It has been four years since that incident. The one that broke the fragile emotions that held together our family and our race ever since the love of my life died. Died protecting my life. Died while bartering her life for my own.

Rinia went missing ever since that time, leaving behind a note that read

'We shall meet again. Trust Buhnd when time comes.'

I walked through the hallways that once were traversed by small steps echoing throughout with a pleasant tone which warmed my heart and gave a purpose to my life. Now devoid of that purpose, a dreadful silence washed over these hallways making my steps heavier.

Dragging myself, I reached the garden my grand-daughter used to love spending time in.

I could hear two sets of footsteps approaching me.

"Did we do the right thing rejecting the proposal of union of three races, father?" one hollow voice called out to me.

"Elder, there's evidence of another continent. But I don't trust the other races to have our backs. So we did the right thing." came the female voice, which once carried motherly warmth, now sounded so empty and distant.

"We'll never know, but it doesn't matter anymore." I replied without looking as they just turned around and left.

I watched over the garden as small glowing orbs of light started appearing. But they didn't seem to have the radiance they once emitted.

Getting on my knees, I caught a handful of them as I called out

"It's the glowbees season, little one. See, I have so many right now. You love them right? See? They're everywhere!"

My voice echoed but a reply never came.

"Please answer me...Tess.."

My pleas were met with silence as the tears that fell from my face hit the ground with a loud thud. Penetrating the silence while masking the sobs that broke out of me, unable to bear the pain.

"Please..."

(A/n: I hate myself )

It was the day our training was supposed to start. Meeting Viessa and Melzri at the party, I could see that they were similar to us in a way that we all lacked familial affection. They told me and Nico to call them big sisters which Nico did easily as he was raised by them for many years while I still had to get to know them.

The maids helped me dress up again. The thing that confused me was that it wasn't training wear but really pretty casual wear. Thinking that we were gonna change in the training area, I arrived at the front door where nico was waiting wearing casual wear too. His face brightened as he saw me.

"Looking pretty here Cecil. Shall we?" he said as he held his hand out.

"Not bad yourself there Nico." I replied with a smile as I took his outstretched hand in mine.

Nico seemed to be hiding something but I decided to ignore it for now. He placed the tempus warp on the ground as a portal shimmered into existence.

Walking through it, instead of arriving in a training field, the sight before me was that of a well adorned carriage which seemed to be waiting in front of a grand mansion.

Inside the carriage were two beautifully dressed women. The black haired one wore a white full sleeved shirt and black pants with black heels. The purple haired one wore a similar outfit but her jeans were blue instead of black. It was the horns that were present on the black haired woman that reminded me these were Melzri and Viessa.

"I wanted to surprise you. We are going to have a look around the city today Cecil. You haven't seen it right?"

I just realised how I hadn't thought of anything but training. My routine as the legacy seemed to have made me forget how to live my life as a normal human.

"In fact, it was sis Viessa and Melzri who suggested we do this. They knew you hadn't been out much so they decided we do this regularly."

I couldn't help but give a genuine smile at this. They are showing me warmth that I didn't feel in my previous life. I'm glad to be surrounded by good people.

"Do the young couple need some time alone or shall we get going?~" Viessa broke us out of our thoughts with a mischievous smile.

I could feel my face grow warm at the mention of 'couple' and Nico wasn't doing any better.

We both wordlessly got on the carriage and sat opposite to them.

"And not to mention you guys never did stop holding hands huh~" this time it was Melzri who teased.

I hadn't realised that we were still holding hands in fact. We both suddenly let go as I turned to watch the scenery outside the window to distract myself.

"Ahhh. Stop teasing us!!" Nico retorted while his voice trailed off. The scythes just kept on laughing at our states.

Soon we reached a busy street as both of them used an artifact which changed their appearance above their necks. But I could see that anyone with a good control of mana and a high core stage can easily see through that illusion. Scythes going around the streets with two kids can attract a lot of attention.

We walked through the city which was bustling with activity. Clothing stores, artifact stores, stationeries, restaurants, street vendors and much more.

Even with the illusions, people seemed afraid of Viessa and Melzri probably due to the aura which was strong even when suppressed.

Surprisingly, more than us, the scythe sisters seemed more excited about this little outing.

They dragged us to this one store which was huge as multiple pieces of clothing were displayed. Just as we were about to enter, a man exited the store. He seemed to be drunk based on the odour he gave off.

He was about to walk past us when he suddenly stopped and looked at Melzri and Viessa. His face showed confusion.

"Sorry for my rudeness ladies, your mana felt similar to ones who took away my son, so I stared for a moment without intending to. Have a nice day!" he said before walking away with a drunken gait.

Looking back at our scythe sisters, they had a guilty and sad expression on their faces. They saw that we had questions based on our looks.

"We'll tell you about some things later" they said before reverting to the excited expression that was present before this encounter.

The next few hours went by where Nico and I were treated as mannequins for dressing up. They bought us enough clothes to last us for a lifetime. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant and watched a romance play. We were teased to the ends of the world, them forgetting that we were in bodies of 8 year olds.

We were now back at the mansion and sat on opposing couches. The maids were dismissed as a serious expression replacing the cheerful one which was present on the scythes faces.

"What that man said was true. We indeed were present when his son was taken away from him. If I remember correctly, his name is Alaric. He was a famous ascender." began Viessa.

'What did she mean by that? Taken away? Why would they do that?'

"You see, in this continent, some babies are born with vritra blood. With high enough concentration they have a chance to manifest that blood and become capable of using mana arts the vritra possess. So to make sure they grow up without risks and with a good background, they are... separated from their birth parents and adopted by the Highbloods." Melzri continued.

"The man we met today, we were tasked with the acquisition of the kid from them. So, he identified us by that. We don't have a choice but to obey our sovereigns." Viessa said in a dejected tone.

'Wait, then that girl we saw yesterday. She was of highblood Denoir. Was the look in her eyes due to...'

"Is Caera Denoir also one of the victims?" I questioned them.

"Yes she is. She was separated not too long ago."

An uncomfortable silence lingered as they let us sort out our thoughts. We know how it is to grow up without a family but to be forcefully taken from one was too cruel.

"This information is really disturbing." Nico finally broke the silence.

Nico is right. Although I feel like we aren't being told the complete truth, this is enough for now. And that Caera girl, only Grey can help her in a way no one else can. I hope he does.

"We're now gonna leave you guys to your thoughts. See you tomorrow."

We sat there in silence as the partial nature of our so called rulers was revealed to us. Not wanting to dwell on this topic for now I decided to distract ourselves with other topics.

"So Nico, I've seen you working on some artifact recently. What is it about?"

"Ah that? I've been working on creating a better quality image capturing artifact that can be mass produced and even cheap in cost. It can also be used by the non mages since it is powered by mana crystals! I've been trying to replicate the polaroid technology and I'm close to figuring it out! Just a few more days and the prototype will be ready!" His mood took a complete turn on the mention of artifacts. He seemed like the same Nico he was as a kid. This brought warmth to my heart as I could not even spend my final days with him back on earth.

'Hope this happiness stays forever.'

"I didn't realise how insensitive I was yesterday. Can we talk?"

Caera's eyes widened at my request.

"Sure Grey. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Mother told me about your circumstances. I'm sorry for being ignorant about it and bringing it up at a social event yesterday."

"It's okay Grey. No need to apologise. It's not your fault, so you don't have to." she replied as I could see her eyes turning moist.

I didn't know how to comfort her so I did something anyone else would do.

"It's okay to cry, Caera. You've been through a lot. I know how it feels to be in your situation so if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be there for you okay?" I tried to comfort her.

But what happened next was something I never expected.

Caera who was looking away turned towards me with a scowl on her face, brows furrowed and tears brimming her bloodshot eyes which screamed anger.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNOW HOW IT F-FEELS TO BE IN MY SITUATION GREY?! Do you know what it feels like when you're separated from your parents? Do you know how it feels to be treated as nothing but a TOOL?! I can barely remember my parent's faces now! Do you know how it feels to listen to your supposed caretakers talk as to how to make my blood awaken through different methods?!"

Her screams came to a halt in desperate need of air. I tried to reach my hand out to her but she slapped it away, while wiping tears that were now streaming down her face. She showed so much emotion, that she felt like a different person. My body started to tremble remembering my old life..

"You were a KING in your past life! How would you know how it feels to be someone like me! You can never know how I suffered! Even now! You're a prince! You have a loving mother and a sister who you can call your own. SO DON'T YOU DAR-"

She suddenly stopped. I had my gaze planted on the ground so I hadn't seen what happened. Looking up, I saw Sylvie hugging Caera tightly around her waist as her eyes were shut as if trying to hold back tears.

"Don..Don't s-scold big bwoder...Hic..big bwoder...good person...big bwoder never happy...past life" she managed to blurt in an incoherent way amidst her fit of sobs.

I stood frozen in my spot as my whole body trembled. Not following things happening around me anymore. Holding my arm with my other hand, I tried to comfort myself as I tried to speak. But no words left my mouth as I felt a lump in my throat.

Looking at Sylvie crying hurt me more than anything while her grief flooded my senses.

I saw mother get up from her chair as she walked to the two crying girls hugging each other for comfort. She wrapped her arms around them in a motherly embrace as they cried their hearts out.

I stood in the same spot trying to sort out my thoughts.

"Caera, my dear. Why don't we listen to Grey's story first. Then you can maybe understand what he meant by his words." mom said as she caressed Caera's and Sylvie's backs.

Should I tell them? I have never told the story to anyone yet. It would be unfair to Caera if I know her story and kept her in the dark about mine.

"What do you mean Lady Sylvia?" Caera questioned mother in a confused tone.

"There's much more to him than what meets the eye my dear. And call me Sylvia, little one." she said gently patting her head. She seemed to calm down and looked at me with unsure eyes.

We all sat down at the chairs nearby while I contemplated on where to begin. Sighing to myself, not wanting to hide anything I began.

So I explained...

I described the world that I came from, the role that I played there, and the relationships that I had with an excruciating amount of details.

Never did I once look into the eyes of anyone in front of me. The lump in my throat grew bigger every time I remembered details I desperately wanted to forget.

Headmaster Wilbeck's murder, Vera's betrayal, Cecilia's death, Nico's hate and the hollow shell of a person I was for 20 years used as nothing but a tool.

The tears that flowed from my eyes while telling my story soon dried up midway, a hollow feeling encasing my entire being as I continued on...

I couldn't tell how much time had passed, but by the fact that I felt mild pangs of hunger in my stomach, it seemed like it had been several hours.

I waited, waited for them to tell me how disgusting I was as a person and hate me. I was afraid to lose the warmth my mother had shown me, afraid to lose the sibling I had grown to love, afraid to lose the first possible friend I could have made.

I felt footsteps approaching. I closed my eyes as it stopped in front of me.

To my surprise, I was pulled into a warm embrace of frail yet strong arms. My head came to rest on the shoulder of the one who embraced me. Opening my eyes, my vision was greeted by a curtain of navy blue hair.

"C-Caera?? W-Why" managing to speak through my shocked state.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Grey. I said awful things to you without knowing anything about you. You've been through so much and still manage to care for others and smile through the pain. I-I'm really sorry" she said in a solemn tone as I felt my shoulders get wet from her tears. Her body was slightly trembling.

"You've been through a lot too, Caera. You don't have to apologise." I said as I returned the hug. I could feel her melt into my embrace as relief washed over her.

Unshed tears finally left my eyes as I felt relief, relief that there were people who were willing to accept me despite my origins.

As we broke the hug, I could see a smile on her face, the brightest one I had seen her make until now. I also noticed that she had really long blue eyelashes which I hadn't before. They only helped highlight her moist ruby eyes against her pale skin.

'She's going to be a real heartbreaker in the future.'

"Thank you Grey. I hope we can be friends." she said, looking at me with hope.

"If you don't mind this old man, sure" I said in a teasing manner.

"You were old in your world, Grey. You have lived the same amount of time in this world as I have. So try to accept your new life"

I was surprised at this comment. Sometimes the most complex of problems have simple answers. But some part of me was glad too. Maybe in due time, I can really accept myself as a new person, but right now it's not possible.

"I'll try. But are you sure you are 8 years old? You sound mature" I tried to lighten the mood.

"I'll take that as a compliment." she giggled.

'Hehe~'

Sylvie's voice came mentally. Looking over she had a coy smile on her face which didn't quite match her age.

'What is it Sylvie?'

'Nothinnnng...for now~'

She replied in a playful manner before running off and resuming her playtime.

"So I was right." Mother's voice came in a soft hum. I wanted to ask what but I knew she would tell me on her own if it was important. I remembered something I wanted to ask.

"Mom, how did Sylvie know about my past life? She also knew my feelings of that time."

"The bond you guys formed not only helps transmit thoughts and emotions but also the memories which have a deep rooted emotional effect on your mind. Be it love, hate, despair or regret. And looking at Sylvie's response, it's safe to say you only felt negative emotions throughout your life. Am I right?"

I was shocked at this. Would Sylvie suffer too if my emotions get the better of me? Should I cut my connection to protect her mind? My silence seemed to have answered my mother's questions.

"Grey, my son, you were thinking about going back to your old ways weren't you? Don't do that. Do you think she would be happy about that? Just fill your life with more blissful moments like these. Your mind will be at ease. And you have people to help you with that." She said looking at Caera who smiled in response.

"Thank you mom. And yes I should learn to depen-" A low grumble from my stomach caught everyone's attention.

"I guess I'm hungry?" I said sheepishly scratching the back of my head.

Mother and Caera chucked at my actions before calling the maids to get us some refreshments.

Caera was visibly more comfortable with me as her nervous and cold face was replaced by a happy and expressive one.

She was happily munching on the snacks and tea like a little kid, and I wasn't any better. Hunger is a dangerous foe. Caera still had to get used to the etiquette but she was doing surprisingly well.

Sylvie jumped and sat on my lap and demanded I feed her cookies. She hummed happily munching on the cookies while I wiped off the crumbs that stuck around her mouth. So adorable.

Caera then started explaining how her adoptive family worked. She said that it had been only two weeks since the Denoirs adopted her and the only ones in their household who treated her like family was her brother Sevren and her personal maid Nessa. Her mother Lenora made her uncomfortable, while her father tried to put on a facade and her other brother Lauden was impassive.

I was glad that she had people to rely on in such a household. The simple thought of her being sad is painful. Not wanting to see someone go through what I experienced in my past life.

And mainly the guilt of not being there for my friends at their lowest. Maybe it's self gratification, or maybe I want to do it out of selflessness, or maybe it's a bit of both. Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure.

'I'm never going to abandon her when she needs me.'

Watching over the three only brought warmth to my heart. My daughter, my son and this girl Caera.

After this incident, I was sure. And looks like Sylvie noticed it too. I should only guide them in a good way, help them realise things on their own. Because...

'She'll grow to be his anchor. One day.'