"Ren is dead."
The words slammed into Damian's chest harder than any sword or spell ever could.
His breath hitched and the room seemed to twist, as if the air itself recoiled from the statement. For a second, everything trembled around him until his steadied himself.
"No…" Damian whispered, barely able to hear his voice over his own heartbeat. "He's not. He can't be."
Lyra reached a hand toward him but stopped midway.
Damian's eyes, clouded with confusion, once more locked onto Emilia as he stood up straight with a determined expression."He's Alive, trust me."
Emilia's expression didn't shift much as she'd already come to terms with her brother's death.
Damian took a deep breath, steadying the storm within him. "Please, tell me what happened."
Emilia's shoulders sagged under invisible weight while she sat down on the bed, her fingers clutching her arms tightly as she spoke.
"It began shortly after Ren awakened his class," she said softly. "A mage class. A normal mage class. But even at that, it was still quite an achievement for a commoner like him."
She gave a hollow chuckle. "He was so proud of it then. You should've seen his face."
Damian remained silent, listening and hanging on every word.
"He quickly joined a party soon after," Emilia continued. "They are good people. He adventured with them for over a year they fought alongside him and even treated him like family,.... I was glad you know." Her voice tightened. "But then one day… while they were out on a quest,..."
Lyra's voice was cautious. "What happened?"
"They were killed," Emilia said, turning her face away from them. "A rare spawn bad appeared... Or so I was told, it killed everyone in their party,..." She paused, as her voice trailed off, "Everyone except Ren... He was the only one to return alive."
Damian lowered his gaze. "He blamed himself?"
"I- I don't know... He didn't say anything," Emilia replied. "He just… changed. His eyes… they were empty. He didn't smile. Didn't speak much. Like he'd left something in that forest and never came back for it."
Lyra's brows knit. "It must have shaken him pretty bad huh..."
"Yeah," Emilia whispered. "I never saw him smile since that day...."
She clenched her fists. "Not long after, a new party showed up in Edelgard. I'd never seen people like them. They dressed in strange cloaks, spoke in whispers, and carried themselves like shadows."
Damian's expression hardened.
"They scouted Ren," Emilia continued. "Said they saw potential in him. And he… he joined their party."
Damian frowned. "Just like that?"
"That's what scared me," Emilia said, her voice breaking. "He didn't argue. Didn't say goodbye, he just joined as if he was already one of them alread."
Lyra stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "Who were they?"
"I don't know," Emilia said, shaking her head. "But being near them… it was like standing next to a corpse. Cold and weird. They gave off this air, like they carried the scent of death itself."
Her eyes welled up. "Ren stopped being Ren after that. He came back once — briefly. But he was distant and by now his smile had faded completely."
A heavy silence settled in the room.
"I didn't know what happened, but I knew it had something to do with this new party of his, and couldn't just lose Ren like that," she finally whispered. "So I followed them one night."
Damian tensed. "You followed them?"
"I had to," Emilia replied. "He said they were going to the Obsidian Pass night, I mean no one travels that road at night, ever..."
Her eyes flickered with fear as she continued.
"Suddenly,... They ambushed Ren, I watched them from the shadows, too scared to even lift so much as a finger... He fought like hell, like he was desperate to prove himself. And then…"
"One of them drove a blade right through his back. I didn't even scream... I couldn't, I just stood there petrified."
Lyra's hands clutched her skirt as she picture ld the scene.
"He fell down the chasm, while I just... I just stood there!..." She exclaimed as she buried her face in her palms and burst into tears.
For a while, only her voice occupied the room, at least until Damian finally spoke up with his signature grin.
"I see, thats great news..."
"You can't be serious young master."
"I a
m, from what I just heard, then I'm 100 percent sure he's alive, count on it."