The sky was still dark when the children woke. There was something special about the early morning that made one feel truly rested. A fresh scent of leaves lingered in the air, mingling with the smell of burnt wood from last night's fire.
Grey and Grace were more energetic than ever, going through the morning exercises their mother had taught them.
When they stepped out of the wagon, they saw that their companions were already training.
Chris swung his massive sword from side to side. His muscles stood out in sharp relief, and large drops of sweat rolled down his face, revealing the strain he was under. Kaguya and Aika were engaged in a light spar under Cassius's watchful eye, as he had promised to teach them the basics of close combat.
No one knew how long the twins had been watching their training. By the time they finished, the sky had grown several shades lighter. It was time to set out.
The rest of the journey, though long, passed without incident. The only things the group encountered were a couple of monsters of moderate strength, which Kaguya's group dealt with swiftly.
The children sat in the wagon with Kaguya and their mother, playing a card game called "Old Man." The rules were simple. One of the jokers was removed from a standard deck of playing cards, and the rest were dealt evenly among the players.
Then each player discarded all the pairs they could from their hand. Once only unpaired cards remained, the players took turns drawing from one another's hands. If a player picked a card that matched one already in their hand, they could discard the pair.
The winner was the one who managed to get rid of the Joker—the only card that could not be paired—and discard all their other cards.
The children often played this game with their mother or among themselves. It was a game where everything depended on luck, judgment, attentiveness, and the cunning of one's mind.
Catherine had taught them the basics in the hope of instilling those very qualities.
Now it was Kaguya and Grace's turn. As the girl's hand moved slowly back and forth between two cards, the neko girl's face remained completely expressionless. Yet with every movement of Grace's hand, her heart leapt in her chest.
She truly felt miserable. At first, she had agreed to play with the children only to make her friends happy. For a seasoned woman like her, the game was far too simple. She understood people perfectly, and her analytical abilities were beyond reproach.
And yet, in all the time they had been playing, she had not won a single round. Not once!
Kaguya was rapidly sinking into despair, her face plastered with slips of paper that bore witness to her history of defeats. She was ready to do anything just to win once. Just once, and she would stop. That would be enough.
Her eyes were fixed on the two cards in her hands. Whenever Grace touched the Joker, she felt as if she had grown wings; whenever the girl's finger brushed against the nine of diamonds, anxiety gnawed at her from within.
"Maybe this one?" Grace said. Her small hand reached toward the Joker. Kaguya's pulse quickened…
[Take it! Take it!] she screamed inwardly, yet she did not allow a single emotion to surface on her face.
Suddenly, the girl changed her mind, grabbed the nine of diamonds, and smiled. "On second thought, this one."
A muscle twitched in Kaguya's cheek. Her fingers clamped tightly around the two cards, refusing to let the nine be taken.
Seeing that her opponent would not let go, Grace did not know what to do. She released the nine of diamonds and picked the Joker instead. "In that case, I'll take this one."
Kaguya was ecstatic and loosened her clawed grip.
"Damn it, now it's your turn," the girl's disappointed voice rang out. Kaguya's mood soared at those words. Her ashen tail swayed from side to side, betraying the cat-girl's rising spirits.
"Language, dear," Catherine remarked from the side.
Grace forced a smile and turned to face Kaguya, waiting for her to make a choice.
The cat-girl clenched her teeth and stared at the two cards. She focused as if she could read something written on their backs.
Kaguya had just touched the nine, so it was entirely possible that some instinct buried deep within her soul had guided her toward victory. She watched the patterned backs desperately, hoping to catch the faintest hint, but only one beastly God knew what material those cards were made of. Thin as paper, yet she could not discern a single mark that might distinguish them.
The neko girl's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of their sockets.
"Are you going to choose or not?" Grace asked impatiently.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Kaguya shot back with a question of her own, but she still reached out to take the card on the left. She glanced at the girl, hoping to find a clue in her eyes.
"If you want it, just take it."
Hearing those words, Kaguya decided to change her choice.
She had been playing with the twins for only a couple of hours, yet in that short time she had come to understand that the words of those little rascals could not be trusted at all. They might look innocent and sweet, but they played like first-rate tavern hustlers.
[What in the world is Luvia teaching them? Don't try to fool me, girl. It's not that easy.] Kaguya thought to herself as she chose the card on the right.
However… when she turned it over, her face changed as if struck by lightning. It was the Joker.
"Kaguya, you should trust your friends' words more. Adults are so complicated. I don't understand you," Grace said, shaking her head sadly.
Kaguya's ears twitched, and the sound of grinding teeth could be heard, but she said nothing. Shuffling the cards behind her back, she held them out and said, "Your turn, little friend."
"This one." The little girl snatched the nine of diamonds without a second's hesitation.
"Ahahaha, Mommy, I won again!" The girl tossed down the nines, grabbed a slip of paper, and pressed it to Kaguya's face, stamping yet another mark of defeat upon her.
"Let's play again," the cat-girl demanded.
"Fufufu, dear, it's time for us to stretch our legs a little. We'll be leaving the forest soon and arriving at the port of Stormdale," Catherine advised, knowing Kaguya's patience was hanging by a thread. Not wanting to spoil her relationship with the neko girl over a silly game, she invented a reason for her to stop.
Kaguya decided to heed the advice of the woman who might one day become her sworn sister. After a quick farewell to the children, she darted out of the wagon as if fleeing from something dreadful.
The moment she stepped outside, she felt long-awaited relief wash over her. She had never imagined she would endure such stress simply from interacting with her little "friend." The tight knot of resentment from her constant defeats still lingered inside her.
[I will never play with that little demoness Anna again. Luvia must have mixed up the children when she gave them their nicknames. How can that monster in a child's body be called a "little angel"? And why is such a quiet and obedient Grey the "little devil"? Ah, what a poor child. It's obvious he used to be very lively before he suffered that injury he's now even afraid to mention.]
The cat-girl had been traveling with her newly found friends for two weeks now. Through her interactions with the children, she had come to understand much about this company. All of them had begun to seem like mysterious and intriguing individuals to her.
Luvia was clearly the leader of the group, despite not possessing the slightest bit of strength.
Anna was a little demoness. She loved teasing others, yet she was always cheerful and full of life. Whatever she did, she did with childlike sincerity and carefree innocence. It seemed impossible to take offense at her.
Alex surprised Kaguya more than anyone.
His sorrowful eyes, in which dark thoughts sometimes flickered behind the mask of childhood, stirred her heart. The boy seemed to have been completely different before that unfortunate injury, the details of which everyone kept silent about.
She looked at him and wondered how a child could be so intelligent and at the same time so vulnerable. Kaguya understood that their new friendship meant something important to him. After two weeks together, she found herself wanting to protect him, no matter the cost.
With every step toward the port of Stormdale, Kaguya felt her attitude toward Alex shifting from simple curiosity to something deeper—care, and tenderness.
She wanted to learn more, to understand what exactly had wounded him so deeply. She saw how he sometimes came alive during their games, and that only made her grow more and more attached to the boy.
And what about Cassius? The object of her interest.
Cassius was a quiet and reserved man, yet he became entirely different in the children's company. At times, she had the impression that he suffered from a split personality. One persona was sharp and laconic—this was the face he showed to everyone. The other was cheerful and lively, reserved exclusively for the twins. This side surfaced most often when he was with Alex.
Such behavior only fanned the flames of Kaguya's budding feelings.
The man was handsome, brave, and deeply caring. Her interest in him did not fade despite his aloofness. Every action he took, every movement, stirred something indistinct within her.
It seemed as though he was the living embodiment of her childhood fantasies about the perfect man. The girl did not realize that she was sinking deeper and deeper into something from which there would be no return.
When she looked around for Cassius, intending as usual to ask him something meaningless just to start a conversation, she froze…
Before her eyes opened a picturesque view of the port city of Stormdale, which they were approaching with every passing second.
Majestic ships lay at anchor, the quiet rustle of sea waves mingled with the sight of разноcolored sails fluttering in the wind, creating an atmosphere of bustle and life. Everything around seemed to remind her that the world was alive and breathing by its own laws.
Yet at the sight of this scene, Kaguya's heart skipped a beat—not because of its beauty. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.
Only now did she realize that this was the place where they would have to part. The awareness struck her like a clap of thunder.
Only now did she truly understand that very soon she would no longer see Anna's mocking face, that she would have to say goodbye to her new friend Alex, that Luvia would no longer rescue her from the children's teasing, that she would never be able to fulfill her dream of a life with Cassius.
She remained standing there, unwilling to take another step, watching as the horse-drawn wagon continued its relentless movement.