A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

A complicated look appeared on Erik's face, and that was enough for Astrid to infer the answer, causing the rage in her eyes to skyrocket.

She jumped up and started swearing in a loud voice, "Damn that rotten little turd fucker and his traitorous cronies!" From this point, she went on a colorful tirade that would have made a sailor blush, or in this case, Emma. All while walking around and punching her fist into her open palm.

Clearly, she was just about ready to tear some heads off.

Meanwhile, Erik simply leaned back on the sofa and watched her with a small smile on his face, despite the situation. He couldn't help it. Dealing with complex emotions through violence and cursing may not be particularly healthy, but Erik thought it gave her a unique charm.

In an anime, she would be the kind of character who punched their love interest through a wall out of embarrassment.

Something that Erik had, in fact, more or less experienced earlier.

While that kind of person would not do well in modern society, this was not modern society anymore.

Besides, Astrid was not an inherently bad person, she just needed a partner who could take her punches. 'Someone like me,' Erik thought with a greedy grin.

Had Astrid heard that thought, she would have done a spit-take. Not because she wanted to be with him, but because the old Erik would never have thought something like that.

After finally working out her emotions, Astrid dropped herself back down on the sofa, sighing, with her hand on her forehead. "Whatever, I'll get that bastard later." She mumbled.

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Thinking it was finally time to speak up again. "So… you and this Sigurd?" he asked with an amused grin.

Hearing his question, Astrid raised her eyebrows, before shaking her head with a small smile. "You really have changed a lot, huh? The old you would have been more concerned with my well-being, and probably try to calm me down. Awkwardly. And all the while, you'd be looking at the doors, trying to find the quickest exit."

To which Erik shrugged. "I know you are physically fine. No one forced themselves on you either, and I haven't noticed any mental instabilities. I mean, if you broke down crying, I certainly would have tried to comfort you."

Erik's demeanor suddenly shifted noticeably, the lightness in his eyes giving way to a steely resolve, while his amused grin turned into a bloodthirsty smile. "But how about instead," he began, his voice taking on a deeper, more serious tone, "I promise a slow and painful death for Sigurd? Whatever he did to make you this angry, he'll pay for it with his life."

Hearing his words, Emma, standing behind Erik, looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of such violence, but quickly steeled her gaze again. She knew she had to get comfortable with these things in this new world.

She also had to admit to liking the feeling of having someone like Erik as a protector, even if she preferred that it wasn't necessary at all.

Astrid paused and blinked a few times as she processed Erik's words. Her surprise quickly morphed into amusement, and a laugh bubbled up from her throat. "Hahaha, oh wow. To think the day would come when I'd hear you talk like that," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Erik chuckled, having lost his earlier seriousness, before smiling confidently, "So which version do you prefer, new or old?"

Now matching Erik's previously bloodthirsty smile, Astrid answered, "Definitely new. Just promise to let me have the final blow."

A spark of mischief appeared in Erik's eyes, "Really? So, since you had a crush on the old me, that must mean that…" he said, trailing off at the end as a smile matching the spark in his eyes appeared.

Immediately, Astrid's face became red as a beet and her eyes began to flutter around the room. "I- I told you I'm not ready to talk about that yet." Seeing Astrid clench her fists, Erik chuckled and quickly changed the topic, before this room would have a hole in the wall, too.

"Alright, alright," he began, before his lips turned up into a caring smile, "So tell me what happened to you in the past seven years. Tell me everything, including why we're going to kill Sigurd. I assume we're talking about the current leader of the Dominion, Sigurd?"

All awkward feelings wiped out, Astrid's face once again flashed with anger. "Yeah… He used to be my mother's second in command until he broke into the third rank and proved himself a gutless snake."

Erik raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Your mother used to lead the Dominion?" He and Elora quickly exchanged a few words, as they immediately realized that Astrid's mother, Liv Frost, must be one of the people who had an unknown advantage over others.

Astrid nodded and sighed. "Let me start from the beginning."

So, she told Erik about how her mother founded the dominion by using her superior strength and advancement along the Runebound path in order to beat down her opponents and suppress the opposition.

She talked about how she learned about Erik's fate, her reaction to that, and her mother's immense support.

At some point during this tale, Erik had stood up to sit down next to Astrid and put his arm around her for comfort, something she gladly leaned into without interrupting her story.

Meanwhile, Emma looked at it all with a warm smile, while occasionally refilling the tea.

Eventually, she arrived at a few months ago.

"That is when Sigurd broke into the third rank and challenged my mother for leadership." She continued with resentment clear in her voice, "Which would have been one thing! But instead of fighting her properly, he ambushed her and locked her away using his damn sigils!"

By the end of her words, she was seething with anger, causing Erik to kiss her forehead, which, surprisingly, calmed her down pretty quickly.

When Astrid began to relax a little, he asked, "You say he locked her away… Does that mean she is still alive?"