Color

Kael entered the cafeteria, rubbing his wrist to adjust his glove. Everyone turned to him instantly. He widened his eyes as he searched for Valencia. Once he spotted her purple hair, he smiled and headed toward her. He reached for her hair as he sat—

Adon pulled Valencia away. Kael held his breath with his eyes widened as he turned to Adon.

“What are you doing?” Kael questioned.

“Did you blackmail her?” Adon asked.

Kael and Valencia looked at Adon, baffled.

“A… what? Blackmail? Why would I do that to my wife?”

“Yeah… why would he do that to me? At the very least, he would rather cringly put a rose on his lips as he confessed only…”

Everyone’s jaws dropped as they looked at Valencia. Kael broke into laughter as he shoved Adon’s hand away.

“What she said… I would devote myself in the most fashionable way to propose to her. I obviously wouldn’t blackmail my dear wife.”

Adon growled, glaring at Kael. She slapped Kael’s hand as he pulled away.

“That’s impossible. She’s an F-Guide. She definitely has no power to say no to an S-Esper!” Adon argued.

Kael chuckled, getting irritated.

“Adon, mind your own business… she’s my wife now,” he demanded.

Adon clenched her fists before slamming her hands on the table loudly. Kael flinched.

“Commander, as much as I respect you, I respect her, too! If you dare take advantage of her, we will be by her side and support her divorce from you!”

Kael slowly frowned, flabbergasted. Valencia’s eyes widened. The silence lingered as Kael’s lip twitched, but no words came out. Then, Valencia burst into laughter. She turned and hid her face behind the table, cackling. Everyone paused and stared at her laugh with confusion. Adon raised both of her hands as her fingers cupped upward like claws. Her temples appeared with frustration.

“Your Grace, I’m being serious! Commander is capable of taking advantage—”

“You all got it wrong… even though our first meeting wasn’t that romantic, I was the one who agreed to marry him,” Valencia explained, unable to contain her laugh. She looked at Adon as she wiped her tears on the corner of her eye. She smiled at Adon as everyone blushed at her genuine smile. “Kael is very kind to me.”

Adon’s eyes twitched uncontrollably.

“Are… you sure he’s kind?” Adon asked. Kael’s eyes darkened as he lowered himself behind Valencia. Everyone else screeched and pulled away, hugging each other around Jun. Adon pointed behind Valencia hesitantly. “He’s so unkind… and looks like a monster.”

Valencia furrowed her brows and turned to him. Kael smiled warmly at her and tilted his head.

“My dear wife, maybe spending time with these people will be a bad influence on you… let’s return to the tent,” he commanded.

“But… they helped me find food… when you didn’t,” she replied.

The word “didn’t” struck Kael’s heart.

“Yes… he’s truly heartless. How dare he condemn us as ‘bad influence’ when we tried to feed her?!” William chimed.

“Narcissistic…” Adon muttered.

Kael hissed at them. They jumped. Valencia chuckled and stood.

“Thank you for the meal. It seems like I have to go now,” she said, pushing Kael away as he kept his angry face at them.

Kael slowly grabbed her hand and led her back to the tent. As they entered, he let go and hurried to the bed. He sighed heavily as he planted his face on the pillow.

“How dare those incompetents speak as if I tortured them in hell?”

Valencia choked on her laugh before she sat beside him. She patted his back.

“Maybe you did… for all I know, you’re capable of doing that,” she replied. Kael turned around and grabbed her hand. He pulled her down. “Kael—”

“Since when did my wife know me so well? I remembered you never really asked any questions about me,” he wondered.

Valencia flinched, flushing as she pressed her cheek against his chest.

“What kind of questions should I ask…?”

Kael let out a small laugh as he nudged his cheek against her head, snuggling.

“I’m not sure… anything like ‘what do you like?’ or ‘what is your favorite color?’”

Valencia smiled faintly.

“Then what do you like? And what is your favorite color?” she asked.

He pulled her closer as his cheeks flared up. The weight that had been pressing on his shoulders finally lifted.

“I like… the sparkles in your eyes. The purple sparkles that shine like stars in those spring green eyes…” he answered softly. Valencia’s heart thudded. “I guess you can say… I am beginning to like the color purple.”

He slowly closed his eyes. For a moment, everything was quiet. Then, before Valencia could process his words, he began snoring. She blinked at him. Before she realized it, she began to chuckle and leaned her head on her hands against his chest, watching him.

“Are you sure? You must have said that after seeing my purple hair…” she whispered. Then she blushed. “I guess… I like yellow as well… the color that glows around you when you stubbornly try to protect everyone you care about.”

Watching him sleep made her feel safe. Strange... when had she started wanting to stay like this? She closed her eyes and fell asleep on his chest.

A shadow stood beside them inside the tent. It looked down at them before sighing. Then a thud—

“Eureon…” Vrastos’ voice called. The shadow paused before turning. “Are you Eureon?”

Vrastos appeared by the table, staring at the shadow. His jaw tightened.

“Eureon is dead… How can a shadow duplicate itself as Eureon?” Vrastos muttered, his cheek twitching. His hand opened as a void spear appeared. He pointed it at the shadow hesitantly. “Reveal yourself…”

The shadow stayed silent and looked at Valencia once more.

“Now!” Vrastos demanded.

“Vrastos…” the shadow finally said. Vrastos gulped, frozen in horror. “Take her out of here…”

“Why?! She came here to finish what you failed to do—”

“And what makes you think she’s capable of doing so?”

“Eureon, I’m not trying to put your daughter in danger…” Vrastos claimed.

“Take her… out of here.”

“No…” Vrastos mumbled.

The shadow of Eureon stared at Vrastos with hollow, lightless eyes, as though death had stolen the brightest days of his life. Before Vrastos took a step forward, the shadow flew away.

“Eureon!”

“Don’t look for my aura core… it’ll only bring disaster.”

The voice faded in the wind as the tent’s entrance flapped. Vrastos clenched his fist as the spear faded.

“What do you mean by ‘disaster’? Your death already brought disaster…” he retorted. He glanced at Valencia before disappearing into the Void dimension.

As Valencia and Kael slept, a knightly figure walked to a corner of the camp, staring at the blue gem. He grabbed his white with a ruby sword and clashed the tip of his sheath with the gem, cracking it. His hand trembled as lightning from the magic struck it momentarily before nothing. He groaned, grabbing his injured hand. Then he scurried away as he searched around.

Just as the knight hid inside the base, more monsters appeared by the broken barrier. Among them, one stood apart—an old, robed figure carrying a staff. It grinned, its deeply wrinkled face unsettling against its pale, almost human skin.

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