Kain didn't move at first.
The dream—no, the memory—still clung to him.
His mind kept flashing back to the battlefield.
The burning sky.
The Warlord, consumed by power.
The gods and heroes sealing him away.
And Tsuki, caught in it all.
Not as the villain.
Not as the hero.
Just… caught.
His fingers twitched at his side.
The room was quiet.
Tsuki hadn't spoken.
She still sat at the windowsill, staring out at the moon, her golden eyes distant.
For the first time since he met her, she didn't look untouchable.
Didn't look like the invincible, all-powerful goddess who never let anything shake her.
She just looked…
Alone.
Again.
Kain gritted his teeth.
No.
She wasn't alone this time.
Not if he had anything to say about it.
---
He pushed himself up, stepping toward the window.
Tsuki didn't acknowledge him at first.
Her gaze stayed fixed on the sky, her tails flicking lazily behind her.
But there was a tension in her posture.
She knew he was there.
She was waiting.
Kain sighed. "You gonna pretend you don't see me standing here?"
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Her ear twitched.
A beat of silence.
Then—
"You ask too many questions, thief."
Her voice was lighter than usual.
Not playful.
Not teasing.
Just… tired.
Kain folded his arms. "Well, maybe if I wasn't seeing things I wasn't supposed to, I wouldn't have questions."
Tsuki finally looked at him.
Her golden eyes were sharp.
Not amused.
Not annoyed in the way she usually was when he complained.
There was something else there.
Something colder.
"Forget it."
Kain frowned. "No."
She blinked, as if surprised by how fast he answered.
Her tails flicked sharply.
"Forget it, Kain."
She turned away again.
Like that was the end of it.
Like he was supposed to drop it and walk away.
But Kain wasn't good at walking away.
Not from something that mattered.
And for some reason, this did.
He stepped closer. "Why?"
Tsuki sighed through her nose, visibly tense.
"Because it's not your problem."
"Because you're fishing too much into something you don't understand."
"Because I don't want to talk about it."
Her voice was harder now.
More like a warning than an excuse.
But Kain wasn't that easily scared off.
He smirked, leaning on the windowsill. "Ohhh~? You mean to tell me that the all-powerful Trickster Goddess isn't enjoying a game of curiosity?"
Tsuki's eye twitched.
She turned toward him fully now, her arms crossed, expression sharp.
"This isn't a game, thief."
Kain raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you running from it?"
Tsuki's breath hitched—just barely.
Her grip on her sleeve tightened.
For a moment, he thought she was actually going to answer.
Then, in the next instant—
"You are the most irritating mortal I have ever met."
Kain smirked. "Not my fault I'm persistent."
"It is literally your fault."
"Shut up."
Tsuki sighed heavily, rubbing her temples.
Then, after a long pause—
She finally spoke.
"You saw him, didn't you?"
Kain blinked. "Him?"
"The Warlord."
---
Kain stiffened.
The memory hit him again.
The man burning with raw power.
The golden runes of the Arcane Gauntlet surging across his body.
The world cracking beneath his feet.
Kain swallowed hard. "Yeah."
Tsuki's gaze dropped slightly.
"Then you know what happened to him."
---
She didn't wait for him to ask.
She just kept talking.
Like she was tired of hiding it.
Like she wanted someone to finally hear it.
"The Warlord wasn't always like that."
"He wasn't born a monster."
"He was a man. A warrior. Strong. Clever. Ruthless. But… he was still just a man."
"Then the power came."
"The Gauntlet consumed him."
"Not all at once. Slowly. Like a whisper in his ear. Like a voice that told him he could do more—be more."
"And he listened."
Her voice lowered.
"I watched him change. I watched him become something else. Someone else. He was still the same person, but at the same time, he wasn't."
"And by the time I realized what was happening…"
"It was too late."
Kain's fingers curled against the windowsill.
The memory flashed in his mind—the battlefield, the sealing.
He already knew how the story ended.
But he wanted to hear it from her.
"The gods and heroes gathered."
"They had one goal: To end it. To stop him before there was nothing left to save."
"And I…"
Her voice caught.
"I wanted to help him."
"I wanted to stop him before it got worse."
"But when I tried…"
"They used it against me."
Kain's breath hitched.
"They sealed him. And I was just…in the way."
"So they sealed me too."
Silence.
Tsuki turned back to the window.
Her fingers pressed against the glass, golden eyes unreadable.
"I wasn't a hero."
"I wasn't the villain either."
"I was just… there."
Her lips curled into a bitter smile.
"And because of that, they made sure I'd disappear with him."
Kain didn't know what to say.
Because what the hell could he say?
She had been sacrificed.
Not because she was evil.
Not because she had done something wrong.
But because she had been too close to the one they feared.
The anger was immediate.
He clenched his fists.
He hated it.
That feeling.
The idea of being discarded. Used. Left behind.
It was too familiar.
Too real.
Too much like the world he knew.
He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to relax.
"…That's a pretty messed up story, Fox."
Tsuki scoffed lightly, but there was no real amusement in it.
"Mmm. It is, isn't it?"
Silence settled between them.
This time, not tense.
Not charged.
Just… there.
Kain hesitated, then—
"You're a pain in the ass."
Tsuki blinked, then laughed softly. "Oh?"
Kain smirked slightly. "Yeah. But at least now I know you've been a pain in the ass for centuries."
Tsuki rolled her eyes. "Tch. Whatever."
But she didn't push him away this time.
And somehow—
That felt like progress.
---
The Bond Reacts
As Kain turned away to leave, something shifted.
A warmth.
A pulse.
The bond flickered—stronger than before.
Tsuki stiffened slightly.
And in the back of his mind, Kain swore he heard a whisper.
Not his voice.
Not Tsuki's.
Something older.
Something waiting.
