"This is delicious…," Aurora said after taking a bite of a cookie that Lux had given her. "It's been a while since I've eaten a cookie."
The young lady became teary-eyed as if she had remembered a memory from her distant past.
A memory from when she was still with her family and enjoyed the warmth and care of her adoptive mother, who treated her like her own daughter.
"Eat as many as you want," Lux wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief. "Don't worry. There's more where those came from. Isn't that right, Eiko?"
"Pa!" The Baby Slime nodded before she continued to eat the cookies in her bag with a big smile on her face.
Aurora thanked Lux for his concern and ate the rest of the cookie in her hand.
"You know, Zane and Zeke would often tell me about your adventures," Aurora said after she had finished a dozen cookies. "Although I am stuck here, I still felt as if I were with you on those journeys."
"Really?" Lux scratched his head. "I hope that they didn't tell you any embarrassing things."
Aurora smiled as she told Lux something that made the Half-Elf almost strangle the two Little Skeletons by her side.
"They said that you love to bury your head in women's thighs. If you want, I can do that for you as your reward for coming here."
The Half-Elf blinked once then twice before clearing his throat. He then glared at the two Skeletons, who were averting their gaze.
"Don't believe everything they say, Aurora," Lux said. "Zane and Zeke are just exaggerating things."
"Are they?" Aurora tilted her head before looking at her two best friends. "Are the two of you just exaggerating things?"
Zane and Zeke firmly shook their heads. They even whispered something in her ears, which made the young lady's face become a shade redder.
Lux, who was able to understand what the two bastards were telling Aurora, immediately grabbed their necks and lifted them up high.
"I need to talk to these two for a bit," Lux said as he carried the two Skeletons under both of his arms like sacks of rice. "Please look after Eiko for me while I'm gone, Aurora."
Lux didn't even bother to wait for the young lady's reply before leaving the tent.
"Do you want a cookie, Eiko?" Aurora asked as she presented a cookie to the Baby Slime, who was also eating cookies from her bag.
Eiko looked at the cookie in Aurora's hand for a few seconds before reaching out to take it. She then ate it, which brought a smile to the young lady's face.
"You love your Papa, right?"
Eiko nodded.
"Do you love your Mama too?"
"Love!"
"Then, can you tell me what love means?"
Eiko stopped eating and looked at the young lady who was lightly patting her head with a gentle smile on her face.
"Love!"
"… I don't understand."
Zane and Zeke had told her a lot of things about Lux. Naturally, they didn't miss the information about the Half-Elf's two lovers, Iris and Cai.
They even told her about the funny activities they did while they weren't wearing their clothes.
Truth be told, Aurora didn't know much about these things because she had been sent to the Pantheon of Exile at a young age.
She didn't know anything about relationships and was innocent when it came to the matters of love.
Even though her two best friends gave her very detailed descriptions about how Lux made love to his two fiances, Aurora only thought of this as a funny activity because she didn't understand what they were doing.
But one thing was clear.
The moment she met Lux, she started to feel things she had never felt before.
She started to feel hope.
If not for her fateful encounter with Lux, she might have lost her sense of self until she had turned into a mere living husk.
She would still be alive, this much was true.
But deep inside, she would be numb and unfeeling until the day she breathed her last.
Forever trapped in the darkness, even in death.
A few minutes later, Lux returned still carrying Zane and Zeke, whom he put down beside Aurora.
The two skeletons were shivering, and even hid behind the beautiful girl, making the young lady frown.
"Did something happen?" Aurora asked the Half-Elf, who sat beside her.
"Nothing happened," Lux replied. "I just asked them a few questions, that's all."
The young lady nodded her head before looking at the handsome young man in front of her. She hesitated for a bit before asking him the same question she had asked Eiko.
"Lux, what is love?"
"Love has many meanings, and it also has many faces."
The Half-Elf paused a bit and explained his definition of love to Aurora.
"It is a feeling of wanting to be with someone," Lux explained. "When that person is around, you feel happy. When they are sad, you are also sad. If someone wants to hurt them, you feel very angry and would want to fight those who are hurting them."
The Half-Elf then gazed at the young lady beside him with a solemn expression on his face.
"Do you hold someone very dear to you?" Lux asked. "Someone who has a place in your heart?"
"…My deceased adoptive mother and my little sister, Shayna," Aurora replied. "They are the two most important people in my life."
"That is a form of love," Lux said softly. "Loving someone and being loved by someone are two of the most wonderful feelings in the world."
He could see the pain in Aurora's eyes when she spoke about her deceased adoptive mother, so the Half-Elf didn't pry into her privacy.
"I think I understand it a bit now," Aurora nodded.
"Good." Lux nodded. "Now, let's talk about something important. Do you know what is keeping you locked up in this place?"
"I don't know," Aurora answered. "Zane and Zeke tried to help me escape this place, but there is some kind of barrier that is preventing me from leaving."
"But do you want to leave this place?"
"Yes. I want to leave this place."
"Then, do you want to return to the Royal Family?" Lux inquired. "Now that you are wearing Fortuna's Tear, you will not have to worry about your curse spreading to other people anymore."
Aurora smiled sadly before shaking her head.
"I have hurt many people," Aurora replied. "I have committed many sins. To be honest, I am afraid to see my family, especially my adoptive Father. Instead of repaying them for the many years they had spent raising me, I only gave them pain and sadness.
"And even if my family forgives me, the family of those who had been affected by my curse won't necessarily do the same. Perhaps the reason why my adoptive father has sent me to this place was to banish and protect me at the same time.
"Had I stayed in Agartha, the people might have demanded that I be executed in the hope that their bad luck would disappear the moment I died."
The young lady then raised her hand to caress her neck.
"I have tried to kill myself countless times, but the King placed a restriction on me, preventing me from committing suicide," Aurora said softly. "Maybe this is his way of punishing me for the pain I caused him after my adoptive mother died. Or perhaps this was also his way of saving my life because when my mother died, I also lost the will to live."
Aurora's shoulder shuddered as she hugged herself, trying her best to keep herself from crying again.
"Understood," Lux rested his hand on her shoulder. "I will take you to the Surface World. You can start your life anew in that place. Don't worry, I'm sure that you will make many friends because you are a very kind soul."
"You really think so?" Aurora asked. "Can I really start a new life in the Surface World?"
"Yes," Lux answered. "I guarantee it, so let's go."
The Half-Elf stood and held Aurora's hand.
"Let's leave this place behind," Lux stated. "As long as you wish to be free, I will do everything in my power to make it happen."
Aurora nodded as she, too, stood up.
"I want to leave this place. Please help me, Lux. If you do, I will do that funny thing you do with your two fiances."
"Funny thing?" Lux blinked in confusion. "What funny thing?"
Before Aurora could even answer, Zane and Zeke held her hands. The young lady looked down on them, and the two Skeletons shook their heads at the same time, as if telling Aurora to not tell Lux anything.
The two Skeletons would probably get nagged by the Half-Elf again for teaching Aurora things that she wasn't supposed to know.
"Um, I'll tell you later," Aurora replied. "Zane and Zeke said that now is not the right time to say it."
Lux scratched his head before exiting the tent with Aurora.
He didn't know what that "funny thing" was, but his Half-Elf intuition was telling him that the two Little Skeletons had taught the innocent beauty something else that she really knew nothing about.
