The conversation slowly faded into silence because Maristella needed time to sort through everything she had done in the past while trying to convince herself that not all of her choices had been wrong.
Roxanna knew this was something Maristella had to face on her own, so she chose to stay in one of the stone houses that was still standing. Zeir remained by her side as well, quietly watching over them.
"Hasn’t it already been over a day?" Roxanna asked as she rested her head on Zeir’s shoulder. "I wonder when we’ll finally go back to land. I can’t eat raw fish anymore."
Since they were underwater, there was no way to start a fire. That meant every meal had to be eaten raw, whether it was fish or other seafood.
[But at least the shrimp still tastes good, right, Host?] the system chimed in.
Roxanna let out a small hiss. [It tastes so salty because seawater keeps getting into my mouth.]
"We just have to hold on a little longer," Zeir said gently. "I’m sure Azul and Calen will bring back all the medicinal herbs we need."
"When we return to the settlement, I’ll ask Cyrus to cook all your favorite meals."
The moment Zeir mentioned Cyrus, Roxanna let out a harsh sigh. "I really miss Cyrus and Luan. I wonder if they’re doing alright. And I also wonder if Carla and her tribe are still staying at the settlement."
"I don’t think there will be too many changes," Zeir said. "We haven’t been gone for that long."
Roxanna buried her face against his arm and let out a soft groan. "I just miss our home."
If she was being honest, part of her was happy that Azul had finally reunited with his family and the people from his past. But another part of her couldn’t stop worrying. Every time she remembered that the Devourers were still hunting them, her heart became heavy with fear.
The fear slowly corrupted her mind, leaving her completely unable to calm herself down, even for a single minute.
On the other hand, Zeir lifted one of his hands and gently caressed her cheek. "I—"
"They’re back!" Caspian’s loud shout from outside cut him off.
Roxanna and Zeir immediately rushed out of the stone house and saw Bion opening the entrance to the buried village.
The first person Roxanna noticed was Calen. He was carrying a large bag filled with medicinal herbs, but his entire body was soaked in blood. His clothes were ripped apart, and fresh wounds covered him from head to toe.
Behind him, Orion looked just as battered. It was safe to say that they both looked like they had barely survived.
"Calen!" After quickly handing Azura to Zeir, Roxanna ran straight toward him. "Oh no... You’re bleeding so much."
She carefully took the bag of herbs from him before helping him sit on the ground. One of his eyes was completely swollen shut because of a deep claw wound across it.
"What happened?" she asked in a low voice.
To be honest, she had never expected Calen to end up like this.
After all, he was one of their strongest fighters. Even underwater, he was more than capable of protecting himself.
And even if they had been ambushed, she believed he should have been able to escape more easily.
"I got careless," Calen said weakly.
He pressed a hand against the wound on his stomach. "When we got ambushed, they managed to handcuff my hands, so I couldn’t take out the Blue Pearl."
That explained everything.
Without the Blue Pearl, Calen couldn’t breathe underwater properly, making it almost impossible for him to fight back.
"I’m sorry," he whispered.
His amber eyes slowly lost their usual brightness as he looked into Roxanna’s eyes.
"What?" Roxanna frowned. "Why are you apologizing?"
She hovered her hands around him, not knowing where she should touch because he looked so severely injured.
[Oh, wait... where’s Azul?] Roxanna asked herself the moment she realized there was no one behind Orion.
At that moment, everything clicked.
"Calen, where is he?" Roxanna immediately turned back to him. She held her breath, and her whole body turned cold as she asked, "Why isn’t he with you? Where is he?!"
Calen gritted his teeth as he explained, "The reason we’re in this situation is because Azul was deceived."
Anger flashed across his eyes, and he looked like he wanted to punch something right then and there.
"Princess Sybill is alive," Orion suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention to him.
"That’s impossible," Maristella whispered. "I never saw her in any of my visions."
"Your Majesty, no offense," Roxanna said quickly, "but you also said your visions don’t show the entire future. Sybill could have been one of the things you never saw."
She immediately looked back at Orion. "Did Azul stay behind at the palace to save Sybill?"
"No!" Calen answered before Orion could. He let out a frustrated hiss before continuing. "Azul wanted to help her after he found her by accident, but it was all a trap. Sybill is one of the Devourers... and she’s probably the one who helped them take over the Aquillian Kingdom."
Everyone froze, and even Maristella looked completely stunned.
In Azul’s memories, Sybill had always seemed like someone with a strong sense of justice. She believed it was her duty to save as many people as she could, no matter what.
That was why Roxanna couldn’t understand how the truth could be the complete opposite of what she had expected.
"Is there any chance the Devourers forced her to betray her own family?" Roxanna asked quickly. She desperately searched for an explanation, hoping this was all just a terrible misunderstanding.
However, Calen’s next answer left her completely stunned. "No."
"When she showed her true colors, she looked like someone with a high rank among the Devourers," Calen said. "She could even order them to kill anyone she wanted."
"No, you must be wrong!" Maristella said firmly. "I may not have been very close to my children, but I know none of them would ever betray their own family."
Roxanna took a slow breath before speaking calmly, forcing everyone to think more clearly. "There must have been a reason why only Mera was allowed to know that Azul was your greatest hope, right?" she asked. "If everyone else had known, wouldn’t that have put him in even greater danger?"
There was a high chance that Sybill had found out Azul was the only one with a bright future, and that truth had slowly pushed her to the edge of jealousy.
She might have always seemed kind and caring, but no one could truly know what was hidden deep inside another person’s heart.
And when jealousy grows strong enough, it can make people do things they never thought they were capable of. Even something as terrible as letting their own homeland fall apart, all to get what they wanted.
"But..." Maristella’s voice trembled. "Sybill loved her brothers. She always looked after them."
"That’s what we believed too," Calen replied quietly. "But what we saw that day told a different story."
He lowered his head, his expression dark. "She didn’t show even a trace of hesitation when she stabbed Azul in the back."
"We should’ve gone back to save him!" Calen tried to stand, but Roxanna quickly pushed him back down. "You won’t be able to save him in your condition!"
"We have to!" Calen shouted back. "The only reason the Devourers let Orion and me leave was because Azul made a deal with his evil sister!"
"He agreed to become her slave in exchange for letting me escape and bring these medicinal herbs back!" Calen’s chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing became uneven. "We can’t let him become a slave."
Roxanna couldn’t say a single word and she couldn’t even bring herself to clench her trembling hands.
The thought of Azul becoming a slave tore at her heart.
He had already suffered under the control of so many cruel people in the past. After everything he had gone through, there was no way she would let him fall into chains again
"We’re going to save him," Zeir suddenly said, his calm voice cutting through the heavy silence.
He looked at everyone before continuing, "We won’t abandon him. We’ll bring him home."
His gaze then shifted to Calen. "But if we’re going to save him, we have to be at our strongest. Rushing in now will only throw away the chance that Azul risked everything to give us."
Calen lowered his head, his fists still trembling with anger and helplessness.
The entire village fell silent once again, but this time, everyone carried the same determination.
No matter what it took, they would bring Azul home.
"Roxanna, you should help Calen first. We can’t lose anyone," Zeir said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
It was actually one of the rare occasions when her husbands allowed her to use as much of her blood as she wanted.