Demetrius rushed through the city of Cea. As he did, the Stratigos felt magical power leaving his body. With the demon out of the world, the power boost it gave him left as well.

  And worse was the new bond levels Demetrius had with Theodora and Tomoe. That drained the power of his dark magic even further. However, Demetrius did not curse his situation. As far as he knew, there was no time for that.

  The Stratigos still had no idea where Adriadne was. He moved to find her as quickly as possible. And Tomoe and Theodora were accompanying him.

  Theodora extended her hand, creating a ramp of ice that moved into the air. She slid up on it and looked around. The girl spotted Adriadne and created an ice bridge over to her.

  Hopping off the platform, Theodora landed in front of Adriadne. Relief flowed through the latter upon seeing her.

  "The demon is dead, right? You wouldn't be here otherwise," Adriadne said.

  "It's dead," Theodora replied. "Stratigos Kallergis saw my ice and arrived."

  She paused a moment before continuing.

  "I knew that dark magic was effective against demons, but I hadn't seen anything like what Demetrius did before. He absolutely crushed that monster."

  Adriadne noted the ice Stratigos' wording.

  "You called my brother Demetrius, not Stratigos Kallergis," she said.

  Theodora gave her a slight bow.

  "Kindly ignore that. Now, follow me. We should get you back to your brother," the Stratigos replied.

  With that, she grabbed Adriadne's arm and pulled her across the ice bridge, back to where the others were. Now that it was no longer needed, Theodora made the ice melt in an instant.

  Seeing his sister again, Demetrius ran over to Adriadne and pulled her into a tight hug. Everyone, even Ganzaya watching from a rooftop, had their eyes fill with shock upon seeing this.

  "Thank the gods, you're okay, Adriadne. When I saw that demon, I was so worried about you," Demetrius said.

  He did not cry, but everyone could hear the concern in his voice. Adriadne let him hug her.

  "I'm fine now, Demetrius," she stated. "The demon wasn't allowed to lay a claw on me."

  That's when Demetrius realized what he was doing. A flicker of panic flashed through him.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Gods, no, I'm hugging Adriadne! She hates me! This'll just make things worse!" he thought.

  Demetrius broke the hug with incredible swiftness. He made sure to look away from his sister after that.

  "Let's return to the villa. After that incident, I believe we all need some rest," the dark magic Stratigos said.

  He then gazed at the sky. It was sunset.

  "And it's about time for us to rest anyway. I will inform the garrison of today's events tomorrow," Demetrius stated.

  With that, the group started moving back to Theodora's family's house in Cea. However, as they did, the ice Stratigos and Tomoe moved closer to Demetrius. Adriadne narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She went closer to her brother too.

  "So, Stratigos Kallergis, may I call you Demetrius?" Theodora asked.

  "We are not that close," he answered.

  "But we can be," the ice Stratigos said. "You did well against the demon, and you showed your concern for others. You even proved that you are different than the other members of the Kallergis family."

  She extended a hand.

  "You have my respect," Theodora said.

  Demetrius slapped her hand away, not hard enough to hurt her though.

  "I do not need your respect," he spoke before thinking. "Really. I don't. It would be better if you disrespected me."

  He then scoffed.

  "Besides, shouldn't you be throwing your affections at Tomoe?"

  "Come, now, Demetrius," Theodora leaned in close and whispered. "I saw Tomoe's eyes when she looked at you. Her affection for you is growing too. If we like her and she likes us and we like each other, then..."

  Demetrius pushed Theodora away.

  "We are in the Remen Empire, not some barbarian kingdom. Do not speak to me about barbarian customs like polygamy here," he glared at her.

  A hint of dejection crossed Theodora's face. However, she nodded.

  "Very well. But that is no reason why we cannot be friends. Let's forget our contentious past and move forward into the future together," Theodora offered.

  Demetrius kept walking. However, deep inside, he was being torn into pieces. The Stratigos clenched his fists so hard they turned white.

  "Dammit all! I want to accept Theodora's offer, to shake her hand, but...it would be better for her if she did not get involved with the Kallergis family or any of its members. And...she's already drained my power enough. For the sake of the Remen Empire, I cannot get any closer to her or Tomoe. I must keep going on my path of isolation," Demetrius thought.

  Behind him, Tomoe looked between the two stratigoi. The onna bugeisha was too far away to hear their conversation. However, she was still deep in thought herself.

  "What did those two talk about? Is Theodora-san going to start bothering him instead of me? I should be happy about that, but I don't feel happy. Despite how I kept challenging him to a duel, Demetrius-san still helped me learn Grekken. And now, he saved my worthless life."

  Tomoe's heart throbbed when she thought of that, as well as the words that were spoken when Demetrius fought the demon.

  "Demetrius truly cares about me, doesn't he? I can't believe it took me this long to realize it. He cares about Adriadne-san and Theodora-san too. Adriadne-san is his sister, so that's only natural, but Theodora-san...do Remen leaders have concubines and wives or just wives? There is so much I do not know about the Remen Empire," she thought.

  The onna bugeisha let out a deep breath. Determination welled up in here.

  "I know so little about it, all because I wanted to die. That desire...still has not left me. But if I die now, wouldn't it make Demetrius saving me go to waste? If it would, then I cannot die just yet."

  And now, Tomoe moved with the others, a new reason to live in her mind.