In the Carriage heading towards Puzzle City, Cale was looking out of the window beside him. Athanasia sat next to him, engrossed in reading a book. Beside Athanasia was Hong, the red kitten, and On, the silver kitten.
Hong, the red kitten, asked, "Are we camping out tonight?"
Cale replied, "Yeah, we'll be sleeping outside on our way for a few nights."
As Athanasia heard that, she thought, "If I remember correctly from the novel, Cale is taking the other ancient power. It's called the Vitality of the Heart, right?"
Cale, still looking out of the window, thought to himself, "I feel bad taking away Taylor's last hope, but I'll need it more since I'll be going to the capital. Taylor should be aware that this power has traits of restoration and vitality, but he won't know that this power would be useless to his already injured body. In the end, Taylor will fall into despair after receiving this power."
Cale opened his eyes and made a tch sound, casting his gaze at Athanasia, who was busy reading. He thought, "She probably knows what I will do."
Athanasia noticed Cale's gaze and turned her head to face him, asking, "Hm?"
Cale looked at her and shook his head.
Athanasia looked confused but shrugged it off and returned to her book.
Then, the silver kitten, On, spoke, "I heard Hans earlier saying that if you make a wish at Rock Tower, it'll come true."
Hong, the red kitten, chimed in, "He said Rock Tower was pretty too!"
Athanasia felt bad for the two kittens, knowing that Hans had lied to them. She thought, "Hans lied to them, though."
On continued, "It'll be too bad if we can't, but... I really want to go see it once."
Hong added, "Yeah, too bad if we can't, but I really, really wanna see it."
Cale looked at them and asked, "What are you going to wish for?"
On replied with hopeful eyes, "For our two youngest brothers to travel with us..."
Cale's response was firm, "REJECTED."
Hong looked disheartened, and On tried to comfort hong, Cale continued to gaze out of the window.
Athanasia, witnessing the scene, felt a sense of sympathy for the kittens. She decided to do something to lift their spirits, so she reached into her bag and took out two pieces of candy, offering them to On and Hong. The kittens smiled gratefully and said thank you to Athanasia.
They both crawled into Athanasia's lap and snuggled close to her, basking in her warmth and affection. Athanasia smiled sweetly, patting them gently.
Cale, observing the scene, couldn't help but smile lightly, appreciating Athanasia's kind gesture.
As the journey continued, night fell, and the surroundings were gradually enveloped in darkness. Hans mentioned that they would be camping for the night
The next morning, as the group woke up, they were greeted by an unexpected sight - a deer lying dead on the ground near their campsite. Strangely, there was a drawing of a spoon and fork etched into the ground. Cale was puzzled and asked, "What is this?"
Hans replied, "It seems someone left it here intentionally."
Cale noticed the drawing of the spoon and fork and also found a yellow hair in the deer's body. He deduced, "They used pictures to communicate, indicating that they understand speech but not letters. I have a bad feeling about this."
Cale glanced at Athanasia, who was smiling,
and felt suspicious. Athanasia chuckled and Though, "See, Cale? I told you they would follow us. Even the fox is here. I can't help but smile a little."
Cale shifted his gaze to Choi Han, who was also smiling. He thought, "So, Choi Han was on the night watch, pretending not to know, and Athanasia probably knew this would happen. Sigh."
Cale suspected, "It's probably that dragon and fox, right?"
Amused by Cale's reaction, Athanasia giggled, and both of them shared a knowing smile. Meanwhile, Hong and On were also smiling, seemingly amused by the situation.
Despite the odd encounter, Cale decided to pretend that he didn't know about it. Athanasia noticed Cale leaving and exchanged a knowing look with Choi Han, both of them sharing a secret understanding.
However, at the next campsite, they encountered another dead animal, this time a boar, with the same symbol of a spoon and fork and a yellow hair. Cale remarked, "I thought they'd give up after being ignored."
The pattern continued at the subsequent campsites, with more dead animals and the same symbols left behind. Cale couldn't help but be exasperated, and Athanasia found his reactions quite amusing.
As they traveled in the carriage, Athanasia sat beside Cale, while Choi Han, Hong, and On sat on the other side. Cale wondered aloud, "So stubborn. They won't follow us inside the city, will they?"
Choi Han chuckled and remarked, "Isn't it adorable? They're like cute children who haven't lost their innocence."
Hong, the red kitten, disagreed, saying, "Not really."
Cale retorted, "He wouldn't say that if he saw the dragon blow up an entire mountain." He glanced at Athanasia, who nodded and smiled in agreement.
Athanasia said to Choi Han, "They are cute, aren't they?"
Choi Han said and agreed, "You're right. They're cute."
Cale was left dumbfounded by the exchange and let out a sigh. He looked out of the carriage window and made a tch sound in frustration.
Athanasia heard the sound and started giggling. She thought, "Cale didn't expect the dragon and fox to follow us this far. Haha, this is getting more interesting and enjoyable."
Wow, On and Hong said, expressing themselves astonished.
Athanasia looked outside the window, appearing a little amazed. She said, "Interesting..." while smiling.
Hong, the red kitten, joined in, saying, "Each house has a stone tower in front of them."
Cale spoke, still looking at the window, "This is the city of stone towers."
On replied, "Amazing."
Athanasia nodded in agreement with On's statement.
Cale cast his gaze at Athanasia, who was smiling while looking out the window. He smiled back,
(imagined that athanasia is smiling)
crossing his arms, and asked, "Are we staying here?" He directed the question to Hans.
Hans replied, "Yes, we arrived right before the rock tower festival, so the rooms were fairly cheap. How strange, it's not even a place with a lot of rocks, but they hold a rock tower festival."
Before Hans and Cale started walking, Athanasia spoke up, "Cale."
Cale turned his gaze towards Athanasia and asked, "What?"
Athanasia replied, "I will go look around for a moment."
Cale nodded in understanding.
As Cale and Hans went to their room, with Hong and On following behind, Athanasia wandered around for a little while. As she walked through the corridors, she wondered if Hans would talk to Cale about the history of the rock tower. "Hmm, I guess," she thought to herself.
Eventually, Athanasia spotted Hans leaving Cale's room. She thought, "Yeah, my earlier thought about Hans telling Cale about the history of the rock tower is right."
Hans noticed Athanasia and greeted her, "Lady Athanasia, are you going to see the young master?"
Athanasia nodded, "Yes."
Hans understood and said, "I will leave then, Lady Athanasia."
Once Hans left, Athanasia entered the room where Cale was. Ron was also present in the room, and he asked, "Will Choi Han-nim leave in 2 days?"
Cale replied, "That's right."
Curious about Cale's feelings, Ron continued, "What's wrong? Feeling sad that he's leaving? Do you want to go with him?"
Ron stared at Cale for a moment and then spoke,
"How could I ever leave you, young master? I wish to stay by your side," he said, smiling warmly.
Cale was taken aback by Ron's response⁉️ and he thought to himself, "That gave me chills."
Ron continued, "Besides, talking to your fiancée from time to time calms me down a bit," still smiling.
Athanasia chimed in, "You don't know how flattered I am that you say that, Ron." She though, "Stop smiling at me, Ron; you give me chills too."‼️
Ron turned around, and Cale also cast his gaze at Athanasia near the door.
Athanasia apologized, "Sorry if I interrupted your conversation."
Ron replied with a smile, "Not at all, Lady Athanasia."
As Athansia sat beside Cale, Ron continued speaking, "I just... thought it would've been better if Choi Han-nim went with us, is all. I should go speak to him before he leaves... Hm... Beacrox will probably feel disappointed as well."
Cale tried to reassure Ron, "Well, you three can see each other plenty at the capital since we'll be traveling together once we're there." He though enthusiastically, "And the three of you will go to the Rosayln Kingdom together. Isn't that great?"
Cale thought to himself, "Say that it's great..."
While the conversation went on, Athanasia comforted Hong and On, who were in athanasia lap
Cale hen sighed and said to Ron, "You can leave now."
Ron bowed and left the room.
In Athanasia's lap, Hong and On suddenly goes down and became agitated and exclaimed, "Liar! Hans is a liar!" Hong added, "A big fat liar!"
Feeling sorry for the kittens since Hans had lied to them, Athanasia comforted them and gave them each a candy. The kittens calmed down a little after receiving the treats.
Meanwhile, Cale sat on the couch, deep in thought, remembering something important. "I think I remember... that person lived to be 150 years old," he muttered.
He explained, "A power that an ancient being left after naturally dying from old age - Vitality of the Heart."
Cale glanced at Athanasia, who was still petting Hong and On, and smiled a little, thinking she probably knew about this already.
Cale then stood up and said to Athanasia, "Let's go."
Athanasia looked at Cale and nodded.
As they walked towards the door, with Hong and On beside Athanasia, they encountered Hans, who was carrying a bag of food.
Hans exclaimed in surprise, "KYAAHHH!! C-Cale-nim? And A-Athanasia-nim?!"
Athanasia couldn't help but laugh at Hans's expression.
Hans asked, "Let's go see the rock tower?"
Cale replied, "That's right. It'll just be Athanasia, Choi Han, us, and I'll be taking Hong and On as well."
Hans looked confused, and Cale patted his shoulder, saying, "Get prepared."