Getting burnt...

  Xia’s voice lingered in Alira’s mind. The worst things about getting burnt—after the pain had passed, of course—were the scars it would leave behind. Thanks to the duke’s bind, her body was flawless except for the old scars from before the bind. Not even one of her endeavors had managed to leave behind a single mark.

  So, she didn’t mind it too much.

  Plus, she was much more prepared now than last time, equipped with gloves more suitable for handling hot stuff. The thick, boiled leather that extended well up to her forearm did, however, feel heavy and stiff. It slightly restrained her hand movements, though not so much that it would give her real trouble.

  “So, what are you up to?” Alira asked, picking up her pace.

  It certainly wasn’t because she was beginning to get creeped out. Not at all. This just seemed like a good opportunity to get to know Xia and raise the artifact’s harmonization number.

  { Nothing much. Just reading some reports. }

  “About?” Alira tried to sound interested and mostly failed. She really couldn’t care as much as she sounded.

  { The towns. The people. Just the usual stuff. Oh, and I’m finally hearing from the people I sent to learn more about the Great Empire of Efestarr—more specifically, that one Academy branch within the Ravon Duchy. }

  Ah, isn’t it just nice?

  Both of the protagonists of Dual POV sure had the habit of digging around. As the Imperial Mage and the second prince of Fenhua, Xia had a comparatively larger network that allowed him to reach so far across the globe.

  “And?” Alira pressed on.

  She couldn’t help but think how awkward this entire conversation was as she was forced to hear her own voice echoing into the forest’s gloom. The initial stage of getting closer to people was as clumsy as always. Even more so when she had to constantly remind herself not to actually let him get to her, in a way, she began to feel the need to save him from his destined death.

  { Sweetie, I already promised you my flame, must I also ramble to soothe your nerves? Isn’t the fire of an Imperial Mage enough for you? }

  “Excuse you. I don’t need you soothing any nerves,” Alira said. Xia almost managed to say something in retort before she quickly continued, “The artifact. I just thought it’s time we made an effort to improve its harmonization.”

  { Harmonization? Oh, you mean the number. I see, so it indicates how harmonized we are. }

  Harmonized... Somehow, the word sounded funny when he said it aloud. Harmonization was just the term Raine had come up with in the novel, since the number would go up the more the two got to know each other.

  “Yes... Either way, the artifact will be able to do more once the percentage gets high enough,” Alira replied. Golden light shifted to a muddier hue, slowly turning green before it could turn a soft blue. She was almost out of the safe zone. Alira put her guard up, listening out for any movement that wasn’t her own.

  { It went up the last time you used me. You have more luck trying that again instead of a sloppy attempt at small talk. Even the old foxes who know absolutely nothing about me could do a better job than you. }

  “I would if I didn’t have to worry about burning the entire forest down,” Alira grunted.

  She got away with no consequences after using up so much of the forest’s mana supply, only because it was recoverable, and she was the duke’s daughter. She doubted she could escape blame if the entire forest turned to ash, however.

  Not to mention the fact that while she wasn’t scared of fire, she certainly wasn’t into getting roasted for fun. It was truly impressive how Xia could birth a fire so wild and alive from the same mana as every other mage used. Impressive was the one word she could think of about him.

  { You’re your own limit. }

  “No, you are the limit,” Alira argued. “You just have to make yourself like me more. Surely that’s not difficult.”

  { How do you know whether it’s me or you who needs to work harder to raise the number? }

  Alira clicked her tongue at that. “You’re good-looking, yeah? I don’t have to try hard to make myself like a pretty face. In fact, I don’t have to try at all, most of the time.”

  { ... }

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Regardless, there was no guarantee in Xia’s route. It was all just her gut feeling that there was something about the person who taught Xia about the tarot cards. It was just plan B to make herself feel slightly safer.

  { Back then— }

  “Shush!” Alira interrupted him, abruptly braking herself to a stop. Her boots pushed around dead leaves, crunching beneath her soles. “Did you hear that?”

  The sound of leaves dancing around didn’t stop after she had. Alira looked up to see that the reaching branches above were still; there was no wind. Her ears twitched as she focused, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

  At 2 o’clock.

  { To your front, leaning right. }

  Alira scooped up the butterfly, its glow now closer to blue, and pointed it ahead. In the distance, she caught sight of a familiar creature. One that was half her kin.

  A small feline sat with leaves swirling in lazy circles at its paws. It stared straight at her with curious, mismatched eyes—one bright blue, the other green—that burnt through the shadow. Cute as its face was, it carried the same streak of chaos: a clean split of black and orange fur. The pattern flipped at its neck and ran all the way down to the tip of its tail, as though it wore a refined checkerboard suit.

  Well, you sure look special.

  { What is it? }

  “A cat,” Alira blurted out, still dazed at its uniqueness. Was it a Spirit Familiar? As far as she knew, Spirit Familiars could take up any form, with a few choosing to take up the appearance of a human. Compared to that, a colorful cat seemed more normal.

  { Ah~ A friend. You should say hello. It could also be your long-lost sibling. }

  “Stop joking,” Alira scolded. “It looks a bit special with this half-and-half two-colored pattern. The eyes are different colored, too.”

  An intrigued hum escaped Xia.

  Alira raised an eyebrow. “What? Do you know what kind of familiar it is?”

  { I can’t be certain, but it sounds like a Traveler. Such disorder is its ruling trademark. }

  “A Traveler,” Alira repeated, rummaging through everything she could recall from the novel. Nothing surfaced.

  { Yes. Travelers command some of the strongest spatial magic. It’s said that they can even cut through the void, leaping across the cosmos to visit worlds beyond the stars. }

  “!!!” Alira exclaimed in an uncontainable high-pitched squeak. WTF. Why was such an amazing thing never mentioned in the novel? If she managed to form a contract with it, she could directly go back—

  { Don’t even dream of it. }

  Xia’s cold voice splashed onto her. Alira would glare at him if he were with her. Who the hell did he think he was?

  { Even I can’t catch it if I tried. Why else do you think I’m still here in this miserable place? }

  That crashed most of the hope Alira had, though not all. An Imperial Mage, the pinnacle of mankind, couldn’t have it even if he tried everything. Still... Who could say? She might just be more special than even the protagonists, being graced with its presence. After all, it didn’t appear in the novel at all.

  Alira was just about to raise a foot when the cat meowed in response. She put her hands up, pressed close to her chest to signal that she meant no harm.

  “One trip,” Alira said, not entirely sure if it could hear or understand her. She ever so slowly inched her hand to her side, reaching for what was hanging from her belt. “I will give you all the cat food you could dream of. Nothing like what you have eaten before!”

  { ...You sure keep talking like you have to leave for somewhere far, far away. }

  Alira didn’t register Xia’s mumbles, being dead focused on any move the cat made. It got up to its feet to do a big stretch before giving one last yowl, which sounded almost like a farewell.

  “Wait, no—”

  It lifted its front paw to jump forward, disappearing into thin air. Almost as if an invisible portal had parted to swallow it up from its whiskers to the last of its tail fluff. One blink, or maybe two. Then, it was gone. Like it was never here.

  “FUCK!”

  Alira watched helplessly as her ticket home was ripped apart before her for the second time. Why the fuck did you even show up then? She was fine with not knowing about the deathless, painless, effortless way out. It felt like the world was making fun of her. Maybe the damned Goddess or whatever was dangling a golden key only to take it away, shoving the fact that she couldn’t leave into her face.

  “Screw you! Screw this! Screw everyone here!”

  Alira dropped to the ground with a thud, squatting on her heels to bury her face in her hands. What am I even doing here? It should have been simple. Get killed by someone and go home. Yet she had been stuck here for almost a month, but no hint of getting freed anytime soon.

  The Goddess should have just lied and said, ‘Save the world, and then you can leave.’ Maybe don’t let me know that I have a way out of this hellhole. But she didn’t. Instead, telling her that as long as she died trying, she would be returned to Earth. Knowing all the crazy plots in line, only a saint would care enough to linger. Alira certainly wasn’t one. Selfishness was carved into her bones by her own hands, and she made sure to slam the chisel down hard. Everything she had and would ever do was self-serving.

  If she were able, she would have killed the duke to break the complete bind on her. If she could—if she just had enough time to cast a bind—she would have rendered the cat unable to move until it agreed to form a contract with her and take her away from here. But she couldn’t.

  So Alira remained trapped, only faulted by her own powerlessness. She picked herself up with a resigned sigh and the determination to get stronger. She needed strength not just to protect herself and keep herself alive until Raine was strong enough to deal with the Bind. Alira promised herself not to let the next chance slip away. If she had to break its legs, she would be ready with a crowbar.

  “Xia,” Alira called his name. Her voice was low and resolute, like a low-burning ember. “You said you’ve been researching the Academy, right? Tell me. What’s my best option for a Spirit Familiar that this forest has to offer?”

  I realized this morning that it's been 60 days since launch! Woohoo.

  Sadly, I missed when it happened :<, BUT we also hit 300 followers, and that's awesome!! That's 299 more than what I ever expected. Final semester + a part-time job on the side has been kicking my ass, and I haven't been so active in the Author's Notes and comments since I've been using my limited free time to write. Still, I really, really appreciate all the notifications I haven't gotten around to checking out. Just seeing that red dot when I log in to schedule the chapters has been incredibly motivating!

  Thank you for reading so far and for all the comments. Once mid-semester break (finally) comes, I plan to go through them properly and make some edits in the earlier chapters for improvement :).

  I hope you've been enjoying the story up to this point, and if you have read this far, thank you again for sticking with it!