Azril slowly opened his eyes.
The afternoon light entered through the gaps in the bamboo house, indicating that his wounds had healed as the energy flow stabilized once more within his veins.
He stepped outside and found Lyra sitting pensively by the small river near the house. "Lyra," Azril called softly.
Lyra turned her head, and her face instantly brightened. She stood up immediately and approached Azril with a wide smile.
"Hey, are you feeling better?" Lyra asked while familiarly patting Azril's arm.
"You've started to be able to express yourself and speak normally little by little," she continued happily.
Azril only gave a thin smile. However, Lyra's face suddenly wrinkled in sadness.
"Next time, don't do that again, okay," Lyra said quietly, remembering the horror of yesterday's battle.
Seeing that, Azril reached out his hand, gently stroking Lyra's hair as if he were comforting a small child.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Don't treat me like a child!" Lyra exclaimed, her face suddenly turning beet red.
She immediately moved Azril's hand away while pretending to be annoyed. "Oh right, we're going to have guests later. Don't you go making a mess, okay," Lyra said while pointing her finger at Azril.
Azril went silent for a moment, trying to arrange the words in his head before finally speaking them haltingly.
"Why... are you always kind to me? Even though... when we first met, I almost hit you because I thought you were an enemy."
Lyra was shocked by such an honest question. She looked away slightly. "I was just annoyed seeing your attitude and your messy appearance," she answered randomly.
Lyra noticed that Azril's voice was no longer faltering. Its vibration felt steady and deep, as if the great power inside Azril's body had finally found a way out through words.
Azril reached for the language book he had been carrying all this time, holding it tightly.
"In this book it says... if you meet a stranger do not believe their words, and also you must maintain your manners because that person is someone you do not know."
Azril looked deep into Lyra's eyes. "I am a stranger. You shouldn't be too kind to me."
"You are not a stranger to me!" Lyra countered firmly. "We are already close..." Her sentence hung in the air. Lyra began to feel embarrassed realizing what she had just blurted out.
Azril opened his book again, his finger tracing the lines of words there.
"If someone of the opposite sex is already close, and starts being kind, and paying attention... it's a sign that someone is starting to like and love you."
Azril looked up. "Do you like me, Lyra?"
Lyra's face instantly felt like it was burning. She held back her embarrassment to the death. "It's not like that!" she shouted while covering her face with both hands.
In her heart, Lyra admitted everything. At first, I did feel pity seeing this long-haired guy, but over time I started to look at him differently. And since yesterday's incident... I'm sure that I have feelings for him.
Azril, seeing the reaction, appeared confused.
"So this book is wrong? Why did you give me this wrong book? So everything I've been studying is wrong?" Azril said haltingly with a tone of disappointment.
Lyra removed her hands that were covering her face. She stomped her foot on the ground, staring at Azril with furrowed brows and a face that was still very red.
"So what if I actually do like you?!"
Lyra asked back with a challenging tone. "You also protected me yesterday. Did you protect me because you were forced or by your own will?"
"I protected you because I didn't want anything to happen to you," Azril answered honestly.
"And when I saw you hurt yesterday... I felt a feeling that was somewhat painful."
"Hey, that means you also like me, right?" Lyra pressed.
Azril opened his language book again, then nodded slowly. "That means I do like you, Lyra."
Lyra felt her heart pounding fast. She was happy yet embarrassed to hear that innocent confession. However, Azril wasn't finished reading his book.
"If people like each other and have been close all this time, they should become a couple and get married."
"Enough, enough! Don't discuss that anymore!" Lyra cut him off quickly, her mind already wandering everywhere between happiness and embarrassment.
Seeing Lyra looking emotional, Azril thought that Lyra was angry. Following another instruction from his book, Azril stepped forward and hugged Lyra tightly.
"What are you doing?!" Lyra gasped in surprise.
"This book says... if your partner is upset, you must hug them."
Lyra wanted to protest, but the warmth made her melt. She finally stayed quiet and returned Azril's hug, enjoying that calm moment. However, suddenly...
"Ahem. Am I disturbing your time?"
The deep voice made Lyra jump back and immediately release the hug. It was Master Auron, accompanied by Serez and Yelan.
"Greetings, Master!" Lyra greeted with an extremely red face.
Yelan, who had been watching the scene, immediately smirked mischievously. "Hey Senior, I've never seen you like this. Outside you look indifferent and act cold."
"Hey Yelan, don't tease your older senior," Serez chimed in while laughing. "Someone has already conquered your senior's heart."
Lyra, growing even more embarrassed, immediately invited them into the bamboo house and served warm tea. After they sat down, the atmosphere turned serious again.
"Friend, do you come from another palace?" Auron asked Azril directly.
"Master, he is like someone with amnesia," Lyra tried to explain.
"No," Azril interrupted suddenly, surprising everyone.
"So you don't come from any palace? Where do you come from?" Auron asked again.
Yelan also spoke up. "It seems this Senior doesn't come from our planet Veridia, Master.
Because at that time, when we were about to depart from Veridia to planet Lunaris, Master Serez and I saw a large spatial rift in outer space. We saw Senior Azril come out of that rift."
"Friend, have you gone through a battle and come out of that rift to recover on planet Veridia?" Auron tried to conclude.
Azril only remained silent. "I told you Master, he has amnesia," Lyra interjected. "He didn't even know what a Star Ascendant was. I was the one who taught him language and expressions."
"Hmm, it seems your memory was lost due to the impact of that cataclysmic battle," Auron murmured.
"Listen, do you want to go home? Since you can speak now, try to remember the characteristics of your hometown. We might be able to help," said Lyra.
Azril closed his eyes. The image of Remnant Village reappeared. "Barren land... a river that is almost dry... many broken shacks... and a large rock covered with red cloth."
Everyone went silent, confused by the brief explanation. "Do you know the name of your home planet?" Auron asked. Azril only shook his head.
"Broken shacks sound like the characteristics of a slum village, but there is no large rock in Veridia," Lyra murmured.
Yelan suddenly snapped her fingers. "Slum village, large rock, barren land, and a river... that exists on Planet Lunaris!"
"Don't play around, Yelan!" Serez warned.
"I'm serious, Master! When I was looking for the lost disciples on our last day on Lunaris, I saw a slum village whose characteristics were exactly like what Senior Azril mentioned!"
Azril instantly stood up and approached Yelan. "Where is it?" he asked haltingly but with urgency.
"Calm down, friend. Don't put Junior Yelan under pressure," Auron calmed him.
"The point is we already know the destination," Auron muttered. "Lyra, prepare yourself tomorrow to take him there. For now, Serez and I have some business."
After they left, Lyra patted Azril's back. "Hey, you're going back to your place of origin. Smile!"
Azril imagined the faces of his father and mother. A very sincere and happy smile appeared on his face. Lyra was transfixed; she had never seen Azril smile that happily.
"Do you really want to go home?" Lyra asked quietly.
"Yes... I want to go back to see my parents and hug them."
His parents must be very powerful Star Ascendants because Azril himself is Step 3, Lyra thought. However, she didn't know just how wrong that assumption was.
"Will you come with me?" Azril asked.
"Yes, I will come," Lyra answered, but her voice turned sad. "But if you stay in your place of origin... what about me?"
Azril looked at Lyra intently. "You and I... are a couple, right? This book says... a couple can live together. So... you just live with me, Lyra."
Lyra's tears fell, but she smiled happily. She hugged Azril once more. "Hey, are we a couple? If so, try stroking my head."
Azril stroked Lyra's head gently. Lyra closed her eyes, feeling very peaceful. "I am very happy today. Let's go outside and look at the view for a moment," said Lyra.
The two of them walked out, standing on the hill while gazing at the golden afternoon sun.
"Today is our last day on planet Veridia," Lyra whispered. "So you must be happy."