Seraphina lay on the ground, gazing up at the trees surrounding her. She could see to her left and right, but couldn't move from her position.
As she surveyed the scene around her, she couldn't determine whether she felt relief or frustration—she remained undecided while continuing to watch and sense her surroundings. To her disappointment, she couldn't locate a single person nearby.
"What should I do? I can barely keep my eyes open properly. I'm losing consciousness, and there's no one around here," she whispered to herself without any emotion on her face.
"Is this my end?" Her eyes closed repeatedly, though she hadn't given up on herself yet. At the very least, I want to experience my final moments with full awareness. If I'm going to die, I want to see death with my own eyes.
Just as she had lost all hope and couldn't find any way to move herself even slightly—
Steps.
She heard footsteps and felt surprised by the situation, but she couldn't simply scream for help. She waited as the steps grew closer and closer, though she still didn't cry out.
Her heart beat faster and faster. Though she had no hope, her heart desperately wanted to live, yet she couldn't trust an unknown person.
Seraphina finally saw them—two young women traveling with a few belongings. She could tell they had emerged from this forest, which brought her slight relief.
"HEEEELP!" Seraphina screamed. The two young women heard her plea but looked left and right without locating the source. Seraphina could see their reaction and finally felt a sigh of relief. She released her magical energy and screamed even louder, "HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPP!"
This time, both women finally spotted Seraphina.
When their eyes fell upon her, they were startled by her condition—they could hardly believe a corpse was speaking to them. They turned to each other in disbelief upon seeing Seraphina's state.
SLAP
One woman slapped the other to confirm they weren't hallucinating. "HEELPP!" Seraphina screamed again, witnessing their foolish behavior.
"Why did you slap me, Emily?" the other woman asked, staring with anger and confusion.
"Forget it—let's help her," Emily ignored the question and ran toward Seraphina. Observing them from a distance, Seraphina could see they posed no danger to her, though she maintained her guard nonetheless.
Emily reached Seraphina and saw her covered entirely in blood, which shocked her and made her hesitate to approach closer. As she tried to move nearer, she noticed Seraphina's eyes closing.
Emily hurried to her body and sat beside her. "Miss, open your eyes," she urged, gently slapping Seraphina's chin while blood continued spilling from her wounds.
Emily attempted to wake her, but her efforts proved futile when the other woman approached them both.
"What's wrong, Emily?" she asked with concern visible in her eyes. Though she didn't know Seraphina's identity, she didn't want to witness such suffering, which is why compassion showed on her face.
"I think she's dead," Emily spoke quietly with a numb voice as she looked at her friend. Sadness and helplessness were evident on her features. "We're too late, Jane."
Emily answered while looking at the ground and speaking with sympathy. "Let me check, Emily," Jane responded, moving closer to Seraphina. She examined Seraphina's magical reserves, nerves, heartbeat, and blood circulation, concentrating deeply as she assessed all her bodily functions.
Jane peered into her body and could sense it—a faint spark of life. She could detect it, which brought a smile to her face, though it faded immediately as she continued observing Seraphina's form and noted all the external wounds covering her body.
"She can survive, Emily," Jane told her companion, though she didn't look happy and showed no joy on her face.
Emily stared at Jane, stunned by her words. She watched with amazement while noticing Jane's unhappy expression, feeling confused by her reaction and unable to understand her completely.
"What's the problem then? Why do you look so grim?" Emily couldn't contain herself any longer and asked directly.
Jane turned toward Emily, seeing her confusion and understanding it. However, Jane felt somewhat stunned by the situation and had many questions, though she couldn't find answers without Seraphina's input.
"She can't be healed by conventional methods," Jane spoke as if lifeless, though she couldn't comprehend the situation either and wanted to know what could cause such a condition.
"What? Why are you standing there? Just take her to Master—maybe he'll know how to heal her!" Emily shouted at Jane in confusion, staring at her intently.
Jane was surprised by her words and had almost forgotten about their master. She smiled awkwardly and turned toward Emily.
"Oh, I nearly forgot," Jane smiled. Both Emily and Jane lifted Seraphina and carried her body with them.
Seraphina's body continued dripping blood throughout the green forest, leaving red marks that served as signs for the woodland to witness.
***
Meanwhile, Aeren sat in the guild across from Fredric, who was accompanied by his companions despite his severed wrist.
"Why are you alone, Aeren?" Fredric asked while observing him. He could see that Aeren appeared uninterested in anything particular around them. He also understood the reason behind this lost interest, though he still spoke in a casual tone—Aeren remained a prince and former Crown Prince.
Aeren looked at him, turning away from Fredric's group. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused by Fredric's question. What does he mean by being alone? I've always been alone. What is he trying to ask? I rarely remember being with anyone—I'm always solitary, or my path will waver the next moment.
Aeren pondered this but almost forgot about Nil, who had always been with him. Due to his human memory limitations, his recollections began to blur regarding Nil. He only remembered his path and past experiences because the human brain couldn't compress all his memories.
Fredric observed his confused expression, puzzled by his response, but didn't react to his question and continued speaking. "You were with someone when we first met, correct?" He reminded Aeren of their recent encounter.
Aeren looked at him and began thinking, then realized he had forgotten about Nil moments ago, which increased his confusion. Why am I alone now? What happened? What else am I forgetting? I've lost all recent memories.
Aeren's confusion intensified every second as he realized he was losing his memories. He looked at Fredric again, stared at him for a while, and couldn't identify who was sitting across from him—he had forgotten his memories of this person, too.
As Aeren continued staring, Fredric noticed his bewilderment. "Aeren, what's happening?" Fredric questioned him politely with concern, and his companions also watched with confusion.
They were all shocked by Fredric's trust in Aeren, but Aeren appeared confused and frustrated.
"Who are you?" Aeren questioned him, unable to recall a single detail about this person. Though he tried to remember, nothing came to mind.
At that moment, Fredric and his companions looked at him with shock. Fredric's group could barely control their anger, but Fredric appeared genuinely stunned and could guess from Aeren's reaction that something was seriously wrong.
"Aeren, it's me—Fredric. We just spoke minutes ago. You asked for my name, remember?" Fredric said gently, trying to jog his memory.
"Fredric?" Aeren repeated the name as if testing it on his tongue, but no recognition dawned in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you at all. Did we... did we really just meet?"
The concern in Fredric's expression deepened as he realized this wasn't some cruel jest—Aeren's memory was genuinely failing him.