A few weeks later.

Like a puppet getting their strings cut Vali flopped on the bed from pure exhaustion.

"I don't know what I expected with having her around." He flinched from his sore wounds. "But this wasn't the first thing that came to mind."

In the beginning, Melusine was pretty silent, never really trying to bother him for about a week. Honestly, the boy thought she just left and it was all a fever dream. But one day she appeared in front while training.

And then it began…

X-X-X

"Alright, the goal of this spar is to gauge your abilities from mine and if you survive that's a bonus."

"Wait, what?"

His servant sighed. "I'm going to come at you with a modicum of my power and if you are at least even ten percent of Albion you will obviously see growth."

Like a normal person, I stared at her like she was crazy... Oh wait, I forgot who I was dealing with.

"I did not agree to this." I countered.

She looked at me like she was honestly confused. "Who said you had a choice?"

It's official, I need to get out of here.

"Aren't you supposed to be the servant?"

"Training begins now."

"HOLD-"

Three things happen almost simultaneously.

I blinked.

She was then in front of me.

And then everything went black.

X-X-X

The descendant of Lucifer shivered.

From that the boy could tell that she is a monster of a teacher that wouldn't let up. "Every single time she knocks me out, she just kicks me to wake me up." "But…" he flips over and stares at the ceiling. "...it pisses me off that it's working."

On the first day of training, she said she would not let him leave until he dodged one of her attacks. Originally, it took him from miday to midnight to dodge and even then, that was by dumb luck.

"But now…"

Since then a week has passed and he finally doesn't get knocked out anymore by the first hit.

"It's usually the third or fourth, but hey, It's progress." The young devil thought bemusingly. Usually due to his bloodline and scared gear he's rarely exerted to this extent consistently. What the girl didn't know was that she helped him break past his own slow progress, which obviously angered the boy even more.

"Not to mention soon after training started, she became a lot more active." Before she wouldn't even speak but he was starting to think that the girl was just observing him and studying his environment. Now she constantly asks him questions about who some people are and what is the situation of the world.

"I would try to ignore it but since she uses telepathy it's next to impossible to do so. Even when I do, I pay for it two-fold in training," The vessel of the dragon sighed "But it's not all bad she started giving nicknames to all the heads fallen," He paused and chuckled. "Even calling Azazel a goat face I can't believe I didn't think of that one and she almost made me call him that to his face."

The chuckling lasted for a few minutes until he stopped to ponder.

"She's overbearing and harsh but she means well , though there's no denying the fondness in her eyes."

A very clear memory came into his mind.

Deep black hair in contrast with his.

A tired yet confronting simile.

And a soothing voice telling him it's alright.

"..." He shook his head. "No, what am I thinking it's nothing like that." But as he goes further and further into sleep an oh so similar voice of yearning echoed within his mind. "But maybe…Just maybe…This is what it's like to have a sibling."

X-X-X

"You know one of these days he's gonna figure out that you follow him to his room after training."

It was quiet for a while until the accused finally spoke as she materialized.

"Eh, he's a smart kid. He'll figure it out eventually, even if he'll probably never admit that he didn't know." The servant responded as she showed herself.

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence filled the air until the servant finally spoke. "He's a hard worker."

"I know."

"But he's a little too hard on himself."

"I can see that." The dragon once more acknowledged.

Realizing that she couldn't take any more of this awkward air she turned and prepared to leave. "I'm gonna take a look around the base again"

This was the level of conversation that the two very powerful beings have had ever since the first night.

"Wait." The sacred gear finally relented. He knew if he didn't try to break the ice eventually this girl would never open up so it fell on him to make the first stride. "Thank you."

She paused and looked back. "For what?"

"For helping him, and you'll probably never hear it from the boy himself so I'll say it for the both of us."

The dragon knight huffed, sounding somewhat offended. "Well of course I can do this, if I couldn't I would be incompetent as a servant."

"You see, I have great hopes for the kid."

"As do I."

"But he has been through a lot more perils than a normal one of his age, so don't be too rough on him."

Lancer rolled her eyes."Well even I could see that. "

"When you roll your eyes like that, I can tell what you're thinking."

She turns her eyes sideways to avoid looking at his nonexistent eyes."You can't prove that," She denied and then quickly counter. "And I would like to know more if you're so willing to tell me."

"I could say the same to you." He said back and the only thing she did was blink at that statement.

"That's… fair." She relented.

And then the awkward silence returns once more and seeing no reason to stay she once again starts preparing to exit.

"All I have to say is this." The dragon spoke up once more which made her pause with her back turn mid leaving. "I already accepted that we two can run in circles with each other about this subject but when he finally relents and reaches out for your hand… please be there."

No words were said he didn't even expect to be any. She just stopped for a minute then slowly dematerialized.

X-X-X

The best way I could describe the next few weeks with his new roommate for the foreseeable future was…

Different.

It Was as if she had changed overnight. Not enough to be worried, but very much an eye-opener from the stoic spartan of a girl.

It was right after we finished training. She asked me to do anything other than this. After I answered, she did something that I never thought I would hear from her.

She whined.

She called me boring and whined,

And for some reason that hurt me a lot more than it should.

But the only thing I could do is stare at her thinking do have the right person

And then I realized after thinking about it for a while that she doesn't need to do this.

This is all for my sake.

The training has no benefits.

There was a person behind that massive power.

And said person was doing this all for… me.

It was always there.

I saw a little bit when we first met, the small tantrum, the playful teasing but ignoring it because of my own frustrations.

"Alright... If she wants a good time I'll show her a good time!"

X-X-X

Anyone who sees this scene wouldn't think anything of it. It was just a boy staring at a shop in a soon to be dark town, nothing out of the ordinary besides maybe the boy's natural hair color.

Vali called out to seemingly something or rather someone he knew at to be close. "Melusine."

"…"

"Mélusine, I know you're there." He said once more "Not that you never leave my side in the first place." He thought bemusedly of what he had he recently found out. Still no response. "You can come out now."

Still, there was no reply to him at least not a few minutes, a girl with similar hair to his own appeared from the crowd.

"If you told me we were going out sooner, I would've gotten changed earlier." The girl said in faux anger. Her current clothing is a less tight dress with frills and similar color as her armor. Ignoring the barb, Vali walked in the shop without saying a word while she followed.

The first thing the heroic spirit noticed was the smell, it wasn't unpleasant but it was strong, the next thing was that it was slightly hotter than it was outside and as for the inside. The shop itself wasn't that big if there were just a few people she would've considered cramped in here. There were a few tables with chairs on the left with all of them being filled with at least one or two at each one. There were stalls facing the chef who was an average middle-aged male who goes into a kitchen.

All in all? It was a normal, ordinary shop, with managers frantically preparing for the rush hour…

…Which only served to make her more confused.

Not noticing his servant's plight he went into a stall and as he took a seat, the chef immediately noticed him and gave a big smile.

"Oh Vali, long time see! Where have you been!? We haven't seen you for weeks?"

The boy gave him a slight smirk. "Nothing much has just been preoccupied with some things as usual anyway." He puts up two fingers "Two of the regular please"

"Really?" The chef asked in surprise "You don't seem like a big eater…" He paused once his eyes landed on the boy's 'guest' and the surprised look changed into a cheeky grin "Oh, I see."

Vali's face proceeded to change into a blank annoyed stare. "It's nothing like that." He responded in annoyance.

"Alright~" the chef said but still keeping the same amused look as he went back into the kitchen to prepare the order.

Following the conversation, the white-haired girl took a seat right next to Vali and sat down, the two staying in comfortable silence as they waited for their order. After it arrived Mélusine didn't know what to expect. After the list of unanswered questions, wondering what was for dinner was the least of her worries.

When it came all she did was stare at the bowl. The dish was filled to the brim with broth, with an assortment of meat and vegetables floating on the top above a bed of noodles resting at the bottom.

It was ramen.

As her partner started preparing to eat, grabbing himself some chopsticks, she finally asked. "Why?" He stopped. "Why are you doing this?" She continued. "Servants don't eat for energy, you know that."

The tone of her voice wasn't angry, but rather confused, less like she was less telling him and more like she was asking him a question. He stood still for a few seconds, but then he continued like nothing happened and said.

"You told me you were bored right?" He ripped apart the chopsticks and prepared to use them. "Well this is what I do for fun, you gotta have a problem with it?" and started eating like he said nothing.

Melsiume blinked a few times, surprised about the response before she turned to look at him. Vali ignored her, continuing to eat…but Melusine did not miss the tinge of red on his ears. Most would assume it might be due to the heat, but she knew otherwise. At the same time, a few words repeated in her head.

"But when he finally relents and reaches out for your hand… please be there."

"..."

She smiled and softly answered "No…I suppose not." and finally began enjoying her meal, as the awkward tension between them finally dissipated. If the disembodied could make an expression, the white dragon would have a satisfied smile on his face. "...I do hope I don't stain these clothes, though."

"...Just eat already!"

X-X-X

As they were walking back home tension rose up again, but for more, shall we say, straightforward reasons. But the young dragon emperor finally broke the straw on the camel's back. "Alright that's it!" He dramatically pointed to his servant. "What's up with that dumb grin on your face?!"

Just as the boy said, the girl beside him was sporting a warm smile on her face, with her eyes closed. "Oh, me~?" she responded in a tone that just grated his nerves, never taking that smile off. "I'm just happy that my stubborn master has finally stopped being a prune and opened up~."

"Geh," Was the noise that came out of his mouth, feeling like he had just been caught, "Was it that obvious?"

She nodded. The smile on her face started giving off an evil tint. "It also helped that I read the diary you have~." She said without any care.

"But I don't have a…" The devil prince stopped in his tracks, eyes wide in fear, and as he continued to pale his associate's smile started glowing evermore. "No, " the boy paled.

"Yep~, " the girl's smile grew wider. Seeing there was no denying it, Vali did the only thing that he thought he could.

He screamed.

"Do you even know what that book is about?" the heavenly dragon had to ask the servant.

She responded with a shrug and back through her mind "No, not really. It was just cute that he was trying to hide it."

"Of course..."

[A few minutes later.]

"What are you doing?" She said while looking down at her master.

"Trying to crawl up in a ball and die!" Said master cried back.

"Don't worry~." She placed her hands on his shoulders "I don't have anyone else to tell~."

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!" What frustrating boy got as an answer was the same simile she had on for a while only more foreboding.

"Nothing~." she said in a similar coy tone. "Anyway." Looking like she finally had her fill with making fun of him. "Let hurry up and get back"

"But why do we need to worry about getting back?" The voice died within him when he saw her face as he got up from crouching.

The moon was up and full and reflected on her like a lake and she was wearing a smile he had never seen before, as if she was completely at peace with eyes full of so much sadness that he couldn't say anything.

"We have lots to talk about." There was no more joking left in her voice.

In turn, the only thing the boy did was slowly nod.

And all he felt was tension in his body as if he knew what was coming next.

At this moment they both knew...

This was gonna be a long night.

X-X-X

She told him everything.

About her lostbelt, a timeline that was abandoned by the world.

And what it meant to be a dead end.

A place where evils walked in broad daylight.

Where corruption and tyranny of the leaders came from the land itself as if it was possessed.

And how the world full of freedom came to end.

She didn't try to hide or whitewash any of her actions.

Or how horrible the world she lived in was.

Because she had trust in him.

Since he opened up to her, she would do the same.

During the whole conversation, they both made faces they had never seen each other make.

And after all was well said and done the only feeling they both had was an empty feeling in their chest as they both stared at the moon in silence, until one of them dozed off into the world of dreams.

X-X-X

"So that was it, huh?"

His voice was exhausted, something you would never expect from a heavenly dragon.

"Yep." On the other hand her voice was flat and plain like she was having a conversation that happens every day if not a little bit empty.

"It was hell." He said matter of factly.

And she did not deny it, but instead corrected him.

"But it was a hell people lived in, had dreams and hopes, and fought for to the last of their breaths."

No matter how awful that place was, that did not change that it was a place that people tried to live their best in, even if, in the end, its demise was inevitable.

"Hm."

"..."

"..."

Once again silence filled the air but unlike all the others the first one to speak up was different.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be-"

"But I want to be."

For probably the first time since they met, the lancer class servant actually stared directly at where his voice was coming from.

Before she could say anything the heavenly dragon continued.

"You were alone in that one was able to rival your strength. I see it as the ultimate blunder for myself, to fail my offspring."

"But I'm not-"

He cut her off once more.

"I do not care how you were conceived, you are my kin, no matter what you say." He said with more force than before which startled the servant.

He continued even as her eyes widened.

"You left this world.. with that woman." Anger dripped from his voice on the last word. Melsiume understands that, like Vali, he did not see Aurora in a nice light, though she could not find any counterargument for it.

"Yet still, you stand proud as a dragon… no, as Albion until the very end!" Albion said with pride.

He then sighed.

"Honestly, I was wary of you at first, thinking it was as much of a hoax as the boy did. But now?"

She could honestly feel the smile he was giving off. It was almost able to bring her to the verge of tears.

"I would be pleased to call you my daughter."

Ever since the start of this conversation, she was doing her best to keep her face straight.

She almost succeeds.

Almost.

X-X-X

After things calmed down, there was a single question between the two.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" The disembodiment dragon asked.

She turned to look somewhat confused with puffy eyes.

"About what?" She questioned.

"Percival."

She released a short "Ah" as if the topic passed her mind without releasing it.

"I couldn't see it but I could feel the look he got when you explained your relationship with the Knight of the Round."

She had the decency to look sideways at what he said, out of shame.

"And it makes your first reaction all the more understandable." He continued.

Finally, he tells her straight the ever-elusive question that nobody wanted to hear.

"Are you… Trying to replace him with your dead brother?"

In response, the only thing the girl did was look slightly down bangs covering her eyes as if she was in deep thought.

Eventually, she released a deep sigh, raised her head, and began speaking.

"Percival was kind, honest, and straightforward. A paragon of a person who didn't have a single bad bone in his body and never does anything for his own sake." She rattled off.

"Meanwhile…" She continued as she closed her eyes for concentration.

"Vali's bratty, stubborn, reckless, and tries to act mature but in the end only comes off even more childish." Waving her finger while walking back and forth as if she was going down a list.

"Harsh, but not untrue."

The white dragon has been around long enough to come to understand the flaws of people. It naturally comes with being inside over a hundred different individuals. And at his core, Vali is still a child,though that too is fine. Albion understands the issue of letting someone grow up too fast; he lost a few users due to that.

"But." She exclaimed "That doesn't mean I don't care for him."

Because, for all his faults, he's just a person trying his best in a world that rejected him, and he overcame that adversity, his limits and his fate. How can the fairy who was isolated because of the title of the strongest, and who was made to bring calamity hate that?

"So, to answer your question, Albion, yes. I do see similarities between Percival and Vali, but I also see the differences and still care for him all the same. To me, I've just gotten another little brother and I will cherish him as much as the first. And this time, he'll have the strength to overcome any challenge, I'll make sure of that!"

That was her answer. Even though it is not the same, and she acknowledges the difference. That doesn't mean she can't care for him.

"Well... that's all the answer I need."

"Is that so?" She turned to the door, "Then goodnight, vanishing dragon" and proceeded to walk to the door

"Goodnight, my stubborn child" He snarkily answered back.

She paused and answered in a much quieter voice.

"You don't need to call me that"

"And you don't need to act like you're scouting and mapping the building instead of just waiting outside of the door or goofing off!" He retorted.

It wasn't obvious at the start, but given how large this place is and how much time Vali spends in the building, it wasn't hard for the heavenly dragon to come to the conclusion that she was just leaving the building to avoid conversation… if only so she could sort out her feelings after the first few nights.

"...You knew?" The lancer's voice was nearing pitch from embarrassment.

"It also helps that your energy signature is huge. You're lucky you're constantly around Vali, or I'm sure Azazel would've noticed your presence by now." Albion replied with a chuckle.

"I'll take note of that." Mélusine said as she quickly exited the room to hide her shame.

After a few moments as if speaking to someone the disembodied dragon raises his voice again.

"She's gone." The dragon said to no one.

"So how does it feel?"

No response.

Yet he still continued.

"Vali Lucifer?"

There was still no response but he knows he's listening.

"You've finally gotten a one-up on your teacher."

There were no words.

Just the shuffling of sheets.

And if they were uncovered there would only be a boy with a face tinged in red.

"Just kill me now!"