In a vast hall there was a large table, and on its sides many chairs. It was none other than the dinner feast that King Ethan had ordered prepared. On the dining table were the most delicious dishes and plates of various kinds.
King Ethan sat in the back row on his chair, his hands firmly on the table, looking with a smile at Rin and his friends, whose faces bore the marks of hunger, and their saliva was dripping from their mouths as if about to fall to the floor.
Ethan spoke, saying, "Please, have a seat; you don't need to stand in place—you must be hungry." The eagerness to eat showed clearly on their expressions; the intense desire for food cannot be ignored, as it is instinctive in human hearts. Not to mention that they had not eaten since last night, so that, too, could not be hidden.
Each one sat in his seat, while their eyes never left the sight of the feast. Only King Ethan's signal remained to begin. They all looked at him intently, swallowing their dry saliva.
As soon as Ethan began to eat his plate, the others followed suit as well, and looks of satisfaction became clear on their faces. The king watched them with a bright, smiling face, murmuring softly, "It must have been difficult for them, after all they are still growing."
When everyone finished eating, Ethan gave the order to clean up the mess. Rin and his friends asked permission to go to their rooms—except Oran, whom Ethan ordered to stay so they could talk about what had happened on their journey and their investigation in all its details. It was true that Rin had told him most of what had happened, but he had said nothing regarding the investigation of that demonic portal.
After the group departed, Ethan and Oran remained facing each other, each seated at the edge of the table. Ethan spoke first: "So, how did the investigation go? Was it smooth, or did something bad obstruct the entire process?"
Oran answered, "We reached the place where we would likely find some evidence, but it had been destroyed by the dragon before we even began to enter. Therefore, we will suspend the investigation for now."
Ethan sighed, then said, "If things went with you as I expected, in any case I am truly glad you managed to return. Without you, Arian might have turned into a pile of rubble and stones."
While Oran and Ethan engaged in their light conversation, Rin and his friends had settled in their rooms—this time in only two rooms, the girls alone and the boys alone. Everyone lay down on their beds, their exhaustion evident from the way they had jumped onto them. Oran's bed alone remained empty, awaiting his arrival.
Not much time passed before Oran opened the door. No one asked him about his conversation with Ethan or anything like that. He headed straight to his bed and fell into a deep sleep. Rin, Leon, and Erinor stayed looking at the ceiling, hoping to fall asleep as well—and they did: Leon and Erinor fell asleep while Rin remained awake, sweating and showing signs of suffocation.
After he looked around and saw everyone plunged in sleep, he went out to the balcony to breathe some fresh air. The breeze brought a comforting warmth and a sense of tranquility. The atmosphere was calm and beautiful, even though the sky was blood-red and the crimson moon cast its demonic halo—yet everyone in the world had grown accustomed to the phenomenon as if it had existed since time immemorial.
As usual, Rin continued to gaze at the crimson moon in quiet and serenity, as though the world were wrapped in deep silence. This exact feeling is what Rin loves: merging with the world to become one with it—like rivers, mountains, and trees. That feeling certainly brings an inner peace to the self and the soul. Rin immersed himself in his world, basking in that feeling of blissful peace after hardship, and kept smiling until he looked around and noticed the balcony in the neighboring room, where a girl stood lost in thought, her hand on her cheek as the breeze played with her shiny purple hair back and forth. It was none other than Selene, who was staring at Rin, engrossed in his feeling of self-peace and her own reassurance.
When Rin saw Selene, he jumped, surprised and embarrassed:
Rin: "Have you been here the whole time?"
Selene: "Yes, I saw you since you went out to the balcony."
Rin: "Then I never noticed you; I was just relaxing with myself. But why are you here? It's late—didn't you feel sleepy?"
Selene: "No, I felt suffocated, so I went out to catch some fresh air. Are you the same—couldn't you sleep?"
Rin: "Yes, I too felt as if I were trapped in a cage without any fresh air."
But as soon as he said the last sentence, he leapt to the adjacent balcony, where Selene was startled—she had not expected Rin to make such a move. Rin took her two pure white hands, as if they were snow itself, and then said:
"We're alone now—what do you think about taking a walk in the desert, just the two of us?"
Selene was taken aback for a moment before smiling and agreeing to his suggestion: "All right, Rin."
Rin smiled back at her, then quickly lifted her in his arms and leapt away onto the sand dunes.
Selene's expression was filled with astonishment; she still could not comprehend what Rin had done. Rin kept leaping and leaping away like a bird that had finally gained its freedom in the open, refreshing air in an unheard-of sky. Selene began to get used to it, and she asked him: "Where are we going? I see you never stop jumping."
Rin replied with a smile: "In our last battle I glimpsed a lake surrounded by many coconut and palm trees everywhere. I was very eager to head toward it as quickly as possible." In the distant horizon, Rin and Selene could clearly see it. Although the sky was stained a bloody color, the lake still retained its pure blue hue. It was known as the Blue Lake; no matter how stormy the weather—storms, thunder, or any natural calamity—it preserved its blueness as if it were a clear blue sky without a hint of gray clouds.
At that moment, Rin landed on the ground, holding Selene's soft, snow-white hand, and they ran eagerly toward the Blue Lake, their joyful laughter audible to anyone nearby. But at that moment, in plain sight in the blood-red sky, there was a green aurora amid that cursed sky, forming a spectacle never before seen in history. All the primary colors came together in one night: red, blue, then green. These colors created a scene that would remain immortal in their memories forever.
Rin and Selene continued their walk normally, then Rin leapt into the lake and swam among the coconut trees, while Selene watched him with her sparkling purple eyes, her radiance making her look like a moon princess in the vast desert. The crimson moon's reflection was imprinted on the lake's surface in its original gray-white color. As I said, no phenomenon could affect the Blue Lake.
Selene lifted part of her long white gown to sit on the sand dunes, now covered with green grass between two towering palm trees, her feet immersed in the cold blue water.
After Rin swam for a long time, he joined her to sit on the green meadow, gazing at the green aurora in the blood-red sky, shining like a star into infinity. Perhaps this place is the most beautiful spot in the entire Western Desert region.
Selene rested against Rin's left shoulder comfortably and confidently, while Rin embraced her with his left hand. They appeared like two lovers madly in love.
After a long time passed and the dawn sun began to cast its reddish glow, they finally decided to return to their rooms to
wake up in the morning and begin their journey anew.