"No need to worry. The Church's healers barely managed to reattach them. I survived to fight another day… though they'll never be quite the same again."
Frey let out a relieved breath .
Glad the High Warden hadn't been crippled because of him.
"What's the situation?"
Sansa asked as Oliver pulled up a chair and sat beside them.
"The last battle caused a huge stir. And now… the fact that Sansa holds demonic power is no longer a secret."
Oliver's words made Frey narrow his eyes.
"So what do we do now?"
It was a fair question.
Things weren't going to be simple.
"A lot of powerful people are demanding Sansa's execution. They see her as a ticking time bomb."
"But she's in control now. She's not a threat anymore,"
Frey argued.
Oliver nodded.
"That's true—but we don't have proof. Especially with how different she looks now."
He glanced at Sansa .
A girl who had completely transformed.
"No one will believe our words alone."
"Then To Hell With them," Frey muttered.
Sansa clenched her fists.
"It's fine. This time, it's my turn to fight. I'll take care of it."
But as soon as she said that, Oliver gently placed his cast-wrapped hand on her head.
"No, you won't. You've fought enough already."
"But—"
"I've already handled it,"
Oliver interrupted.
He paused for a moment before continuing .. turning to Frey.
"The princess has officially lost the succession race to Aegon. All her titles have been stripped."
"In return… she'll live as a normal person within the temple."
Oliver explained the situation, apologizing as he did.
"I'm sorry, but this was the only way to let her live."
He bowed his head, but Sansa immediately stopped him.
"Don't apologize… if anyone should be sorry, it's me."
Oliver Khan ..
He was the only one who had fought for her from the very beginning.
He sacrificed everything, becoming the servant of the person he despised most in this world.
Someone like that… who had given so much… didn't deserve to apologize.
No one knew what kind of face he wore beneath that mask.
But it must have been one worth seeing.
"You know, Frey… I really felt happy a moment ago."
Oliver turned back to him as he spoke.
Frey blinked.
"Happy?"
Oliver nodded.
"Yeah… because you said, 'What are we going to do now?'
Not, 'What are you going to do?'"
Frey didn't respond.
And before he could, Oliver suddenly lowered his head in a formal bow .. as if Frey were a king.
"Please, Frey Starlight… I can't always be by her side. The princess will be alone in the temple once I return to serving that wretched emperor.
So I'm not asking you to stay glued to her side .. But if anything ever happens… just save her once. That's all I ask."
A high-ranking SS class warrior like Oliver Khan, bowing to him like this…
Frey sighed and instinctively stepped back, smiling faintly.
"With her power? I'll be the one needing saving, not her."
It wasn't the answer Oliver expected.
Frey hadn't accepted, nor rejected.
But for the High Warden… it was enough.
And Sansa smiled, too.
"Thank you… truly."
It was a rare moment of quiet joy shared between the three of them.
A moment accompanied by a soft chime ..
Ding!
Oliver Khan: SS rank
Current Affection: 50 Points
Oliver considers you an ally and a friend. He fully trusts you.
Ding!!
The second notification was stronger.
Sansa Valerion: B+ rank
Current Affection: 70 Points (First Threshold Broken)
The princess now sees you as more than just a friend.
To her, you're as important as Oliver Khan.
Frey glanced at the floating windows in front of him.
One connection after another…
He was slowly becoming part of this world.
The idea he once rejected ..
Now felt… welcome.
…
…
…
The princess's tragedy had ended.
And the days passed.
Frey Starlight found himself living a routine he hadn't known in a long time.
Hanging out with friends.
Visiting the temple.
Living in peace.
A normal life ..
For someone who was anything but normal.
Yet somehow, it had happened.
He now found himself at the Starlight estate, after being dragged back by his sister for the temple's weekend break.
Frey had spent the entire day with Ada.
Just the two of them .. like a real family.
The only family he had left was right in front of him.
And that made it easier to accept this new reality.
"Maybe this is the answer,"
he thought.
The life his father had wanted for him.
Frey smiled as night fell ..
Sitting beside his sister at a dinner table meant only for the two of them.
Ada, holding a sharp knife, sliced the cooked meat with a smile.
"How many pieces do you want?"
"As many as you like."
"You're the one eating, not me,"
she grumbled.
Frey leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on the ceiling ..
More at peace than he'd been in a long time.
For once…
He felt like he had found the answer.
He tried to convince himself of it.
Tried to believe that this peaceful, ordinary life was the future he should pursue—and be content with.
It all seemed so unreal…
But Frey accepted it.
A loving family.
Good friends.
A quiet life.
It brought him comfort.
But then again ..
Who was he, really?
He was Frey Starlight.
As if fate itself were mocking him .. Mocking his foolish ambition…
Frey sat frozen in his comfortable chair, unable to move.
His heartbeat spiked, pulsing rapidly without his control.
"Huh?"
He muttered unconsciously, eyes drifting down to his hand ..
Only to find it trembling violently.
And the world around him…
Had turned gray.
A bleak, colorless gray that swallowed everything.
He had truly wanted to accept himself.
To accept this new life.
But even that… was too much to ask.
Slowly, Frey turned his head toward the only family he had left.
Toward his sister.
He stared at her in disbelief ..
His chest throbbed with a crushing pulse, each beat threatening to explode.
And all around him, the lifeless gray crept inward, smothering the light.
In that empty, silent world…
The only thing that stood out— Was Ada Starlight's eyes.
Eyes that looked right at him with a smile ..
Glowing crimson-red, like a bottomless abyss threatening to swallow him whole.
And in that moment…
Frey Starlight's emotions collapsed in on themselves.
Terror.
Fear.
Grief.
Regret.
Rage.
He wanted to ask ..
Why?
But no words came out.
All he could do was stand there, frozen.
As Ada opened her mouth, and spoke in a voice that echoed like a divine pronouncement:
"Hello, ****… we meet again."
She spoke his true name ..
A name no one should have known.
And in that instant, Frey understood ..
What stood before him wasn't his sister.
It was a calamity.
One that had descended upon him ..
To destroy the fleeting peace he had just begun to grasp.
...
...
...
A.N : 4 Extra chapters coming today.