"What do we do now?" Samahita was the first to recover and ask.

They hadn’t just met Sseraphis. They got silenced by him and watched him leave without finding a solution to the problem they were tasked to fix.

Returning to the capital empty-handed and telling the Emperor that they were too ashamed to hold Sseraphis accountable for all the damage the snake had done was out of question.

It was declaring boldly that they had failed without giving it their best.

No one answered. All beasts sat dejectedly and lowered their heads in contemplation.

"I’ll be right back," Tivnir said and quickly ran out. He crossed his fingers and hoped Aeltharion and Sseraphis hadn’t gone far.

Fortunately for him, the two were walking lazily as they marched out of the inn. There was no hurry in the way they carried themselves.

"Sovereign Aeltharion, Lord Sseraphis, a minute," he requested.

"What now?" Sseraphis asked in irritation. "Haven’t you heard enough. Do you wish for me to give you more reasons why I’d rather watch this world burn than save it? Because I can think of a thousand reasons off the top of my head."

"N...no, that’s not why I’m here?"

"Then, why?"

"I had a question for you. I’m hoping you’ll enlighten me," he bowed politely. Hoping his polite attitude can make a good impression on Sseraphis and Aeltharion so that they help him.

Sseraphis raised a brow. He exchanged glasses with Aeltharion, and the dragon too was stunned by the courtesy.

He lifted his hand and helped Tivnir stand straight. "You don’t need to do that. Just speak your mind," Aeltharion said.

Tivnir breath in deeply. He gathered the courage to inquire about what troubled his heart.

"I was wondering, would either of you be aware of how to fix a veiled butterfly’s broken wing?"

Sseraphis blinked. One, two, three... he blinked repeatedly. The inquiry was far from what he expected to come out of a war-tiger’s mouth.

He wasn’t the only one stunned, Aeltharion, Jura, Ssirel, and Fior were instantly shook by the question.

"A veiled butterfly’s core lies in their wings. If it breaks..." Ssirel, as evil as painted himself, shivered as he imagined such a scenario.

"It’s similar to being stripped of their soul," Fior finished his sentence for him. "They not only lose the ability to manifest their powers, their beast form, but they also...lose their connection to their other veiled butterflies."

"Truly horrible," Jura commented. He set his bag of snacks down and lowered his head in sympathy as though mourning for the veiled butterfly in question.

"All of that aside," Sseraphis spoke up. "Why do you want to know this. Last I checked, veiled butterflies hail from fox territory. What business does a war-tiger have asking about this?"

Tivnir swallowed. His pulse hastened. The memory of Yiwa’s broken wing that he caught a glimpse of in the illusion haunted him still. He couldn’t just sit on his hands and had to find a way to help him.

"I... I’m asking for a friend," he said, half-truth.

"A friend?" Sseraphis teased, bitting his lip as his eyes lit up at the obvious lie. "Would I happen to know this friend?"

Tivnir tensed. His affairs with Yiwa were a secret,a term put forth by Yiwa. He couldn’t break Yiwa’s trust by divulging their affair to Sseraphis.

However, he needed their help and was afraid that keeping it a secret would mean they won’t be willing to help.

Fortunately, Aeltharion came to his rescue. "Venom, stop teasing him," he pulled Sseraphis to his side and scolded him.

"I’m not..."

"What are the three magic words?" he looked down sternly at Sseraphis.

"I love you," Sseraphis whispered.

Aeltharion smiled. "Not those ones."

"I will behave?"

"Perfect," he massaged Sseraphis’ head as though petting a good dog.

"You’re no fun."

"I’m sure this matter isn’t fun for the war-tiger either," Aeltharion pointed out. Then, he addressed Tivnir, "the only way I know of repairing a veiled butterfly’s wing is through a soul thread bond," he answered honestly.

"A soul thread bond? What is that?"

Tivnir, for the love of him, had never heard of such a pact. He had immense knowledge of the beast world from the recorded information in the beastirium.

"It’s when a pact is made between hearts by the thread of fate," Jura answered since that was his speciality.

"How would a pact repair his broken wing?"

"His?" Sseraphis quizzed, picking up the gist from Tivnir’s slip up.

"Ssese!" Aeltharion frowned upon his nosy, childish behaviour.

"What? You can’t tell me that you’re not curious of who this mysterious veiled butterfly that has charmed the Emperor’s right-hand beast is?"

"It’s obviously Yiwa. So stop being curious." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"What?" Sseraphis, Ssirel and Fior, who hadn’t expected such a twist, were astounded.

"Ael is right. Their souls have imprints of each other on them," Jura confirmed.

"Wow, nice!" Sseraphis cheered. "I feel bad, Yiwa, that he’s hurt, but on the other hand, I’m cheering for your love. Fighting!"

Tivnir scratched the back of his neck. Feeling extremely shy at his secret being exposed so openly and Sseraphis’ wishes only worsened his condition.

"It’s not known..."

"My lips are sealed," Sseraphis quickly assured. "Theirs too," he spoke up for the others. "And if they speak a word of this, I will..." he paused, feeling murderous gazes on him from every angle.

He looked up. Aeltharion, Jura, and Fior were glaring at him, waiting to hear the latter part of Sseraphis’ threat.

Ssirel looked his brother up and down, serving hot diva energy that screamed, ’touch me and die’.

"Kidding..."

"Anyway, how exactly does the pact you mentioned help?"

Jura popped a candy in his mouth. "It will help tether him to the world when he returns to the cocoon for rebirth before re-emerging as a whole beast again."

"But how can a butterfly reenter a cocoon."

"That requires the speciality of a beast like Jura. I have yet to hear of any other beast that can perform that treatment apart from him."

"Jura?" Tivnir asked. Again, he was clueless about the beast whose name was Jura. "Where can I find this specialist?"

Sseraphis pointed at Jura. "Right here."

"Why don’t you announce that a little louder. I don’t think the rest of the world heard you!" Jura scolded him.

There was a reason he was unknown in the beastworld despite being an exceptional specialist in different beast ailments, regardless of bloodline, and that is because he loathes fame and the hypocrisy of land beasts.

Tivnir went on his knees and kowtowed three times on the ground.

"Great specialist. I beseech you. Please help me. I’ll pay whatever price you demand."

"Should we tell him?" Fior asked.

Ssirel shrugged. "It’s not my job."

"He’s blind as a bat. He can’t see you, so kneeling to him is a waste of time," Sseraphis enlightened him.

"Oh," Tivnir raised his head. He had sensed something was wrong with Jura’s creamy pools that had no pupils.

"Wait," Jura beamed with happiness. "He’s kneeling? To me?" He chuckled like a madman.

Sseraphis ignores him and continues. "And take it from me. You don’t want to offer a boundless payment to an Abyssal beast in exchange for a favour. It never ends well."

"True, Abyssal beasts are monsters when it comes to an unspecified debt owed. We can demand anything, and you’ll have no choice but to pay up," Ssirel added, his tone evil and chilling.