Vale stepped through the heavy doors and entered the office of the Royal Guard Commander, the strongest man in Irea, and perhaps the strongest individual he had ever encountered.
The room was expansive yet surprisingly austere. Pale daylight streamed through towering windows, washing over polished stone floors and rows of meticulously organized shelves, maps, and military reports. At the far end, nearly a dozen meters away, Ares sat behind an enormous desk of dark wood, his broad frame leaning slightly forward as crimson eyes moved methodically across a stack of documents.
Whatever occupied his attention held it completely.
Several moments passed without so much as an acknowledgment of Vale's presence. No greeting. No glance. No indication that he had even entered the room.
Vale simply stood there with his hands buried in his pockets, studying the dragonoid commander. He had grown accustomed to this routine. Between Lucias and Ares, much of his combat training had taken place within these walls, and after months of regular visits, the silence no longer felt awkward.
Today, however, something felt different.
"Long day?" Vale asked at last.
Ares didn't look up. Instead, he lifted one hand and pointed toward the leather chair positioned opposite his desk.
"Sit."
The response was simple, but the tone immediately caught Vale's attention.
Without argument, he crossed the room and lowered himself into the chair. Ares continued reading as though nothing else existed, yet Vale couldn't shake the strange feeling that had been following him for weeks.
Ever since fragments of his lost memories had begun resurfacing.
Most were little more than disconnected flashes from infancy, brief images stripped of context and meaning. Yet the memories carried something more important than details. They carried emotions. Sensations. Familiarities that refused to explain themselves.
Whenever he found himself near Ares, those same feelings resurfaced.
A strange warmth.
An unsettling sense of recognition.
Something buried deep within him knew this man.
Enough to make every unanswered question harder to ignore.
Eventually, Vale broke the silence.
"You knew me, didn't you?"
Ares lifted his eyes from the paperwork. His gaze settled on Vale with immediate intensity, focused enough to feel almost physical.
"What do you mean?"
Vale met the stare without flinching.
"What caused me to lose my memories?"
The room seemed to grow quieter.
Ares rose slowly from his chair, and the atmosphere shifted with him. His towering frame cast a shadow across the desk as he regarded Vale in silence before speaking.
"I don't know what nonsense you're talking about," he said coldly. "And I suggest you keep your mouth shut."
Vale didn't hesitate.
The instant Ares finished speaking, he answered.
"Soon we will be home, in the embrace of our family... in their arms."
Ares froze.
His crimson eyes widened ever so slightly, and one foot shifted backward before he could stop himself. It was a tiny movement, lasting less than a second.
The commander looked shaken.
Not irritated nor angry, just shaken.
The moment passed quickly, but Vale had already seen it.
And that brief crack in Ares' composure revealed more than any confession could have.
His eyes hardened.
"Why do I know those words?" he asked quietly. "And why did you react like that?"
Ares stared at him without answering. For an instant frustration crossed his face before being forced back beneath a carefully controlled mask.
He drew a slow breath, gathering himself.
When he finally spoke again, his voice had regained its usual calm.
"I will answer your question."
Vale straightened immediately.
"But first," Ares continued, "there are things you need to understand."
Vale leaned back slightly.
"Seems fair."
Ares raised an eyebrow.
"Fair?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, though there was nothing friendly about it.
"I could kill you right now if you became sufficiently irritating."
The statement was delivered with the a casual tone..
"There is not a single person in this kingdom capable of stopping me."
His crimson eyes locked onto Vale's.
"And yet you're sitting in my office demanding answers as though we're negotiating as equals."
The smile widened slightly.
"Either you're exceptionally brave, exceptionally stupid, or you've become so comfortable around me that you've forgotten exactly who you're talking to."
For a brief moment, the pressure rolling off him became almost tangible.
Then Ares returned to his seat.
"And frankly," he said as he picked up the first document once more, "I'm still deciding which explanation concerns me more."
Vale stared at him for several seconds before a quiet laugh escaped his lips.
Ares' eyes narrowed immediately.
"What?"
"If you actually wanted me dead," Vale replied, leaning farther back into his chair, "you would've done it already."
For a moment they simply looked at one another. Then Ares released a long sigh and settled back into his seat.
"You're fortunate."
"I hear that a lot."
"I doubt you understand how true it is."
Vale answered with nothing more than a grin.
The commander rubbed a hand across his temple before steering the conversation elsewhere.
"As you know, the royal gala is being held next week."
Vale nodded. "That's the plan."
"Wolf will be there."
The amusement vanished from his face.
Since arriving in Irea, Vale had watched the emperor's influence seep through every level of society like a slow-moving plague. Each month seemed worse than the last. Entire districts bent to his authority, and both the Royal Guard and the Royal Library spent as much effort containing his reach as they did serving the kingdom.
"What about him?" Vale asked.
Ares closed his eyes briefly before answering.
"An unusual number of people have disappeared after being arrested by Enforcers."
Vale's expression darkened. "Disappeared?"
"They are taken into custody and never seen again. We know where they enter the system. We have no idea where they leave it."
The implication settled heavily between them.
"What are we doing about it?"
Ares laughed, though there was no humor in the sound.
"If the solution were simple, Wolf would already be dead."
Vale blinked.
"You've actually considered killing him?"
Ares gave him a flat expression.
"A great many times."
There wasn't the slightest hint of exaggeration in his voice.
''Unfortunately,'' the commander continued, ''some predators survived because they were dangerous, while others survived because they made themselves indispensable.''
"Wolf belongs to the second category. He has spent years placing loyalists in key positions, controlling supply chains, manipulating trade routes, and creating dependencies throughout the kingdom. Remove him carelessly and entire sections of Irea collapse overnight."
Understanding slowly settled across Vale's face.
"So he's made himself necessary."
"Exactly."
"Damn."
"Now you're beginning to understand why this has become a waiting game."
Neither spoke for a while.
Eventually Vale shook his head. "We're just waiting for him to make a mistake."
"We are."
"That sounds miserable."
"It is."
Ares turned toward the windows, gazing out across the city below.
"But eventually everyone makes mistakes."
A cold smile touched his lips.
"Even foxes."
The silence that followed felt different from before, heavier, more deliberate. When Ares finally looked back at him, the smile was gone.
"As for your question."
Vale immediately straightened.
Every trace of casualness vanished as anticipation tightened in his chest.
Ares studied him for several long moments, his expression becoming strangely distant. For the first time, he looked less like the strongest warrior in the kingdom and more like a man staring at a memory he had spent years trying to bury.
Finally, he spoke.
"I will tell you one thing."
"One thing is enough."
Ares' gaze drifted toward the metallic arm attached to Vale's shoulder. It lingered there before slowly returning to his face.
"It is true," he said quietly. "I knew you."
Vale's pulse quickened.
"In a way."
The commander fell silent again, as though even that admission had cost him something. When he continued, his voice carried an unfamiliar tone.
"It was before all of this."
His eyes flickered once more toward the artificial limb.
"Before everything changed."
Questions erupted through Vale's mind. Memories, fragments, sensations, and half-formed suspicions collided into a storm of possibilities. Every instinct urged him to demand answers, but only one question managed to escape.
"What happened to me?"
Ares met his gaze.
Sorrow appeared in his crimson eyes.
The sight alone made Vale's stomach tighten.
The commander drew a slow breath and held it for a moment before speaking.
"In truth..."
His voice sounded heavier than ever.
"...this was never supposed to happen."
Vale frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Several seconds passed before Ares finally answered.
"I assumed you were dead."
The words landed with the force of a physical blow.
Vale froze.
Ares did not look away.
His expression remained steady, but the grief behind it was impossible to miss.
"I assumed you had died a very long time ago."