After walking continuously for hours, they finally reached Velmora.
The city stood quietly under the fading light, its entrance marked by a large gate guarded by two watchful sentries. As Roy approached, the guards immediately straightened and saluted.
"Officer Roy."
He gave a small nod in acknowledgment.
Without delay, the gates were opened, and the three of them stepped inside. The atmosphere shifted the moment they entered. Compared to the tense silence of the forest, the city felt calmer—alive, yet peaceful.
Aryan slowed his steps slightly, looking around as if grounding himself back into reality.
"Thank you, sir," he said after a moment. "For helping me… I can go home now."
Roy glanced at him briefly. "Alright," he replied. "Just don't get lost again."
Aryan gave a small nod.
With that, their paths separated.
Roy and Alena continued forward, heading toward the council office of Velmora, while Aryan turned and made his way through the familiar streets toward his home.
For a while, neither Roy nor Alena spoke.
Then Alena broke the silence.
"Sir," she said, glancing at him, "what about that kid… Aryan?"
Roy didn't respond immediately. His gaze remained forward, but there was a slight shift in his expression.
"…He felt different," he said after a moment. "Like I've seen him before."
Alena raised an eyebrow slightly. "Sir, this is a small city," she replied. "You probably know most people here. Maybe you've seen him somewhere before."
Roy didn't deny it, but he didn't confirm it either.
"…Maybe," he said quietly.
Meanwhile, Aryan continued walking alone.
The streets gradually became quieter as he moved further away from the main road. The houses thinned out, and eventually, he reached a small, isolated home.
He stopped in front of it.
For a brief moment, he just stood there.
Then he pushed the door open.
The inside was dark.
There was no light, no sound—no sign of anyone living there except him. The silence felt heavier than the forest had.
Aryan stepped inside slowly.
This was his home.
And he was alone.
He moved further in and stood before a small, worn mirror. For a moment, he simply stared at his reflection. His face looked the same as always, but something in his eyes had changed.
His thoughts lingered on what had happened.
Everything that day—the attack, the capture, the rescue—it all replayed in his mind. He didn't fully understand it, but one thing was clear.
He had come dangerously close to losing everything.
"…Why did this happen?" he muttered softly.
There was no answer.
Behind him, resting against the wall, was an old photo frame.
Aryan's gaze slowly shifted toward it.
Inside the frame was a picture from long ago—a small child held gently in a woman's arms, with a man standing beside her. The child was smiling.
That child was Aryan.
The woman's face was clear, filled with warmth.
The man's face, however, was partially torn, making it impossible to see him completely.
Aryan looked at the photo for a long moment.
Then he looked away.
The exhaustion finally caught up to him.
Without changing, without doing anything else, he lay down and closed his eyes. Sleep came quickly, pulling him into darkness.
Outside, the night deepened.
And somewhere within that silence—
Something began to change.
Something that would alter Aryan's life forever.
....
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