- Fragments of Past -

"Her name is...Kisesia. She's my younger cousin."

"Your...cousin?"

"Yeah. Kisesia's my mom's younger sister's daughter. My mom took her in and she lived with us after losing her mother in the fight between families" Khun explained. "We have different parents but since we grew up together since we were little, the three of us were like real siblings.

Kisesia looked up to my older sister. Because my sister was the closest to being one of the Zahard Princesses from our family. But my sister was very hard to get along because of her very cold personality.

I grew up with expectations from my mom. Not so much expectations about me, more like expectations as a strategist to raise my sister to the position of a Zahard Princess. Kisesia knew that and she told me that she would also help my sister to be a Zahard Princess. I allowed it because I thought it wouldn't hurt.

Kisesia had remarkable swordsmanship even at a young age and she used that skills of hers to eliminate my sister's rivals. I don't know about the other families, but in ours, fighting like this was part of daily life."

'No wonder he didn't have a proper childhood' Charlotte thought. 'These people should learn how to survive the moment they were born otherwise they will be devoured.'

Charlotte knew that because of the simple desire to survive, the people in the tower were very vigilant and each of them was strong. Yes, some of them may behaved like jerks and unworthy bastards but that doesn't mean they didn't have their own pains.

'To think that neither of them had a proper childhood makes me sad.....'

If only there was something she could do about it. But could the hourglass on her hand could reverse back to hundred years earlier?

"Then one day, a problem arose. One of my sister's greatest rivals suddenly appeared from an unexpected place. Her name was Maria .

And..she approached me in order to beat my sister. Because she thought that I know all of my sister's weaknesses. And I accepted her proposal. I can't tell you why but I had my own reason for doing so.

Then ultimately, I got my sister disqualified and succeeded in making her a Zahard Princess. And as the result of that shock, my sister took her own life.

... Kisesia probably hated me because of that incident. I thought that all of that had ended once I entered the tower...but seeing that she has appeared as my sworn enemy, I must have been anxious that she would appear somewhere and attack me."

"............"

The boat was quiet now.

"Well...that's that" he said with a smile, acting as if it wasn't a big deal. He looked at the one who was curious of his past and asked, "By the way, Endorsi...why don't you tell us about your sworn enemy? I heard from Bam about the thing who appeared from that gem, I mean."

He was referring to the yellow gem that Endorsi was wearing. That yellow gem was the Snake Charmer.

"What is this, a background check?"

"I told you everything. You owe me something in return."

Endorsi sighed, "Fine. Well...as I'm sure you know, I didn't have parents around when I was born so I wandered around a lot. Then one day, as I was wondering, there was this couple that took me in. They were very ordinary and good people considering that they were from the middle region. For a brief time, I was raised as an ordinary girl.

But then one day, this thing appeared before me. It looked at me and said that I have talents worthy of becoming a princess. Then it told me to keep the gem that it was in. It said it would help me become a princess, naturally, I brought this gem home with me.

And that night, that thing killed my adoptive parents.

Well, it didn't directly admit that it killed my parents but I'm sure of it. It thought they would get on my way on becoming a princess. After that, I did what it said and became the daughter of a ruined family that was trying to raise a princess.

And in that place, I eliminated the other competitors, became one of the Zahard Princesses and then, the creature disappeared. It was only after I became a princess that I realized that this was all its plan."

"...so you're saying now that right now, you're walking around with the one that killed your parents?" Khun asked.

Endorsi answered with a smile, "Well, so what? It's not like they were my real parents and maybe if I lived with them, I would have remained as an ordinary girl for my whole life. How could a talented person like me live such a life? It would be such a waste."

She lifted the gem that was tied around her neck like bracelet and continued her words with a smile like everything was not a problem, "I don't know what you guys think, but I'm very grateful this thing enabled me to be a Zahard Princess."

One didn't need to think that much to see that Endorsi was lying.

'If Endorsi really didn't hate that snake, it wouldn't appear as her sworn enemy.'

Charlotte had always thought that Endorsi detested her position. If she truly seek for the glory and blessing of being close with the second highest position in this tower, then she wouldn't do such a reckless act like dating a slayer candidate. It was a huge crime already. The one crime she committed was more than enough to have Zahard to cut her head off and kill the rest.

'I think what Endorsi wants is freedom. She wants to be that ordinary girl who isn't restrained by anything. She enjoys her ordinary life but now she needs to live with rules and everything.'

She inwardly sighed in pity and looked away.

The sky was vast, this world was boundless. Under the vast sky and in this boundless world, how many people suffered? It was very easy for one to get hurt, no matter how strong they were. She was curious....

'Then if it's easy for one to get hurt, I wonder whether the one who controls everything in this tower could also feel hurt right now? Ah, he has already experienced it. The feeling of wanting to obtain something or more like someone, but could no longer have the way to see her again.'

"Anyway, now this is your turn, Charlotte!" said Endorsi.

"What?" Charlotte asked as she crossed her arms.

"I mean, among all of us, you are the most special one. You are someone whose soul came from the outside, right? A place that all of us will never be able to go and see" said Endorsi who sounded rather excited. "Come on, tell us about your past!"

"My past...."

Charlotte pondered about it carefully.

Of course, she would have been happy to tell them about her past. But Charlotte's feelings towards her past was fear and she wished to forget about her past. If she told them about her past...wouldn't they know her weakness and her weak side?

She looked at Bam as she thought of it.

"My past... what's so interesting about my past?" She asked with a proud and playful smile. The young girl proudly said, "Unlike you guys who are struggling to survive since birth, I spend my childhood by teasing people around and creating troubles. I could get whatever I wanted. The only thing that I hate about my past was that I have to go to school."

"Is school really that hateful...?" Bam innocently asked.

"Yeah, brother! You haven't been there so you don't know how terrifying the subjects, the teachers and home works are!" Charlotte answered, looking annoyed. "They are very heartless and strict, taking away my freedom for more than four hours!"

"Is it really that terrifying?"

Charlotte nodded her head quickly.

"... but that is somehow different from how Altaira told me."

".............."

She could not believe her ears.

'What?'

Altaira and Bam were having a normal conversation? What the heck? How could a kitten and a puppy possibly have a normal conversation without glaring and beating each other?

'...is the world ending?'

"Ah!" He noticed his sister's expression and asked her, "Could it be he was lying to me? I know it! He isn't a good person!"

The school that Altaira described to both Bam and Khun who were curious about it was a place for learning, studying and make friends. He described school generally without involving his feelings. He said that it was a place for Charlotte to create troubles and he also mentioned that his younger sister was rather popular in that place. Not popular because she was smart, because unlike her brother who always has good grades, she was well-known because she was a pain in the neck for teachers.

Seeing how Charlotte was shocked, bewildered and suddenly became quiet without any attempt to argue, Khun couldn't help but to laugh and earned himself the glare from the girl. She was asking him what made him laugh like that through that glare.

"You really hate school that badly, huh?" He asked. "Bam, I think the one who is trying to deceive you isn't Altaira, but that little brat."

"Who are you calling little brat? School is indeed that hard!"

"I've heard it all from Altaira about your behaviors. And I know that it's not actually that hard. It's just you are too lazy and missed all the knowledge that could make you smart. No wonder you are so dumb."

"I am dumb?!" She echoed in an offensive tone, "You called your life- savior dumb? Then don't you feel slightest ashamed that you are in one team with such a dumb girl and even got saved by her?"

Before his sister could attack someone wildly or bite Khun to death, Bam had already taken actions and held her back.

"That's because all you have is muscle and not brain. Come to think of it, it is not a surprise that you and that alligator are close friends. Both of you rely on muscles and not brain."

Rak at the back was wondering, he didn't say a word or do anything. All he did was watching this pair of blue turtle and black turtle were arguing again like usual. And somehow, he was mocked again by this despicable blue turtle.

"K-- Khun......!" Bam really wanted him to stop teasing his sister right now. Because the more he spoke, the more fuel he was adding to this fire. He could tell that right now, his sister had a vein popping on her head and inwardly cursed Khun who she was worried for his life some time ago.

'This ungrateful bastard--'

"Yes! I indeed rely on my impulse and reckless behavior to solve problems as I don't have talent to manipulate and lie to every single person who I see! What of it? If you have a problem with it, beat me first and we'll talk about my behavior!"

"I don't lie to every single person I see" Khun defended himself. "Besides, fighting you is not worth it."

"Indeed as I could kill you within three seconds."

"Arrogance will hit you back instead."

"This arrogance of mine comes with real strength, not some stupid tricks!" Charlotte said, finally released herself from Bam.

"That hurts...." Bam mumbled, looking sad.

Endorsi observed Bam and was relieved that there was no scratch on him.

"You couldn't stop both of them from arguing. Just let them be."

"But what if they fight for real?"

"Is this the first time they've argued like this?"

"..........no."

"And based on your experiences and judgement, do you think Charlotte will blindly attack Khun?"

".........no."

"Then what are you worried about?"

What made him worried was that usually after arguing, these two will hold grudges for some time before forgetting it and until they forget the grudge between the two of them, they will insult each other whenever they have a chance.

"Look, so what if I am lazy and reckless?" She asked him solemnly. "Even if I beat up people randomly or buried people alive, what does it have to do with you? Nothing, right?"

His teasing smirk grew wider suddenly.

"I don't know" he spoke. "As far as I could remember, someone once said to me that she is very interested with all my business. Since she really cares for me a lot, I should also care about her businesses, right?"

That didn't only surprised Charlotte, but also surprised the others, especially Bam.

Khun's words literally meant that it was her fault from the beginning to be nosy and right now, she had no right to blame him for being nosy as well. Who asked her to interfere with his matters first?

"........."

"T- That...! Since when have I said those words?" She asked, somehow flustered and started to blush in embarrassment.

"You want to know when?" He asked back, pressuring Charlotte and made her panicked even more as he got closer. "Really?"

"I would never say those unreasonable words! Why should I care about you from the beginning? Go away!"

"Oh, I'm hurt. It's fine already that you create troubles by relying on impulse, but now you are running away from your responsibility? That's worse."

"What responsibility? I said get away from me! Don't get close! Your slandering disease is infectious!"

"I still remember the event happened that day really clearly and vividly. Where you spoke those words or when, the time and every single word that you say, I remember them very, very clearly."

"Would you please not follow me? If I jump from this boat, will you also follow me? No, right?"

"Depends, whether you want to acknowledge your responsibility or not?"

"KHUN AGUERO AGNES!" She turned around and shouted his full name. "Are you mad?!"

He just shrugged, unbothered and uncaring.

At this point, Charlotte was thinking about returning this guy to Kisesia.

The others were quiet, fallen into silence as they watched how Khun was calmly following Charlotte who was walking around to boat to stay on distance with him. However, unfortunately for her, if she wanted to play hide- and- seek, the boat was not a right place.

Seeing her panicked made him smile. Teasing people was indeed fun, Khun thought. He glanced towards the driver who, at the time, said that they have reached their destination.

He smirked wider and looked at her who was hiding behind Bam, "You are quite lucky. But if you really forget your words... I could always remind you about that."

He spoke with a charming and sincere- looking smile that offended her further. Charlotte was pulling her own hair in frustration and squatted down while he walked off the boat at ease. While Bam was trying to understand what Khun had just said earlier, Rak patted Charlotte's shoulder and assured his turtle friend.

"Come on", Endorsi extended her hand to her. "We should go."

Charlotte pouted. But still took her hand and stood up, leaving together while holding her hand.

As what the driver said, they have indeed reached their destination. From outside, their destination this time looked like a town. A town filled with large and unique golden buildings.

"That's the town on this stage."

The town that they arrived was called as the Town of Golden Dome.

"Wow...it looks like we found a pretty decent place this time..." said Endorsi who was holding Charlotte. She glanced at Charlotte and said to her, "Don't pout anymore. Bam is not going to be happy if he knows you keep pouting. I'll help you get revenge with Khun later."

"Say, the best way to revenge against someone is to beat him in his best field, right?" Charlotte asked Endorsi, still holding her hand.

"But his best field is exactly something that you lack the most" Endorsi reminded her, making the younger girl even sad and gloomy. "Honestly, was he telling the truth?"

"What?"

"That you cared for his business first."

Her cheeks reddened again as she looked away and pouted once more, "That... I don't even remember about it anymore. I mean, I have so much to remember. How could I remember those words?"

"So you feel like you might have spoken it before, but you forget about it?"

"He might it sound convincing......"

"Depending on your relationship with him, you probably tease him first. And depending how he loves to hold grudge, he probably was waiting for one day like today to tease you back. It's your fault then."

Charlotte could only sob, thinking why her memories were poor.

In another boat, Noah and Altaira wanted to jump off from the boat together but somehow it ended up with a fight. Estrella casually pushed the two of them and left first with Estelle and Celeste without the fear of being skinned alive by the two of them. The three girls roamed around the town, leaving the two childish men behind without a care. Raisin could only sigh at their behavior, deciding that if they were in the town, he would pretend not to know them to save his dignity.

A white creature approached them, "Hello, warriors. I'm the head of this town. I will guide you so that you can receive the quest."

"... be careful, Bam" said Hansung Yu. "This is Big Breeder Hwang's territory."

"... what?"

"He's the most leader- like even among the Big Breeders. Although I still haven't seen him...for now, let's split into teams and look for our companions. We can beat the quest after that. I'll follow the head of the town first" he suggested.

"Sure. Let's do that. Endorsi, take Rak to the highest place around here."

Endorsi sighed before she agreed and let Charlotte go. It wasn't like she had any other choices.

"Charlotte!" Bam called Charlotte who watched Endorsi go and gestured her to come to his direction. "Come here."

When Charlotte arrived, he held his sister's hand and patted her head, telling her to stay close to him and to not get lost in the big city later on. Charlotte just nodded her head with her eyes closed, enjoying her brother's loving gesture.

Icarus then looked for Bam. When she called Bam's name, she noticed that Charlotte was sharply glaring at her. Icarus sweated dropped seeing Charlotte standing behind Bam was glaring at her.

'What does this woman want from calling my brother?' Charlotte silently thought as she angrily and fiercely glared at Icarus.

'She doesn't know who I really am, right...?' Icarus worriedly thought. 'No, it's impossible. My appearance and voice have changed. She won't be able to tell who I am.'

"Is there something wrong?" Bam asked her, holding Charlotte's hand tighter to tell her to restrain herself. Charlotte just looked away, secretly unhappy.

"Can I have personal time for a minute?" Icarus asked. "There's something that I want to check in this town..."

"Something that you want to check...?" Bam echoed.

"Yes. It will only take a moment! I'll make sure that I'll return immediately if any fight happens!" said Icarus.

Before Bam or Khun who had just arrived could even reply to that, Charlotte happily said, "Of course! No problem!"

"Really? Thank you!"

'I know it! She doesn't know!'

Charlotte nodded her head and waved both her hands to Icarus with a very happy and excited smile, "Just take your time and check whatever you want to check carefully!"

'It's not like any of us is going to miss you anyway-!'

Khun was unsure what to say about this girl. One second ago, she was glaring at Icarus like she wanted to kill her. Right now, she was smiling excitedly as if Icarus was her friend. She really detested Icarus, he noted that.