Lory was feeding the fish in the pond when she turned around she saw Zhao Li Xin sitting in her usual spot in the garden discussing with the other four King's palaces, the corners of her lips lifting slightly knowing they grew fond of her special place.

[Your man looks displeased] Girsha said as he perched on the stone lamp next to Lory.

​​

[As expected...] Lory replied calmly then he threw the corn and dried seeds into the pond then the fish jumped for food and the water rippled wildly.

[He's not wrong, that man is very dangerous at least your man has reasons for his actions, and more or less he still has limits to what he does, unlike that man…]

Lory proudly raised his chin [Of course, my man is not as bad as people describe] Lory pursed her lips in anger at all the bad rumors about Zhao Li Xin, she sneered then said: [Even to his worst enemies he never killed their innocent young children, Li Xin even let go of enemy wives if they never involved with their husband's bad deeds, all the people he killed were all those who tried to harm him in the first place, so Li Xin never randomly killed people like Maniac they portray him to be]

[Yeah, even the women he kills or hurt are mostly guilty or a little bit crazy so he has no other choice but to severely punish them with his own hands, what can he do anyway? he couldn't report them to the authorities and hoped that the authorities would give them a fair sentence because normally, no one has the courage to touch people who have influential family and powerful backer] Girsha has a long understanding of how the society works in this world after few years he living here with Lory.

[Well, this world is more broken compared to ours, they don't even try to be discreet] Lory smirked.

[That's why a psychopath like Wei Zu Tian can roam freely without any problems] Girsha miffed.

[The thing is, not only does he come from an influential family but he is also very strong and he quite smart too….by the way, why are all psychopaths smart?] Lory complained.

Girsha rolls his round green eyes [Beats me…]

Lory placed the fish food bowl on the stone bench then she sat down and crossed her legs casually. Lory lifted her chin with her right hand on her knee, she looked down at the surface of the pond and gradually lost herself in thought.

Girsha saw her looking lost and asked [What are you thinking Lory?]

Lory glanced at the bird then took a deep breath [I think A lot of things happened and it overwhelmed me. We still haven't finished with Lao Min Na yet and Wei Zu Tian came along, ​​you know I'm not good at multitasking…] she expresses her concern.

[Oh, you may have fooled me!] Girsha joked sarcastically and burst out laughing, [Help girl, I saw you juggling responsibilities as a princess, Lucas's temporary replacement while searching for clues about Lucas' prophecy, and you were successful in every endeavor If anyone could multitask, it would be you!]

[Oh come on, I did that because I had no choice…] Lory really wasn't proud of her past accomplishment because she had no choice back then and if she remembers correctly, she left halfway from L'markieth to continue her research about the ancient prophecy and her decisions at that time had given a lot of trouble to many people, Lory knew at that moment that she had abandoned her duties for personal gain.

[You think you have a choice now?] he asked a rhetorical question.

Lory blew his cheek feeling defeated [Yes...] Lory rubbed her nape as the familiar anxiety creeping up inside her made her heart beat fast but fear is not the right word to describe her current feelings, more likely it was hope for what might happen, maybe the right word is thrilled, it's the same feeling before you do sky diving or bungee jumping.

[There are Lao Min Na, Wei Zu Tian, ​​and Lazarus, we also need to find the location of the red lightning sword in Hwang Wu continent next we don't know what other obstacles are waiting for us to get the sword, in short, we don't have much time hence we also can't rush either knowing the number of enemies we have to deal with] Lory takes a deep breath as she tries to calculate her next moves.

[Sometimes I wonder if I can do this at all...even though my strength is slowly returning with all the fragments we've collected so far but I'm still far from my original strength and I'm not sure I can collect all the fragments in time before everything is too late…]

[I know how you feel Lory, that's why I'm here and that's why they're here...] Girsha turned her gaze to Zhao Li Xin and all his subordinated [You need them as much as they need you so don't forsake them] he solemnly said.

Lory looked at them with an inexplicable look [I didn't, but…this fight won't end without casualties on both sides]

[Everything has a cost, you know that] Girsha comfort her.

Lory covered her face and sighed heavily [I don't know if I'm prepared to pay that much...]

[They know the risks] Girsha said.

[Are they?] Lory mirthless smile [I think Lao Min Na never realized what kind of deal she made, and I'm sure she deeply regrets everything that happened]

[The woman made her own choice, Lory] Girsha frowned.

[An option that should never have existed if I didn't let Lazarus go!] No matter what Lory couldn't ignore her mistake.

Girsha was silent for a moment then continued [Will you let Lucas die then?]

Lory held his breath, he looked away into the distance then muttered under her breath [No…]

[And you understand that everything is inevitable, humans may think they can control their own destiny, sadly the truth is we all pawn on the giant chessboard and we all have a role to play, some good, some bad, still in the end we all have a purpose. for our existence, I just wish we knew what it was... heck, we might not know until the end but that's fine right? we just follow our heart and do what we always do] Girsha sounds calm without a hint of hesitation.

[Work hard, play hard?] Lory tilted his head and grinned.

Girsha narrowed his eyes [To the end, Girl!]

[Until the end…] Lory said profoundly.

They smiled at each other, no words needed to be said because they already knew what their decision was. Lory then walked towards Zhao Li Xin and the others, when she came everyone turned their attention towards him including Zhao Li Xin. Lory smiled at them then he glanced at Zhao Li Xin, "What's your decision, love?"

Zhao Li Xin pressed his lips into a thin line that seemed to be trying to swallow his discontent.

____________________________

Darkness is not evil, it is the source of everything it is the beginning and end of everything but people have been misguided for a very long time and they have started to resist the darkness.

So never be afraid my dear child, for no star can shine without darkness.