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Elora, who had naturally been listening to everything, quickly sounded in Erik\'s head. "I doubt he killed her even if he could."

Raising an eyebrow, Erik questioned via their link, "Why is that?"

Elora\'s answer came accompanied by a mental shrug. "Think about it. Although we can\'t be absolutely certain, there is nothing to suggest a third-rank vampire wouldn\'t turn into a ghoul just as much as a second-rank would. I\'d guess it takes a little longer, but it would happen eventually."

Erik quickly caught onto what Elora was suggesting, causing him to mumble out loud, "And who would say no to an absolutely loyal, third-rank soldier?"

"W- What?" he suddenly heard a small voice next to him ask.

Erik turned toward Astrid with a smile. "It\'s good news. Sort of. Sigurd will likely try to turn your mother into one of his ghoul soldiers." Seeing Astrid\'s eyes narrow in anger and disgust, he quickly continued, "Which also means that he\'s unlikely to kill her."

Astrid\'s eyes widened with realization. "That… that\'s right," she mumbled, as her body suddenly flooded with a feeling of relief, causing her to sag against Erik.

Then, she suddenly sat up straight again and looked into Erik\'s eyes with a fiery intensity as she grabbed his shirt with both hands. "That means we can save her! I mean you… you can remove Sigurd\'s control and lock her memories or whatever you said, just like you did for me, right?!"

But before Erik could answer she suddenly lost much of her momentum and gained a pleading look in her eyes. "I mean… you\'ll help me, right…?"

Astrid remembered she hadn\'t seen Erik in seven years, and he had changed a lot. She wasn\'t even really certain he meant what he said about taking revenge on Sigurd. \'Besides… it\'s not like we were ever really that close back then…\' she thought.

Seeing the way, she looked at him caused Erik to roll his eyes as he bonked her head, "Didn\'t I already commit to taking Sigurd down? Of course, we\'ll save your mother while we\'re at it. Besides, I promised to make up for my past behavior, right?"

Naturally, Erik had discussed this with Elora, but neither of them saw an issue with this. Sure, Sigurd was a third-rank, but he\'d only been so for a few months now, and they had plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Worst comes to worst, they could always wait until Erik became a third-rank, since that wasn\'t even that far off anymore.

Erik may not have had any head start, and he may have had to advance two systems at the same time, but back on Söl, Elora had fed him plenty of resources to make up for that And now, here on Earth, the planet\'s development phase was speeding him along quite nicely.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Astrid, who was still grasping his shirt and sitting straight. She had begun to squirm a little as her eyes shifted left and right. She was uncomfortable. "Yeah, but… I thought… I mean, I guess I just thought you felt guilty… or something."

Seeing her expression, Erik decided it was time to make things clear. His gaze became serious and possessive, yet also deeply caring and protective, while his brows furrowed. He grabbed her chin and locked his eyes on hers. "Don\'t doubt your importance to me, Astrid. Yes, I feel guilty for ignoring you in the past, but that is not the reason I want to help you."

Astrid looked at his piercing amber gaze with trembling eyes as he continued, "You are loyal, passionate, and strong. Both in body and mind. I was a fool for not seeing it in the past, but I see it now. You had feelings for me back then, and until you explicitly tell me those feelings are gone, I will consider you mine."

His gaze gained an extra layer of possessiveness as he repeated his point, "You. Are. Mine. Until you tell me you do not wish to be. And so long as you are, I will do everything in my power to make you happy and avenge any slight against you. You are the girl I should have fallen in love with back then, not Edda, and I want to rectify that mistake."

They kept looking into each other\'s eyes for a moment longer, Erik with confidence, care, protectiveness, and an abyss of possessiveness, Astrid with confusion and a desire to punch something to vent her feelings.

Astrid felt herself get lost in Erik\'s deep amber puddles, wrapping her in its embrace, perhaps promising, or perhaps warning, to never let her go again.

"I—" Astrid began but was immediately interrupted by Erik. His gaze softened, the abyss disappeared, he released her chin, and his lips formed into a sad smile. "But if that\'s not what you wish, I\'ll still help you. Only then, it will be out of guilt and in the name of our past alone, and when we\'re done, we\'ll likely never see each other again."

He didn\'t like that option, but he had to present it, at least. He couldn\'t, or rather wouldn\'t, force Astrid to remain with him.

Astrid\'s eyes and body trembled, "W- Why not?" she mumbled.

"Because my life is very complicated right now," Erik answered, with furrowed brows, his gaze filled with complicated feelings. "After I\'m done in these lands, I\'ll leave to pursue Edda and my mother. As for after that, I\'m not sure yet. But chances are I won\'t return here without good reason."

At this point, Astrid still held Erik\'s shirt, but her shoulder had sagged a little and she looked uncertain. "I see…" she mumbled and looked down for a moment.

Then, looking back up, her gaze had regained its fire and steel. "I\'ll need some time," she said. "I\'ve considered you dead for seven years, and you\'ve changed a lot. Many of those changes I may consider positive, but it\'s not the you I..." suddenly, her gaze wavered again, as she looked a little awkward.

Clearly, she was still not entirely ready to suddenly talk about her past feelings so openly.

Luckily, Erik wouldn\'t let her suffer, so he chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Of course. I can\'t say you\'ll have all the time you need because at some point I\'ll leave these lands, but whatever the case, I won\'t leave before your mother is freed, and Sigurd is put down like a dog."

For some reason, she felt certain he would be able to deliver on his promises. She didn\'t know why, and it didn\'t really make sense either. Especially since they were both second-rank and Sigurd was third-rank. But she didn\'t care. She took comfort in that certainty and simply decided not to think too hard about it.

She nodded and released his shirt, before sagging back into the sofa with a sigh and a smile. "Thank you, Erik. It\'s… it\'s really amazing to see you again."

Smiling at her, Erik answered, "You, too, Astrid." Then he lifted an eyebrow. "So how did you escape, anyway? Sigurd locked your mother away, but surely, he didn\'t just leave you alone?"