Flashback

The streets were buzzing. But it wasn't the usual happy bustling, it rather sounded like...contempt.

"Traitors. Kill the traitors."

"How could they do that?"

"Exactly brother, being women especially."

"Yes, exactly. Aren't women motherly in nature?"

"Aren't they supposed to be more kind as they're blessed by mother nature?"

"Yes, they should honour their powers and be kind."

"You're right, brother. The Lord did the right thing by making rules."

A woman came shouting from inside a traven, "what rules? It's just a bunch of prohibitions just for women. What a biased rule…"

Slap!

"Shut up. Go to the house quickly. You aren't stepping a foot out of the house from this day onwards."

The woman was too dumbfounded to speak.

The men speaking earlier walked to the man as he stood still.

"You did the right thing, brother. They should be educated like this beforehand. So that things are in order and we're not helping this type of mishap ever again."

"How dare those women! Kill those traitor women. Kill those with the Power of Nature."

"People with Power of Nature should never step foot into here again and we shouldn't let them go out of here unscratched after what they did."

The man who was the first to mention this looked up at the second balcony of the tea house. Someone nodded their head from inside.

A man pretended to walk pass him as he handed him a heavy pouch.

The man jumped in joy as he joined the crowd shouting.

___________

Inside the room a man was sitting in the middle. He was dressed in a shirt inside a dark Kimono, hat and black shoe. Anyone could say he was rich.

"Lord, shall we proceed as it is getting too loud outside?"

He took the tea from the woman who was bowing in front of her and smirked at the man who just spoke.

"It's the noise of victory. Let's hear for a while."

____________

It was quite dark which made it hard to distinguish between day and night. The only source of light was the dimly glowing mana stone on the wall.

"Sol, let's just run away? Okay? Let's just go back home? Okay?"

The listless woman behind the bar reached for the woman in front of it. She cupped her cheeks with her bony hand and smiled.

"Dal, you're here for real?"

"Yes, I am. I'm here to bring you back. So let's g-"

"My dear, we cannot bring disgrace back home. Can we?"

"But...…"

The hand went to close her mouth.

"Can you take her to Jangmi?"

She retracted her hand which was shining in the middle now. A lily bloomed out of her hand and as it spread its petals, a pearl came into vision.

Dal's eyes went wide. Pain evident in her eyes. Tears started brimming out of her phoenix eyes.

"No, no. No please no. No, Sol. Please, I beg you. Sol, I'd rather die. Please."

Her voice had so much pain that the dungeon walls would cry if they had tears to spare.

Sol pulled Dal's right hand and transferred the lily into her hand. She pressed the hand tightly.

Sol smiled and you could tell that she did that with effort. Sweat dripped from her forehead in that icy cold dungeon.

Dal pressed their hands on her forehead. The excruciating pain came out as cries from her mouth.

"How could you do this to me?"

Those were the cries of a helpless woman whose world was ending.

Sol just smiled and said,"You said that I could decide her name on my own, right? I've decided."

Dal looked at her with eyes full of pain, love, admiration, longing, betrayal, possibly all emotions you could feel for the one you love. But all other emotions weigh less than love.

"N...ari. Our…..Nari."

As the two of four hands grew colder and looser, the other two's grip became tighter.

But all in, vain.