Unconsciously, Tsana kept staring into Cayn's eyes, which had now truly turned gold. The eyes were sharp and bright, as if containing a magnet capable of drawing anyone into them, including Tsana. It was as if those gold eyes possessed a charm that was hard to ignore.
"No need to worry, it's just the effect of the appearance-altering potion I drank starting to fade," Cayn replied casually.
That was why Tsana couldn't detect Cayn's magic energy even though she knew Cayn's appearance wasn't his original, it turned out Cayn was using an appearance-altering potion.
Tsana frowned. "Why do you always change your appearance? Isn't that troublesome? It's fine if you're disguised as Duke Ennel. But not using your original appearance in front of me, is there a specific reason for that?"
Cayn smiled bitterly and averted his gaze to the auction seats, which were slowly being filled by people.
"Do you know what made you fall in love with me in the past??" Cayn asked.
Tsana shook her head. "I don't remember."
"My eyes." Cayn explained. "I didn't dare use my original appearance in front of you. Ever since my decision in the past became the start of your suffering. I feel my original appearance is a sin."
Tsana listened carefully to Cayn's explanation. "So I fell in love with you because of your eyes?"
Cayn looked at Tsana and nodded. "Yes, you once said that to me."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Tsana felt unsure, but compared to falling in love just because of eyes, she felt there seemed to be a much stronger reason about Cayn that made her fall in love. She's not the type of person who gets carried away easily.
"Then continue to use your original appearance in front of me." -Tsana.
"What?" -Cayn.
Tsana tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Use your original appearance in front of me until I truly remember all of my past. I want to keep seeing what the only person who ever made me fall in love looks like."
Cayn's eyes sparkled and teared up. A faint red flush appeared on his face, then he nodded shyly. "Yes."
The sound of a gong being struck 3 times rang out, and a neatly dressed and rather eccentric man ascended the stage. He was the host of today's auction.
The auction participants' seats, which were initially empty, were now full of people who wanted to participate in the auction.
Some even came from Noble families, and Cayn squinted his eyes when he saw one person sitting in the middle seat.
Tsana noticed Cayn's gaze on that person and asked, "Who is that?"
Cayn said truthfully. "He is the Emperor's right-hand man of this country, named Zerach."
Tsana felt a very strong aura of hostility emanating from Cayn's body when he looked at the person named Zerach.
Tsana observed Zerach's appearance, he was just a man in his 50s with graying hair and neat, aristocratic clothes. Only, Zerach covered his face with a hood, so she couldn't see his face well.
Several of the people who came also wore some kind of mask or face covering to hide their faces.
Perhaps because this was an illegal auction, they didn't want their true identities exposed in a place like this.
But, Tsana wondered why even the Emperor's right-hand man, the person serving the most important person in this country, came to this illegal auction? What was he after?
But what made Tsana wonder more was, why was Cayn so hostile towards this person?
"Do you and he have a connection?" Tsana asked.
"Yes, we are very hostile towards each other."
Suddenly, a scream was heard from behind the stage, and suddenly raging fire was seen, spreading rapidly inside the building, which was mostly made of wood.
The fire grew bigger and bigger, causing all the guests there to panic and try to flee.
Meanwhile, Cayn and Tsana ran backstage to see what was actually happening.
There they saw little Tsana trying to open the iron cage door amidst the blazing inferno. The iron cage was getting hotter due to the surrounding temperature, making the children inside feel as if they were being roasted alive. Little Tsana even winced occasionally when her hand accidentally touched the very hot iron.
Until finally, she managed to open the iron door and let the other children out.
Tsana was always good at stealing keys; somehow she did it, but in moments like this, the children were greatly helped. She even opened all the cage doors holding the monsters and other slaves, so no one was trapped there anymore.
Little Tsana was the last to escape from there.
As little Tsana tried to escape with her sprained leg, in the raging fire, Tsana accidentally saw a paper scroll that was not burned by the fire, as if there was a barrier protecting it.
The scroll was among a pile of rare magic tools that were to be auctioned.
Cayn, seeing little Tsana just staying put and not running away, grew impatient, he was afraid little Tsana would be hurt by the fire, as some parts of the roof engulfed in flames had started to fall.
With stumbling steps, Tsana picked up the scroll, but tragically her foot, whose bone was already crushed from being stepped on by the soldier earlier, was hit by a quite large piece of wood, making little Tsana scream in pain.
Little Tsana's scream was heartbreaking to Cayn. He truly wanted to help little Tsana, but just as he was about to approach little Tsana, his hand, which was still gripping adult Tsana's hand, was held back by her.
"She can do it," Tsana said briefly, succeeding in making Cayn stop.
They both watched little Tsana's struggle to survive. She kept trying to kick the wood with her free foot, but the wood didn't move at all. Fortunately, there was a slightly smaller piece of wood nearby, and with all her might, she tried to push that wood away.
There was no one else there, all the captured creatures had successfully escaped. Only little Tsana was left behind.
Finally, with great effort, little Tsana managed to push the wood away, freeing her leg again. She carried the scroll with stumbling steps out of the place.
Cayn and Tsana followed little Tsana's steps through every narrow alley, until finally, Tsana successfully got out of the alley and fell down weakly in front of it.
She tried to regulate her breathing with her head bowed.
If viewed from the outside, she looked like a dirty street child begging on the street, until suddenly, little Tsana saw two silver coins fall in front of her.
When she looked up, a very magnificent horse-drawn carriage stood before her, adorned with various intricate carvings. The horse pulling it was also very healthy and strong, so from any side, the sight looked very majestic in front of Tsana.
A dragon emblem was visible on the surface of a two-triangle-shaped flag fluttering above the carriage.
Cayn, seeing the carriage, instantly froze. "That-"
Tsana noticed the change in Cayn's demeanor, and she waited for what happened next.
At the same time, as little Tsana looked up at the carriage, she could see a boy her age, with pure white hair and glowing gold eyes, emerging from inside the carriage.
Tsana immediately turned towards Cayn, realizing that Cayn's eyes were wide when he saw that boy.
"That's- me," he whispered, choked up.