The ground was empty except for Lucien, Calum, and Marcus. Their skin had gone pale and lifeless. The wind across Pantheon Battlefield swept over their stiff bodies, stealing the last bit of warmth from them. They felt completely done for. A deathly silence hung heavy between the three of them. The lonely wind moaned across the battlefield like some silent, mocking laugh. With a heavy thud, Lucien's knees gave out. He collapsed onto the cold ground, burying his face in his hands. A dry, hopeless laugh rattled out of him. "Ha… hahaha…" It's all my fault. Everything started because of me… He muttered to himself, and his voice was rough, like sandpaper scraping across his throat. "So what if I keep playing the primary mate? Isn't it just pretending to be magnanimous all over again? Isn't it just smiling and saying 'I deserve it' while watching Emma be sweet to someone else? Isn't it just swallowing my own wants, keeping everything in check, always thinking about the bigger picture? Haven't I been doing that all along?" Lucien clawed at his hair, his body trembling from the weight of his regret. "I've held it in for so long, so why… why couldn't I just keep holding it in? Why did I have to scheme against Calum? Why did I have to take that tiny bit of bitterness and frustration in my heart and throw it out in the dumbest way possible? And now… now it's ruined. I didn't just lose the primary mate role. Even my place as a partner… Emma threw that away too." I seriously… deserve every bit of this. Calum sat off to the side. He was the Marshal's Empire, the man who had never lost a battle, the one who always moved like thunder and never bowed to anything. Yet right then, he just sank to the ground. He stared at his empty hands as if he could still feel the cold finality of Emma pulling away. "I felt the same thing." His voice carried this heavy guilt. "Why was I scared? If I wasn't good enough for the primary role, I could have learned." Calum drove his fist into the ground. The stone cracked and dipped under the hit. Blood smeared across the back of his hand in an instant. He didn't even twitch. He felt nothing. "Why did I keep overthinking it? Saying I wasn't the right fit. Every bit of that was an excuse. I just didn't want to lose my shot at standing out." Why didn't I just take the blame when Lucien tossed it at me? I should've owned it. If I take it and mess up, the worst Ms. Tibarn thinks is that I'm slow. At least I'm still close to her. So why am I trying to copy Lucien and shove everything onto Marcus? Why do I act like some petty troublemaker just to push Ms. Tibarn's buttons? "Now… what are we supposed to do?" Calum stared helplessly at the spot where the warship vanished. "We don't even have the right to go after them anymore." I've been begging the Beast God for five years just to get a female. And now she's just gone? Marcus lay on the floor as he had already checked out for good. Lucien and Calum kept blaming themselves, and every word felt like another cut dragging across his chest. "You two are idiots. Why would I want to be just as stupid?" His head turned toward them, stiff and robotic. "You started this mess. So you'd better figure out how to get Ms. Tibarn to forgive us. If you don't, none of us are walking out of here alive today." Without Ms. Tibarn, living doesn't mean anything to me. I might as well be dead. … On the warship, the control room had gone completely quiet. The only sound came from the soft hum of the instruments. Drake and Kieran stayed planted at their stations, smart enough not to make a single sound. Now and then, they sneaked a look at Emma in the command seat, only using the corner of their eyes. Emma rested her chin on one hand as she stared at the stars streaking past the window. The dark mood coming off her made the whole warship feel colder. Silas walked over with softer steps. The white couch dipped a little under his weight. He did not say anything right away. He just sat there, warm and quiet, like a silent cushion soaking up the anger rolling off her. After a moment, he lifted his hand and pulled out a crystal clear fruit from his storage band. A faint scent rose from it. His long, pale fingers moved neatly as he peeled the thin, delicate skin to show the juicy flesh inside. When he finished, Silas held the perfect piece of fruit up to Emma's lips. His voice came out soft, almost like a feather brushing past. "Emy, have a little something to soothe your throat. I hate seeing you wear yourself out like this." Emma did not open her mouth. She only gave him a cool glance. "You here to speak up for them?" Silas did not get discouraged when she refused the fruit. He kept his hand there, a small smile touching his lips. "You've got me wrong. Those three really crossed the line. I wanted to knock some sense into them as well. Your punishment of them made sense. I'm not here to defend them. I'm just worried you'll work yourself up." He paused, then nudged the fruit a little closer until it almost brushed her lips. "Emy, forget about them for a second. Just take a bite for me, alright?"