But no answer.

- My uncle? Avine insisted gently, but firmly. Then the latter finally deigned to move slightly, but his eyes were still fixed on the intense drawing.

- I heard you. I felt your footprints, my dear.

- Ah," exclaimed Avine, laughing weakly. At least you still recognize people. I was really afraid that if you stayed in this strange room, you wouldn't be able to. Not to mention the unfortunate Brok who has been tormenting and missing you for days.

- Don't exaggerate. protested his uncle, unable to stop an amused laugh. I'm just a little... different these days, that's all.

- And in what way? -

- A little melancholy and I might as well say nostalgic are filling me up.

- Really? inquired the young magician skeptically. I don't think it's just that.

- What else then?

The great magician sighed, his mind returning to a place, or more precisely a past, ignored by all the beings belonging to his new life, and which in spite of himself, he missed terribly.

- I remember a long time ago when I was, you know, he shook his head to find the right word. Whole.

- Well, I don't know about that time. Affirmed his "niece" calmly, considering her uncle's distant expression with a disturbing jealousy. But it must have been exciting.

- If only you knew how exciting. He confirmed in a broken voice.

- But just looking at you," the young girl continued, "I feel that Bork was right, that many of us are worried. It even seems that a lot of your joy is gone. He nodded slowly without even having the decency to deny it.

- Who knows... maybe that's really the case. But that's not what really matters.

They looked together at the brightly colored canvas.

- Is it because of him?" she finally said. Uncle Dobert breathed in, then sat up and spoke with touching volubility.

- Did you know, my dear, that before I came here to Kolod, I was a close advisor to a ruler?

More and more surprised, Avine shook her head.

- No, I didn't know that, that's fantastic! she exclaimed, excited, and consumed with curiosity.

- Isn't it? It happened just before I came here to live on Kolod.

- Tell me about it! You owe me for telling me such a secret. Which ruler were you so close to?

Uncle Dobert's expression turned to one of ecstasy as he recalled his cherished past.

- A ruler whose father was an emperor. You've probably already heard of Venezia? The empire of the night.

- Yes, I did. Avine nodded.

- His planet was much the same. It had been one of the most prosperous and envied that was, that it eventually fell and was abandoned.

Dobert shook his head, his gaze clouded, seeing again those old years and the probably inevitable fall of this unique empire. As well as the separation with this dear one who had left him.

- He was so young and impetuous, unable to be anything but himself - whole. He was capable of anything that could be conceived, the best and the worst. The throne was waiting for him. But probably everything was a little too heavy for him in the end. I finally recognized it though long after he had done it himself and tried to explain it to me. Whether it was his great magic, his personality or his incredible intelligence. He did great and irreparable things, he did them with the conviction that by his way of doing things, thinking with certainty that he would never regret any of his mistakes. But in the end, he had no choice but to assume all his actions. And because of that, we lost him. The young warrior radiated and threw through his winged beast, to his enemy of the darkness, a gigantic bursting fire that annihilated the latter without leaving anything. Then the picture changed and returned to the beginning of the battle. Repeating itself tirelessly.

- He is beautiful, isn't he?

Avine saw his young face, thin, determined and unmistakably cruel. She nodded slowly, already hopelessly entranced at first sight. - Yes, he is.

- I loved him, Avine. Uncle Dobert admitted only that it was already as obvious as the immeasurable magic of this young ruler painted on a whole wall with an unimaginable consecration. No one ever knew how much. He was the most important person in the universe to me. And you know what, only I understood that he had a passion for water. Or maybe that's what I wanted to believe. His uncle apparently had an imperious and vital need to believe that he was sharing a secret known only to him with this fallen prince in order to continue to convince himself that he had, even for a moment, occupied a place in his existence, obviously doomed to failure. Then Airine understood why the other walls were decorated with these diverse, moving and intense paintings, whether it was a wild ocean, a soothing lake or a large river surrounded by a deep and colorful jungle where creatures of various races and colors were frolicking.

- I watched him grow and become what he was, and what he was meant to be.

He looked down for a moment.

- I think he tried once, I don't know why, to change, to get out of his disastrous nature. But in the end, nothing could stop him. Nothing, really. And certainly not me. His fate was simply inexorable.

- I see. Ariadne said, thinking that this was what she had to say, although she didn't understand anything. Not yet.

- And then... he left.

Never in her life had Avine heard such a desolate tone from anyone. So desolate that she didn't know what to say or do, and just stood there silently and watched the minutes tick by, trying to soothe even a little of this deep, secret pain that she had no conception of, and that nothing, in the end, would heal.

Then, she looked at this majestic being again, who was probably destined for great things, but unfortunately suffered an endless fall before reaching the much desired supremacy, and thus caused her uncle irreparable grief forever. As Dobert said, the young ruler was beautiful, more than that, magnificent. But despite his dazzlement, she was not totally convinced about his soul, for something about him disturbed her and made her feel deeply uneasy.

She didn't know exactly what bothered her so much, perhaps that strange dark gleam in his deep eyes, or the way he regarded his monstrous enemy, with that coldness and cruel expectation, or his gigantic powers that he used so drastically."