The column advanced slowly along the ancient imperial road.
It was no longer just a military expedition. Civilians had joined them: women, elderly people, children, and former adventurers who, after witnessing the devastation of the last city, had decided to follow them. No one had been rejected. Lusian had made sure of that.
The soldiers maintained a protective formation around the group, while the priests walked among the civilians offering water, basic assistance, and spiritual support. The advance was slow, but stable.
Among the crowd, murmurs were inevitable. Fear, uncertainty, and also a growing sense of being part of something far greater than they could understand.
Lusian rode to the right of Elizabeth. She had not spoken since they set out at dawn. Her posture remained impeccable, as always, but the tension was evident in the way she held the reins. Her hands were too firm, too controlled.
Finally, she broke the silence.
—Did you enjoy yourself last night, Lusian?
The question landed calmly, but with a clear edge behind it.
Lusian did not look at her immediately. He kept his gaze forward, watching the movement of the column and the civilians following behind them.
Elizabeth let out a small humorless laugh, more like a sigh than an expression of amusement.
—No need to answer —she continued—. I already know enough. Emily wanted me to know, didn't she?
The silence between them grew heavy. Even the sounds of the surroundings felt more distant. Thunder snorted uncomfortably, sensing the tension, while Umber raised its head, attentive not to enemies, but to the shift in emotional state around them.
Elizabeth continued, this time in a lower, more restrained voice.
—You are my guardian knight, Lusian. My… protector. And yet, last night you allowed someone else to take a place that should never have been moved.
Lusian finally looked at her. His expression was not defensive or aggressive. It was calm, but tired.
—Elizabeth… I'm sorry —he said at last—. It wasn't something I sought out. But I also didn't manage to stop it in time.
He did not try to justify it further. He offered no excuses.
Elizabeth turned her gaze toward the road. The emotion was still there, contained, not exploding. It wasn't exactly anger toward him, but toward the situation, toward the lack of control, toward something that could not be solved by will alone.
A few meters ahead, Alejandro's and Emily's voices rose among the trees as the column advanced. The rest of the group continued their march without intervening, but the tension in that small exchange was obvious to anyone paying attention.
Alejandro walked beside her with a furrowed brow. His discomfort did not come only from the moment, but from something that had been building for a long time.
—What are you doing, Emily? —he finally asked—. Why are you getting so close to him?
Emily did not look at him immediately. She kept her eyes forward, as if the conversation did not deserve to slow her pace.
—It's none of your business —she replied calmly.
That only irritated him more.
—Of course it is my business! Lusian is not someone you can trust so easily. You know what happened between his family and mine. And yet… you follow him. You defend him. You even enter his space as if there are no consequences.
Emily stopped. Alejandro almost caught up to her by reflex.
Then she looked at him. Her expression was cold, controlled, with that firmness she used when she had already made a decision.
—Alejandro —she said, in a low but steady voice—. You are acting as if this is personal. It isn't.
He clenched his fists.
—Of course it is!
Emily held his gaze without blinking.
—Lusian is my fiancé.
The silence that followed was immediate.
Alejandro stood still for a second, as if he hadn't properly understood what he had just heard.
—What…? —he murmured, his voice lower now—
Emily showed no doubt.
—And regarding your family… he had nothing to do with what happened.
Alejandro stepped toward her, frustrated, searching for something beyond that answer.
—Why him? —he asked, this time with a tone more broken than angry—. What does he have that I don't?
Emily looked at him for a long moment. There was no mockery in her expression, but neither was there softness. Only determination.
—You wouldn't understand —she said finally.
And without adding anything else, she started walking again.
Alejandro was left behind, jaw clenched. He had not received an explanation, only a confirmation. And that, instead of calming him, made everything much worse.