Chapter Thirty-Nine

As night colors the Northern Pass, Royo and Aeri kiss with urgent desire. Aeri climbs onto Royo’s lap, and their mutual attraction escalates. When Royo’s hand brushes a necklace beneath Aeri’s shirt, she recoils, abruptly ending the moment.

Stunned and embarrassed, Royo apologizes, but both stumble over explanations. Interpreting Aeri’s withdrawal as rejection or a sign she has someone else, Royo retreats to busywork, burying food scraps in the snow while trying to bury his feelings.

Alone, Royo admits the desire felt mutual until the necklace interruption, fixating on the simple yellow-gem pendant he noticed earlier. He torments himself with the possibility that Aeri’s heart belongs elsewhere, then forces himself to refocus on the larger stakes.

Royo resolves to treat the encounter as a distraction. He recommits to their objective—killing the god king through acquiring either an amarth egg or Staraheli’s head—even as he dreads sharing close quarters with Aeri in the coming nights. He briefly regrets not joining Mikail for the corpse theft, revealing his conflict between mission needs and personal feelings.