Carmel had never felt so light in her whole life, the joy of spending time like this with Carmelia and this mysterious boy being a savior in her life—something she never expected but something she accepted with all her heart. It wasn’t all that smooth as they tried to get out of here. For now, a week has passed as they tried to move to the exit of this maze they found themselves in.
Facing untold monsters, fighting with each of them covering the other’s back, with the boy saving her life from all the stupid mistakes she made, they had their fights too. But for Carmel and Carmelia, the two of them just felt like it was an amazing moment for them. Even the fighting had its own joy.
This free-spirited life, that the two of them are living, off into adventure, where anything beyond their expectations always happens, was a life that was calling her. Such a life of adventure quickly became something the two girls attached themselves to, and the thought of going back to her princess life with just boring old things and not having the boy’s cooking with her was something she wasn’t receptive to.
In fact, Carmel and Carmelia sometimes had their secret discussions of just running away with the two of them, trying all the adventures they could, but that would remain fantasies. Carmel and Carmelia were aware of their responsibilities and the task they were given. Even above that, they knew the empire wouldn’t stop hunting for them.
‘Perhaps in time, we can have some hidden adventure when I am the ruler.’
Such thoughts kept appearing in her mind, giving hope for a future that, for the first time, started to look a bit appealing to her. Her circle of true family rose up to it being her sister and then the masked boy in front of her. The duo could tell their time together was getting shorter as they neared the exit. Everything was turning a bit more bittersweet.
Though just as everything started to look okay, the combination of Carmel and Carmelia made a mistake—a very big one that almost ended everything.
…
Carmel and Carmelia, the two of them, felt a calling from their bloodline when they reached a certain level of exit. The exit was close, yet the call of their bloodline to that location meant a certain danger, something unknown. It was the choice between going to that place to seek what her bloodline calls for or to get out of the place safely.
This call towards her was never-ending. It was like a hammer striking against her head, her blood boiling, seemingly gushing with greed to get to this place that was calling her. With the trust that Carmel and Carmelia had built with the boy, they wanted to tell him this, and the two of them knew that the boy would be more than willing to risk his life to get her this, for he had done more than that already.
Yet that’s the same reason she didn’t tell him. Not wanting to risk his life for her, whatever it was, it was her calling. While she wanted to share it with him, it meant taking him into unknown danger, and she wasn’t willing to do that to him. She could have just avoided this call, not moved towards it, but her bloodline wouldn’t allow it.
Its call was too much for Carmel, and with Carmelia taking over their mind, the duo hypnotically escaped in the night while the boy slept. The thought that this would only take some time and would soon be finished and they would be back guided her thoughts as she reached a certain foggy part of the wall.
The call of the wild monsters she had faced this week was heard all around, her body trembling a bit as she touched the wall, and with it, Carmel’s eyes flashed, her mind clouded as a terror-filled voice echoed in her ears.
“Hehehe… you fell for it!”
The evil presence in that voice was more than clear for Carmel to understand. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t friendly to her.
‘I was tricked.’
This was the last thought in Carmel’s mind as she lost her sense of self.
…
‘What’s happening?’
Carmel and Carmelia felt confused as they slowly tried to open their eyes. The one in control, Carmelia, tried to sit up, but an extreme amount of muscle pain hit her body, her whole self feeling sluggish and slow as she tried to move. Her gaze settled on a dull grey ceiling as a voice out of nowhere called out to her.
“Hey! Are you okay?!”
The urgency in the voice wasn’t missed by Carmel and Carmelia, but above that, what they felt was the familiarity of the voice.
“B?”
She called out the nickname she had given him, her eyes trailing towards a certain side as her eyes widened. It was the very same boy who had traveled with her, rushing forth from a side, his body clothed in tatters. But what lay different was the mask he always wore—it was cracked and almost broken as it fell to the ground while the boy rushed towards her.
“Austin Lionheart?”
The image of the boy, who once had a match with her follower, the boy who was the brother of Nora, rushing towards her, the mystery of who he was already solved, but beyond that came many questions. Though the major attention that took Carmel and Carmelia was the injuries on his body as he rushed towards her, slowly cradling her in his arms.
“How are you feeling?”
His question hit a pang in Carmel’s heart, making her feel like her heart was being squashed as she asked back.
“How are you? Are you hurt?”
The care in her voice was deep as she asked this, to which a light smile, one trying to hold back his pain, came to Austin’s face as he spoke.
“Well, I am better than you right now.”
Just feeling that care started to make Carmelia sob, even her cold face breaking down, as she still saw his care for them, the pain that perhaps was caused by their own stupidity being ever clear as tears started to rain down her face as she struggled to ask.
“Wh… what happened?”
“Looks like you were almost duped into having your whole bloodline stolen.”
The words made Carmelia’s eyes widen as she asked.
“How did you find me?”
To this, Austin, with a smile, pointed at the bracelets that tied their hands, the solution ever clear as the whole place they were in started to shake, a powerful presence filling them up as Carmelia struggled to speak.
“I broke your trust, please, save yourself now, please…!”
Carmelia begged, the tone of Carmel being mixed into it. She couldn’t have him dying with her, not for her own mistake. The power that was coming after her, the knowledge of what was happening, was already in her mind, and she knew that Austin wouldn’t be able to fight through this. He was already severely hurt just reaching here to get her.
And that too after she had gone off on her own, making her first mistake again, the trust and care Austin had given them being more than enough for them.
“I can’t do that, can I?”
Austin asked with a smile, his facial features shining forth even with his injury, and Carmel and Carmelia’s hearts suddenly changed in a drastic manner. They increased severely, and not just due to fear, an erratic heartbeat for another reason taking place as Austin brought the golden bracelet he wore right next to the one on Carmelia’s wrist.
His action widened her eyes as she understood what he was about to do—the special function of one-time fight power generated from their trust, a mighty miracle that would allow the person to fight beyond what they can, but it would come at the price of that trust being forgotten, memories wiped out, only the engraved inheritance left behind.
An amazing power for a cruel price, and Carmel and Carmelia don’t want it. They didn’t want that to happen, to lose their memories, to not remember what they went through, to not be able to remember… him.
In the current scenario, only Austin will be able to fight, which would mean that she would be the one to forget, and she couldn’t have that. Austin could see it, which filled his face with a wry smile.
“I would rather be in pain than to lose you.”
His words of care shook Carmel and Carmelia’s hearts in ways they never expected. As the power and monsters from all around started to focus, the touch of their wrists started to get closer and closer as Austin lightly patted her face as he spoke.
“You have given me so much, Sister Carmel and Carmelia—a friend to rely on, someone that I spoke my worries to, and someone whom I have added to my list to save.”
As he kept talking, the war and danger got closer and closer, their eyes meeting in gentle waves as Austin continued.
“The path will be painful, but who knows, if we could become a family like this once, why can’t we do it again?”
With that, their wrists with the golden bracelets touched, and light illuminated the whole place.
