Lyra stared at the Tenth Sun standing before her, his voice still echoing faintly in her ears. For a long moment, she did not know what to say, nor did she know how to feel. Emotions churned within her in a quiet, turbulent storm.

In a strange, aching way, she felt like a mother who had been denied the right to see her child for years, only to finally behold him again yet find herself unable to embrace him. She felt as though countless invisible threads were tugging at her heart, longing, relief, confusion, and a hollow ache she had not expected. She felt a whole constellation of emotions at once, all heavy, all raw, and all difficult to articulate.

Throughout the last eighteen years of her life, she had not gone a single day without seeing the Tenth Sun's face. His presence had become as natural to her as breathing, as predictable as sunrise and sunset. But now, she had been forced to go almost two months without him. She had known he would leave; she had prepared herself for it.

But she had not expected the absence to carve such emptiness through her chest. She had underestimated how hollow she would feel, how silent the halls of the estate would seem without his footsteps, how lonely her days would become without his voice breaking the monotony of duty.

But even with this yearning twisting within her, Lyra understood she could not simply rush forward and embrace him, no matter how much she wished she could. There existed an invisible yet paradoxically visible line between them, a clear, immovable line that must never be crossed. She knew her place painfully well: she was a servant, a paid worker, nothing else, nothing more. She could not allow her heart to behave otherwise.

Her black eyes were fixed on the Tenth Sun as he stood before her, and she immediately noticed the change in him. He had grown stronger, unmistakably so, despite being gone for barely more than a month. No one in the entire Wargrave Ducal Estate understood the absurd degree of the Tenth Sun's talent better than she did. She had watched him develop skills at impossible speeds and display feats that should have taken others weeks or months to master.

No one needed to tell Lyra how special the Tenth Sun was. She had never once felt the need to celebrate her fortune at serving such a remarkable young master like many others might have. No, she simply remained by his side, answering whenever he called, stepping forward when he needed something, watching from a respectful distance when he trained, and preparing whatever tasks he required of her.

Although she had never spent more than a few seconds in the presence of the First Sun, Lyra believed wholeheartedly that even the First Sun's talent paled before that of the Tenth Sun.

She knew he was destined to stand at the very top. And deep in her heart, Lyra hoped she would not become a burden when that distant future arrived. She hoped she would still be of use in some capacity. She hoped the Tenth Sun would still call on her, still depend on her, still allow her to serve him in some meaningful way.

Even if he never needed her aid in battle, that did not matter. As long as he still needed something from her, even something small, even something mundane, that was enough. That alone would give her purpose.

But Lyra did not know how possible such a hope was. She was already over forty years of age, yet still only at the Firmstar Life Rank. She knew well that the stronger one became, the harder it was to advance. She also knew that the Tenth Sun, with his overwhelming talent, would undoubtedly reach the peak of the world long before he ever reached her age.

Malrik, the First Sun had already achieved that feat before turning thirty, and she believed with absolute certainty that the Tenth Sun, far more gifted than even the First Sun, would reach that pinnacle even earlier.

Her mind swirled, calculating the years she might still have by his side. A decade? Perhaps less? Half a decade? The thoughts and assumptions swirling through her might have seemed absurd to outsiders, but that did not matter. They did not know the boy standing before her, not the way she did.

'How strong will I even be in a decade?' she wondered quietly. Even if the Tenth Sun took the longest possible route to the peak, she was unsure how much she herself would grow. Advancement became far slower the stronger one became; the climb from Firmstar to Wavestar alone could take some people many years.

Life Rank progression was intentionally challenging, the higher one ascended, the more resistance the world itself seemed to push back with.

Her thoughts took a darker turn. 'What if I am kidnapped in the future? What if someone uses me as leverage, as bait or a trap, to force him into a corner?' It was not paranoia; such tactics were distressingly common within the Zarethorne Empire. The First Sun's butler had once been kidnapped, and as expected, the First Sun had annihilated the perpetrators without hesitation.

But that situation had been different. The First Sun was already overwhelmingly strong, leagues beyond almost anyone. The Tenth Sun, no matter how monstrously talented, still needed time. He could not simply become the strongest overnight. He could not suddenly rise to the level of his father or brother by tomorrow morning.

Lyra heaved a mental sigh and chose to shove away the spiraling fears. The Tenth Sun had returned. That was what mattered now. The how or why did not matter. She already knew he was capable of teleporting back to his room whenever he wished, and therefore capable of leaving at any time as well.

He had tested this ability a few times with her present, teleporting them both back to his room whenever he was too lazy to walk. Though she did not know the full mechanics or limitations of the ability, she knew it was tied to Virelass and carried certain restrictions.

"I greet the Young Master," she finally spoke, bowing calmly with a gentle smile touching her lips. The hollowness and hopelessness that had gripped her moments earlier seemed to vanish the instant she spoke the words.

Asher did not answer immediately. With a thought, Astra energy pulsed through his Astra veins, and he created a shimmering dome that enveloped the entire room, sealing sound within and preventing any from escaping. William and Finch were his friends, but this was a personal matter, a moment meant only for him and Lyra.

Lyra sensed the dome forming but did not react outwardly. She merely smiled faintly, already knowing he only wished to prevent sound from leaving the room.

"There is no need to bow, Lyra. We should be far past this by now," Asher said, a calm smile forming on his face. Honestly, he had missed Lyra as well. When he first opened his eyes in this new world, Crymora, she had been the very first person he spoke to.

"I am simply doing what I must, Young Master," Lyra replied as she rose from her bow.

"Asher is fine. You may drop the 'Young Master,'" he said with a quiet sigh. It was clearly not the first time he had made this suggestion.

"I cannot, Young Master," she answered softly, offering her usual four word refusal.

Asher shook his head, seeing she had not changed at all. His eyes studied her carefully. She was no longer hiding her Life Rank as she used to. Before, he could not read her Life Rank at all, and she had to tell him her rank herself. Now, however, he could sense it clearly.

'She's at the peak of the Firmstar,' he observed. 'Just a push more, and she'll enter Wavestar.' He smiled subtly at the thought. Lyra growing stronger was good news, for both of them.

"Sit. Let's talk," Asher said.

Lyra nodded gently and moved toward one of the chairs in the room. Despite being a maid and a commoner, her movements carried grace and dignity. As a maid serving a Ducal House, she had long received formal training.

Asher sat on his bed, his purple eyes meeting her deep black ones. "So," he said softly, "how have you been?" His gaze did not shift.

Lyra almost answered with a simple 'fine', but after a pause, she chose honesty without details. "Times have been hard," she admitted, "but I have endured harder moments."

Asher could tell she was intentionally vague. He considered pressing for more information, he had the authority to command an answer if he wished, but he decided against it.

"Then tell me what you've been doing since I left," he said instead. "You must have had so much free time. Did you visit places you've always wanted to see?"

Lyra shook her head gently. "Since your departure, I have not left the Wargrave Ducal Territory. I spend most of my time either training or walking around the estate and the surrounding lands." A soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips, warm yet tinged with melancholy.

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