“Master’s sleeping face is so cute that I want to kiss his forehead,” Brünhild mumbled while looking at Orpheus’s sleeping face.
”Little Hilda has become a pervert.”
A sudden voice rang in her head again; it was the previous voice’s owner.
“Shut up; I’m not a pervert,” Brünhild replied, fuming.
”Eh? It seems you have become bold; lately, you dare to talk to me like that? I wonder how ‘She’ would feel if ‘She’ knows that you’ve become a little unruly?” The voice’s owner asked.
Brünhild’s body trembled when she heard the ‘She’ the voice’s owner was talking about.
“Pardon my rudeness, Over-”
”No need for that; why did you help that girl earlier?” The mysterious being asked.
”It’s because of her constitution. She will be helpful for my master’s in the future.” It seemed she had also detected Kaguya’s innate constitution. Only extremely powerful beings or those with sharp senses could detect it. The mysterious being nodded; this confirmed what he was thinking. Brünhild might have lost her true body; her senses were still sharp. He could let her stay by his side. As for Orpheus being able to make her split things, he was looking for it. While he desired things to continue according to the plan, an unexpected twist wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would be boring otherwise.
”Hahahaha, excellent, a truly excellent reason to help her. You’ve matured, ‘She’ will be proud of you. I guess time is up. I’ll be going.”
Brünhild didn’t have time to ask anything before the mysterious being disappeared, leaving only her and the sleeping Orpheus.
Brünhild heaved another sigh and stared into the space while muttering, “How many times I’ve sighed today? Forget it; I wonder where is ‘She’?”
She knew that nobody was going to answer her question anyway.
Unbeknownst to Brünhild when she thought that, A black-haired Lady dressed in a plain white robe sitting in the air somewhere chuckled.
°°°°°
Night had already fallen.
The last radiance of the sun vanished underneath the horizon, only to be replaced by the darkness that shrouded the world. The clouds drifting in the air were also smeared in a dark hue.
Finally, Orpheus woke up, and the first thing he did was to ask Brünhild to leave him alone. He needed time alone to organize his thoughts.
”I understood, master. I’m glad you are fine.” Brünhild leaves behind those words before disappearing. Orpheus said nothing; he checked the castle through his senses and saw Kaguya training in one of the rooms. She was focused as she kept swinging her sword again and again. The diligent Kaguya seemed somehow cute. Instead of sleeping, she was training; even with her talent, she was still hardworking, which is something Orpheus appreciated. He needed a girl like that.
At this thought, Orpheus got up from the bed, strolled to the window, and looked outside. The sky was dark. He observed it for a moment before vanishing. He reappeared above the Ice world, looking at the night sky; he stared at the stars. The stars of heaven bloomed in velvet black.
He disappeared to reappear above the white castle and lie down with his hands folded behind his head as he stared blankly at the heaven above; whenever he felt troubled, he would look at the stars in the night sky.
Currently, he was troubled; recalling his memories, especially the memories of his childhood, he couldn’t help but feel bitter. As far as he could remember, he never knew who his parents were. He was what people call an orphan; he grew up in the slum fighting for food until the day he knew he had a talent to become an origin master. Embarking on the road of origin master, his life changed. He became powerful; some said it was because he was a genius. He knew it was not the case because his body was special.
”Sigh! Thinking about it now, it was indeed fishy; once I started cultivating, my road was too smooth, as if I had something sealed inside me. Well, I still died at their hands, though. Encountering Emea had been one of the happiest moments of my life back then. I managed to get her to accept dinner with me after numerous attempts. She was too stubborn and too hard to approach back then.”
Thinking about how he encountered her, how many times he had harassed her until she accepted to have dinner with him. Orpheus couldn’t help but smile; however, his smile soon vanished because when he recalled the recent events. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear, fear because out there, there’s someone powerful enough to plan things on a bigger stage.
‘What if everything that happened to me was somehow predestined?’ He started asking himself this question after waking up.
Many things didn’t make sense previously, but after the recent events, he started to understand.
Suddenly, Orpheus burst into laughter.
”Hahahaha! Am I scared? Me?” He mumbled before his eyes turned resolute as he declared.
”I guess it’s because I’m still weak. However, I’m glad because it means I can progress. I will become the strongest and make the rules. Nobody will play with.” As he said those words, he was thinking about the mysterious being. While it was confirmed that he was unconscious, it didn’t mean he couldn’t detect what was happening as he was unconscious.
He knew the mysterious being talked with Brünhild and even instructed him to bring something she used to seal the thing that entered his left eye. He didn’t know what they talked about but the power he thought he was sealing. Orpheus had devoured half of it, and it was just a matter of time be he would completely assimilate this power and make it completely his. As proof, he could temporarily use the purple eye.
Orpheus went into outer space before using it. He first created a powerful crimson barrier around him. Now that he had completely recovered, not many could bypass his barrier.
As soon he finished deploying the barrier, his left eye switched color. Turning purple.
Boom!
Time stopped after the explosion of purple light coming from his body.
”Hehehe! Soon I will figure out this purple eye use. I’m not too fond of purple. Crimson suits me better.” Orpheus said before concealing it again.
After playing around for a while, Orpheus returned to the White castle to rest.
”Master, welcome back. I was waiting for you. Miss Kaguya went to sleep after asking where you went.” Brünhild welcomed him as soon he arrived.
”I see. I’ll see her tomorrow. Go rest; we will talk later.” Orpheus ordered with a smile.
”!”
A chill crawled up Brünhild’s spine when she saw her master smile like that. She felt like something wasn’t right but couldn’t ask. She obediently followed Orpheus’s order and disappeared to her room.
°°°°°
The following morning, the first rays of the sun had pierced the sky and peered their way through the light curtains and provided a serene light in the room.
Orpheus got up from his bed and joined the others after a bath.
The first thing Kaguya said after they finished the breakfast was ask him to spar with her.
And now, the two stood face to face in one of the largest training rooms of the floating castle.
Orpheus and Kaguya drew their swords and started a sparring session.
Orpheus initially moved extremely slowly, but he changed his mind after seeing Kaguya’s swordsmanship. Orpheus increased his speed, and soon all of Kaguya’s attacks were being parried by him.
She was weaker physically, but her swordsmanship was not bad. It was surprisingly high level and Orpheus, who had been planning to go easy on her, suddenly began taking the match seriously.
Clang!
Sparks flew whenever their swords clashed.
The only reason they were able to exchange blows despite the overwhelming difference in their levels was obviously that Orpheus was holding back and controlling his strength. However, Kaguya’s movements were sharp and precise. Sometimes, she attacked from an unexpected angle, and Orpheus had difficulty blocking the attack; at times, she almost landed an attack on him.
Orpheus was the first one to lay down his sword after hours of sparring. The man with the crimson eyes praised Kaguya with a wide smile that showed his satisfaction at the results of the match.
”Let’s do this often.” He suggested, and Kaguya nodded while wiping away her sweat.
”Are you not curious?” Orpheus suddenly asked this.
Kaguya stopped walking toward the exit and spun.
”Sure, I am, but I won’t get the real answers I want. So, there’s no need to ask. I’ll slowly uncover them.” She responded with a confident smile.
Orpheus chuckled, he had expected something like this, but it was still shocking nonetheless. As he thought this girl was interesting.
”Ah! I won’t ask anything, but you should buy me dinner later.” Kaguya added before resuming walking toward the exit.
Orpheus was left standing there. He smiled and answered.
”Sure, why not.”
A smile blossomed on Kaguya’s face when she heard his reply. She wouldn’t hesitate anymore. She was not the type that waited for the other party to make the first move.