Their display didn’t go unnoticed, however. The old headmaster said nothing while no one from the Olsen side dared to say anything with Jonathan there.

Dandara was the first one to speak, though not with Dene. “Lord Alwyn, I’m sure you’re more than capable of handling the rest from here,” she told the headmaster. “If you will, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Yes, of course. Thanks for coming, miss Dandara.”

She turned to leave, but not before signaling for Dene to follow.

Dene turned to Jonathan, who asked if she needed any guard to go with her.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll meet with you later,” she answered, before running to catch up with her sister.

The two of them walked through the snow-covered street and made a turn behind one of the many dormitories. As soon as no one could see them, they were no longer able to hold it. Their tears came as fast as their embrace.

For the first minute, neither one of them spoke, too elated for finally meeting again.

Dene was the one to break the silence. “By the gods... I thought I would never see you again... it’s been so long,” she said in between snivels.

“Too long. How are you here? What happened after we were separated?”

Dene took a deep breath. “So much happened...” She proceeded to tell everything that happened since they last saw each other. How she was taken to Dragonblood castle and presented to the Duke. Richard’s attempted rape and Jonathan’s help at the last minute. Her subsequent judgment in the following day along with being questioned about the Secret Realm.

Most of her story revolved around the first days. After that, her life had calmed down a lot. She wasn’t prohibited from cultivating, but without the Secret Realm, her progress had slowed down considerably.

After more than four years she was just a 6th stage Crusader and 4th stage Archmage. And even if she somehow managed to break into the Paladin and Warlock realms before her 30s, it would still be impossible for her to get a spot to the Secret Realm.

“...you went through a lot. Compared to you, my life has been much calmer. When I arrived, the Duke made some inquiries about the Secret Realm, but I only disclosed basic information. He decided to keep me around, I guess in case he needed anything more from me, and so I became some sort of an assistant to him.”

“Just like that?”

“Basically, yes. I’ve also been trying to help any other southerner across, but there’s very little I could do.”

“But aren’t you working for the Duke now? You were even chosen to welcome them.”

“The headmaster was there to welcome them. I was there as an insult. Sending a lowborn would be bad enough. Sending a ‘desert demon’ to welcome a bunch of Holy Flame’s followers was even worse.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I may not have any power, but I’m treated well enough. Besides, the Holy Flame religion isn’t as widespread here, so there are very few who see me as a demon. Only as an uncivilized barbarian.” She said with a self-deprecating laugh.

“...time.”

“?”

“If only we had more time, a few more years, I know I would be able to open it.”

“The core grounds?”

Dene nodded. “We were so close. Maybe there was something inside that would’ve helped us survive the war. Weapons, armor, spells. Anything.”

“Guess that now we’ll never know. Our home has been taken, and it won’t be long before they also take everything from the Secret Realm. So much for the prophecy.”

The Benefactor’s prophecy. It was told that after revealing the Secret Realm to the Yao tribe, the Benefactor had a vision of the future. She said that a daughter from the Yao tribe would obtain everything inside the core grounds. With this power, she would rule the greatest empire these lands had ever seen, with an unstoppable army that no castle walls could hold.

She also said this empress would have eight arms, so Dene never took it very seriously.

“They may have taken our home, but they’ll never get into the core grounds.”

“Dene, they got the key. It won’t be long before one of them manages to pass the test.”

“There’s the thing, they don’t have it.” As she spoke, Dene pulled her necklace pendant from inside her shirt. It was a simple metal coin with black and white concentric circles painted on both sides.

She couldn’t keep the key inside her arm forever, so after some time she pulled it out and put into a necklace. To those unaware, it was no different than a simple coin.

A look of shock appeared on Dandara’s face. “H-How?”

“Father gave it to me to hide before the battle.”

“This, this means,” a smile started forming on her face. “The prophecy, maybe it wasn’t wrong.”

“Dara...”

Dandara grabbed her hand before Dene could say anything more. “Come with me, I want to show you something.”

Hearing that phrase coming from her sister brought an involuntary smile to Dene’s face. How many of their misadventures as kids had begun this way? Or, “no one will find out.” And the worst of all, “what could go wrong?”

With Dandara pulling her, the two ran through the academy.

“Where are we going?”

“Just wait, we’re almost there.”

They both ran for a few more minutes until arriving in front of the academy’s main building. Dandara then proceeded to look around in search of something.

“Can you tell me what-”

“Look, there!” She pointed to a balcony at the building’s first floor.

“Dammit.” Dene cursed, before looking to the balcony. She couldn’t see much from below, but there seemed to be some sort of event going on there. “What about it?”

“Look at that man in the corner, the one with the wine glass and the weird clothes.”

“I see him. Is that a robe he’s wearing?” He wasn’t the only one. Dene could see others, men and women dressed in a similar way.

“They are merchants from the east.”

“From Solis?”

“Farther east.”

“I didn't know there was anything farther east than Solis.”

“Oh, but there is, and that's not the most important. Look at them, tell me what else you see.”

“A bit shorter than the average northerner, eyes a bit narrower, and they all have black hair. What about it?”

“When you look at them, don’t they seem a bit familiar?”

Dene sighed in exasperation, having gone down this road before. “Dara, I’m not gonna stand here guessing. Just tell me what’s so important about them.”

“Oh for fuck's… the Benefactor! ‘A short woman with white skin, straight black hair, a pair of dark slits for eyes and dressed in a white and blue robe,’ that’s what the old chief said about her. I always wondered why a northerner so powerful would help the desert people. Unless she wasn’t a northerner. This means that the Benefactor may truly have existed, and she came from somewhere in the far east.”

“Oh.”

“‘Oh?’ That's all you have to say? Now we know something more about the Benefactor, and all you can say is ‘oh?’”

“I mean, that’s interesting and all, but how does it help us with the matter at hand? Can you ask them to send troops to free our people? Maybe have them convince the kings to pull out from the desert?”

“Of course you wouldn't care.”

All her life, Dandara had an unquenchable thirst for learning, and it seemed this hadn’t changed.

Dene herself has been trying to learn more about the northern kingdoms, but it was solely in search for information she could use in her favor.

In fact, if not for Dene's talent that gave her the chance to enter the core grounds, Dandara would have been chosen as the next tribe’s chieftess.

“You said this had to do with the prophecy, does this mean they know how to grow additional arms? Maybe that’s why they have those long-sleeved robes.” Dene spoke with a laugh.

“It’s religion. In the east, they also a country of dark-skinned people. In this country, many of their gods have multiple arms. I think the multiple arms in the prophecy were used as a metaphor, meaning that the one to enter the core grounds would become a deity.”

‘That’s stupid,’ she wanted to say, but settled for, “that’s possible.”

“You don’t believe it.”

“Fine, I don’t. Look-” Dene stopped talking when she noticed a crimson color from the corner of her eye. Jonathan, accompanied by two bodyguards, was walking towards her. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Fine.”

Jonathan told his bodyguards to wait at a distance. “Hey.”

“Hey, I want you to meet someone. Jonathan, my sister Dandara. Dandara, Jonathan.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” he said with a short bow of his head.

“The pleasure is mine, my lord.” She answered with a curtsy.

“Sorry for interrupting your reunion. I just wanted to tell you that I’ll go to my room. I can’t take any more of this cold. My room is at the green dormitory, fourth floor. The headmaster said you can take any of the others on that floor.”

“Thanks, I’ll go as soon as we’re done.” Then close to his ear she whispered, “and we’ll continue our talk from this morning.”

“Eh, ah... bye.” He quickly turned around and left.

As he did so, she couldn’t help admiring his behind. ‘Oh, I’ll get you,’ Dene thought with a smile.

Her sister didn’t seem to find it funny though. “What the hell was that?” She angrily asked.