*Clack*
A simple wooden stick, the height of an adult's waist, fell in front of little Tsana, alongside the two silver coins that had been thrown earlier.
Little Tsana, whose body was so dirty with dust that her hair had turned brown, just stared at the boy in silence before whispering, "Thank you."
The boy merely snorted and closed the carriage curtain, then the carriage driver drove the carriage away again.
Little Tsana took the silver coins and the wooden stick with trembling hands. She stared at the objects with sparkling eyes.
"That was the most relieving feeling for me at that time." Tsana spoke, then sat down next to little Tsana who was still staring at the silver coins and the wooden stick in her hand.
Cayn shifted his gaze from the carriage that was moving further away to the adult version of Tsana and the small version of Tsana.
"After experiencing the turmoil of war, being made a slave, and struggling to survive amidst that suffering, I finally felt a sense of relief when I saw the owner of the gold eyes who gave me those two silver coins."
Cayn swallowed with difficulty. "Yet the boy only gave two silver coins haughtily. He did nothing but act arrogant and disgusting. There was nothing about him that could make someone feel relieved."
Tsana shook her head. "Mmm, you're wrong, Sir Cayn. When I saw those pair of glittering gold eyes, I felt like the boy and I shared the same suffering."
In the middle of their conversation, little Tsana tried to stand up with the help of the wooden stick and walked towards a food stall selling meat skewers.
However, seeing Tsana's dirty and smelly appearance, the stall vendor immediately chased her away mercilessly.
"Go away, you dirty rat. You're making my customers uncomfortable!" the female vendor snapped.
Little Tsana tried to stand and leave from there, walking aimlessly.
Cayn and Tsana followed her.
Then Tsana continued her sentence. "When I saw those pair of gold eyes full of restlessness, I felt like I wanted to become stronger and stronger so that I could protect him."
Cayn's eyes were melancholic; he wondered why Tsana could know his restlessness at that time, even though it was only a brief and accidental encounter. "Why did you want to protect him so badly, even though it was your first time meeting him, and the meeting happened when you were in distress."
Tsana smiled playfully at Cayn. "That's the main point. How can a girl not fall in love with a man who helps her when she is in trouble? I won't answer that now. Because there is another reason that made me determined to protect you. You'll know soon."
Tsana pulled Cayn's hand to follow her to a river. There they saw little Tsana resting and drinking the river water eagerly, she looked truly thirsty.
Then she rested there and tried to treat her leg. However, her knowledge of medicine was very minimal, and she had no energy left at all. She was very starved, and her body joints were truly aching, until finally, she could only lean her body against a rock there.
"At that time I thought I would die soon, I looked at those two silver coins, and felt that the boy who gave them was just wasting his money. Because if I died, that money would be useless," Tsana said.
Then little Tsana dozed off beside the rock.
Cayn held Tsana's hand. "Have you remembered all of your past?"
Tsana shook her head. "I only remember my childhood."
Then suddenly Cayn cleared his throat and looked away. "Then, what happens next you might not remember."
Tsana pulled Cayn's face to look at her, then she nodded. "I remember everything."
A red flush appeared on Cayn's face, and it was as if a gentle breeze blew across his face, making his hair sway slowly. He felt his heart beating very fast in his chest.
At the same time, suddenly the sound of several footsteps was heard not far from there, and soon after, two people appeared walking towards Tsana.
One of the people stood in front of Tsana and then squatted down. His gold eyes looked at Tsana with great pity. "What a miserable fate."
It was little Cayn who had come, along with his carriage driver. It turned out they had been following little Tsana since earlier, until little Tsana reached this river.
"Take her to the inn, and treat all her wounds. We have to return to the Capital tonight, and won't be able to accompany her. It will take a month to heal wounds this severe. Pay the inn rent for one month for her, and pay a healer to treat her wounds periodically," little Cayn ordered, and the driver immediately nodded.
The driver then lifted Tsana's body to be carried into the horse-drawn carriage parked not far from there, and little Cayn carried all of Tsana's belongings, including the 2 silver coins, the simple wooden stick, and a scroll, before he also got into the carriage, and the carriage drove away from the place again.
Tsana stared into Cayn's gold eyes. "At that time I wasn't actually completely unconscious, I could still feel what was happening around me, including hearing your voice. I remembered your voice very well since the first meeting, and that's why I knew that the one who helped me at that time was you. I didn't even know the reason why you helped me, even though you acted arrogantly at the first meeting. At that time I thought you might be the type of person who looks cold and rough, but actually has a soft and affectionate side that you hide. That was the second reason why I really wanted to become stronger and protect you."
Cayn truly wanted to cry right now, then he moved his body closer to Tsana and placed his palm on Tsana's cheek. "Listen, I really want to kiss you right now."
Tsana widened her eyes, and whether it was an illusion or not, Cayn seemed to see a faint red flush on Tsana's cheek.
Cayn felt as if he had received approval from Tsana, and he placed his hand behind Tsana's nape, before slowly bringing his face closer to Tsana's.
Closer, and closer.
However, before their lips could touch, suddenly the world around them seemed to shatter, spinning randomly, and the ground beneath their feet also collapsed.
Until suddenly, their bodies fell downwards and into the water.
When they reappeared on the surface, they realized that they had exited the time dimension, and fell into the river.
Cayn looked at the drenched Tsana and laughed. Tsana, seeing Cayn's laugh, couldn't help but laugh too. The two seemed to have just had fun together.
Tsana felt a familiar feeling from the curse mark on her stomach, and she looked at Cayn. "It seems like my curse mark has disappeared again."
"Pleased to hear it." Cayn smiled contentedly, and his gaze turned teasing. "Should I continue what we were doing earlier?"
*Boom*
However, before Tsana could answer Cayn's question, suddenly a loud boom was heard from the direction of the forest.
The two looked at each other in surprise, and Tsana said, "We have to check it out."
Although reluctant, Cayn still nodded and used his flying magic to bring Tsana faster to the source of the booming sound.
And when they arrived at the scene, they were immediately presented with a very shocking sight.
There, they saw Zephyr and William fighting desperately against a small creature, shaped like a dog the size of an 8-year-old human child. The dog wore a red cloak and held a sword, its body was upright, staring at Zephyr and William.
None of the three had any injuries at all, but the scenery around them was utterly destroyed, clearly showing that they had been through a very long battle.
Meanwhile, Rolan and Helena looked like they were tied upside down to a very tall tree, Helena was struggling, trying to free herself, while Rolan had fainted from fear of heights. It was very clear that they couldn't use magic because their mouths were gagged with rocks.
Tsana winced at the pitiful sight.
Cayn muttered. "Demon General Aldis."
Tsana frowned. "Aren't we still in the first territory, Kylos's domain? Kylos said that each territory has a barrier that prevents every demon general from entering another demon general's territory. But why is Aldis here?"
"Most likely because Kylos has been freed, the barrier protecting his territory also disappeared, so Aldis can enter this territory. But he still cannot get out of this forest because of the barrier covering the entire forest, not just per section, so he can only wander in the first and second territories." Cayn explained.
Tsana nodded. "Perhaps because he was curious why the barrier to Kylos's territory suddenly disappeared, and he explored Kylos's territory and accidentally met Zephyr and the others. The probable cause of this fight is that because Aldis didn't find Kylos anywhere, and suddenly the barrier protecting the first territory disappeared, he thought that Kylos had died, and the people who killed Kylos were Zephyr and the others."
Cayn nodded. "That's right."
Silence, only the sound of insects was heard.
Tsana spoke after a few seconds of silence. "Should we help them?"