The woman sat on a chair, her hands holding a thick book as the rest of the children surrounded her.

Alice, was also there, she had snapped her head around upon hearing the sound of the door opening, her brows furrowed slightly.

The woman looked at Noctus in astonishment while Noctus stood there blankly.

After a long moment of silence, he walked forward and sat down quietly, finally understanding what they were doing.

As much as he didn't want to admit, he felt a bit of yearning at this sight, after all, he loved the little stories that woman told him in the cave.

Seeing him sitting down, relief flooded Flyn's eyes as a small smile appeared on her face, her eyes returned to the book, her lips enunciating the words for all of them to hear.

Alice didn't speak, but she scooted behind next to Noctus.

She told the tale of a young prince, who selflessly participated in a war to protect his country, himself dancing on the threshold of life and death before finally winning, bringing peace and happiness to his country.

As Noctus listened quietly, he felt as though he returned to the cave, where that woman would take care of him, and at that moment, he felt his heart soften in the slightest.

However, as if Lupus could read his mind, Lupus growled suddenly, 'Don'tcha fucking fall for this, I'll fucking pull us outta here the moment ya fuck up.'

'……shut up.' He mumbled.

Noctus sat cross legged, patiently awaiting the depart of the children, himself flipping open the Ruskh book in preparation for his inquiry, ignoring the story telling.

After about five minutes, he stood up and walked to Flyn, Alice slowly trailing behind him.

With his outstretched arm, he offered the book to Flyn, "Do you know, this language?"

With slight hesitation, she took the book and examined the contents before replying with gentle doe like eyes, "Ah, this book….if I remember correctly, it was given to me by a Friend a few dozen years ago….."

"An Elf?" Noctus asked as he focused onto Flyn, after all, she belonged to a race he had never seen before.

She nodded in affirmation, "Rushk, was it? Now, I've forgotten most of the language itself, but I can figure it out." Her eyes squinted to examine the letters, her fingers tracing each sentence.

As she thought, he looked at her, taking in her appearance. She had large soft eyes and long lashes, her slit pupils dilating as she read.

One thing he didn't understand about her appearance was the massive chest she had. Perhaps it served as a form of defense against frontal attacks to the heart?

With a halfhearted snort, his mind started to wander and after a while, Flyn looked up from the book, her eyes now focused on Noctus, "Why do you want to know about these runes?" She asked, slightly wary.

Without replying, he lifted his shirt, showing her the circular combination of the runes as he absentmindedly stared at the page of the book she flipped to.

Seeing such a sight suddenly, her eyes widened in shock, not knowing how to react to this situation. She knew that Iris had done multiple modifications, but she never thought to see something like this.

Layers and layers of runes were carved into him, pulsing with a dim red light, it seemed as though something was alive beneath his skin.

She shifted forward slightly, causing Noctus to take a step back, noticing his reaction towards her movement, sadness flooded her eyes.

"Does….does it hurt?" She asked.

"No, it doesn't." He said dismissively.

After giving a moment to the woman for gathering her thoughts, he asked "Is there a way to removed it?" As he peered at the book.

Her hand reached out, "May I?" She asked.

"….yes." He replied, not knowing what she would do.

Her hand traced a particular rune in the middle, "This…..this mark, it's used on prisoners, I've seen an old elf carrying it once, he lost his ability to talk, or see."

"What?!" Noctus exclaimed.

"No, this particular rune isn't for sealing speech….or sight, just to seal runes permanently onto the subject until the one that marked the runes undo it, it's to prevent convicts in the past from ever taking runes off."

"Is there another way to remove them?" He asked hopefully.

"As far as I know, no. As I've said, the old convict I've met, he never got it off. I'm sorry." She spoke, her eyes slightly red.

Disappointed, Noctus turned to leave, with a smug voice sounding in his mind. 'And that's why you should just patiently wait~'

"Wait." Flyn suddenly cried,her arm shot out to grab his shoulder.

Scared by her sudden movement, he ducked and turned around swiftly, escaping her grip.

"Ah…sorry, I didn't mean…." She spoke hesitantly, "It's just that I remembered, the Friend that gave me this book, she can maybe help you."

"Is that so?" Noctus asked, his eyes flashing with hope.

"But it'll take a while before a letter can reach her, and then another year or so before she can come…" she continued, herself deep in thought.

"That will be much appreciated either ways." He politely answered.

'……'

After achieving his objective he turned to leave but was stopped yet again.

"Lupus?" The woman asked.

"No. I am Noctus." He spoke with annoyance lacing his tone.

"Noctus." She repeated the name once, committing it to memory before she continued, "The other children will be of age next year and they'll attend a magic academy, would you be going?" She asked.

"No." He rejected curtly, perhaps his reply influenced by the annoyance at her mistake.

"Why not?" She asked.

"It's a waste of time." He spoke without turning, already reaching the door, where he could feel Alice's presence.

As he took a step outside, he turned to the right and looked at Alice, who sat with her back leaning against the wall, her long hair brushing against the ground.

He wasn't one to say either, for as long as he could remember, he hadn't cut his hair once, it was already almost as long as him.

As he thought, his hand instinctively went to his hair, his hand grabbing most of it, while Alice who had slightly dozed off finally noticed the figure standing in front of her and immediately stood up.

She was slightly taller than him, his head reaching her large purple eyes. Strangely enough, she inherited the color of her irises from her Mother but she didn't receive the slit pupil traits.

His eyes lazily focused onto hers, staring for quite a while before he snapped back into reality.

"The pills….are quite troublesome." He mumbled before turning to leave.

Alice didn't follow him, she merely stood there and watched Noctus leave.

---------------------------------------

After arriving at his room, he rummaged around the corner Lupus claimed.

'OI.' Lupus called out, seeing his pile being messed around with.

'I just need a knife.' He replied dismissively without stopping.

After a while, he pulled out a normal knife and raised it to his hair, thinking to himself.

Should he just cut most of it off? Well, it didn't matter, with a swipe, a large portion of his black hair dropped to the ground.

'Why did you do that?' Lupus asked.

Noctus was about to ask him why he spoke, before he could finally process the question, he replied, 'It's a hindrance.'

But he knew himself, that he hated that black color. It reminded him of too many things.

Carefully, he burned the hair into nothingness as his nose wrinkled at the smell, but his mind still slow due to the pills.

His knees seemed to go weak as he walked to the large bed in the corner of the room, dust was evident on it.

'Noctus?' Iris asked.

Sitting down, it only took a second before his head fell onto the fluffy material of the blanket.

'….I told him not to eat that much." Iris immediately justified herself to the lupus glaring at her.

'Noctus?' Lupus called out, but no one replied.

Seeing that he was finally gone, Lupus came out, taking control as he wriggled his fingers, it was already night.

Noctus was somewhere back in the mind, oblivious to the world, it was Lupus's time to roam freely.

And at that moment, a fragrant smell wafted over, as if it was enticing the beast.

It was the smell of food, something that drove Lupus on the brink of madness the first time he smelled it.

Every inch of his being wanted to devour something, an instinct burned into him, despite the fact that he did not need to consume anymore.

What was better, than to fill one's stomach after a fight? Of course, he wasn't in a fight right now, but his upbringing made his personality similar to a mongrel's.

The first time, Noctus was there to stop him, to block him out, subsequent attempts were similarly foiled.

But right now, Noctus was who knows where?

A lopsided grin appeared on his face.

'No killing anyone please~'