Passionate Reunion and the Horrendous Sight (2)

Third Person's POV

"This continent… has a wound. The Nihility festers here. Its cults grow bold.

There was a reason... why I led the carriage from this path."

Ethan's eyes widened slightly but he kept his voice calm, though many unspoken meanings lay beneath his words.

"What do you mean?"

A heavy silence settled over the valley and felt thick and weighty. The Blood Slave stood motionless as his crimson eyes flickered dimly beneath his hood.

"Training..."

Ethan frowned.

"What?"

"All of this was part of your training… for what you and the little mistress are about to face in the Abyssal Sanctum."

Ethan didn't respond immediately. His gaze turned distant as he mulled over those words. He was not so immature as to resent the little Duchess over something so trivial.

If this ordeal had been orchestrated as training, then it had undoubtedly served its purpose.