Chapter 19: Feathers, Tears, and Breakfast

Soft morning light streamed through the small window of the inn.

The streets of Lunaris were already alive.

From outside came the sound of quiet laughter.

Horse hooves echoed over the stone streets.

People chatted as they began another day.

Lyra slowly opened her eyes.

For several long seconds, she simply stared at the wooden ceiling.

Then she suddenly sat upright.

"My diary."

Without hesitation, she reached beside her.

Only when her fingers found the small black book did she finally relax.

"...Good."

For a brief moment, she held it against her chest.

As though she had been afraid it might disappear overnight.

Then she quietly climbed out of bed.

Yun Yun was still asleep beside Kaien.

Or so Lyra thought.

She made her way toward the window.

A small wooden chair stood beside it.

Her favorite place to read.

Her favorite place to draw.

But she stopped.

Kaien was already sitting there.

Motionless.

The morning sunlight rested across his blond hair while his empty blue eyes looked out over Lunaris.

People wandered through the streets below.

Children laughed as they chased one another.

But Kaien looked as though he wasn't truly seeing any of it.

Lyra quietly folded her arms.

"You're sitting in my spot."

Kaien didn't respond immediately.

Several seconds passed.

Then he looked at her.

Without a word, he stood up...

...and quietly moved to the small chair against the opposite wall.

Lyra blinked.

"...Thanks."

Kaien said nothing.

Lyra slowly sat down by the window.

She opened her diary and flipped to a blank page.

Then she began sketching the village.

The rooftops.

The narrow streets.

The market stalls.

Her pencil moved steadily across the paper.

Then...

...it stopped.

Slowly, she turned around.

Kaien was still sitting on the chair against the wall.

Motionless.

His empty blue eyes rested on nothing in particular.

Almost exactly as they had the day before.

Lyra watched him in silence for several long seconds.

Then she let out a weary sigh.

"This is getting depressing."

She closed her diary.

Set it carefully on the windowsill.

Then walked over to him.

Hearing her footsteps, Kaien instinctively started to stand.

Before he could, Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back into the chair.

He looked up at her in confusion.

Lyra folded her arms.

"Stay."

Kaien quietly sat back down.

Lyra dragged a small stool across the floor and sat down directly in front of him.

For a while...

...neither of them spoke.

Then Lyra broke the silence.

"You're really bad at talking."

Kaien blinked.

"Yun Yun worries about you all the time."

His gaze slowly dropped to the floor.

Lyra let out another quiet sigh.

"I do too."

That finally made him look up.

A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Lyra noticed immediately.

"Don't look at me like that."

Kaien frowned slightly.

"You look like you're about to fall apart."

He didn't answer.

Outside, children laughed.

The sound still felt strangely unfamiliar to him.

Lyra glanced toward the window.

Then back at him.

When she spoke again...

...her voice was quieter.

"You don't have to be okay."

"Not yet."

Kaien flinched almost imperceptibly.

"After something like that..."

"...I don't think anyone could."

His hands slowly curled into fists.

Lyra noticed immediately.

But she didn't look away.

"You don't have to carry it by yourself, either."

Kaien bit the inside of his lip.

When he finally spoke...

...his voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I watched them die."

Lyra remained silent.

"And I couldn't do anything."

His voice trembled.

"I just stood there."

For a long moment...

...Lyra simply looked at him.

Suddenly, Kaien squeezed his eyes shut.

"If I had been stronger..."

His voice broke.

Tears slowly spilled down his face.

Quiet.

Silent.

As though even crying had become exhausting.

At that very moment...

...someone stirred in the bed.

Yun Yun sat upright, still half asleep.

She blinked a few times in confusion.

Then she saw the tears on Kaien's face.

Her eyes widened.

"WHAT DID YOU DO, LYRA?!"

Lyra slowly closed her eyes.

"...I knew this was going to happen."

Yun Yun hurried across the room and immediately knelt beside Kaien.

"Why is he crying?!"

"I was talking to him."

"It didn't sound like talking!"

Lyra pinched the bridge of her nose.

"That's because you woke up halfway through the conversation."

Yun Yun folded her arms.

"I don't believe you."

"I noticed."

Yun Yun grabbed a pillow from the bed.

"I AM NOT LETTING YOU BULLY HIM!"

Lyra looked at the pillow.

Then back at Yun Yun.

"...You're impossible."

"I've been told."

WHUMPF.

The pillow struck Lyra square in the face.

Silence.

For several seconds...

...nobody moved.

Then Lyra calmly bent down.

Picked up the pillow.

Looked at Yun Yun.

"...You've made a terrible mistake."

Yun Yun pointed another pillow at her.

"Come and prove it."

WHUMPF.

Less than a minute later...

...the two girls were locked in a fierce pillow battle across the tiny room.

Feathers drifted through the air like falling snow.

Kaien remained where he was.

Tears still clung to his cheeks.

He simply watched them.

An empty look still lingered in Kaien's eyes.

Suddenly...

...someone knocked on the door.

No one reacted.

A second knock followed.

Still nothing.

Then Rowan's voice drifted in from the hallway.

"Hello? You kids still alive in there?"

Inside the room...

WHUMPF.

Another pillow slammed into Lyra.

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

"NEVER!"

Silence.

Outside the door, Rowan waited for a moment.

Then he let out a quiet sigh.

"...I'm coming in."

The door slowly creaked open.

Rowan stepped inside.

Then stopped.

Two children were in the middle of an all-out pillow war.

Feathers drifted lazily through the air.

The room looked as though a flock of chickens had exploded.

And in the middle of it all...

...Kaien sat perfectly still on a chair.

His eyes empty.

For several long seconds...

...Rowan simply stared.

Then he slowly rubbed his forehead.

"...I honestly can't decide whether I should laugh..."

"...or start worrying."

Yun Yun froze with a pillow raised over her head.

Lyra still had one clutched beneath her arm.

An awkward silence settled over the room.

Rowan looked from one child to the other.

"...For the record..."

"...I knocked three times."

Lyra calmly lowered her pillow and sat back down.

"We were occupied."

Rowan glanced at the feathers floating through the room.

"...Yeah."

"I noticed."

A grin slowly spread across his face.

"Anyway..."

"...breakfast's ready."

At that exact moment...

...three stomachs growled in perfect unison.

Even Kaien blinked and looked down in mild surprise.

Rowan couldn't help laughing.

"...Thought so."

Several minutes later, the four of them sat together downstairs in the inn.

The room was filled with the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread and hot soup.

Conversations echoed from every corner.

Somewhere nearby, plates clinked and laughter filled the air.

Fresh bread.

A bowl of steaming soup.

Scrambled eggs.

Hot tea.

The meal waiting before them looked almost unreal.

Yun Yun stared at it in silence.

Almost reverently.

Lyra, on the other hand, had already started eating.

Rowan leaned back in his chair.

"So."

His gaze moved from one child to the next.

"What exactly happened to your village?"

The atmosphere at the table changed immediately.

Kaien lowered his eyes.

Beneath the table, Yun Yun quietly reached for his hand.

He didn't pull away.

Lyra answered without hesitation.

"Monsters."

Rowan listened in silence.

"They came during the night."

"A lot of people died."

Rowan's expression grew solemn.

"...Damn."

For a while, no one spoke.

Then Rowan asked quietly,

"What was your village called?"

Yun Yun and Lyra exchanged a brief glance.

Then Yun Yun answered in a barely audible voice.

"...Asterveil."

Rowan frowned.

"...Asterveil?"

He searched his memory.

Several long seconds passed.

Finally, he slowly shook his head.

"...I've never heard of it."

Silence.

The three children stared at him.

"...What?" Yun Yun whispered.

Rowan gave an apologetic shrug.

"I'm sorry."

"I know most of the villages in the north."

His brow furrowed.

"But I've honestly never heard the name Asterveil."

No one spoke.

Kaien quietly stared into the rising steam above his tea.

And suddenly, Lunaris felt a little stranger once again.