#lapis love

The reality of the situation just came crashing down on you. Once you get to Stardenn, no doubt, you wouldn't be able to leave. In fact, the possibility of you starting an all-out war between the Qian and the Huang families is entirely probable. You'd have to change your name, your appearance, your story, and everything else about you. Would you ever see any of your family members again after that? The only other possibility is that you make your way to Bleakgate, to your fiance who is waiting to meet you, and to sign your name and your abilities away to that family.

Either way... you lose who you are. If you could hold your brother any tighter, you did just now. Your only regret, well, actually there are many, are that your last conversation with your parents was an argument and that you didn't get to say goodbye to your other siblings. What kind of cruel trick of fate is this?

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, (Y/N), I’m sorry I failed you as a brother,” he cried into your shoulder. You held him tight to you. 

“No, don’t be sorry, Kev, it was out of your control,” you reassured him.

“Please, please be safe on your way to Stardenn,” he says it more like a prayer to whatever god is above you rather than a request to you. “It’s dangerous out there, (Y/N), you can only trust yourself and please, by god, do not reveal your abilities. It’ll give you away in an instant,” he pleads.

“I know that! I’m not going to go around freezing people, Kev!”

“At least I can hide my abilities, you know? Stardenn is going south, there’s no snow down there,” he says.

“I know, I know, Kev! I’ll be okay,” you reassured him again. “I’ll write as soon as I get to Stardenn, I promise,” you held his hand tightly and picked up your bag with your other hand. “But… Kev, let me know if anything happens. I know you have the ability to find me, so if the situation suddenly turns you need to tell me and I’ll change due course to Bleakgate,” you said solemnly. Kevin only shook his head.

“Whatever alternative you face out there will be much more favorable than what House Huang has planned for you,” he says. He takes a deep breath and holds open the door for you. You both had to leave quickly and in secret, thus, the only likely exit was through the servants’ exit in the kitchens. You looked out the door. It was a chilled night with not a single cloud in the sky and with miles of stars to light your path. “Are you… are you ready to go?” He asks again. You looked down, gone were your riches and silks and instead they had been replaced with common clothes taken from the servants’ quarters. You adjusted your cap and nodded your head. “Okay, one more thing,” Kevin leans forward and tucks your hair under your cap. “It’s infinitely harder for a woman to be traveling on her own, until you make it to Stardenn, you must pretend to be a man, can you do that? You cannot reveal your identity, your abilities, or your gender. It’s just a precaution to make it safely to Stardenn, then you can deck out in all the dresses you want,” he adds with a weak laugh. Kevin knew much more about the world than you did, you had nothing else to go upon.

"Okay, yes, I can do that," you nodded unsurely. Kevin was hiding something from you. Something about your situation, your marriage to House Huang, you could tell from the way he was trying to avoid your eyes. Kevin, who was always the more expressive of the four children, was hiding a huge secret about your political marriage, and for him to do that, you know, it must be something horrible, something he's chosen to spare you the fear of knowing. It must be something horrific if he's decided to go through such lengths to prevent your marriage to the militaristic house, to try to offer himself first in your stead. You owe him so much, and you haven't the slightest idea how to pay him back.

“If it’s hard… just pretend to be me, okay? It’s easier to pretend than it is to lie,” he says. You nodded your head again, making sure all the stray hairs were tucked and hidden securely. “Oh, and this too,” he unbuckles his belt and clasps it around you instead, your left hip weighing down. You looked at the new addition and shook your head.

“No! Oh, no, Kevin, I can’t take this,” you reached to unsheathe the sword at your hip, but Kevin stops you.

“(Y/N), I can’t be there to protect you, so… this is the best that I can do,” he says.

“But I know next to nothing about swordsmanship,” your hands wrapped around the hilt and he shook his head.

“What do you mean? You watched Byul and I spar every day,” he says. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t mirror our moves with a quill,” he laughs. “Keep it, (Y/N), and it will keep you safe,” he insists. You look down at it again, seeing the orange calcite gem glimmer back at you. You looked at the bracelet around your wrist, the lapis lazuli gem seemed to react with the sword. The manifestations of two seasons with one person. “I can always get another one,” Kevin senses your unease. You sighed, there was so much more you wanted to say, but you only had so much time to leave before the guards would begin their morning rounds.

“Thank you, Kevin, I owe you so much that I can’t even begin to fathom how I’m going to repay you once I’m safe,” you said with a soft smile. Kevin only shook his head.

“Any good brother would help his sister this way,” he refutes. "If you want to repay me back so soon then... then I'd better get a letter from you with a postal stamp from Stardenn within the next month, alright?" He says, playfully nudging your shoulder.

"I will do that then," you nodded. “Then, I will see you soon, I promise,” your eyes held sincerity in them and Kevin’s shoulders relaxed.

“Be safe, (Y/N), and may the Fates bless your journey,” he watches you step out into the vast.

~

“Your highness! You need to calm down!” Doyoung shouts. Renjun’s shoulders hiked up for a moment, his hands continuing to squeeze each other.

“Your highness… you’re bleeding,” Ningning steps forward and pulls Renjun’s hands apart. He hadn’t even realized that they were hurting. “I’ll return with bandages,” she runs off before Renjun could say another word. He looks to Doyoung, the family’s advisor, who was deep in thought himself.

“It just doesn’t add up, why would the Winter Noble run off?” Doyoung clicks his tongue. “There would be no reason to, unless… unless House Moon was aware of our intentions,” he unrolls a parchment over the table. “But that should be impossible, we’ve played our cards right all this time, there’s no way they could know,” he continues to mutter.

“Doyoung… what will I do? What will happen to me?” Renjun asks. Doyoung looks up from his plans, focus and intensity etched into his features.

“You will not do anything, we’ll hire a mercenary to find her instead,” he says. “We have to leave as little traces as we can back to House Huang or else it’d look suspicious,” he says. He taps on the table absently. “Renjun, your friend from military academy, the one who dropped out, what was his name again?” Renjun froze at this.

“Y-Yangyang, his name is Yangyang,” he answers.

“And this Yangyang, it is to my knowledge that he took up mercenary work following his withdrawal from academy?”

“That is correct, Doyoung.”

“How good is he at tracking?”

“Not bad, if I say so myself,” Yangyang responds. Both nobles turned to the door immediately, seeing Yangyang leaning against the doorframe with a knife twirling in his hands. “Need me to find a runaway noble? Easy,” he says while he pushes off the frame. He stands next to Renjun and rests his palms on the table in front of him. “How much?” He asks. Doyoung’s eyes glowered.

“Name your price and we will negotiate. The master is in an unfit state to rule due to his… anger, I am working as the lord regent in the meantime,” he explains. Renjun blinks, regent? His father never mentioned anything about a regent taking over, and if there was it wouldn’t be Doyoung, it would be either him or his siblings. However, Doyoung paid no mind to Renjun’s suspicions.

“I’ll take down and charge any damages, how about that?” Yangyang answers.

“And the down payment?”

“Let’s say… two million gold pieces,” Yangyang held up two fingers and Doyoung’s eye twitched in annoyance.

“Done.”

“I sup— Wait, seriously?” Yangyang seems taken aback while Doyoung nods.

“It is imperative that the Winter Noble is in our control,” Doyoung says. “House Huang is willing to pay any price to ensure her safe arrival,” he emphasizes. Yangyang nods.

“Alright, give me a description, and I’ll find her,” he nods.

“I’m afraid there’s not much to go on, House Moon was very careful in keeping their children from nobles’ eyes for a while, we had only met three of them two years ago, after all. Just look for someone with a talent in ice. In a life or death situation, I doubt any of the four siblings would be able to hide their powers.”

“Viscount Kim!” A gruff voice enters the conversation, the three redirect their attention and a soldier stands at attention.

“At ease, soldier,” Doyoung dismisses. The soldier steps forward, a letter in hand.

“This was intercepted by the messenger line, there is no return address, but there is a destination,” he says. Doyoung takes the letter, examining it carefully. There was no design on the wax seal and the paper looked old. He turns it over and reads the delivery address.

“It’s addressed to the Qian Duchy.”

“Correct, we found the letter in Kilvein, meaning that it’s possible origins were either Evercairn, Fairham, or Emberhaven,” the soldier says. Renjun listens carefully, all three territories were under House Moon, to his knowledge, while Evercairn was where the manor was located. “It’s only a hunch, sir, but it’s the best lead we got,” he says.

“The master of the house must not hear of this at all, am I clear,” Doyoung says with a dark stare. The soldier nods.

“Stardenn, then?” Yangyang cuts in. Doyoung raises an eyebrow.

“Do you intend on going alone?” Renjun asks.

“Well, this is just hypothetical, by the way, but if I were a noble lady running away from a forced marriage—”

“Arranged marriage,” Doyoung corrects.

“Tomato, tomahto,” Yangyang waves his hand, “and I saw a militia awaiting the place I was hypothetically going to take refuge in, I would turn tail and hide somewhere else,” Yangyang postulates. “A month, give me a month to find and return the Winter Noble.”

“And if you fail?” Doyoung asks.

“Shoot, do whatever then! Send our military, execute me, whatever!” Yangyang shrugs and Renjun gasps.

“We will hold you to those words, mercenary,” Doyoung says with a hint of warning in his voice. Yangyang only grins. “When will you be ready to leave?”

“Right now is fine,” Yangyang nods his head and pivots on his heel, walking out of the meeting room.

“Wait… wait! Yangyang!” Renjun stumbles after him, but not before nodding his head to Doyoung out of respect. Renjun just barely catches up with Yangyang as they turn into the armory. “Yangyang—”

“Can I borrow this?” Yangyang takes one of the swords leaning against the wall.

“Yes, go ahead,” Renjun nods. “I need to—”

“Okay, sweet, how about this one?” He takes two daggers.

“If you need it, then be my guest,” Renjun says. “I have to—”

“Should I take this too?” Yangyang holds a shield up.

“Oh, goodness, no, I know your fighting style well enough to know that a shield would just weigh you down, at most, just take an arm guard,” Renjun hands him the latter and the shield clatters to the ground. “Anyway, Yangyang—”

“So, since the Winter Noble uses elemental magic, maybe I should take a protective piece with me instead? Winter, meaning ice? Okay, what protects against ice?”

“Lapis lazuli, none of which we have in this territory, you’ll probably find more in Evercairn, but your journey won’t take you there, just avoid getting frozen,” Renjun answers. “Now, before I forget—”

“I guess I’ll travel lightly, no telling when the lady took off, so I’ll have to catch up as soon as I can,” Yangyang wonder aloud.

“Yangyang!” Renjun shouts and Yangyang looks surprised.

“Damn, no need to raise your voice, what’s up?” Yangyang asks.

“I’m coming with you!”

“Oh, no, absolutely not,” Yangyang shakes his head. Renjun looks around him before grabbing Yangyang’s arm.

“Yangyang, please, you can’t leave me here with… with them,” he whispers.

“Jun, are you kidding me? If I could take you, I would, hell, it’s your wife-to-be that I’m tracking down, but it is exactly because of your parents that I can’t take you,” Yangyang whispers back. “Your dad’s already on the brink of madness, imagine what would happen when the last of his kids who lives with him up and disappeared?” He says.

“But, Yangyang…” Renjun pleads, but he soon catches himself. Yangyang was right. The punishment for him leaving his duties here would be much more severe than if he didn’t leave at all. “Okay, I trust you, Yangyang,” Renjun says. He reaches into his pocket and hands him a small piece of parchment. “House Moon are very secretive, not much is known of them. We only know the visages of the elder three because they’ve been in public eye. Taeil is top of his class in military academy, Byulyi may be in line for a ministerial role, and Kevin… well, he’s Kevin, everyone knows him and his extravagant lifestyle,” Renjun shakes his head as he says this. “Then there’s (Y/N).”

“Ooh, wifey, huh?”

“It’s not funny, Yangyang,” Renjun grimaces. “There’s not much anyone knows about her, other than the fact that she can be rude and cruel to people,” he shivers. “So we only have a basic description of her, she was a real homebody, apparently,” he says. Yangyang unfolds the paper and reads through it. His eyebrows furrowed together.

“This is literally just her hair, skin, and eye color,” he deadpans.

“Exactly,” Renjun drags a tired hand down his face.

“Well, whatever, I just have to find the first ice magic user, right?” Yangyang shrugs.

“Well, yes, but it can’t be that simple,” Renjun shakes his head.

“What do you mean? From what you told me, her highness is sheltered. She’s never been to the outside world. So what I’m looking for is a noble woman with an insane amount of naivety who can freeze things,” Yangyang says with a confident smile. “Easier than sharpening a sword,” he reassures his friend. “I’ll be back in a month, hell, maybe even earlier,” Yangyang says.

“You… you shouldn’t have said that back there, Yangyang,” Renjun mumbles.

“Said what?”

“You gave Doyoung permission to execute you, Yangyang, he takes those things very seriously,” Renjun bites his nails.

“Oh, pish posh, I’ll be fine, have I ever failed you?”

“You dropped out of military academy!”

“Okay, well, that was more of failing myself.”

“You left me alone, Yangyang!”

“Come on, you’re fine!”

“I am now! Yangyang! Yuta and his goons shoved me into chests!”

“They what?!” Yangyang’s jaw dropped and Renjun hung his head low.

“They…” he takes a deep breath. “It’s fine, it was in the past… just… be safe, okay? You’re my only friend,” Renjun says sadly. Yangyang sighs, a small frown settling on his lips.

“Hey, come on, don’t talk like I’m going to die so easily, what did they call me back in academy?”

“Hard-headed?”

“Yeah! And I’m literally hard headed! Johnny used to try to bash my skull against a wall and the wall would crack instead!”

“Your tenacity is… outstanding,” Renjun says with concern. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop worrying about you, if anyone can handle this, you could,” Renjun backs off.

“Cool, cool, see? Your best friend’s got this job in the bag,” Yangyang laughs. “I’ll be back before you notice that I’m gone!” Yangyang attaches the weapons to his harness.

“Just be careful, Yangyang! I heard… I heard that there’s strange beasts around the roads now… you’ll never know,” Renjun reaches around his neck and pulls out charm of his necklace from beneath his shirt.. “Take this with you too, it’s a protective amulet but… I don’t know, maybe I got scammed, it hasn’t done much protecting,” Renjun laughed. Yangyang spotted the dark bruise under Renjun’s collar when he unclasped the necklace to hand it to him.

“Geez, that’s one way to get rid of trash,” Yangyang chuckles while he clasps it around his neck. “Sure, I’ll keep it safe for you, but I’m returning it as soon as I get back,” Yangyang says. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” he says.

“Oh, please, you’re taking all the stupid with you,” Renjun rolls his eyes.

“There’s the Renjun I know,” Yangyang grins. “See you in a month!” And then Yangyang took off. Renjun held his hand up a little bit longer, a strange sense of foreboding in his heart. Something bad was going to happen. Renjun shook his head. If anything bad was going to happen, it would be to him. Yangyang’s got this uncanny ability to slip out of trouble easily, after all. Renjun took a deep breath. The wedding has been delayed a month. 

Maybe he could still escape.

~

“Eek!” You jumped up as soon as you heard a bush rustle next to you. Your hands were clasped over your heart and you could feel it pumping against your chest at an ungodly pace. No way, you’d just been out for no later than an hour, imagine the embarrassment you’d have to live through in the afterlife if you’d died so quickly. Soon, a mere bunny hopped out of the shrubbery and you let out a sigh or relief.

“Ah, just a bunny,” you muttered. You relaxed and stumbled forward. You looked down and pulled Kevin’s sword from where it had gotten stuck. Sword. Right, you had a weapon and yet you hadn’t thought of using it even once so far in your journey. You pulled it out of its sheath, the gemstone at the bottom glimmering against the ornate silver hilt.

Kevin had received it as a gift from your father on his eighteenth birthday. Each of the siblings had received a gift like this at that age, Taeil’s were a pair of gloves adorned with green aventurine and Byulyi's were a set of claw rings with carnelian. Yours, meanwhile, was a simple bracelet with a beautifully carved lapis lazuli. The purpose of these charms were to keep your powers in check, and the fact that Kevin so readily handed his to you… he must trust you a great deal as well as himself. Growing up, Kevin had a nasty habit of accidentally setting things on fire, and thus was one of the first to wear the appropriate gemstone, then as a brooch, and had so far been the only exception to the eighteenth birthday rule. He was happy enough when he got upgraded, though, 'carrying a sword looked much cooler than wearing a gaudy pin,' he would say.

You looked at the way the sword glimmered in the sunlight, naturally, it reacted well. It was heavy in your hands, and while it took one hand for Kevin to wield, it took you both to hold it steady. Whatever possessed Kevin’s mind to give this to you, you were sure you’d curse it as soon as you saw him again. If anything, it was just weighing down your travels, but you couldn’t shrug away his kind intentions. You gave it a small twirl, the sword weighing your hand down enough to make it ache. True, you watched him spar with Byulyi a number of times, you understood swordsmanship in theory, but not in practice. Byulyi, namely, was gifted in fencing. Parries, lunges, and ripostes, true to Kevin’s words, you practiced all of these with a quill. Same in Kevin’s case, militant swordsmanship. Slices, thrusts, and counters, you knew all of the basics yet you lacked the ability to apply them practically.

“What use is a sword if I can barely use it?” You frowned. You sheathed it again and continued down the path to Kilvein, it was the closest town to Evercairn on the way to Stardenn. After that, you would make way to Rosebreak, and after that Hazelfall. Then, finally, your destination of Stardenn. It was a long road ahead of you, but one you were determined to take in order to ensure your safety and, if not that, your own independence. Kilvein shouldn’t be much further away, in fact, if you squinted a little, you could just barely make out the outline of the town already.

It was as if you were invigorated once more, finally seeing civilization just as the sun began to rise. You approached with a skip in your step to the town gate. The gate wasn’t manned at the moment, and you took the liberty of slipping in. Despite the early morning, the streets were busy with people bustling about the morning market, no doubt buying ingredients for breakfast. Breakfast, your stomach rumbled quietly and you glanced around, being sure that no one heard. You pulled out your small purse, counting the coins concealed in it. With a small smile, you approached the baker’s stand.

“Good morning, ma'am,” you grinned. The baker matched your smile.

“Good morning, fair lady,” she says. “Would you like any of my goods?” She inquires. You nodded, looking down at the collection.

“Just this one, please,” you pointed to the braided bread and she nods, grabbing a basket to place them inside of.

“Anything else?” She asks.

“Ah, no, it’s quite alright,” you nodded, shuffling through your coin purse to pull out the appropriate amount. Then, suddenly, a young boy bumps into you. “Goodness!” You just barely catch yourself, but once you’ve finally regained your composure, you realized a grave problem.

“That urchin, he stole your purse!” The baker looked more shocked than you.

“Why, I…” you blinked a few times, trying to process what just happened. “I’ll be right back!” You said to the baker before taking off after the boy, but, as you were running, someone else ran past you at a much faster speed, catching up to the boy in no time and grabbing him by the collar to hoist him up. The boy squeaked in surprise and the man sighs.

“You little brat give back what you stole!” The man shouts. The boy cries for a moment before dropping two bags. You just barely catch up with them. “You the owner of this one?” The man asks, holding up your purse. You could only nod, just barely catching your breath.

“That’s mine!” The boy refutes.

“Sure it is, and I’m the crown prince’s lover,” the man laughs. “Ugh, it’s too early in the morning for this,” he drops the boy and hands you your purse. The boy kicks a stone under him while the man continues to tell him off.

“Ah, this may be awkward but,” you cut in and the boy and man turn to you. You just felt so bad for the young boy, he must’ve been hungry. He was so thin and dirty, you could only imagine what he had been going through. “This is actually my younger brother,” you said suddenly. The man looked unamused but the boy’s eyes shone.

“Sure.”

“Big brother!” The boy clings to you. “I barely recognized you! Since you were accepted into academy, I thought I’d never see you again!” The boy plays along easily.

“I apologize for my brother’s rashness, please look kindly upon him,” you continued, ushering the boy out of the alleyway and into the market. As soon as the man was out of earshot, you grabbed onto the boys ear harshly.

“Ow! What the heck, mister?! I thought you were on my side!” The boy grimaces.

“Why would I be on the side of a petty thief?”

“Then why did you help?”

“Didn’t you see the sword at that man’s side? He could’ve cut you down where you stood,” you narrowed your glance.

“But… you have a sword too, mister,” the boy frowns.

“Luckily for you, I don’t intend on using it,” you continued and tugged him along with you back to the baker stand, pulling out an extra gold coin. “Miss baker, I’ll take an extra loaf of…” you looked at the young boy, who only looked back at you with surprise.

“Uh… cinnamon swirl… please,” the boy mutters.

“Cinnamon swirl it is,” the baker adds the loaf to the basket and hands it to you in exchange for three gold coins. You hand the boy his loaf and you could practically see him start to salivate.

“Th… Thank you, mister!” He looks up at you with shining eyes. “You really didn’t have to,” he quickly regains his rugged composure and you laughed.

“Please, it’s nothing, consider it a lesson for stealing from people, not everyone will be as nice as me, you lucked out this time, but it would do you well not to do it again,” you pointed your finger at him and the boy nodded his head.

“Thank you,” he muttered quickly before running off. You looked at your purse. Looks like you’ll have to keep a stronger hold on it from now on, it’s a bit embarrassing that such a young child was able to pull it from your grasp so quickly. You stepped away, ready to indulge in the freshly baked bread, when someone spoke up behind you.

“You know, you shouldn’t do that,” you turned to the voice that addressed you, seeing the man from earlier. “You feed one of them and then they all run to you,” he says.

“Well, I have no intentions on staying in town any longer than today, I have a friend to meet within the month,” you crossed your arms. “And, dare I say, what I do is none of your business.”

“None of my business, huh?” He asks. His arm flies out, grabbing the arm of a child about to run past you. He shakes them lightly and your purse drops to the ground. You stare at it for a short while before the man sighs and picks it up. “You should really hold on to this tighter,” he holds it towards you.

“Noted,” you took it from him, being sure to hold it more securely. “Now, if you have no more inquiries, I must be on my way,” you walked around him.

“Where to?”

“Stardenn.”

“First rule of travel, my friend, never share your destination,” he catches up with you.

“You’re tenacious, and I find that bothersome,” you stopped to make your point before continuing.

“Hey, come on now,” he easily keeps up with you. “You’re heading to Stardenn, right? Well, guess what? You’re headed the wrong way,” he says. You stop again and look at your map briefly before pivoting on your heel to turn the other way. Still, the man keeps up with you. “Come on, you’re heading to Stardenn, I’m heading to Stardenn, let’s go together,” he insists. You ignore him yet again before he whistles to catch your attention.

“What in the heavens do you want from me?!” You shout. He holds your wallet in his hand again.

“Look, man, if you’re going to get pickpocketed at least three times in every town, you’re going to die of poverty before you do of starvation,” he says. “Let me help you out.”

“Why?” Kevin’s warning echoes in your head, trust no one. But… maybe you could keep this one in check. If worse comes to worse, you could probably just freeze him over in some secluded area in the woods. You watch him cross his arms.

“Why not? Can’t a guy do a good deed?” You’re not that naive to fall for that one.

“Good deed? Likely,” you walk up to him and attempt to take your wallet back, something which he easily moves out of your grasp. He takes a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s start over then, shall we?” He still keeps your purse out of reach as he does this. “My name’s Liu Yangyang,” he holds his hand out for you to shake it. You hesitated for a moment, wondering how you should go about this. Wait, shit, you need a fake name. You said the first one that came to mind.

“Kevin.” As soon as you said it, it took every fiber in your body not to scream. “Kevin… Sohn,” you continued. You hoped up and down that he’d fall for it and, as luck would have it, it did.

“Well, Kevin, I’m a knight in training and I’m on my way to meet a close friend in Stardenn. We have similar goals here, right? And, I'm sure you know, one of the practical exams for a knight is the safe passage of a traveler. And that would be you! All I have to do is show the captain proof at Stardenn and ba da boom ba da bang, I'm a full-fledged knight!” He explains. You, still skeptical, mull over his words while giving him a quick look down. He did have the build of a knight, something you were very familiar with in more ways than one. And, so far, he’s proved to be useful to you. "It's a good deal, right? You clearly have money and I don't. Let's work together!"

“What’s in it for me then?” You ask.

“What do you want?” He answers your question with one of his own and you huff. You really only needed safe passage to Stardenn, and you were perfectly ready to brave it on your own, but… your eyes settled on the sword at his side.

“How good are you with a sword?” You ask. Yangyang looks at you quizzically. What good is a blade if its owner couldn’t wield it? Being a knight in training, certainly, he must know his way around it. If you were to go against the wishes of the Huang family it would do you well to know how to defend yourself and, who knows, maybe a month would be the perfect time to learn the basics? Kun wasn’t so bad a swordsman himself if your memories served you correctly, whatever Yangyang taught you here would only serve to benefit you. All you had to do was to become his main sponsor and, luckily, Kevin had convinced you to travel with extra funds as a just in case.

“Considering I would’ve been kicked out of academy otherwise, pretty damn good. Why?”

“During our passage to Stardenn… teach me how to wield a sword, and then I’ll call our transaction equal,” you say. “If you think about it intuitively, it only makes sense. If I’m to fund our excursion, you teaching me the way of the sword is nothing,” you explain. Yangyang looks you over.

“Okay, sure. I can agree to those terms,” he holds his hand out and you take it, both of you sharing a firm handshake. “So… Stardenn. It’s about a three week journey, give or take, if we plan our route carefully. We’ll leave in the morning, make sure you have everything stocked up,” he says.

“Done, I can do that,” you nod. “And when do I begin my first lesson?”

“Next town over,” he says. He tosses your wallet back to you and holds a gold coin between his index and middle fingers. “I’ll take this as my first allowance,” he tosses it in the air and catches it in his fist and walks off to the nearest tavern. You stood dumbfounded for a moment. Was it really that easy to rob you?! You swallowed harshly. You had a long way to go. “Well, aren’t you coming?” Yangyang cuts through your thoughts.

“Sorry?”

“What? Were you planning to sleep on the streets tonight? Let’s go,” he waits for you to catch up with him before entering the tavern.

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