As the carriage rolled along the winding path back to Ilis, Galen lounged across the opposite seat like so overfed noble, limbs sprawled carelessly as if the entire thing belonged to him. Serah, anwhile, sat upright with one leg elegantly crossed over the other, her eyes distant and fixed on the passing scenery beyond the windowpane.
"So, how’s that raid you were planning on the Bleeding Smile coming along?" Galen asked, glancing lazily at his sister.
"The raid’s already over," Serah replied, voice calm, almost too casual.
"Oh? Since when?" he asked, brows arching.
"Last night."
"Was it successful?"
"Yeah... in a way," Serah said, her tone shaded with a hint of sothing unspoken.
"Hm? What’s that supposed to an?" he pressed.
Serah exhaled softly, then turned her gaze toward him. "We were betrayed by Blan... and we lost Pete, Elene, and Aiden," she said, voice flat.
Galen’s crimson eyes flared open just a bit. "Damn. Aiden’s gone? And Elene too?"
"And Pete," Serah added.
"Uh..." Galen blinked. "Who’s that again?"
Serah chuckled under her breath. "Of course you don’t rember."
Galen grinned, sheepish. "Well, forgive for not keeping tabs on background characters. But Blan, though—ugh. That bearded ogre always rubbed the wrong way. Creeped out every ti he smiled."
"Yeah, I didn’t like him either. But I didn’t expect him to be part of the Bleeding Smile," Serah said, turning her gaze back toward the window, eyes a little harder now.
Galen studied her for a second, then leaned back with a long sigh. "So tell ... how’d you manage to pull off the raid without three of your people?"
"We got so help," Serah said simply.
"Help? Like... backup forces?"
"Not exactly. Right before things got really out of hand, a second dark mage showed up. Wiped out the entire Bleeding Smile cult in absolute darkness in just re seconds," she said, snapping her fingers for emphasis.
"A dark mage?" Galen repeated, blinking.
"Yep. I know it sounds strange, but that’s what happened," Serah said.
"Strange? Nah, that’s beyond strange. That’s downright ga-changing." Galen suddenly sat upright, animated now. "I an, maybe this’ll finally make Father realize that not all dark mages are villains. Sure, so of them are nuts, but co on—a dark mage just slaughtered his own kind. A real threat too."
Serah smiled faintly. "At least you see it like that. But you know Father. He’s already seen the reports. And his response? ’This so-called dark mage may’ve killed his own, but that doesn’t make him different. Not to . Probably just clearing the board for himself. A turf war in the dark.’"
Galen groaned, slamming back into the plush seat with a dull thud. "Yep. That’s Father for you. Convincing him’s like trying to wrestle gravity. Pointless."
"Exactly," Serah said, letting a smile creep back onto her face.
"Anyway, this dark mage... did you, you know... et him?" Galen asked, voice dipping just slightly in tone.
Serah didn’t even turn her head. "I can’t talk about that here. Just wait till we’re back."
Galen narrowed his eyes, clearly intrigued, but after a beat, he shrugged and leaned back again. "Alright. Guess I’ll wait."
***
It took only minutes for the carriage to return to Ilis and arrive at the grand courtyard of Solara Palace. No sooner had the wheels co to a halt than Galen leapt out like a hound on a scent, tailing his sister with relentless energy. He wasn’t about to let valuable information slip through his fingers. Not today.
Trailing Serah like an eager pup, Galen followed her all the way through the palace halls to her private quarters.
The mont they stepped inside, Serah shrugged off her coat and tossed it over the back of a chair without a second glance. Galen, anwhile, made a beeline for her bed and flopped onto it like it was his own.
"Get your feet off my bed!" Serah snapped as soon as she caught sight of his dirt-caked boots grinding into her pristine sheets.
"Huh? What? They’re not even that dirty," Galen replied with a lazy shrug.
"Get. Them. Off."
"Alright, alright," he said, raising both hands in theatrical surrender. He bent forward, unlaced his boots, and chucked them onto the floor without a care.
Serah sighed and made her way to one of her couches, picking up a half-full bottle of wine and a glass from the table. She poured herself a drink, sat down gracefully, and took a long sip.
Watching her, Galen rolled his eyes with mock offense. "So, what’s this about? You drag here just to remind that I’m still not legal to drink, or is this the part where you confess you’ve got a new boyfriend?"
Serah nearly choked on her wine, coughing as a flush crept into her cheeks. She turned her head sharply and shot him a death glare. "He is not my boyfriend. No way in all nine hells could he ever be my boyfriend."
Galen’s grin widened like a devil catching scent of sin. "Not your boyfriend, huh?" He burst out laughing, his voice echoing through the room. Serah’s eye twitched.
"You know," he managed between wheezes, "for a twenty-six-year-old battle-hardened woman, you sure act like a ten-year-old girl sotis."
"Shut up."
"Aww, don’t cry, big sis," he teased, barely holding back another laugh. "Anyway, co on, spill already. What was it like? You and this mysterious dark mage? Judging by your reaction, y’all had so kind of mont."
Serah rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t get stuck.
"Ugh... just shut it. Now listen, I need you to swear—swear—that nothing I’m about to say leaves this room. No blabbing to anyone, and definitely not to Father. Got it?"
Galen raised his pinky with solemn ceremony. "I swear. Now tell everything about your new forbidden love."
Serah groaned and dragged a hand through her crimson hair. "I swear, I’m going to kill you."
"You’d miss too much."
Ignoring him, she finally began. "I ran into the dark mage far outside the Caelmoor borderlands. At first, I was following him. Thought I’d kill him. Not seriously, I an... he pissed off. He was toying with while slaughtering the entire Bleeding Smile like it was sport. So I tracked him down. When I tried to catch him off guard, he was way faster than I expected."
"So you missed," Galen said, like it was obvious.
"Yes, Galen, I missed," she said with a flat tone. "Fast forward a bit, he told he’d wiped them out for his own reasons, so personal vendetta or whatever. We kept talking, and then a Blood demon attacked. We had to fight it together."
"Whoa, a Blood demon? You’ve dealt with one of those before, right?"
"Yeah," Serah nodded. "But with his help, it was a lot easier. I still got injured though."
"Hm..." Galen tapped his chin like a scholar deep in thought. "Got a na?"
Serah narrowed her eyes before answering reluctantly. "Yeah... Marcus."
Galen’s grin exploded like a firecracker.
"What?" Serah snapped.
"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that this ’totally not your boyfriend’ guy gave you his na, and you morized it, and are saying it like you’ve been thinking about it for hours, that’s all."
"What do you an by that?" she asked, eyes narrowing further.
"It’s exactly what it sounds like," Galen said innocently. "Anyway, tell sothing. Does he have long hair?"
Serah’s brow twitched. "Why does that matter?"
Galen tilted his head and gave her a smug look. "Seriously? Isn’t it obvious? Because, dear sister, every boring dude you’ve ever dated had long hair. Every single one. I’m just trying to establish a pattern here. If this Marcus guy has it too, well... maybe you’ve got a type."
Serah looked like she was about two seconds away from hurling her wine glass straight at his smug face. But with a long, calming breath, she reeled it back in—barely.
"Damn... I almost lost my life just now, didn’t I?" Galen said, the usual smirk plastered on his face.
"You have no idea."
"Well, thank the gods you’re good at keeping calm," Galen said with a grin, which only made Serah’s eye twitch dangerously.
"Anyway," he went on, "are you sure you’ll run into this Marcus guy again? I an, you two t randomly in the middle of nowhere and probably didn’t bother asking where the other lived because you both thought you were too cool for that."
"I will et him again," Serah said firmly, her tone like iron. "During our fight with the Blood Demon, he told sothing no one else has ever ntioned. Blood Demons aren’t just one kind. There’s the Redbloods we’ve been dealing with—and then there are Purebloods. The only people who know about them are dark mages, especially those who’ve had to survive against Blood Demons on their own. The rest of Amthar is in the dark, probably because we’ve only been fighting Redbloods up till now."
Galen’s smirk faded into a frown as he narrowed his eyes. "Now that’s disturbing. Another kind of Blood Demon? And worse than the ones we’ve already faced? The ’Redbloods’ are already nightmare fuel. And you’re telling there’s a level above that?"
"Yeah," Serah nodded. "And unfortunately, Marcus didn’t have ti to tell more. That’s why I need to find him. I need the full picture."
"I get it..." Galen muttered, sitting up and rolling off the bed. He slid his boots on lazily before standing and heading toward the door. "Well, I hope you do find him."
He paused with his hand on the door, turning back with a sly grin. "And when you do, and you get the info you’re after, and maybe make out a little... tell him he has my full blessing to do whatever he wants with you."
That was the trigger.
A wine glass cut through the air like a throwing knife, aid straight for his head. But Galen ducked it at the last second, laughing as it shattered against the doorfra.
"Whoa! You really do like this dude!" he called out, glancing back at her. "Anyway, off to see Mom and little Tharionson! Byeee."
As the door slamd shut, Serah leaned back on her couch with a long, exhausted sigh. "That insufferable sixteen-year-old idiot just can’t give a break," she muttered, eyes closing.
But then—like an uninvited guest—an image of Marcus popped into her mind.
That mont when he had paused mid-sentence to tie his hair up into that ssy, almost-too-casual bun.
Her eyes shot open, and she felt heat crawl across her cheeks.
"Do I seriously have a thing for long-haired guys?"
A groan escaped her lips as she pressed a hand to her face. "Ugh... no way I have feelings for that bastard."
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