Meliora closed her eyes.

  Her heart beat fast.

  She remembered Souta, Stingara, her mother.

  Everything she had lost.

  Tears flowed, but they were not of fear.

  They were of decision.

  — *No more running.*

  Her golden aura shone.

  Her whole body was taken by a warm, radiant light.

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  — **Sun Magic!**

  A flash exploded, like the rising of the day.

  The shadows screamed, twisting.

  One by one, they were dissolved by the light.

  The entire village was bathed in gold.

  The ashes seemed to vanish for an instant.

  And the silence was replaced by applause.

  The elder wept.

  — Thank you… princess.

  Meliora smiled, but her body trembled.

  Almost without mana, she fell to her knees.

  Souta held her by the arm, firmly.

  But his gaze was cold.

  — Princess… you exposed yourself too much.

  — Now everyone knows who you are.

  Meliora turned her eyes away, embarrassed.

  Pikonota laughed, breaking the tension.

  — Relax, Mister Spoon.

  — If trouble comes, we run.

  Souta sighed, exasperated.

  — Pukonota… you only think about eating and running.

  The dragonoid shrugged, biting a piece of honey bread she had saved.

  — And it works, doesn’t it?

  Meliora smiled, tired.

  — But in the end… we always stay together.

  Souta turned his eyes away, muttering.

  — Hmph.

  That night, the village of Draven slept in peace for the first time in years.

  But Souta knew.

  The curse was not just a coincidence.

  Someone had cast it.

  And if there were shadows in Draven…

  There would be even more darkness ahead.