"Reason?" Eli asked, scratching his head. He didn’t care about the order but he was still suspicious of Silas taking the treasure to himself.

"King level beats." Silas said. "I am afraid of waking up and killing everyone here. You are the only one who can deal and kill the beast."

Eli nodded. "But who is stupid enough to wake the beast? Besides, only your group and I knew about it. Well, you could include that huge elf but he is dumb right?"

"He looks dumb." Roland said.

"Just a hunch I am feeling. You are worried about me escaping with the treasure right?"

Eli nodded, not even bothering to hide his suspicions.

"Look, the barrier is still intact. Even if the interior was weaker than the outside, you can sense me breaking and escaping. With your spell, I am sure you can reach beside me within seconds. And I am not dumb enough to pull a knife on you." Silas explained with a long rant.

He seriously needed to dump Eli here. His gift was too bizarre and hard to see the depth.

He was loved by the spirits but not just a casual love. It was deep love for him. They also seemed aware of the gift but ignored.

Silas was worried about the tree’s consciousness taking the liking to Eli.

"Yeah. You are not that dump. But I am still worried about you escaping?" Eli said. "Here, take Vae with you. He also likes you."

"Really?" Silas smiled and patted the white spirit with his finger. "Relax, I don’t have the capability."

Eli shook his head. "No, you have the means. I know for sure. Want to know the reason behind my words?"

"Sure. Humor me." Silas said, not registering his words.

"Your fate. The spirits told me that your fate is non-existent in this world." Eli said and turned around. "So don’t lie. I know you can escape from me. But now that Vae is with you, I will trust you."

Silas sighed, looking at Vae. He then yelled at Eli. "This is not trust, Eli."

He turned around and finally stepped inside the barrier.

***

"It is a curse. Passed down by the primordial shadow to us. We betrayed the world but even the betrayer got betrayed. You won’t find love, Ice-pick. You won’t."

A hunting voice echoed inside her head, waking her from her deep slumber abruptly.

Ice-pick opened her eyes and was greeted by a rough face. The huge man looked down and formed a bright smile. Somehow, the smile fitted very well with his face.

"Are you okay, Miss?"

Ice-pick nodded and got up, covering her eyes. She blinked a few times, getting used to the light. Her hometown was devoid of light. Even the bright sun couldn’t pierce through the curse land of her.

So the sun was a distant story for her at a young age. Imagine her surprise when she escaped the house and came here.

It was a dream. And a nightmare. Because every moment reminded her of her father’s words. Betray. Betray. Trust no one. Love no one.

Betray.

She wanted to break free of that curse. She didn’t want to become the monster from the story anymore. She wanted to be a princess, enjoying the blissful love with her prince charming, enjoying the wonderful feeling.

Why can’t she? Because she was a succubus.

Even if she denied everything that came out from her father, it was still engraved into her beings. Her essences. She was going to betray someone. Whether she liked it or not. It was in her blood.

So, she made a stupid reason to escape. Escaping was her best job. Fleeing from her emotions.

That was why she didn’t want to interact with the group.

Luna was fun to tease, seeing her reaction always brought a grin to her face. Her pouting expression whenever she got stuck on spell theory was cute. And her puppy face when she got scolded for messing up the spell was wonderful as well.

Roland was fun to bunter, his frustration expression was somewhat cute and endearing. But seeing his serious drive to improve was admirable. She would stare at his training. It was aggravating to see him put down lower than others.

Isvendar was the new addition to the group and the least Ice-pick knew about but after observing her for a few days, she came up with the conclusion that she was a mistreated girl. Perhaps much worse than her.

She was still a mystery to her but it was fun to uncover what is under the mind she buried. She wanted to know more. How will Isvendar develop her wounded mind?

And she could see a hint already? Her husband and the man who took her hand and showed her to these people.

Without him, she would still be in the circle of control, betrayal and manipulation. She still didn’t understand how he found her and managed to convince her.

Perhaps, she was hoping for a change. Perhaps, she wanted to fall in love with someone she could trust. Truly.

In the end, Ice-pick didn’t want that. She didn’t want to feel that at all. She hasn’t even fallen in love and yet she was feeling the pain of ripping apart.

She hated herself for feeling that but couldn’t help it. She was, after all, the daughter of her father. She was made to destroy the trust they had and the bond they built.

"What are you thinking, Miss?" Rowe’s large voice boomed inside her head.

She flinched and backed off when she noticed that Rowe had entered into her vision. She felt sorry for a tiny bit for using him as a scapegoat but that guilt was washed away by seeing his rough face. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He deserved it. Ice-pick laughed in her black heart.

"Nothing." She lied without reason.

But Rowe seemed to pick up on that and knocked her head with his thick knuckles.

"Ouch. What was that for?"

"For lying." Rowe said flatly.

"I see. You are the type that hates lies being told to you. I am surprised. You don’t look like the type to care at all." Ice-pick muttered, rubbing her head where the knuckles met.

"That is a rude thing to say, Miss Succubus." Rowe laughed.

"I hit you because you are deceiving yourself."

"Me?" Ice-pick tilted, pointing at herself.

"Yeah. People tend to put barriers around themselves for a reason. And you seemed to be doing so." Rowe said. He then patted her head and smiled.

"Don’t worry about that. Just don’t lie to yourself. It is not a good habit." He dragged the last part and looked away from the mountain.

He then stood up and walked toward the edge, looking out to the forest. He then grinned with excitement.

"Brace yourself, miss. Now is the time to think. There is a sight ahead."

An earthquake occurred.