Alan felt his consciousness floating in the void. Though he couldn't feel or sense anything, he knew he wasn't dead. A tether kept him tied to the body, but having the information without the ability to do anything wasn't too comforting. He wasn’t resigned to wait for someone to rescue him and went with the only plan he had. Focusing his chaotic mind, he concentrated on the tether's origin and moved in the direction.

Unbeknownst to him, the attempt on his life was still unfolding, and the blade crawled towards him at a snail-like pace. In fact, everything in the surroundings moved at the same speed. Even though Alan wasn’t in control of his body, his eyes moved from the light barrier protecting Lily to the flames Arlo emitted, and finally, the weapon aimed at him. Two sinister red eyes glowed in the dark backdrop with their gaze focused on him.

Alan's lip curled up when he noticed them. "Persistent bastards."

The voice differed from the usual childish tone, sounding hollow and ancient. The words didn't seem to come from his mouth and resembled an echo of a distant person's shout.

"Devour."

[Activating a fragment of the Eye of Annihilation]

A cube-shaped object materialized in front of him. If Alan had been in control of the body, he would've been shocked to see the object responsible for both his suffering and eventual freedom in his previous life. It was the same artifact Vetang and the other scientists unsuccessfully tried to pry secrets from for over three decades.

It remained indistinct like the object wasn't physically present and lacked any visible signs of activity, but those with keen eyes would've noticed the surrounding darkness being absorbed by it. Unlike everything else, it functioned at normal speed, at least with respect to him.

The development caused the glowing red eyes to widen and the blade sped up. The feeble attempt at resistance made Alan sneer. Its actions were too slow for the small bump in speed to pose an actual threat. By the time the weapon reached him, the Eye of Destruction would've long since finished its mission. "It’s high time I taught you all a lesson. You seem to have forgotten that the successor is under our protection. If you .... hmm?"

The explosion of power from the castle made him cock his head. Understanding the origin, he gasped. "She's a Purger!?"

Another voice, a female one joined him. "It looks like your intervention was unnecessary. I can’t believe those idiots think the Amaris Duchy will bow to pressure. It’s a pipe dream."

"It's not our place to interfere in human politics. We should get ready to welcome her to our ranks. After she refines her power, she'll be our equal."

"True. Let's leave this place to her. She’s more than enough to handle it."

The presence of the two people vanished, and the Eye of Annihilation got reabsorbed into the body.

Alan's consciousness that had been persistently moving forward felt a strong pull from the tether. Out of nowhere, he regained control over his body. Rapidly blinking his eyes, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Soldiers rushed about and shouted at the top of their voices, causing chaos. Quite a few of them surrounded the shell-shocked Kora and Adrianna. Understanding the severity of the situation, they fearfully gazed at everyone.

He didn't needlessly intervene in their situation and complicate the matter. No matter if they were innocent or guilty, someone would question them before deciding on what to do. If they didn’t have anything to do with the assassination, they would be safe.

His thoughts wandered to the weird state he had been in. The ease with which he lost control over his body and the single tether tying them together made him wonder if the connection he had with the physique was more fragile than he imagined. If an event caused the tether to break, would he have to roam in the void? Imagining the absolute nothingness, he shuddered. No matter what it took, he decided to stay out of that place. For a moment, he half expected the system to add a new quest. That’s how it usually acted, but when it did nothing, he breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his insecurities about its objective, he depended on it quite a bit. It may not be such a good thing, but he didn't see an alternative. He vowed to change the dynamic after becoming more self-sufficient.

His attention shifted to the black statue in front of him. He couldn't find another word to describe it. The blade hovering an inch from his head, black smoke from the exploding swords, and shards of metal; everything stood frozen as if someone had pressed the pause button. The glowing eyes were the only things missing from the surroundings, but no one seemed to have noticed it in the first place.

Alan moved forward and touched a small leaf suspended above the smoke. It resisted his attempts to push it and hovered in the same position. Before he could make sense of the scene, something tackled into him, and he tumbled to the ground.

"Hey!" he protested.

Lily's pallid face popped into his vision. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes roamed over his body and, her expression lightened when she didn't notice any injuries. The incident must've terrified her. While there had been another assassination attempt in the past, she hadn't seen it with her eyes nor had she experienced anything similar.

“I’m fine,” he said and patted her shoulder. He didn't miss her shivering palms or her jerky movements. Staring at the red eyes glowing in the darkness, he knew his dream for a peaceful life wouldn't succeed. With the duchy's precarious situation and the repeated assassination attempts, a chaotic life awaited him. In order to protect his family and keep himself safe, he needed power and for that, he needed strength and knowledge. Tightening his fist, he vowed to train harder. He didn’t want to powerlessly look on if his family ever faced trouble.

A change in the soldier’s demeanor, made him turn towards the castle's entrance. For a moment, he didn't recognize the person walking towards them. From the usual blond color, Alaya's hair turned icy white. In fact, it appeared to be made out of actual ice as it shimmered in the light. When she moved towards him, the temperature dropped. Even the bright morning sun failed to stave off the chill. After coming close, her icy blue eyes scanned him from top to bottom.

Satisfied with her examination, she nodded. "Wait in your rooms. I'll deal with this and join you."

Even her personality and vibes felt cold. Usually, she would’ve taken them close and allayed their fears, but her present actions felt distant. Still, neither of them uttered a peep and followed her instructions.

"Fern, stay with them."

Lily yelped when an adorable white cat jumped onto her shoulder and nuzzled at her neck. "Meowwww."

After getting over her surprise, she gazed at the tiny creature with shining eyes. "Mom, can I keep it?"

His sister's sudden actions threw him off balance. They hadn't even moved out of the attack zone, and she already got over her fear and diverted her attention to the cat. Her ability to overcome negative emotions was one of a kind. For the first time, he envied her carefree personality and the gift to keep herself happy no matter the situation. On the other hand, his mind kept going over everything that happened, with questions and assumptions constantly colliding in his mind. It would take a long time for him to calm down.

It didn't appear as if his mother agreed with his thoughts.

"Can't you be serious for once?" she reprimanded.

"I am being serious. Can I please keep it?"

“Not about that. Take a look around and” —she opened her mouth about to say something but paused and ended up changing the topic— “Nevermind. The cat’s name is Fern, and he's my bonded, so you can’t have him."

She raised her palm, forestalling her questions. "Arlo will explain what a bonded means."

"Take them into the castle," she instructed the butler. Her gaze fell on the scared Kora and Adrianna who looked like they were about to pass out from the tension. "Take them too and put them in a different room."

Adrianna flinched. "Y-Your Grace, the attempt had nothing to do with us. I didn't know the sword—"

"I know. You aren't going to be punished, but I want you to answer any questions I have truthfully. Don't withhold anything you understand?"

They frantically nodded. “Of course.”

Before leaving, Arlo looked like he wanted to say something, but eventually bowed and led them into the castle.

**********

Alaya gazed at her children's retreating back. "If you hadn't stopped me, this wouldn’t have happened."

Both Kayden and Niall had joined her. The surrounding soldiers knew the conversations wasn’t meant for their ears and moved away.

"Retaliation wasn't the correct solution," Kayden said. "It still isn't. Our position is precarious at best and attacking them would've offended a lot of powers. We should wait for the peace talks to succeed before making any big moves."

Alaya's eyes narrowed and the surrounding temperature plummeted. "Even now you're stopping me? What kind of message do you think our inaction sends? Feel free to attack Alan as many times as you want. You won't have to worry about the consequences as we're too scared to retaliate."

"I'm saying we have other options."

"Meaning?"

"Did you think over Maur's suggestion?"

Previously, Alaya would’ve rejected the idea without any second thoughts, but something stopped her. It was an excellent plan with one major caveat. The danger it posed to Alan was the only thing she vehemently opposed. Unable to come to a decision, she decided to postpone it. "Let's talk about it later."

"I know it's risky, but protecting Alan from him is impossible," Niall warned. "Unless one of us is always around the kid, he'll find a way."

"Later."

"Fine," Niall sighed.

"I don't understand why they're targetting Alan." Kayden frowned. "Didn't they promise to stay out of human politics, and we, in turn, promised to stay out of theirs. Why're they breaking it now?"

Alaya snorted. “If it were a normal situation, they wouldn’t have cared, but once it involves him, they go crazy.”

“Who?”

Alaya gazed at the sky and sighed. "The Overseer."