Chapter 103: Curious Abyss
As dawn broke, Princess Givia, who had spent the entire night tormented by nightmares, emerged from her tent to find Leona and Flora, along with the young man accompanying them, questioning the soldiers about their sleep.
The boy was awake? This was the first time Givia had seen Abyss conscious. He was slender, his movements lacking vigor, a faint smile perpetually playing on his lips. His pale complexion suggested he was indeed unwell.
She approached them, overhearing Abyss’s conversation with a soldier.
“…Are you sure you slept soundly? You didn’t dream about anything strange or unusual?”
“What’s with all these questions so early in the morning? I told you, I didn’t dream. I closed my eyes, and then it was morning. What more do you want?”
“It seems you have no memory of your dreams.”
“If I had dreamed about something strange, I wouldn’t forget it so completely. Don’t you even have basic common sense? Just because you’re Miss Flora’s brother doesn’t mean I’ll humor your nonsense. I have important duties to attend to.”
Abyss was speaking Ossi, allowing the soldier to converse with him easily. His pronunciation was flawless, lacking any accent, piquing Givia’s curiosity.
The boy was short, even for his age, with a face that resembled the Southern people, the predominant race in the Eastern Empire. His hair suggested some elven ancestry. He clearly had no Ossi blood. Yet, his Ossi was fluent, as if he were a native speaker.
“Hello, you must be Leona and Flora’s brother. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Is your head feeling better now?”
Givia approached them with a smile. She had grown accustomed to the nightmares and could still muster a cheerful facade, even after a night of torment. It wasn’t about vanity, but about maintaining morale as a leader.
Abyss turned to face her, confused by her question about his head.
Leona, beside him, whistled awkwardly, though no sound came out.
“Greetings, Your Highness Givia. Abyss Belator, at your service,” Abyss said, bowing to her, also speaking Ossi.
“Mr. Abyss, you’ve been asleep for a long time. You must be famished. Please don’t mind our simple soldier’s fare. We only brought essential rations for this journey. I eat the same food as my soldiers,” Givia said. “We’ll continue our journey after breakfast.”
“Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness,” Abyss said politely, then added, “Your Highness, I’ve heard from my ‘sisters’ about your nightmares. Could we discuss it over breakfast? I’m quite curious. My apologies if I overstep any boundaries.”
Givia raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected this boy to inquire about her nightmares the moment he woke up. But considering Leona’s ability to effortlessly defeat the powerful mage sent by their enemy and Flora’s impressive healing magic (she, too, had been affected by Flora’s Divine Arts, mistaking them for magic), Abyss’s curiosity about her nightmares didn’t seem so strange.
Perhaps this boy was more than he appeared. Judging by his eloquence, his flawless Ossi, and his thirst for knowledge, he might be a scholar, his youthful appearance attributed to elven ancestry and their longer lifespans. The powerful Dou Warrior and the skilled healer were likely his friends or companions.
Givia constructed a mental image of Abyss’s background but quickly stopped herself. As a leader, she couldn’t rely solely on intuition.
“Of course, but my nightmares are probably quite boring… Even I don’t find them interesting enough to talk about…” she said, agreeing readily. It wasn’t a secret she couldn’t share.
…
“Your Highness, we know about your nightmares. I’m just curious about some of the details,” Abyss said, munching on a piece of water-soaked bread, as he sat across from Givia. He didn’t mention that the details he craved were the ones he hadn’t witnessed during his third-person observation the previous night.
“Details? There aren’t many. My nightmares plague me every night, always the same writhing monster chasing me. But strangely, it doesn’t roar. It screams like a woman. The sound terrifies me, but I don’t know why.”
Abyss immediately recalled the scream he had heard in the dream. It was indeed a woman’s scream. If he closed his eyes and ignored the monster’s appearance, he might have mistaken it for a young woman crying out in agony.
“That’s definitely unsettling,” Leona said. “If there’s a sinister motive behind this monster, it’s using that dissonance to induce fear.”
Abyss stroked his chin thoughtfully. Leona had a point. A giant monster roaring wasn’t unusual, but a giant monster screaming like a woman in pain would trigger an instinctive fear of the unnatural and evoke empathy, making it truly chilling.
“Perhaps this Lord of Nightmares feeds on fear?” Abyss muttered to himself.
“You mean the Outer God?” Givia asked, realization dawning on her. “You’re researching Outer Gods!”
“Yes, that’s why I’m asking about your nightmares. I’m hoping to gather more information about the Lord of Nightmares.”
“Well… I can only tell you about my own nightmares. I don’t know much about Outer Gods. I only learned about them recently. That’s why I’m going to the Eastern Empire, to seek help, to see if I can break free from these nightmares and regain my focus to lead the army.”
Abyss had heard this from Leona and Flora, but something clicked in his mind. “Right, I almost forgot something important. Your Highness, whose help are you seeking in the Eastern Empire?”
Givia hesitated for a moment, then replied, “Lannis Consten. She’s a notorious alchemist in the Eastern Empire, also a known criminal who’s been arrested multiple times but always manages to buy her freedom.”
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