-𝐇𝐈𝐌-

"What injustice are you talking about?" Murik, the Seer asked.

"Are you that clueless?" I responded. Silence stretched between us as he pondered about it for a while.

As his eyes widened slightly, I knew that he had realised what this was all about. He stared at me with those wide eyes as if he couldn't believe that I would go to such an extent.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"What do I think?" He mimicked, "I think our Emperor is an idiot!" Instantly, Lars' hand went to his sword, but I stopped him.

"I'm aware this seems ridiculous, but this is for the greater good. Put yourself in my shoes and see for yourself,"

"Still, it's nothing less than foolish of you to think this would work, your Majesty," the Seer spat the last bit at Lars before turning to me again, "You're still stuck in the past when you should have learned your lesson and moved on—"

"— easier to say when everything doesn't remind you of The Tragedy," I interrupted, silencing him for a few moments.

"Your Majesty, there's no other option but to accept what happened and let it go," He tried.

"Still, I need to find that book," I insisted.

"With intentions like yours, the book has better not be found," He replied, looking stubborn all of a sudden to not help me at all, which made me apprehensive.

"You'd rather have the book with a pirate than me?" I contested.

"Pirates cannot read a book like that," He shot back.

"But a pirate might know someone in the sea realm who could read that book," I pressed, "What happens then?"

"You'll lose your throne before that happens," He snapped, "You don't have to worry about that," He waved his hand dismissively. Beside me, Lars was having trouble keeping his fists to himself. I could hear him grinding his teeth with a murderous glare in his eyes.

"You sound too enthusiastic about that. You should be able to see what happens when I lose the throne. Especially with the Zuncans steadily rising to power in the west," I hinted. The mention of that brutal war tribe made the seer gulp hard as terror flashed in his eyes momentarily.

"That's a good enough reason for you to tell me about the book's current whereabouts," I pointed out and crossed my arms on my chest. Still, there lingered signs of hesitancy on his face.

"Y-you have a strange way of negotiating," Murik frowned.

"I'm aware of that,"

"But what's the guarantee you wouldn't try to summon a demon from hell to undo the Tragedy?" He conveyed his hesitancy.

"There's no guarantee," I answered honestly. "And even if I decided to summon a demon from hell, it'd still be better than me losing the throne with the Zuncans as our neighbours,"

"The Zuncans are mortals, demons are not," He differentiated.

"I'm starting to think you fancy being butchered by the Zuncans," I commented. Instantly, Murik shook his head in dismissal.

"You might have to pay a huge price for this, your majesty,"

"If things go wrong with the demon, there'd be another Tragedy. At most, I'll end up accumulating another curse. If Zuncans find out I'm stepping down from the throne over a petty issue, it'll take them just a day to turn towards Cromaria," I reasoned.

"Fine!" Murik hissed. He was still reluctant to do this for me, but his patience had already had enough of me.

"Thank you," I returned as he took the last drag from his pipe before closing his eyes and stilling like a statue.

At first, his face looked relaxed. His pupils moved from one corner of his eyes to another under his eyelids. Everything seemed fine with him for the first few moments until a crease started to form on his forehead. Gradually, the crease got deeper and deeper as a scowl emerged on his face. A few more moments passed like this until his eyes flew open, widening painfully. His dilated pupils indicated that he was still seeing the vision, but the vision's terror had been such that his body was starting to go into flight or fight mode.

Lars and I watched a lot of expressions flashing on Murik's face with such intensity and speed that I could feel the pain in my facial muscles. His breaths soon turned ragged as his chest started rising and falling rapidly. Suddenly, he straightened up with a small noise in his throat that sounded like the prelude to a scream.

"Is he alright?" Lars asked, terrified. Murik started to get worse as time passed. I didn't know what to say. I could only stare at him while a thousand thoughts ran through my mind. I was more concerned about what he was seeing than his wellbeing.

What could be so terrifying that was making him act like that?

"Murik," I called out for him. At first, he didn't respond, but suddenly, his eyes flew open to reveal that his pupils had almost swallowed his iris. He was panting heavily as if he had been running miles.

"What did you see, Murik?" I asked after he had calmed to a great extent. In response, he stood up from his seat and flung himself upon me with such a surprising force for someone his age. His fingers closed around my neck as he yelled in my face, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!"

Lars' hand was close to his sword, but he watched with wide eyes, petrified by the Seer's reaction. I studied the terrified look on Murik's face, his painfully wide eyes, the beads of sweat on his forehead, his ragged breaths growing heavier as if there just wasn't enough air from him to breathe.

"What have I done?" I asked Murik with a chilling calmness while my heart slammed against my sternum. A turmoil was starting to build inside me.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?" Murik roared too loudly for an old man like him, "HOW DARE YOU ASK THIS!"

"Murik," I spoke with the same chilling calmness, "Calm down and tell me what you've seen,"

My words did not affect him. Instead, it fed his anger. He left my neck, grabbed my face, and demanded again, "HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"

"You're overreacting, Murik. First, tell me what did you see,"

"GET OUT OF HERE, YOU TWO! I DON'T WANT TO HELP YOU TWO ANYMORE! GET OUT!" Murik continued to yell, and judging by the look on his face; it seemed like he wasn't going to calm down soon.

"Murik," I tried for the last time.

"GET OUT, YOU CROMAREAN BASTARD!"

The sound of metal sliding against metal calmed him down a bit. He staggered back and looked at me with dread and an unknown emotion in his eyes as I slid my sword back into the sheath.

"I'm going to ask you for the last time, Murik. What did you see?" I demanded regally.

"What I saw was..." He trailed off and closed his eyes. He shook his head as if he was finding it hard to wrap his mind around it. I waited for him to speak while Lars remained petrified by the Murik's reaction. "What I saw was terrifying. You've committed a huge mistake, Alexandros, and you shall pay a huge price for this soon,"

I studied Murik's face and asked, "The book has fallen into a pirate's hands?"

If this was the case, I could bribe Mad to sniff it out for me.

"Worse," Murik shattered my hope, "It will fall into the hands of someone dangerous. Someone..." He trailed off, clenching his head tightly while he winced. "I cannot say who it is, but s-s-he is terrifying,"

"It's a woman?"

"A demon, a monster, the devil from hell... whatever it was, it had the form of a woman... a woman with...w-with eyes without any whites. Those terrifying eyes... if you look into her eyes, you'll get a glimpse of all the vile and terrifying things,"

"What else did you see, Murki?" I demanded.

"I saw... I saw destruction. I saw... creatures that don't belong to this realm destroying everything. I saw things that will haunt me till my next life," His voice shook as he spoke.

"But where is the book?"

"I couldn't see that, but you must make sure that woman doesn't get to lay her hands on the book," His voice turned raspy as he spoke.

"Who is that woman, and where can I find her?" I demanded, feeling impatient. If I could get to know this, I would set out to find that woman tonight by itself.

"S-someria... That's all I can see, but I don't know where exactly. I don't know who that woman is, but she has..." He trailed off to form horns with his fingers as the look of terror further intensified on his face. He started to shake visibly, making me slightly concerned for his wellbeing.

"What else did you see? Tell me!" I demanded impatiently.

"T-that's all," He sighed, breathing deeply to calm his breath but still, his body was shaking. "The book hasn't fallen into her hands yet,"

"I need more clues," I told him, "I need to know where that book is right now. I need to know how I could get to it. I need to know where I could start looking for it. I've searched all the possible places in Somirea, but I still didn't get a single clue. You need to see and tell me more," I told him, which terrified him.

"N-no," He shook his head as he gulped hard. "After what I saw, I... I don't want to see anymore... I-I think I have seen enough for this lifetime," Murik spoke deeply. Something told me that he meant that.

"This is the last time I'm asking you to see. I need to have just one more clue,"

"NO!" Murik shot, looking even more disturbed. He shook his head before collecting our cups. "Go away. I'm not seeing anymore,"

"Murik," I maintained my calm despite the impatience and the restlessness that I felt. I doubted I could hardly rest after what Murik had told me. "If you don't help me this time, then the things you saw will become a reality," I told him. His body shook harder until he dropped the cups.

"See for me again, Murik," I commanded, "Just one more hint,"

"This is the last time I'm conceiving a vision," He declared before closing his eyes. This time, his eyes instantly flew open. At first, I thought he was playing with me, but I was sure that he was aware of the gravity of the situation. It would be foolish on his part to play in this situation.

"You know someone!" He shot instantly, "You already know someone who could lead you to the woman!" He shot.

"What else?" I demanded.

"This is the only hint. I cannot see beyond this. It's as if something or someone is blocking the way to the book. Regardless, you have to find the book, and if you couldn't do that, find that woman and make sure the book doesn't fall into her hands,"

~

It was around midnight when Lars and I were back. I went straight to my office, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight after what Murik had told me. I was feeling beaten down, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. I had more cards to play with right now, and I wouldn't let them go to waste. Lars stayed with me. I could see my impatience and anxiousness mirrored on his face.

"Who do you think it could be?" He asked as I sank deeper into my seat and glared at the fire burning in the hearth. Meanwhile, Lars paced around my office. "Alex?"

"I don't know," I responded calmly, replaying Murik's words in my head. He sighed deeply and continued pacing around in my office.

"He said you already know someone who could lead you to the woman..." Lars repeated out loud, "already know someone...hmm... you know a lot of people, Alex. It would be hard to narrow that list down,"

I couldn't agree more with him on that. As I glared at the fire, many names and faces ran through my mind as I tried to put a finger on who it could be.

"Do you think it could be one of the Nobles or the Feudal lords?" Lars asked. "They have good enough reasons to do something like this to you," He suggested. I ran all the names of the Nobles and Feudal lords in my head, but none of them seemed likely.

"They loathe me, but none of them have it in them to do something that Murik had described,"

"Hmm... that is true," Lards muttered and resumed pacing. As the moments passed, he grew impatient, and his footsteps grew louder and his pace faster. "Could it be your brother?" He suggested.

"No," I answered instantly. My brother was a coward to do something like this, and even if he had the balls to do it, he still lacked the brains to think of an elaborate plan to steal the book from me in the first place.

"This is too vague to work with, Alex," Lars complained as he finally collapsed on a seat and clutched his hair. Meanwhile, I continued going through the names in my head, but none of them seemed likely. I had a lot of enemies who were capable of doing this, but still, my brain struck all the names down.

As the names edged to a close, the impatience inside me slowly reached the threshold. Suddenly, a thought struck me with the force of a lightning bolt. I straightened up as a certain woman crossed my mind. Lars straightened up as well, looking at me with some hope.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"I think it's her," I whispered. My instincts were pointing towards her.

"Who?" Lars asked in bewilderment.

~

-HER-

"Vittoria wouldn't grant me the priestess title this time, I can bet on that," I grumbled as Nuncia helped me with the backlog.

"Still, you must try to give your best. Even if you don't make it this time, you'll be prepared for the next," She tried to motivate me but it wasn't working. On top of that, I was still tired due to all the travelling and my brother's stupidity did enough to keep me awake at night.

Writing a test to become a priestess felt like wasting time on things that I shouldn't be wasting my time on. I grew angsty and impatient every time I saw Vittoria. She looked too calm and unbothered for something of such seriousness. After that tipsy night, I didn't give up. I asked her a couple of times if she was planning something but all she gave me were vague answers and ridiculous word salads.

"If you stop overthinking and study right now then you'll end up doing much better," Nuncia continued with her attempts to get me to focus on what she was trying to help me with but I just couldn't put my mind to it.

"You wouldn't understand this, Nuncia," I shook my head, feeling even more impatient and restless. Nuncia stared at me with a crease between her eyebrows.

"Alright, let's go on for a walk. It'll help you focus better when we come back and try again," she declared before dragging me out of my room where I had been sulking all day ever since I returned from my journeys. She took me down to the beach and back at the Eastern edge of the island. It was late in the noon and the waves were relatively calmer now. As we walked down the beach, she tried to make me feel better but it wasn't really working until we reached the easternmost edge of the beach and found something interesting.

Arke and her group were out swimming in the calm waters. They had left their clothes back at the beach as they swam further into the deep waters, maybe looking for some peals or some exotic fishes.

"You know what," I invoked, "last time I couldn't get back to her,"

"Revenge is not good, Theresa," Nuncia started, "It's in the codices that Priestesses should always—"

"Look, they left their clothes behind," I pointed at the pile of clothes on the sand. Nuncia stopped and took a quick glance at the clothes.

"Don't you think the winds are too strong on this part of the island?" She switched her tone all of a sudden, heading towards the pile of clothes. Suddenly, an evil smile spread across my lips as I followed her towards the pile of clothes.

Fifteen minutes later we were racing up the front stairs of the shrine while stifling our laughter. That evening Matriarch was pissed with Arke. While she was trying to sneak back into the shrine in her wet undergarments, she had interrupted the Matriarch who was performing her final rituals for the day.

It was enough to have the two of us cracking up for the next couple of days and it definitely helped me to take my mind off my stupid brother and focus on the test. Nuncia helped me prepare for the test but still, I was having my doubts.

Even if I passed all the written tests, I was sure that I might not make it to the final test which was to be taken by the High Priestess in her office. Alone. The test was a top secret and no one is ever allowed to speak about it. The test wAs also unpredictable. No two tests were the same. It was to judge the girls on their individual strengths and characters which would further help the High Priestess decide what field the girl will specialise in after she becomes a priestess.

This was the ultimate test that granted one the priestess title. Failing this test alone would mean that I would have to repeat another year and I was trying to avoid that at any cost. At the same time, I couldn't help but overthink this.

I was a bunch of nerves when the exam day finally arrived. I tried my best on the written exams. I ended up doing better at them than I was anticipating because of Nuncia. After the written test was over, I was feeling a bit lighter but that feeling was just momentary.

It was around afternoon when Vittoria started to call the rookies in her office for the final assessment. I was pacing around or biting my nails until my time came.

It was after sunset when my name was finally called. I was the last one to be tested that day. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins and my heart pounding in my chest as I headed to the High Priestess' Office accompanied by one of the Senior priestesses. The Priestess opened the door for me. I stepped into the familiar room before the door was being shut behind me. With that, I had a feeling that my fate was sealed for something unconventional.

I drew in a deep breath before I entered further into the office to find Vittoria on the grand granite table. She was calmly pouring tea into two cups. I stood, waiting for her command while watching her fill the last cup with tea. When she was done, she eventually looked up at me and smiled slyly as she sipped from a cup.

"I've been waiting long for this day," she smiled as she placed the cup she just sipped from on my side of the table, "Sit,"