When he opened his eyes, Edris found himself in an unfamiliar place.

He was in a cube-shaped room, surrounded by four white walls. Behind him was a black door, and a single couch was situated in the centre of the room. Examining his surroundings, Edris lightly tapped his lips.

“A dream?”

Although he didn’t know the exact size of his mana channel, he knew he was close to his limit after sustaining both the Tempest and the Distributor for such a long time. His original plan was to least hold on until he returned to the inn. Unfortunately, plans didn’t always keep up with changes. His body ended up giving up on him just before the end.

Right in front of everyone, too.

Edris recalled the looks on the Crown Prince and Celio’s faces right before his vision faded. He clicked his tongue.

This could be a problem.

“Come to think of it,” he muttered to himself, “where is this?”

“Your mental space.”

Edris spun towards the voice, and his gaze fell toward the centre of the room. The couch remained static, but a black easel had materialised right beside it. A canvas board was stacked on the easel, and looking closer, Edris could make out something on the canvas.

A face. And it was moving.

Edris and the face just stared at each other. After three seconds, the former turned around and headed to the door behind him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Hey now, I’m here to help you, and this is how you treat your saviour?” The face pouted.

Edris glimpsed over his shoulders with creased brows.

“Do you know how long it took me to get into your mental space? You weren’t dreaming, either, so what’s taking so long for you to wake up?” Her ruby-like eyes rolling backward, the face blabbered on. “I’m a busy person too, you know. If it weren’t for Dolan’s promise to provide me with more participants… Ah, forget it.”

The face looked away, and the easel it rested on swerved sideways as well.

“I see.” Without further ado, Edris turned to face her. He placed his right hand on his heart in a slight bow. “Thank you for your help. How may I repay your efforts?”

At his words, the face snuck a glance his way. “Well, you’re quick to adapt.”

Edris merely shrugged a smile.

“I would have you be my test subject, but…” Voice trailing off, the face shook from side to side. “Forget it. Magnus would be mad. And you’ll probably just further complicate things… Anyways! I did this under Dolan's request, but also partly to satisfy my own curiosity, so it’s whatever.”

“Curious about me?” Why is that?”

“Who isn’t curious about the Fallen Prophet?” The face gave him a smug look.

“You’re flattering me,” Edris said.

“Aren’t you curious about me? You’re speaking to a face on a canvas right now.”

“Should I be?”

He spoke with such a sincere expression that it was hard to tell if the man was joking or not. Be it the way he talked or his general countenance, there was something about him. Something that felt out of place. The face looked at him strangely.

“ …You’re just as peculiar as they say.” The canvas thumped on the spot, then turned itself around. “Remember to close the door behind you. You’ve been out for too long.”

At her reaction, Edris didn’t push further. Pressing a hand on the doorknob, he peered over his shoulders and gave the canvas a gentle smile.

“Thank you again for your help.” He paused. “Lady Mia.”

“Wait, how did you—”

Before Mia could finish her sentence, the dark-haired man was gone.

***

Edris woke up to the familiar sight of gold-lined ceilings and marbled floors.

Luxurious setting, wealthy-smelling air—indeed, he was back at the royal palace.

He shifted his head sideways, and the duvet ruffled. A subtle, almost nonexistent movement, but that was all needed for three pairs of eyes to simultaneously peer toward him.

“Master!” Celio cried out, and Edris sighed inaudibly.

“How long was I out for?”

“Five days,” Dolan strode over from across the room. “How are you feeling?”

Five days.

No wonder he felt so well rested. Edris pulled himself up from the bed, slumping against the cushion behind his back. As he sunk into the silk fabric, he silently assessed his current state. Compared to his time at the Slum, it literally felt as though he'd been remade.

His body no longer ached, and his mind was clear, which was more than a satisfying result. After all, the improved conditions he currently experienced were the beared fruits from scamming—conversing with the Sacrificial Hourglass.

It was a take-and-take transaction.

Of course, he was the one doing the taking.

“Not bad,” Edris concluded.

“Not bad?!” Sitting beside him, Celio bounced up from his chair with an exasperated look. “We were worried sick. You should have seen yourself, Master. Your entire body was icy cold and you were so pale it looked like you had no blood left in you!

“I thought you were going to die!”

Edris blinked twice at his outburst, which was giving him a sense of deja vu. He shook his head with a faint smile.

“Please don’t curse me like that.”

At the sight of the familiar gentleness, Celio’s words drifted as he slowly sat back down, suppressing sniffles here and there.

Giving the young beast tamer a small pat on the head, Edris then turned to the Crown Prince and the archmage. “I met Lady Mia while I was asleep. She told me that you'd asked her to help me regain consciousness.” He smiled. “Thank you, Your Highness. And Lord Magnus.”

“Just Magnus, remember? But I’m surprised you knew it was her. Mia almost never shows her actual form in these spaces,” Magnus remarked.

“She didn’t. She was a face on a canvas.”

At Edris’s statement, the room fell into a strange silence.

“ …That's just like her.” The archmage cleared his throat. “Then how did you know?”

“How, you ask?”

Edris recalled their conversation.

Frankly, the answer was apparent from the start. What kind of person would be acquainted with both the Crown Prince and the archmage? She had addressed both of them straight by their names, too.

But most importantly…

Edris stared at the archmage with a strange expression.

“Magnus, Lady Mia is your twin.”

Magnus blinked twice, his ruby eyes widening in the process. “Oh, I suppose you’re right.”

Dolan covered his face, turning away in second-hand embarrassment. “Anyways, we should be thanking you. It was you who saved the lives of over two hundred people, after all. If you have anything you want or any requests to make, please say so. I will fulfil them as long as they’re within my power.”

“Well, there you have it.” Magnus beamed. “It’s a relief that you seem to be recovering well. If you don’t mind, we have a priest who can take a better look just to make sure you’re okay.”

Edris gave a nonchalant nod. “Gladly.”

There was no reason to refuse free healthcare.

A white-robed lady entered the room, her silver hair flowing past her waist as she walked.

All of Zacriya’s priests belonged to the Church of Serenity. Priests generally were a more concentrated class of mages who specialised in healing magic. Of course, there were also spiritual priests, but they were scarce in number. These Awakeneds were said to carry the passed souls to the Realm of Afterglow and delivered Serenity’s blessings to newborns.

Greeting the people in the room, the healing priest placed her hand over her heart and entered a graceful bow.

“My name is Edith,” she said. “Father Alder is currently out of the palace, so I will be performing the examination on his behalf.”

“Oh? Where to?” Dolan asked.

“According to Father Alder, he experienced something lately that shattered his worldview, so to cope with this epiphany, he is currently working to better his understanding of himself and the world he lives in.”

“Sounds wise…” Celio mumbled in awe, not noticing that a certain dark-haired man had casually looked away.

Edith kneeled next to the bed and took out a beige book. Placing the book by her left side, she then turned towards Edris with a slight bow of the head. “Now, if you’ll allow me.”

“Please do.” Edris smiled gently.

The priest held his injured arm with both hands, slowly unravelling the bandages.

“Master, if you don’t want to see this, you can look at me instead,” Celio suggested.

“…”

Edris blinked twice. Ever since witnessing his injuries a couple of times, the beast tamer seemed to have formed a strange understanding of his health condition.

Silently shaking his head, Edris glimsped at his bandaged arms. His mind wandered back to the culprit behind this wound and gave an abhorred shudder.

If he closed his eyes right now, Edris felt that he'd still see the pair of fierce eyes belonging to the black-mana user, the child who almost dragged him into the afterlife.

So, so scary.

Layer by layer, the blood-stained gauze loosened, revealing his bare skin. As the final layer was unrolled, Edris expected an unpleasant sight. Some flesh, some crimson, and if he was lucky, a forming scab. Back at the Slums, the inflicted wound was deep enough for bones to enter sight.

Contrary to expectations, however, he was confronted with nothing but pale, smooth skin. If one stared intently, they could make out a faint scar across the diameter of his wrist, but otherwise, it was as if the wound was never inflicted in the first place. Brows lifted, Edris rotated his wrist, caressing the smooth surface.

No temperature, but it was to be expected. What he didn’t expect was the sight of his arm in one piece. Apparently, five days was enough for a wound like this to heal completely.

The Sacrificial Hourglass was this effective?

Edris was quite impressed.

Unfortunately, the priest didn’t seem to share his sentiments as her expression twisted from calmness to perplexity, then blatant shock. She moved her hand to feel his pulse, and Edris could have sworn he felt her fingers trembling as she did so. First, they touched his wrist, then the side of his neck. Then his wrist again.

Priest Edith’s frantic actions caused a strange atmosphere to settle among the people in the room. Dolan and Magnus exchanged wary glances while Celio fidgetted with the silk bedsheets so raptly that his fingers might as well rip right through them.

“Is, is something wrong?” The beast tamer gulped.

In the silent room, Priest Edith glanced up at Edris in horror.

“ …How are you still alive?”

Hm?

Edris’s smile stiffened.

He was feeling quite offended by the words coming out of the priest’s mouth.