After looking at Luna's beaten-up body, Alaric couldn't even tell what he was feeling. He slowly looked down at his trembling hands—something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
His chest ached.
A part of him wished this was just another bad dream. He never imagined their reunion would be this tragic.
"What's the problem, boy?" Lucius shouted, smacking him hard on the back.
"Go! Let's get this over with—I'm starving. Kill that bitch or whatever," he added, clearly annoyed this was taking too long.
Alaric reluctantly walked toward the torture chamber's door... then stopped.
"Take this," Alaric said, handing a small bottle filled with liquid to Lucius.
"What's this?" Lucius asked, confused.
"You'll need it," Alaric replied.
Lucius frowned, thinking Alaric was mocking him for saying he was hungry.
BAM!
Alaric shut the chamber door behind him.
*****
He lit the lamp inside and started reading the report on Luna.
He had mixed emotions—because if the man he had tortured was Luna's father, that meant he might have killed the father of his dear friend.
He looked at Luna again, pitying her state. She looked so weak—likely from the beatings she'd endured.
As he continued reading, the trembling returned—not from confusion, but from rage.
"Master, please! I'm hungry! I'll do anything you want!"
His eyes widened.
His fists clenched tightly.
He looked at Luna's broken body and stood up, his posture firm—like a man who had made up his mind.
****
Outside the chamber, Lucius and a knight stand guard,
"What's taking so long?" a knight on guard asked Lucius.
"Just let him work. The man may be weird, but I hate to admit he's competent," Lucius replied.
"Sir Clemens is arriving!"
The loud announcement echoed through the halls.
It was Clemens himself—one of the King's Five Great Knights. The situation was serious if he had been called.
Clemens was the newest of the five. He had replaced a knight who died fighting the rival nation's prince.
Only 19, yet already a prodigy. Even the strongest of the Great Knights had said Clemens' potential might surpass his own.
They called him The Chosen One.
"Sir Clemens, it's such an honor to—" Lucius began nervously, but—
"Get out of my way," the young knight snapped, shoving Lucius aside.
Lucius clenched his teeth but didn't dare show his anger.
Clemens knocked on the chamber door.
KNOCK—KNOCK
The sound got louder and louder as his frustration grew.
Finally, in a burst of rage, he kicked the thick wooden door.
BANG!
It shattered like it was made of paper—a testament to the knight's strength.
But inside…
"What the hell?" Clemens muttered, caught off guard.
A thick, green-tinged smoke filled the entire room.
Nothing was visible—except for the light coming through the broken window.
"They escaped!" Clemens shouted.
What are you thinking, Alaric? Lucius thought to himself.
As he stared into the smoke, he suddenly realized something…
*****
One hour earlier…
As Alaric stood in the chamber, he watched Luna.
Though blindfolded, she sensed someone approach.
"Good mister… I'll do anything you want. Just please, don't beat me anymore… I can't take it," she begged.
It crushed Alaric's heart.
She had always been so cheerful, so bright—always smiling, always positive.
And now this…
"Luna… it's me," Alaric said gently.
"A...Al? Is that you?"
What Alaric had read in the report was far from what he expected.
The man he had tortured and killed wasn't Luna's father.
He was her master.
Luna had been a slave all along.
The stories she had told him were mostly lies—she never helped run a circus.
She had been sold into slavery at age ten.
Forced to work for an old man.
And when she came of age, he began to use her for his own twisted desires.
She had spent her life locked up—sometimes even in a cage made specifically for her.
The man would beat her—but never her face.
He adored it too much.
She was only allowed to walk freely when the man visited her mother's house—he acted like a different person around her.
"Al…" she began to cry.
"What are you—" she started to ask, but Alaric cut her off.
"I'm the Head Executioner of this city. That's what I've been meaning to tell you. I never imagined we'd meet again like this. I'm sorry, Luna."
"Why are you apologizing? I lied to you… about everything," she said, still struggling from the beating.
"I know. I read the report."
"All those stories I told you—they were lies. I never experienced any of those things.
They were just stories I wished were true.
When I heard other people's tales, I wanted to feel what they felt. I imagined what it would be like... But I knew I never could."
She smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Alaric remained silent, listening.
"But when I was with you… those stories felt real.
Even I started to believe they really happened.
All the places I said I visited… the people I claimed to meet, the animals I supposedly saw… those beautiful landscapes that left me speechless…
They were just dreams—things I always wanted as a little girl."
She turned toward the sound of his voice.
"But seeing you enjoy those stories made me happy. I'm sorry I lied."
Alaric's heart ached even more.
What Luna didn't know… was that Alaric had always suspected something.
He knew the stories weren't quite real.
But still… he enjoyed them.
Not just the tales, but how Luna told them—her excitement, her passion, the light in her voice.
That's what he looked forward to.
And now… she was like this.
"Listen, Luna," he said softly.
He approached her and gently removed her blindfold and handcuffs.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"Shhhh…"
He placed a finger gently on her lips.
Then, with the gentlest smile he had ever shown, he said:
"I'm getting you out of here.
We're going to make those stories come true."