Aeren and Ellie entered the same carriage and sat across from each other. Aeren studied her—she looked happy. He didn't ask immediately, letting silence settle between them. After a few moments, he spoke.
"Did you find a good human shield?"
Aeren spoke without expression, showing no emotion on his face. He knew one of them was different from the others—she could be useful for Ellie, so he'd allowed her to keep the girl.
Ellie noticed Aeren's gaze and listened to his question before responding. "You don't need to know. I'm not a child anymore. I won't tell you anything."
Hearing Ellie's statement made Aeren smile. The carriage started moving, and both siblings felt the motion but ignored it.
"Why were you crying and asking me to help you torture him?"
Aeren sarcastically reminded her about when she had begged for his help and started crying when the knife came close enough to frighten her.
Ellie glared at Aeren. "You hit me after that, and you were supposed to help me with the mission, but you ran away. I did everything, and you just finished it."
Ellie explained the situation and fell silent, blaming Aeren for abandoning her. Aeren didn't pursue the matter further.
Aeren turned his attention to the window, observing the beautiful scenery outside. He thought: I have a world of knowledge with me, but there's nothing to use from it. Should I send someone to experiment on humans to see how the timeline works? Can people become old or aged in the knowledge world?
The world of knowledge could be used as a prison cell where people could stay for years. If anyone were able to escape from the knowledge world after spending hundreds of years while only one day passed in the real world, what would it do to their psychology? Would those people shatter from the inside out, or would they become something that only knows destruction throughout the world?
Should I extract one of them into this world and test their psychology? That would be an interesting experiment—psychological freedom...
While Aeren contemplated these possibilities, he sensed several people around them. They were concealing their magic and elements.
Aeren detected them and ended their lives before they could attack or give orders to strike. They wouldn't even reach the carriage before dying without anyone's knowledge. Aeren didn't think much about them—they were too boring to fight.
"Ellie, how many people came to escort us?"
Ellie turned to Aeren, shocked by his question. What did that mean? She couldn't comprehend his words.
Ellie stared at Aeren with mild surprise, looked outside but didn't notice anything unusual, then turned back to him.
"Why do you ask?"
Aeren continued watching the scene outside, able to see some of them waiting to attack. He had noticed several people were involved in this assassination attempt—spies perhaps sent by another empire to eliminate them, or someone who didn't want to see connections between the two empires, or even a larger force manipulating events to observe the results of this world.
Aeren found the idea of a larger force intriguing. Could it be powerful enough to destroy empires or kill him?
"I sense that someone is trying to assassinate us. Call your shadow and have her investigate anything suspicious about our people and find the culprit among them."
Ellie was shocked by Aeren's revelation and began looking more seriously at the people outside. Though she still couldn't see any difference, she had always trusted Aeren blindly.
"Rina, come out."
Ellie's voice reached her shadow, who appeared instantly in the carriage, kneeling. She wore black clothing from head to toe.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Aeren and Ellie observed the kneeling Rina. Ellie was about to explain the situation when Aeren interrupted, speaking before she could. "Go check outside and find the real culprit behind this assassination attempt. You must complete this task within an hour, or all the guards will die by our hands."
Rina was startled by Aeren's demand and turned to Ellie, who was staring at him. "Assassination?"
Ellie was confused by Aeren's detailed explanation. She hadn't sensed a single person the entire time, yet Aeren spoke of assassins. This confused and startled her—she could hardly believe what she was hearing, which is why she asked for confirmation.
Aeren nodded but didn't explain further about the assassins. He knew she would trust him, but it was useless to discuss details about worthless beings like assassins. They were made to die and kill—pure slaves who had escaped inner slavery only to be captured by external slavery, unable to find their way to freedom. Their only hope was always to die on a single mission.
Those slaves weren't even worth Aeren's time, and talking about them was more pointless than killing them.
Ellie saw Aeren's nod and turned to Rina. "What are you waiting for? Get out and investigate, or die with them."
Ellie finished her words with cold, detached emotion, giving her a warning that if she couldn't handle this simple task, she might as well be dead. Rina understood her meaning—she had disappointed Her Highness before.
Rina lifted her head to Ellie. "Yes, Your Highness. I will find the culprit within the time limit."
Aeren gazed at Rina, having expected that if he hadn't dealt with those assassins, she would have had her chance to shine. But Aeren had taken that opportunity away. Still, he was giving her a chance to prove herself, even though he could have eliminated those culprits without her help.
Rina vanished from her position and went outside the carriage. Ellie turned to Aeren with confusion. "Brother, why did you call for her?"
Aeren and Ellie could see outside the carriage, watching the scene as their transport stopped and Rina interrogated people in her own way. Aeren turned to Ellie.
"If we do everything ourselves, what use are they? Slaves are born for slavery. Don't get attached to your shadow. There's nothing more repulsive than when an owner starts liking a slave because they're good at their servitude."
Ellie understood Aeren immediately. She had learned many things about slavery and freedom from her brother.
He was essentially saying that if a protector's job was to protect people, and if someone fell under that protection and thought the protector looked cool doing his job, they might abandon everything for that protector. But after seeing the same thing repeatedly, they would eventually realize that person was just doing their job.
Protection looked impressive to others, and they often fell for those illusions, following those slaves and becoming captured by the slavery of protection.
Ellie nodded and spoke with determination. "I will remember that, and I will never become attached to anyone, brother Aeren."
Aeren observed her determination and reminded her of one more thing. "Yes, and you can't become attached to me either."
Ellie froze at Aeren's words, understanding him immediately. We can't walk the same path, Ellie. I will always have a different path from you—a path where I will find my true freedom.
She remembered words she had heard from Aeren and understood the true meaning of her brother's statement. If we can't walk the same path, it means we are each other's obstacles on the way to finding true freedom.
Ellie contemplated the deeper implications of Aeren's words, and in that instant, all emotion drained from her face. The realization settled into her mind: Find the right opportunity.
While Aeren and Ellie were conversing, Rina materialized in the carriage from thin air.
Aeren and Ellie turned their attention to Rina, watching as she knelt. They both glared at her, and she felt shivers from their stares but found the courage to speak.
"Your Highness, I have captured all the culprits from our side and bound them with magic seal chains. You can decide what to do with them."
Ellie turned to Aeren. He looked outside and saw three people tied with magic seal chains, though they could break free anytime they wanted. Aeren could tell just by looking that they wanted to meet him and Ellie—that's why they weren't struggling too much against the chains, seeking an opportunity.
"Yes, let's go."
Aeren and Ellie exited the carriage and saw the sun in the sky. Morning had arrived, and the sun looked more beautiful than usual.