Xiran kept mumbling Aselia’s name as Rivan took him inside and tucked him in his bed. He stayed beside him until the effect of alcohol wore off and he woke up.

Xiran had a lingering headache as the events replayed in his mind and he sat up straight in his bed. He jerked his head to find Rivan sitting close to him with his legs crossed at the ankles and wearing a grim almost angry expression.

"What did I do?" was his first question to his blue-eyed friend; who shook his head at him and said in a hurt voice:

"Question is what you would have done if I hadn’t arrived on time. Didn’t I tell you to wait for me? Why have you stopped paying heed to everything I say?"

Xiran was ashamed of how he had conducted himself last night and vaguely remembered grabbing that girl.

"Tell me I didn’t hurt her?" Xiran pleaded with a horrified face. He couldn’t believe he grabbed her by her neck. He had never done that.

"You almost did. Her neck was in your grasp when I arrived," Xiran took his face in his hands and grunted in frustration.

"I thought she was Aselia. I was so drunk I couldn’t see straight. It was a bad idea to go there in the first place."

"If you had waited for me, this wouldn’t have happened. That’s why I keep telling you to let Aselia go and start over. How long are you going to keep living like this?" Rivan reached out and placed his hand on Xiran’s back.

"I can’t let her go Rivan, I just can’t..." he trailed off, words choked in his throat. He almost had s*x with someone, thinking she was Aselia. Every new day carried laborious ordeals for him. It seemed like he was doomed to suffer.

"Then start listening to my advice from now on and stop making rash decisions and acting on impulse. Can you do that?" Rivan’s voice was low but firm.

"I will."

"There is something else, while you were passed out, Irlana called," Rivan’s words made both men have their hearts beating fast.

"Really? Is she alright?" A small smile finally crept up on his lips, thinking about his sister.

"She is and she had news to share," Rivan then told his friend about the serum his father had concocted.

"What? So that’s how he was able to restore Xifin’s memories and took Treia. He has countered my power," Xiran gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Yes, we need to be extra vigilant now. He can just restore memories and learn your secrets."

"Quicker we play out our plan now, the better it will be, once our serum is ready we are making a move on him. I no longer care about my life as long as I will rid this world of him. I just want you people to be safe along with her," Xiran’s words hit his friend hard. He had realised that Xiran had stopped caring about his life and well-being. This didn’t sit right with him, so he spoke his mind:

"We will end him together with a proper plan and you are not going anywhere."

Xiran didn’t answer just stared at the wall ahead, completely lost in his world.

"There is one thing more. Your father keeps a diary on you. It most probably belongs to your mother. Irlana read a few pages and picked up an important detail. It’s about your bond," Rivan’s words made him turn to face him with an agitated look and asked:

"What does it say?"

"It says that your mother had a special trait. She could transfer that bonding part to someone closer to her. She transferred it to you. That trait meant as the relationship will develop between the two people the bond will solidify and once it had reached a certain point your partner can’t hurt you. If they try to through words or physical actions then they will feel the pain double the amount you will go through. Irlana was in a hurry so she couldn’t read when or how your mother did it. But I guess she did it to protect you from a fate she had."

Xiran blinked in astonishment. Events with Aselia began to replay in his mind. After a few months of living with him, she had begun to experience pain every time she would say or do something which would hurt him. The time she ordered cutting off his hair. The moment she refused to have children with him and so many more incidents.

This explained why it was so severe for her. This was his mother’s passed-down trait to protect his heart.

Was this the reason his mother had survived so long with a monster, he must have experienced pain every time he used to hurt her. Could it be that she died because she passed it to him and couldn’t protect herself anymore?

This brought tears to his eyes, thinking about his mother. Why would she do that? She should have protected herself.

"I need that diary at every cost. I want to know everything about my mother and her home planet," the agitation in his heart began to grow. Why did his mother leave him alone in this world? He needed her so much and still did.

"We will get it. Now that Irlana is on our side too, the future is not far away when we will get all the answers we seek," Rivan patted his shoulder, trying to relax his tensed body while he sat with a bitter determination reflected in his eyes. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Rivan stayed till morning with him and once he was in a stable condition he took his leave, he had important meetings today. Once Rivan was gone Xiran slowly climbed out of bed and went outside in the garden where the two red maple trees stood tall.

Xiran slowly approached the one Aselia had punched that night. The traces of her blood that had dried and blackened were still etched in the tree’s bark. Placing his hand on it he whispered:

"I miss you, Leia."