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April 23, 2026 at 9:00 AM
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The cool touch felt like a true blessing in the heat of his agony. With great effort, Dhaos opened his eyes to see the girl, recently his enemy, now wiping his feverishly sweaty body with a damp cloth. All external physical injuries had been healed, but replenishing the energy in a body ravaged by powerful magic, restoring mana, was a far more difficult task.
Dhaos couldn't even guess how long he'd been unconscious. Nor could he understand why he'd even woken up, for his opponents were determined to finish him off once and for all. And they'd snatched that opportunity away. With great difficulty, only to squander it later.
"Don't think about anything for now," Mint said softly, as if sensing the question in Dhaos's gaze, smiling sympathetically. "You need to get a good rest to regain your strength."
If Dhaos's gaze hadn't been so weak, Mint would have recounted the details of the events after the battle, but it was obvious Dhaos's consciousness wasn't ready to absorb them. As if confirming the girl's thoughts, Dhaos fell back into a deep sleep.
The fever gradually receded. Still weak, Dhaos opened his eyes with greater confidence. The girl who cared for him had always been kind to him, as if they had never fought to the death.
"Why am I still alive?" he found the strength to ask.
'Why do you care about me?' he lacked the courage to ask.
"Martel told us everything," Mint said quietly, looking away. "If we had known sooner…"
"You wouldn't have been able to prevent anything anyway," Dhaos turned away. The phrase escaped his lips like a rebellious bird, a symbol of his despicable weakness.
"That's not true," Mint retorted confidently. "We would have come up with something to stop the war and help you. We already succeeded in changing the past by restoring the Mana Tree; don't say that we couldn't have influenced history more. In our present, you were already unfairly branded as truly evil, but in the past, we could have corrected that, so as not to bring about such a future."
Mint wanted to cry, but she resolutely looked Dhaos in the eyes, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her. However, her trembling lips and fingers betrayed her anxiety.
"Why do you want to save me so much?"
"Because it's wrong," Mint said with difficulty. "Everything that happened to you is so wrong," she said, unable to control her emotions, covering her face with her hands so Dhaos wouldn't see her treacherous tears.
'There's no point in shedding tears for someone whose soul is already lost,' Dhaos refrained from saying it out loud, lest he cause the girl even more grief.
"If your compassion were common to all people, perhaps things really could have turned out differently."
That day, Dhaos no longer pestered Mint with questions, giving her time to calm down: he had no need to rush anyway. A hundred and fifty years without mana, his world had long since perished.
After silently washing his body, giving him something to drink and eat, Mint left, leaving Dhaos alone with his gloomy thoughts.
* * *
A light breeze caressed his handsome face with coolness—it was time to wake up. The peace was broken only by the rustling leaves and the chirping of birds outside the window, which is why Dhaos didn't immediately notice the girl dozing by his bed. Mint was dozing peacefully, her head resting on the bed, her arms propped up for comfort. Dhaos couldn't see her face. In the generally peaceful atmosphere, Mint looked especially attractive, and the rays of sunlight sneaking through the curtains made the white fabric of Mint's dress even cleaner and brighter. Her light hair shimmered with gold. Dhaos involuntarily reached out and gently stroked her head. A knock on the door forced him to pull his hand back. "Mint, I brought you some fo…" Cless didn't finish, seeing his awake enemy and his sleeping friend, for whom he was carrying a tray of hot food. He had entered sideways, pushing the door with his shoulder, and managed to utter part of his sentence. He looked at him warily, wondering what to do next. Finally, he placed the tray in front of Dhaos. "Can you eat yourself yet?" the question sounded with open hostility. Cless tried to protect his emotions with a cloud of negativity. "Didn't you bring this for her?" Dhaos looked at the peacefully sleeping Mint. "I'll make her some more later. Sleep is more valuable: she's barely slept lately." Dhaos slowly reached for the spoon, his body refusing to move otherwise. Cless stood to the side, tormented by internal conflict. He needed to say something, somehow express his thoughts, so as not to bottle them up, but the incoherent tangle only grew more tangled. "You have every reason to hate me," Dhaos began emotionlessly before starting to eat. "Mint doesn't think so." "That doesn't mean you don't have a right to your own opinion. Just as I have mine. I showed weakness, betrayed my principles, and that hurt many people. By giving in to despair, I brought it down on others, regardless of their involvement in the problem." "I don't think I was right either," Cless didn't dare look him in the eye. "Arche tried to bring it to our attention in the past, but I was so blinded by hatred that I dared raise my voice at her," he said with hostility. But this feeling wasn't directed at Dhaos. "I don't know who I'm angrier at: you," he paused for a moment, "or myself. We're all guilty in our own way." Cless couldn't shake the thought that if he'd listened to Arche back then, had turned the past around, he could have saved his parents. No one was to blame. And yet, everyone was to blame: some had stumbled, some had failed to stand their ground, some had given in to their emotions, some had succumbed to greed against their better judgment. Despite the pleasant sunlight outside and the joyful chirping of birds, the room was about to plunge into darkness, engulfed in the silent regrets and self-flagellation of the two men. Mint saved the situation by stirring, slowly awakening. She yawned softly, covered her mouth with her hand, and rubbed her eyes before meeting Cless' gaze. "Sorry, I woke you," he said worriedly. "No, no," the girl smiled tenderly, "everything's fine." "You should go get some proper sleep." "But I..." she tried to protest, but Dhaos interrupted her. "I'm feeling better already," he pointed out that he was able to sit up and eat independently. "You don't need to be around me day and night." "Yes, I suppose so," she agreed. Mint had spent so much time with him that she couldn't imagine life any other way. She'd forgotten that he, too, might need some space, the chance to be alone. For some reason, she felt sad. She'd been thinking a lot about him lately, about his story, the one Martel had told her. A deep sadness gave birth to a special feeling within her. At first, she thought it was sympathy. But underneath it lay something else, mixed with respect. And the fact that she was no longer so needed, no longer so close, hurt her, evoking feelings of helplessness and loneliness. After all, knowing that Dhaos was much better meant that he would soon leave this world. However, Mint smiled nonetheless, covering Dhaos' hand with her own. "I will always be here to support you." Her kindness made his heart ache. After all he'd done, after so many souls ruined, Dhaos believed he had no right to her. After all, he was more to blame than anyone else, having once failed to intervene in a war, allowing the bloodshed to culminate in a mortal wound for the entire world. Mint's smile was too bright, like the girl herself. Her image seemed too ethereal and inspired. An angel—that's what she was.* * *
Mint visited him daily, talking about a wide variety of things: from the wonderful weather to her dreams. Gradually, she got to know Dhaos better, gleaning information bit by bit, gauging his reaction to this or that statement. Her heart rejoiced when she saw a rare smile on the handsome face of the prince from a distant land. Mint literally glowed at the sight of it—magical times. One day, she came to his room, but found only a made bed. Fear nearly stopped her heart—it sank painfully at the thought that she would never see him again. She ran out of the house, anxiously heading for the Great Tree: Martel was the only one who could say for sure whether Dhaos had left the planet. What a relief Mint felt when she found Dhaos there. As soon as she saw him, she threw herself into his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't go! Please, don't go! Stay here: nothing awaits you there but loneliness!" "I must see this through. I must make sure the seed grows." "You've already done everything!" she clutched his clothes in panic, raising her head to look him in the eye. "You can't control anything else. Life will begin without you. If something goes wrong with the seed," she turned to Martel, "you can understand that, right?" The Tree Spirit nodded. Mint reached out with her hands, weak with fear, to Dhaos's face, touching it carefully, looking with hope. "Please." Dhaos covered her hands with his own, closing his eyes, absorbing the kindness and warmth of her gentle body. He hesitated. He had to be punished for the suffering he had caused. At the same time, he didn't want Mint to suffer because of him. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted to be happy with her. "There's nothing you can do there anymore," Mint said, as if sensing his torment. "If you want to atone, stay here. I'll help. I'll walk the whole way, holding your hand." The innocence of her gaze and radiant kindness captivated him, making his heart flutter. Mint was beautiful both inside and out: both mind and heart were drawn to her. It was too hard to refuse her. And so he didn't. Allowing a fleeting impulse to take over, he leaned in for a kiss, but came to his senses in time, turning his intention into a hug. Not now: he wasn't ready to accept his feelings without first releasing his guilt. All he could do was protect her until his last breath. Be there, not allowing hard times to taint her purity. Mint hugged him back tightly, ready to wait for eternity. She smiled softly, dreaming of melting the thick ice that had cracked with her embrace. And if hugs alone weren't enough, one day she herself would give him a kiss that would heal his very soul. She would always be there, protecting him from adversity and heartache. ㅤ
