, their bone-deep edges crusted with purple-black blood. Vivi stretched out a trembling little hand and gently touched Igaram's cold arm, her sobs echoing across the empty stone platform:

"Uncle Igaram, sob... sob... How am I supposed to face Aunt Tiragotan...?"

Kuina, standing nearby, looked unable to bear it. She gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

She slowly crouched down and gently patted Vivi on the shoulder.

"Sorry. I didn't notice what was happening here in time. If I'd been just a little faster..."

Vivi suddenly turned around and wiped her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand. Her once-clear eyes were now red and swollen, yet she forced out a smile uglier than crying.

"Don't say that. If you hadn't stepped in when you did, the assassins would have dealt with me long ago."

At that moment, she noticed the young man standing behind Kuina. He had shoulder-length golden hair, moonlight dancing across its ends and making his azure eyes seem like a deep ocean. A faint, unreadable smile rested on his lips.

Sensing Vivi's gaze, Dawn lowered his head slightly and gave her a gentle smile.

"Little sister, where's your home? Do you need me to take you back?"

Vivi sniffled. Tears still clung to her long lashes as she drew in a breath through her sore nose and choked out:

"Bad people are causing trouble at my home... I sneaked out to find someone to help."

Her hopeful gaze