╭══◞ Aska POV ◟══╮
We were sitting in the carriage, facing each other. I was still surprised at my own behavior back in Lord Ulrich’s office—but if I had to be honest, I didn’t mind it. I’d grown closer to her than I ever thought I would, and my perception of her had shifted a lot. My perception of a lot of things had shifted lately.
I still didn’t know whether I should feel happy about that… or terrified.
Urg, why was everything so complicated? And why did it have to be her of all people in this world…? I had no idea what drew to her—or why. But I also wanted to understand how she lived with it. With all that guilt. With losing control.
Though… maybe I already knew the answer. All those seals, all that caging away. Her distant attitude. Her constant mask. Was she afraid? Afraid of hurting people? Of getting too close?
Why were you made of so many paradoxes? And every ti I found out more about you, it just brought up more questions .
Like that sister… that reminded .
“S-say, you wanted to tell you sothing about the S-system?” I asked, my voice small.
“Mhm, yes, you’re right. Sorry,” she replied. “I got a bit lost in thoughts about experints I want to try tomorrow.”
“So?”
There was a spark in her eyes I hadn’t seen in her before—sothing sharp, almost eager, “So, I noticed sothing interesting. The System is working on our bodies—but not our souls. It sneaks in by shaping the body first. When I look at you now, I can see the threads—it’s working. Right now.”
She paused, eyes flickering as if reading so invisible threads around .
“It’s fascinating, really. Because your body wasn’t created inside my domain, it already inherited structural elents tied to the System. That’s how you beca part of it. And considering what we now know about evolution paths—especially for monstrous beings, which your earlier spectral form qualified as—you just kept evolving.”
I stared at her.
She didn’t even pause, like this had lit sothing in he. “I don’t know how or why exactly, but I think the soul-link with is feeding your body in a way that pushes your evolution forwards. That’s why you’re a high elental now. Probably the first of your line. The System did all of this right under my nose. And I didn’t even question it.”
Her grin widened. “It’s brilliant.”
I tried to process everything she just said and felt completely overwheld. Was this… what the System ant back then?
“Aren’t you angry? Or scared that it’s doing things behind your back?” I asked.
She laughed—eyes wide, grinning. “? Scared? Nonono, Asche. This is amazing. It’s been so long since sothing actually managed to slip past like this. Not since Calypso pulled that stunt with her veils. But now… now I see it.”
Her voice softened. “And I want to see more. What will it do next? What’s the next step? How will it surprise ?”
Her words picked up speed, her eyes distant. “Imagine manipulating a System like that. The energy it would need to sustain itself—what are the divines doing with it? Why implent it at all? If I could just—if I could…”
But she stopped mid-thought. Her whole expression changed. Sothing cracked in her gaze—like sothing distant had just hit her in the chest.
She didn’t say anything else. But even without looking into her soul, I could feel it.
The pain.
It burned. It hit like it was mine, but it wasn’t. It was all hers. So much it made my head spin. I couldn’t br-breathe.
W-what was—
Let help you,
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