Before they set out, Eli turned all his pay into hard coins, then sent the silver like rain into the shattered orphanage and other ruined places.

Edlyn smiled, bright as a crescent blade. “You’re pretty soft-hearted. Why not just not take the money?”

“If I don’t take it, I can’t be sure it reaches the people who need it,” Eli said, leaning against the wagon. He folded his hands behind his head and watched the sky like a quiet lake.

Some things, he didn’t want Edlyn to know too much. His mood tightened like a knotted ribbon before his thoughts settled.

This silly girl felt pure as blank paper.

Mm. If you knew who she was, you wouldn’t think that.

“Hey. You humans are trouble. Always stirring the pot,” Edlyn scoffed, lips curled like a cat’s.

Eli didn’t argue. He only smiled, thin as wind under a door.

The road stretched like a river of dust. The three of them kept company and stepped into the journey.

Three days later.

They reached the borderland between two empires. Heat beat down like a smelter’s anvil, the air dry as old bone. The ecology was poor, and the old battlefields of Mit and the Draco Empire hid in this scar of land.

High-tier spells that could sway wars had scoured this soil like storms, again and again.

The people living nearby had been touched by those strange magics, like trees bent by a constant wind.

Not many lived here.

Those who did were tough as sun-baked rock. Without real skill, you couldn’t survive in this furnace.

Under layered magical erosion, it wasn’t odd for monsters to be born like weeds after rain.

So many odd tales sprouted here, a treasure field for writers of the uncanny—if you were willing to pay with your life.

After so long walking, today would do. Eli led the horse to a high jut of stone that rose like a whale’s back.

The slanted rock threw a sliver of shade, a narrow sail against the blazing sun.

His senses felt the air like clear water; this patch was clean, with no sticky remnants of stray spells.

His mouth was dry, a rasp in his throat. He coughed twice, then brought the wagon into the shade. “We’ll rest here,” he said.

“Finally?” Edlyn poked her head out of the wagon, eyes sweeping the world like small lanterns.

All she saw was weathered rubble like old teeth and a dead stretch of earth.

Heat rushed her face like a dog’s breath. Edlyn hunched her shoulders and ducked back inside. Eli had set a gentle environment charm in the wagon, like a soft, invisible air conditioner humming.

“Mmm.” Edlyn pulled a chilled fruit juice from the ice box and handed it to Eli, bottle beading like morning dew.

Eli smiled and took it. “Thanks.”

“No need.” Edlyn blinked, bright as sparrow wings. She and Angela didn’t like that flavor anyway.

“How long till we get there?” Edlyn came to his side, her voice low and smooth as silk.

“Mm… still a while. We’re a long way from Mit.” Eli checked the map, their mark a tiny seed far from the destination.

“You didn’t take the wrong road, did you?” Edlyn tilted her head, eyes like black beans staring him down.

Eli met her look, a retort on his tongue—You think I’m like you?—then swallowed it, thinking of the heiress’s temper like a sudden squall.

“Relax. I once drew a complete map of the Draco Empire. Down to county roads, every fine line like veins on a leaf. I get this stuff,” Eli said, a little proud.

“Yikes. You’ve got time to burn. What kind of bizarre hobby is that?” Edlyn gave him a look, sharp as a needle.

Eli sighed. Those were things his old research required, a ladder of details he’d had to climb.

To get the Archmage certification, everything mattered. Every school, every thread, every lock and key.

Honestly, he’d rather hold a sword and trade blows with a master swordsman, steel ringing like winter stars. In legends, didn’t the Hero wield a Holy Sword?

He pushed the thought aside. For now, what he carried from his past life were mostly holy light spells and some clean, close-quarters fighting.

His long drift of thoughts folded like paper. He glanced at Edlyn, dozing against the wagon, her lids falling like petals. He smiled and shook his head, then tapped her forehead. “It’s not even dark.”

“I’m sleepy,” Edlyn murmured, curling like a cat against a post. Peace softened her face, but at his voice her lips pouted like a cherry’s bow.

Eli chuckled under his breath, warm as coals. At least the girl wasn’t guarding herself against him anymore.

“Sleep,” he said. He gently gathered her up. Edlyn shot him a sharp look, hackles up like a startled fox. “What are you doing?!”

“Making sure you sleep more comfortably.” He smiled and set her head on his lap, a soft pillow under a quiet sky.

Edlyn snuggled once, testing the cushion like a finch testing a branch. It beat hard ground, so she turned, faced outward, gave a sugared smile, and sank into rest.

Angela saw and waddled over, then claimed the rest of Eli’s lap like a kitten finding sun.

With two little ones draped over him like scarves, Eli had nothing left to say. Better they lean close than flinch away.

After all his slow, steady work, he’d finally gotten near the sisters. Everything else could be sorted later.

Dusk lowered like indigo paint.

Eli traced a thin ring of wards in the dust, a quiet fence of light. Then he leaned against the post and drifted into sleep.

Edlyn dreamed. In the dream, she nestled against Eli’s chest like a swan under a willow, intimacy bright as a lantern.

She even wanted to do those acts she’d always despised, a tide pulling against her pride.

Her head spun like a hive.

What—what—what was happening?!

In the dream, she was mortified, cheeks burning like peaches in sun.

Watching the way they moved together, Edlyn went from stunned, to angry, to a shy thread of envy and a flicker of longing.

“Hah? Longing? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Edlyn slapped herself in the dream, a crack like a fan snapping. “Impossible!!!!”

“Argh—this is infuriating! What is going on!” Her little face flushed, and she turned away, refusing to watch ‘herself’ and Eli pouring honey over each other.

Above an endless sea of stars, they floated like ink on water. Edlyn leaned in Eli’s arms, grinning wickedly at the scene below. “Ah… this is so fun.”

Eli looked down at the wild girl in his embrace, helpless as rain on stone.

Who keeps poking their own past this gleefully? Did this girl have a self-destructive streak?

He watched their younger selves, small as figures in a lacquer box, and his heart tightened like a drawn bow.

“If you keep this up, she’ll get swept into desire in the dream. You forget that version of you is a Succubus who hasn’t fed yet,” Eli said, pinching her cheek gently, breath a sigh of cloud.

“Excuse me! I’m helping you win me—me! And you’re throwing cold water?” Edlyn glared at him, sparks snapping.

But—her past self was really fun, ha! She knew nothing, stared at scenes wide-eyed, mind spinning like a top—super cute.

Yikes! She was starting to like herself!

“Baby, we’ve still got real work,” Eli said, soft as rain, and kissed the shell of her ear.

“Fine, fine. You’re such a killjoy,” Edlyn muttered, eyes a flash of steel before they softened.

Back to the present.

Seeing the pair below meld like water and cream, Edlyn’s temper flared like oil on flame. She jolted awake, looked up, and saw Eli’s face right there. Fire leaped in her chest; her hand flew, and the slap bloomed across his cheek like a red leaf.

“Pervert!”

——

Eli crouched by the fire, cooking, flames like tongues in the wind. Edlyn, guilty as a child with sticky fingers, held an ice towel and pressed it to the red handprint on his cheek.

“What did you dream to react like that?” Eli asked, exasperation slow as smoke.

He’d been sleeping fine when a sudden slap hauled him back, mood souring like milk.

“Eheh. Sorry,” Edlyn said, smiling awkwardly, eyes skittering like minnows.

She couldn’t say she’d had an absurd dream where she and Eli were the leads of a fevered romance. Too embarrassing.

She woke and smacked the Hero who’d done nothing wrong. Great.

Mm… no, wait! He’s the Hero. I’m the Demon King. Hitting him is justified! Edlyn’s mind sparked with the thought, pride rising like a banner.

“…” But looking at his swollen cheek, and him calmly cooking anyway, no blame in his eyes, her heart pinched like a string.

Forget it.

One day, she’d climb back to her peak, then beat him openly, a sunlit duel with blades like lightning. Then she’d make him her servant—now that would be sweet revenge.

For now, there was no need to do anything else. A Demon King had to defeat the Hero in grand fashion to wash away the stain of defeat.

Thinking that, Edlyn felt her heart settle, a stone finally resting in place.

She glanced at his asymmetrical face, then scooted to his other side.

Eli gave her a look. “What are you up to?”

“Mm. The asymmetry looks a bit ugly,” Edlyn said, solemn as a judge.

“…And whose fault is that?” Eli sighed, not catching the drift of her words.

Edlyn’s tone turned grave, like thunder beyond the hills. “So I’ve decided to slap the other side too. That way it’s symmetrical.”

“What?!” Eli’s worldview cracked. The ladle slipped from his hand and clattered like falling tin.

Edlyn snorted, laughter bright as bells—super cute.

She stood, leaned in, and kissed his other cheek, soft as a moth’s wing. “Consider that compensation. Happy?”

She didn’t wait for him to recover. She hopped toward the wagon, light as a sparrow.

She’d seen people at certain gatherings greet each other like that. Probably… fine? Edlyn thought, then nodded to herself.

Mm. Should be fine.

Eli touched the place she’d kissed, cheek warm as a coal, mind blank for a beat.

Inside the wagon, Angela leaned against the wall. Gold flashed in her eyes like a sunbeam under water. Something felt odd; she blinked hard until the light faded like dusk.

She hurried to Edlyn’s side. “Sis. I think sand got in my eyes.”

“Hm? I’ll blow it out,” Edlyn said, smiling, voice sweet as sugared haw.

She didn’t know why, but her mood now felt bright as spring after rain.