The voice that suddenly echoed, shattering the silence of the night, instantly made Kaydan and Calverd's blood surge. Amidst the crushing grief and exhaustion, their survival instincts flared up once again. The two youths reflexively spun around and immediately entered combat mode.
Kaydan stretched out both his hands, summoning grains of sand from the road's surface that responded instantly. The sand levitated around him, compacting as hard as steel under the extreme pressure of his gravity magic.
Beside him, Calverd created a distortion in the air as his telekinesis magic stood ready to crush the bones of anyone who dared to attack them.
They frantically searched for the source of the voice, yet there was not a single physical form to be seen.
"Don't be so on edge." the same voice spoke, sounding much more relaxed and friendly this time, drifting from the empty air near them. "I haven't come to hurt you. I was ordered by him... to pick up and bring the tenth to a safe place inside the forest."
Hearing the words 'the tenth' uttered by the invisible entity, Kaydan's jaw, which had been clenched ready for battle, slowly relaxed.
He understood perfectly the meaning behind that title. There were only two people who knew of his status as the tenth spouse. Himself and also Arvin.
Realizing that the mysterious figure before them was his husband's envoy, Kaydan lowered his hands. The compacted sand in the air slowly lost its gravity and crumbled to the ground.
Seeing Kaydan no longer in a combat-ready stance, Calverd, standing beside him, furrowed his brow for a moment. However, due to his immense trust in the gray-haired youth, Calverd ultimately withdrew his telekinesis magic and lowered his guard.
"I am Kaydan!" the gray-haired youth answered, his voice still harboring a hint of hesitation amidst the relief he felt. "And who are you?"
"I am his fourth spouse." Alvein replied warmly from the empty space around the two youths, his voice carrying a soothing nuance that successfully eased the tension in the air. "But for now, let's postpone the introductions and long chats. We are not completely safe yet. We must leave this open area immediately!"
Kaydan and Calverd exchanged brief glances before looking toward where the voice had come from.
"So, where should the two of us go now?" Calverd asked, his tone sounding exhausted yet full of hope.
"Head into the dense forest on your right!"
The two youths immediately turned their heads to the right, staring at the row of towering trees shrouded in the pitch-black shadows of the night.
"Go in there!" Alvein continued to explain. "Once inside the forest, I will create a small glowing light. You two just need to follow wherever that light moves. I will guide you to a safe place."
Kaydan and Calverd nodded in understanding. They immediately turned around and picked up their pace again, rushing away from the capital gates and toward the dark forest on their right.
At the same time, Alvein, still flying in his invisible form, darted lightly through the air, moving ahead of the two youths.
The moment Kaydan and Calverd stepped past the first tree line, the damp, cold air immediately brushed against their skin. The forest was incredibly dark. The moonlight could barely pierce the dense canopy of leaves above their heads.
However, not long after, a bright speck suddenly appeared in front of them. A small, golden-white orb of light hovered gracefully in the air at eye level.
In the darkness of the forest, the soft glow of the orb became their sole guide, a stark and clearly visible contrast. The orb began to move slowly, weaving through the gaps between the massive trees, guiding their way.
Kaydan and Calverd immediately ran after the small orb of light. Dry twigs snapped beneath their feet, mingling with the sound of their ragged breathing.
After running for a while and feeling they had put enough distance between themselves and the capital gates, the curious Calverd finally broke the silence.
"Hey, Kaydan!" Calverd started, speaking between his heavy breaths. "That invisible guy just said that you are the tenth, and he himself is the fourth. Just... how many spouses does that mysterious man who helped us have?"
Kaydan didn't answer right away. The gray-haired youth kept his focus fixed on the orb of light ahead, leaping over a protruding tree root before finally answering the question.
"I myself don't know exactly how many they are right now." Kaydan answered honestly, his voice slightly broken by his running rhythm. "But when my husband came to see me for the first time, he said he wanted me to be his tenth spouse. Logically, there must be nine others by his side before me."
Hearing that explanation, Calverd's eyes widened slightly in the dark. Ten spouses? That was by no means a small number, even by the standards of high nobility.
"Are they... all men?" Calverd asked again, his curiosity growing stronger.
"It seems so." Kaydan answered quickly, casting a brief glance at his partner. "Based on what I've seen and heard from him, my husband only seems to like boys with cute faces. From his demeanor, he shows no interest in girls whatsoever."
Calverd's steps faltered for a moment. The indigo-haired youth was utterly stunned. The fact that the mysterious hero who had saved his life multiple times had ten spouses, all of whom were male, sent Calverd's mind spinning.
Then, a brief memory from the underground tunnel echoed in his head. He remembered vividly how the mysterious man wiped away his tears and told him his face looked cute when he was crying, lamenting his fate.
Wait a minute... D-Does he like my face too? the indigo-haired youth thought, his heart suddenly beating faster, not from the exhaustion of running, but from the sudden shock that washed over him. He likes cute-faced boys, and he said I was cute...
However, a feeling of flattery did not arrive at all. Instead, it triggered something far darker within the recesses of Calverd's soul.
The trauma he had tried so hard to bury deep down crept back up like poisonous venom. Dark memories of being a victim of harassment by that soldier danced behind his eyelids. The filthy hands, the degrading glares, and that profound sense of helplessness instantly choked his throat.
Cold sweat began to pour profusely down his temples. The indigo-haired youth's breathing became increasingly shallow and erratic. An overwhelming terror that such a horrific and disgusting incident would happen to him again immediately made the muscles in his legs go weak.
Without Calverd realizing it, his running rhythm fell into disarray and his pace slowed considerably, falling several meters behind Kaydan.
Noticing the sound of footsteps behind him fading, Kaydan looked back. He immediately slowed his run, turned around, and approached his comrade. The gray-haired youth grabbed Calverd's shoulders with a grip firm enough to snap him out of it.
"Hey! Why are you slowing down like this?!" Kaydan asked in bewilderment, his tone firm as he tried to pierce through the fog of panic in Calverd's eyes. "We aren't completely safe yet! Keep running! Whatever is waging war inside your head right now, hold it in. Once we're truly safe, you can pour out all your thoughts freely!"
Kaydan's touch and firm voice acted like an anchor, pulling Calverd back from the sea of his trauma. The indigo-haired youth blinked a few times, staring at his partner's face, which was covered in sweat and the lingering dust of battle.
He is right. This isn't the time for me to drown in uncertain fears.
Calverd remembered his fallen comrades-in-arms. If I let this fear consume me to the point of getting caught or killed here, then all of their sacrifices will be in vain.
The true freedom he had always hoped for, paid for with the blood and lives of dozens of people, would soon become a reality.
Calverd took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the damp night air of the forest, then exhaled forcefully to expel the fear from his chest. His eyes, which had dimmed from trauma, now radiated a burning resolve once more.
"Yes, you're right!" Calverd answered resolutely, clenching his fists tightly to drive away the lingering tremors in his fingers. "Once we are completely safe and free from this hell, I will personally pour out all my thoughts and demand an explanation directly from that invisible man!"
Kaydan offered a faint smile upon hearing the return of his comrade's fighting spirit. He released his grip from Calverd's shoulder and nodded.
"Good! Now, let's catch up to that orb of light!"
The two youths pushed their speed once more. Running side by side through the pitch-black night of the forest, synchronizing the rhythm of their breaths and footsteps.
And the small golden-white orb of light continued to hover, never dimming, faithfully guiding their path toward the freedom they had been so desperately longing for.