"Azul, your hand is bleeding," Roxanna said as soon as they entered the buried village.
While everyone else was busy looking around the village, Roxanna’s eyes were drawn to the blood on the back of Azul’s hand.
"I think one of them managed to scratch me," Azul said. He raised his hand and examined it for a moment. "But it’s fine. It’s only a small scratch."
It really was just a small scratch, but Roxanna still reached for his hand. "If your hand is hurt, it’ll be harder to hold your weapon later," she said gently. "Let me take care of it."
Azul simply let out a quiet sigh, a sign that he wasn’t refusing her help. Roxanna bit the tip of her finger, and as soon as a drop of blood appeared, she gently spread it over the scratch on the back of Azul’s hand.
"I really need to get used to how this water works," she muttered. "It keeps taking my blood away."
"They’re not taking your blood." Azul let out a soft chuckle. "The drops are just floating around us."
Roxanna only giggled in response. She kept her attention on healing the scratch on his hand.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Azul suddenly asked.
Roxanna froze for a second before slowly lifting her head to meet his eyes. "How did you—oh... you read my mind again, didn’t you?"
Azul answered casually, "You could say that. After all, your inner voice is always loud and clear. Besides, it’s starting to get hard to tell which ones are your inner thoughts and which ones are the words you’re saying through telepathy."
Roxanna opened her mouth to reply, but Azul spoke again before she could. "No, I’m just joking. Your thoughts really are loud, but I only guessed you wanted to talk because you look a little gloomier than usual."
"Really?" Roxanna quickly touched her cheeks. "I don’t think I look that gloomy."
"It’s not like you can see your own face," Azul teased with a smile, trying to lighten the mood between them.
Roxanna finally let out a slow breath.
"It’s actually about your mother," she said quietly.
Azul’s expression softened. "What about her?" he asked. "Did she say something bad to you?"
"We haven’t even talked since... what happened earlier," Roxanna said softly. "What I wanted to say is... I’m sorry for being rude in front of your mother. I just... feel so guilty whenever I remember that she deliberately led you into your own suffering."
Azul raised an eyebrow because what Roxanna had said to his mother earlier didn’t sound like she had insulted the Queen of Aquillian at all.
To be honest, she had barely said anything to his mother.
"You don’t have to feel guilty," Azul said at last. "I was actually happy that you stood up for me, and I know you only said those things because you were worried about me."
Roxanna lowered her eyes. "Even so, she’s still your mother."
She honestly didn’t like making that remark because not every mother deserved to be understood. However, Azul had already lost so many members of his family that Roxanna didn’t want to create another crack in the bond he still had with his mother.
"She is," Azul admitted with a small nod. "That’s exactly why I don’t want you to blame yourself."
He looked at her in silence for a moment before continuing. "You weren’t trying to hurt her. You were only speaking from your heart."
Roxanna tightened her grip on his hand. "But I still feel like I crossed the line," she said. "After seeing your old memories... I know she wasn’t doing those things because she hated you. She thought she was protecting you in her own way."
"She did," Azul replied. "I understand that now."
His voice remained calm, but there was still a hint of sadness behind it. "But that doesn’t mean those memories suddenly stopped hurting. It just means... I finally understand why they happened."
Roxanna looked up at him. "Does understanding really make it easier?"
Azul smiled faintly. "A little."
He gently squeezed her hand. "When I was younger, I kept asking myself why my own mother treated me that way. I thought there was something wrong with me."
His smile slowly faded. "But now I know the problem was never me. It was simply the choice she believed was best."
Roxanna couldn’t help feeling sad that Azul had grown used to something like that. At the same time, she didn’t feel she had the right to say much when her own mother had also done many terrible things in the past and made painful decisions.
"We just have to do our best to be good parents for Azura. That’s all that matters," Azul said at last.
Roxanna smiled and nodded. "Yes. We’ll do our best."
With that, they walked back to the others. Azura was still resting in Calen’s arms, and she had already begun to drift off to sleep.
"Your Highness, I’ve made the outside of the entrance look like nothing more than an ordinary pile of rocks," Orion reported. "The Devourers shouldn’t be able to find this place easily."
Azul nodded and gave Orion’s shoulder a few gentle pats. "Good work."
Not far away, Zeir removed the camouflage net covering the bubble cage because it was finally time for them to figure out how to break it open.
"How did the Devourers feed you?" Roxanna asked in confusion because the bubble cage looked completely solid, without even the smallest gap.
Maristella looked at the transparent cage surrounding her for a moment before raising one hand.
"They only opened it for a few seconds each day," she explained. "Just long enough to push food and water inside before sealing it again."
"So the barrier can be opened," Zeir muttered as he stepped closer. His golden eyes carefully studied every part of the bubble.
"It can," Maristella replied. "But I think you should find the right spot first. Every time they opened it, they always touched the same place."
Unfortunately, the cage had spun around several times while they were escaping, so she was no longer sure where that spot was.
Zeir let out a soft hum. "That makes things a little more troublesome."
He slowly swam around the bubble, his sharp eyes examining every inch of its smooth surface.
"There has to be some kind of difference," he muttered. "Even the finest artifacts aren’t completely flawless."
Roxanna watched him in silence, careful not to interrupt.
A few moments later, Zeir stopped and lightly tapped the barrier with his knuckles.
Tap.
The clear bubble gave off a soft, dull sound. He moved a little farther and tapped it again and this time, the sound was slightly higher.
"Oh?" Zeir’s lips curved into a faint smile.
"You found something?" Azul asked.
"Not yet." Zeir shook his head. "But the sound isn’t exactly the same everywhere."
He continued swimming around it, tapping the barrier every inches away.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Everyone silently followed him with their eyes, listening to the subtle differences that were almost impossible to notice.
Then, after another dozen steps, they heard something different.
Tick.
Zeir immediately stopped moving. "That one sounded different," he said.
He bent down and carefully placed his palm against the exact spot.
Instead of the smooth resistance he had felt everywhere else, a faint pulse traveled through his hand, as though something beneath the barrier had responded to his touch.
A smile slowly spread across his face. "I think..." he murmured, "we’ve finally found our starting point."
Everyone immediately gathered around him. "Is that the opening mechanism?" Orion asked, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
Zeir didn’t answer right away. He kept his palm pressed against the barrier, feeling the faint pulse beneath it.
"I’m not certain," he admitted. "But this spot is definitely different from the rest."
Maristella leaned forward from inside the bubble. "I don’t remember exactly where they touched it," she said apologetically. "But... I do remember seeing the barrier ripple before it opened."
Zeir nodded and he slowly spread his fingers across the surface.
"If this is the activation point, forcing it open will only trigger the barrier’s defenses." His golden eyes narrowed. "We have to imitate what the Devourers did."
"And how do we do that?" Azul asked.
Zeir closed his eyes for a moment. "By matching its flow."
He carefully released a thin thread of his energy into the spot. Instead of pushing against the barrier, the energy gently slipped across its surface like a stream flowing over smooth stone.
A second later, the transparent barrier shimmered. Tiny rings spread outward from beneath Zeir’s palm, growing larger and larger until they covered the entire bubble.
"It reacted," Roxanna whispered.
"I’ve matched my energy with the last traces of energy left here," Zeir explained without taking his hand off the barrier. "That’s why the bubble should open before long."
POP.
Everyone flinched as the bubble cage in front of them suddenly burst.
Instead of exploding violently, it simply collapsed into countless shimmering droplets that scattered through the water before slowly fading away.
"It... disappeared?" Calen murmured in disbelief.