Mikhael went silent when Maya suddenly embraced him. It was a bittersweet feeling. He felt a happiness at her soft touch, but something inside him stung upon realizing that he would not be seeing her smile for a long time. In the end, he remained completely still in her arms, eyes closing shut as though he was honing on the sensations. In honesty, he was trying simply hiding his disappointment. Perhaps his ideals did not match with reality? He had always been like this, to raise expectations too high that he can only ever be underwhelmed by actuality. Maybe the Queen was not truly what he was trying to protect. Then what? Or was it because he was disappointed at the truth. That's right. He knew deep inside he was incapable of making those he cared about smile. This only proved him right. Even the problems happening now, he felt were partly his own fault. Whatever the case, this bolstered his resolve for the journey. He needed to make up for his mistakes. He wanted to see her sweet smile again, the faint image of their first encounter lying within his distant memory. So he needed to become stronger, to battle against the danger looming over the town. For even if all of this had been a lie, he didn't care at all. Kale will always be his home. A blissful lie is better than the cruel truth, is it not?

He never had anything in life. He cannot lose this too.

	Mikhael stepped onto the steps at her last words, eyes pointed to the dark sky, to the tear, "Only time will truly tell..." he muttered, "What I am on the inside, a human or monster."

Glancing back one last time before disappearing into the hay enclosure, "But no matter what. I will win."

...

	Mikhael glanced at his companions with a blank stare, quickly moving to the perch where the horses were being led at the front. He sat in the passenger seat, not even looking at who was driving. He leaned back against the wooden frame with a long sigh, eyes pointed to the jagged black horizon. All he said was a short, 'I'll keep watch of our flank', before going silent, scooting himself to edge and hanging his legs off the side. An excuse to not be disturbed would work best if he could be driving the cart, but without a second arm, steering the horses would be nearly impossible. So he settled for the next best thing. He hoped whoever it was beside him would leave him alone. He wanted some time to think.