"Actually, the Geo Lord is very gentle. He's only like this because he's been through so much."
Cloud Retainer explained as she drank her soup.
"I agree with you, but when you first meet him, he can't help coming across as a little too distant."
"The first time we ate together, Morax just ate without any expression at all. Marchosius was so frightened that he thought he'd messed everything up, and he even asked me in a panic to apologize to you on his behalf."
Guizhong recounted what had happened before, and Cloud Retainer, who loved a good conversation, took the opportunity to chime in. "When we first met the Geo Lord, we also thought he was a very, very fierce person."
"Right? Right? I knew I couldn't be the only one who thought that."
As though she had found a kindred spirit, Guizhong began complaining about Morax with Cloud Retainer right in front of him.
But Morax did not mind. After all, what they said was true.
While they talked, Morax slowly took out the mask, the Aspect of the Immovable Profound Stone.
He gently stroked the mask, puzzled himself by what Guizhong had said.
He could no longer remember when he had begun to lose his facial expressions, or so many of his emotions.
Long ago, he too had been a cheerful, hot-blooded, sunny youth who spent every day laughing without a care.
Thinking about it now, he seemed not to have been truly happy in a very long time.
"Morax."
Hearing Guizhong call him, he raised his head slightly and looked at her.
"Look!"
"The Cloud Retainer-Guizhong Beast!"
Guizhong stood there with her arms spread wide, while Cloud Retainer perched with both claws on her shoulders, likewise puffing out her chest and spreading her wings. One woman