"Aaaaaaah...!!!"
Kiana's scream was a ragged ribbon of sound torn apart by the wind. Plumting from a height of several hundred ters, the sheer force of her descent distorted her expression into a mask of panic.
Of course, her terror wasn't just from the fall; a significant portion of it was pure, unadulterated pain.
To keep from being flung away by the rushing air, Rovel—currently in the form of a small, pink-furred fox—had his claws dug deep into Kiana's hair. With every passing second, she was certain her scalp was about to be ripped clean off.
The ground rushed up to et her, a blur of indistinct shapes. Just as she was about to recreate the classic Yamcha death pose upon impact, a figure blurred past and caught her in a firm, secure embrace at the very last second.
"Are you alright?" a gentle voice asked.
Kiana blinked, her heart still hamring against her ribs. The person holding her bore a striking, almost uncanny resemblance to herself. She possessed the sa signature white hair and brilliant blue eyes of the Kaslana family, though her features were more mature, carrying a quiet grace that Kiana had yet to develop.
"Ah... thank you for saving ," Kiana stamred, her voice thick with gratitude. "I almost beca a pancake just now."
Rovel, sensing the imdiate danger had passed, nimbly scrambled up Kiana's hair and perched himself atop her head, his small ears twitching as he surveyed their surroundings.
This place appeared to be so kind of peculiar digital space. To be precise, it felt like a low-fidelity version of the Elysian Realm. At the very least, everything here possessed a tangible, physical quality. That was a bad sign. It ant that if you died here, you were well and truly dead.
The mont Rovel made his appearance, the white-haired woman's attention was imdiately captured.
"What a cute little fox..." A curious, almost wistful glint sparked in her eyes. "May I... hold it?" she asked, looking at Kiana with a hopeful, almost nervous expression, her hands clasped together in a pleading gesture.
"Uh... he's not very friendly with strangers... Hey!" Kiana began, trying to formulate an excuse, but she was too late. With a flick of his tail, Rovel leaped from her head and landed directly in the woman's ample, welcoming embrace.
"So fluffy, so soft..." she murmured, her fingers gently stroking Rovel's pink fur. The adorable little creature in her arms montarily transported her back to a different ti, a different place, reminding her of her experiences in the Far East.
Yae Sakura...
"That little..." Kiana's lips twitched in annoyance. Rovel was being deliberately wicked. She shot him a glare, which he completely ignored.
Before she could retrieve her wayward companion, three figures wearing nacing plague doctor masks caught up to them.
"Miss Kallen, why did you run away?" the leader asked, his voice muffled by the mask as he approached.
His words finally made Kiana notice the heavy iron shackles binding the woman's wrists.
"Grandpa Arthur, I wasn't trying to run away," Kallen explained calmly. "I just saw this young girl falling from the sky and ran over to save her."
"Nonsense!" one of the other n barked. "You betrayed the organization! Your word carries no weight!"
The third man imdiately chid in, his voice dripping with accusation. "Don't forget, half a year ago, you were the one who stole the—"
"Enough." The man called Grandpa Arthur raised a palm, silencing them. He turned back to Kallen, his aged voice laced with a hint of reluctance. "Miss Kallen, if you are willing to repent, I can still plead for rcy from the Master on your behalf."
He had watched Kallen grow up. She had dedicated her entire life to protecting the people, fighting for the weak. And in return... she received nothing but heartless shackles and the looming shadow of the gallows. He could only suppress his own sorrow, struggling to keep his voice from trembling.
"It's useless," Kallen said, her blue eyes filled with unyielding resolve. "I have already made my choice. The Kaslana family will never beco the blade you wield to slaughter innocent civilians!"
She knew the alternative. As long as Kallen married Otto, she could survive. But that would an the Kaslana family would fall completely under the control of Schicksal, a fate she refused to accept. She would not beco a pawn, manipulated at their whim. She had already made too many mistakes, but she would not be the one to push her entire family into an inescapable sea of fire.
Her defiant words completely enraged the other two guards. One of them lunged forward and roughly yanked the chain connecting Kallen's shackles, causing her to stumble.
With a sudden thud, the man who had just assaulted Kallen found himself knocked flat on his back. Kiana stood over him, a confident smirk plastered on her face.
"What do you think you're doing to my savior?!" she declared. "Don't let my looks fool you, I'm a very good fighter!"
In the next second, a hand chopped down on the nerve cluster behind her ear. Kiana's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, unconscious.
Rovel watched the scene unfold with silent exasperation. 'This idiot really loves to show off,' he thought. The fox form Bronya had designed for him possessed virtually no combat power, but... just a mont ago, when he'd first t Kallen, he felt the Stigma within his own body vibrate with a faint, resonant hum.
And so, the two humans and the fox were unceremoniously locked into a cold, damp dungeon cell.
Rovel padded over to the unconscious Kiana and brushed her nose with the fluffy tip of his tail.
"A... Achoo!" Kiana jolted awake with a sneeze. "Where... am I?" She blinked, still groggy, only to find that her hands had been bound with rough rope.
"This is a Schicksal cell," Kallen explained, her voice a soft reassurance in the gloom. "But don't worry. I've already explained everything to Grandpa Arthur. You and I only just t, so you should be able to leave tomorrow morning."
"By the way, I don't know your na yet?" Kallen asked, her gaze gentle.
"My na is Kiana! What about you, big sister?" Kiana introduced herself with a grin.
"My na is Kallen. It's a pleasure to et you, Kiana," Kallen replied with a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Kallen... that na sounds so familiar. Oh! I rember now! You're the—Ow! You bastard Rovel, why did you bite ?!"
Kiana yelped, rubbing her cheek where a clear set of tiny teeth marks was already forming.
Rovel simply flicked his tail against her face before hopping gracefully onto Kallen's lap.
"Urgh!!!" Kiana glared daggers at the fox, who was now curled up comfortably on Kallen's lap, pretending to snore.
"Hahaha..." Kallen couldn't help but laugh at the comical scene. "Is this little fox nad Rovel? I would have expected a cuter na for such an adorable creature."
Though still fuming, Kiana wasn't a complete idiot. She roughly understood that Rovel had stopped her from revealing sothing important.
Shocking—the paracium's brain was actually starting to function.
The two talked for a while longer, Kiana listening intently as Kallen spoke vaguely of her situation. Before long, the exhaustion of the day caught up with Kiana, and she drifted off to sleep.
In the quiet of the cell, Kallen finally turned her full attention to the small creature resting on her lap.
"Little fox," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Are... are you her? No... that's not right. She's already..." Kallen took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm the storm of emotion in her heart.
Rovel didn't speak. He simply uncurled, hopped onto Kallen's shoulder, and gently rubbed his soft, furry tail against her cheek in a gesture of pure comfort.
"Thank you, Rovel..."
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