The Deal

Vir smiled with a flushed face, but he really meant it. At least, he wanted to feel it once in a lifetime, and his choice was Daisy who was not only beautiful, and charming but also had often given him a sense of being someone meaningful.

Unlike the others, they had always looked down on people like Vir, thinking of them as mere puffs of smoke. Existing and visible, but unnoticed, untouchable.

Daisy, on the other hand, was very different.

"What are you thinking about?" Daisy searched for something on the face of the man before her, and it was always with a smile, "Vir?"

"Aah, no!" Vir cleared his throat. "I..." He breathed deeply, "I just wanted to make the gamble more fun—well, sort of. You know, I like a challenge."

"Oh my!" Daisy giggled. "You're stubborn. All right!" she said. "If you can bring me three capculosus fish, I will sleep with you!"

"Deal!" Vir became very excited as he extended his right hand to Daisy.

"Deal!" Daisy replied and they shook hands as an agreement between them. "Alright!" She stood up, "It's time for me to go to bed-you know, I have two customers tomorrow who need something early."

Vir nodded, "I still want to be here."

Daisy turned on her heel, heading towards the door. Vir glanced over with a smile, especially at the young widow's nearly round, firm ass.

"Hey!" Daisy turned around and looked at Vir. "You don't mind, do you? With you having to share a room with that little girl tonight?"

"No." Vir shook his head. "Not at all. By the way, thank you for the meals, they were delicious."

Daisy smiled sweetly. "Good night, Vir."

"Yeah," Vir nodded. "Good night, Daisy."

The man took a deep breath, looking at the young widow's back and ass until she disappeared. Then he let out a long, soft sigh.

"And the question now," Vir muttered half inaudibly, "where am I going to find those fish? Damn, it!"

Well, that sounded like a gamble he couldn't possibly win. After all, Vir knew that capculosus fish were extremely rare. This type of endemic fish that was once only found in the Eastern Lands seemed to be completely extinct.

It was all nothing more than silly words because Vir could not convey his true feelings for Daisy. Of all the women he had ever known, Daisy was probably the only one Vir had his heart set on.

Sure, many were prettier than her, but Daisy had her own charm that would always be a strong desire for Vir.

The only reason why he still held honesty in his heart towards Daisy, was because of his unfulfilled ambition. About his desire to destroy all riders and the Central Empire.

"After this is all over..." Vir gulped down the redbrew in his hand. "I'll definitely marry you, Daisy."

He rose to his feet and left the kitchen to head to the room where Aira was fast asleep.

Vir smiled, stood in the doorway leaning his shoulder against one of the frames, folded his arms across his chest, and looked at the peaceful Aira. It was his first time seeing the little girl sleeping so soundly.

Well, of course, he thought. As far as he knew, Aira was just like him, they had been sleeping in any place without a soft mattress, out in the open.

Then Vir's gaze fell on the thick blanket folded neatly on a sideboard to the right.

Yeah, that's Daisy, she really is a very understanding and caring woman, he thought. In fact, Vir and Aira were just hitchhikers, without paying a dime. Maybe that was the reason why her simple shop was always crowded even though she only handled it by herself.

Vir approached the sideboard, grabbed the thick blanket, and spread it out on the floor next to the bed where Aira was resting.

He rested his back on it, wriggled around a bit, then let out a long sigh of relief.

Well, this was much better than sleeping out in the open, he thought.

"Vir..."

Vir, who was just about to close his eyes, opened his eyes wide again, got up and sat up quickly, then looked at Aira.

"Did you say something?"

Aira opened her eyes. "I like her."

The man smiled a thin but also very sweet smile. "I know. Hey, I thought you were asleep."

"Is she for real?"

Vir took a deeper breath. "I've known Daisy for a while, so I can tell that she meant it when she asked you to be her daughter. I think she really likes you."

There was a moment of silence between them as Vir lay back down.

"But I don't want to leave you."

Vir sighed softly. For once, he didn't want to contradict or yell at the little girl. He knew that this was Aira's true expression of feelings even though he did not yet know the reason behind it.

"I can't forbid you, Aira," he said. "But you must know how dangerous the life I lead is. What's more, you're the only one who knows my true occupation—well, more accurately, my madness."

There was no further response from Aira, Vir only heard a soft exhaling breath from the direction of the bed.

"Go back to sleep," he said then.

Aira closed her eyes after one long breath.

Yeah, she must be indecisive, Vir thought. All this time, no one had ever cared about her, and all of a sudden, Vir introduced her to the soft-hearted and very kind Daisy.

Perhaps, this was Aira's first experience of feeling the kindness of someone who wasn't her own kind.

Yeah, Vir could sense that. He stared at the ceiling of the room. Well, he didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but he always had the hope and desire to settle down in one place.

And Daisy seemed to be the right choice for his heart to anchor, lean on, and stop all his madness.

The question was, would Daisy really accept his feelings for her?

Never mind, better to sleep, and rest for now, he thought. And Vir closed his eyes.

***

In the Central Empire, the Central Lands were so grand and imposing, surpassing the splendor of the palaces of the other four kingdoms in the four lands—North, East, South, and West.

Magnius strode down a grand and spacious corridor, alone. At some point in the distance, a single imperial soldier stood at attention with a spear in hand, continuing to stand guard like that until their respective shifts.

The tall, muscular man reached a large and tall, double-leafed door. The door creaked, opening in both directions, and Magnius entered another magnificent room.

Meanwhile, two imperial soldiers stood statue-like at the left and right sides of the door.

Since they knew Magnius was the emperor's cousin, they did nothing to him.

The room looked like a master bedroom, all the ornaments were made of pure gold, and decorated with dazzling gemstones.

In the center of the large room, there was a large and luxurious bed, but the person on the bed could not be seen clearly because the bed was covered by a thin veil that was also made of gold thread embroidery.

There were two other people in the large room. One on the right side of the bed, standing quietly, close to the wall. And another on the left side.

Three steps away from the veil-covered bed, Magnius the Mighty stopped and knelt down with his face to the floor.

"Your Majesty," he said.

"Aah, my dear cousin."

That was a little strange. From the silhouette seen through the veil, the Emperor's body shape was that of a woman with long hair, however, the voice that was heard was that of a man. Even when the emperor spoke, the smooth surface of the veil wobbled slightly.

"You know," said the Emperor, "you worry me by suddenly leaving without telling me first."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Magnius said, still not daring to raise his face. "Forgive me for acting without your knowledge."

The Emperor laughed softly, again the veil twitched softly. It also sounded even stranger. His speaking and laughing style showed that he was a woman, as did his silhouette, but his voice was still the same, sounding like a male voice.