"I want to find somewhere I can call 'home.'"
"Fallen leaves return to their roots, after all. I'll go see that land. Maybe with a sense of belonging, my heart can settle down a little."
True Fu Hua said nothing.
The air stood still for a full three seconds.
That answer was far too unexpected.
Reason told True Fu Hua that the person before her was an anomaly through and through, anything but orthodox.
Yet looking at the other's frank expression, True Fu Hua felt an indescribable pang of bitterness.
Confusion?
Yes.
But more than that, a heavy sense of responsibility was taking root and sprouting.
Neither spoke again as they stepped side by side onto Mount Taixu's secluded path.
Black Fu Hua's steps were light, carrying an indescribable ease.
Suddenly, her fingertips twitched.
A withered yellow feather materialized out of thin air, its power and lingering memory fragments forcibly extracted.
Her expression instantly twisted, as though she had swallowed a fly.
"Tch... another mess that Otto left behind."
Before her words had faded, a torrent of memories crashed into her mind.
The surroundings abruptly changed.
A dim, damp dungeon, thick with the pungent smell of rust.
A man's voice came from the shadows, suppressing an almost insane obsession:
"Honor the marriage agreement. You know my bottom line-I will never let you die."
In the darkness, Kallen Kaslana's figure was within arm's reach.
Yet she seemed a world away.
"..."
Kallen lowered her head, her long hair hiding half her face.
"Schicksal doesn't care whether I live or die, much less about our relationship."
"The moment I agree, I'll become a hostage the Archbishop uses to control the Kaslana family."
"That's right."
Otto answered crisply, without a trace of pretense.
Because the truth was that cruel.
"But does that matter?"