The following morning, after his routine, Alex went to get a shower, and the sun had barely started showing its first rays of light.
After showering, he went to the diner on the first floor of the inn to have breakfast.
When he had his stomach full, Alex went outside the inn and started exploring, making sure to remember the inn's name in case he got lost, though that was unlikely.
His idea about getting to know the streets came from the escape part of the plan, and with Water Scape at hand, he had to know the sewage system.
He also had to get to know the alleyways, since they were the main source of shadows—essential if he wanted to stay out of the spotlight.
As Alex walked, mapping the street in his mind, he started approaching the main plaza of the capital, where all the bureaucratic stations were.
The main plaza was gorgeous, with greenery everywhere—bushes trimmed perfectly, enclosing the zone, and a magnificent fountain at the very center.
In the fountain, there was a statue of Solmurai, the dawn dragon.
That being was a legend, described as the very first light that broke the world's dawn—its wings shimmering with molten gold, every beat reshaping the sky into a sunrise.
As Alex contemplated the beauty of the fountain, a voice came from behind him.
"Alexander."It was a mature voice, one he found familiar, though he couldn't quite place it.
As he turned toward the voice, he froze, memories filling his mind.
In front of him, a pretty woman he recognized came into sight.
She stood a little taller than most women her age, posture straight and naturally poised, as if elegance came as easily as breathing. Midnight-black hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves, glossy enough to catch even dull morning light. Her eyes were the kind that made people look twice—yellow and predatory, like a wolf sizing up the world.
Her figure was athletic and well-kept, not sculpted through grueling training but maintained through a lifestyle that demanded movement.
Her chest was modest, her curves understated—except for her hips, which had a subtle, noticeable fullness that drew attention when she walked. Mature and composed, she carried herself with an effortless confidence that made her beauty feel intentional rather than accidental.
"Eva…" he called her, the name suddenly coming to mind.
"So this is the boy you said rescued you all the way in Rilven?" the woman who accompanied Eva asked.
"Yes, in the flesh. Well, even more in the flesh—back then he was a sack of bones. Glad you put on some weight, rascal," Eva replied to the other girl, then said to Alex.
If Marc were here, he would immediately recognize the lady beside Eva.
"Allow me to introduce you. Alexander, meet Lydia—my girlfriend. Lydia, Alexander: the little thief who rescued me all that time ago," Eva said, grinning.
"Girlfriend?" Alex was stunned.
"What? Just because I was raped by a man doesn't mean I'm into them," Eva replied bluntly.
Alex coughed. "No, I didn't mean that. I was just surprised."
"How are you doing, Alexander? And how is that comically big kid who helped you doing?" Eva asked, still smiling.
Lydia's mind rang a bell. 'Comically large kid?' She remembered one such kid asking her to seek justice on a minor noble—for a girl who had been raped, tortured, and murdered.
'Marc was his name, right? I wonder how he's doing,' she thought, though she remained silent.
"Just Alex. You could say I'm anything but well. And Marc… he was murdered around six months ago," Alex said, pain showing on his face.
"What?!" both ladies replied at the same time, and both for different reasons.
Eva couldn't believe such a fate had fallen on such a young kid.
Lydia, on the other hand, didn't expect that the person who asked her for a commission and the one who helped her girlfriend escape the rapists were the same person.
"How did that happen? Was the culprit found?" Lydia asked.
Alex found himself not wanting to talk about Marc to an unknown person.
Seeing Alex's hesitation, Lydia internally praised his loyalty, but still said:
"I knew your friend. He once asked me, in a commission, to help bring a noble to justice for his actions toward a small girl he buried at the entrance of a forest."
She added enough detail to prove she was telling the truth.
"Ah! You're the head of the capital's mage squad, right?" Alex said. What she just said wasn't something anyone could know.
"Oh, you knew the kid who was friends with this rascal?" Eva said, thinking, 'How small is the world, huh?'
"Yeah, and yeah—I'm the HCMS. I knew his friend. He was such a pure and righteous person that he convinced me to help," Lydia said.
"Then… can you tell us how he died? And if you know who did it?" Lydia asked again.
"He was murdered while helping a girl get rid of a creep," Alex stated.
"Fuck…" Lydia muttered. She couldn't believe the kid died for that. 'Really, for helping someone?'
"I'm sorry, Alex. Were the both of you close?" Eva asked, her voice soft, her expression reflecting his pain.
"We were raised together in Rilven's orphanage—we were basically brothers," Alex replied honestly, clutching Marc's necklace.
"And from how the guards dodged the questions… a noble may be responsible, but I don't know who."He spoke a half-truth.
He was standing in front of a powerhouse. Lydia wasn't a nobody, so he didn't want to admit that he knew the culprit. She would immediately link his presence in the capital with a possible murder attempt.
"Haah… first, you both were forced to the streets before becoming adults, and now your brother was murdered for helping someone. Life has been truly hard on you, Alex," Eva said.
Her heart ached at the sight of Alex's expression, and after what he said about their relationship, it felt even worse.
'He's now truly alone in the world,' she thought.
"I'm glad that at least life treated you well after the torment you went through, Eva," Alex replied. She had endured much herself.
"Thank you. How about I invite you to eat, so we can catch up?" Eva proposed.
She wanted to show him he wasn't really alone—that survivors could stick together.
Lydia said nothing, also feeling bad for the kid.
Alex looked at the sky—it was barely morning, so it was breakfast again.
"Sure," he replied. He thought it was a good idea—he also wanted to hear how she ended up here.
As Eva and Lydia took Alex to eat, they talked about everything that had happened.
Alex didn't hide anything besides the fact that he was adopted, and he changed the narrative of his separation from Tessa from revenge to a frantic search for the culprit.
Eva, on the other hand, explained how, after fleeing, she rented a carriage and came to the capital. Thanks to the money he had given her, she could rent an apartment.
Then she found a job as a secretary for the mage squad, where she met Lydia, and after some time of flirting, they ended up in a relationship.
"I have to thank you, Lydia. You don't know how happy you made Marc when I showed him the newspaper and he read what you did," Alex said honestly, slightly bowing his head before continuing to eat.
"It was nothing. I was commissioned for it. In fact, I have to thank you both for rescuing her—unlike me, you did it for free and even shared some of your loot for her to run," Lydia said, and she meant every word.
Between the two of them, Alex was the kindest. She only helped if the pay was enough.
"Eva is the love of my life, and she's only here thanks to you both. So if there's something you ever need my help with in the future, just tell me," Lydia finished.
Alex looked at the time, and seeing he was a few hours away from midday, he realized he had to leave.
He took a paper and a quill from his pocket watch and wrote something on it out of the ladies' view.
They watched curiously.
Once he finished, he folded the paper a few times and handed it to Eva.
"Here. Promise me you'll open it in fifteen days," Alex said.
"Okay… but how am I supposed to hold my curiosity all that time?" Eva replied, taking the paper.
"It's time for me to leave. It was nice meeting you both. Have a nice day," Alex said, standing up.
Eva found nothing strange about it and replied, "Sure. I hope to meet you again."
But Lydia, trained and perceptive, caught faint traces that something was off. She didn't press, simply saying, "Same. Take care."
As Alex left the restaurant, he walked back to the inn he had come from and started waiting for Bren to get out of the room.
On the way back, he looked at the sky and thought:
'Oh? It's about to rain—it's been a long time.'