Miria woke up looking like someone who had slept very poorly. Her eyes were shadowed, her hair messy. She turned… and jumped when she saw Asher lying beside her. She gently shook him.
"Asher?! What are you doing here?"
Asher sat up, still a bit sleepy, then locked eyes with her. His expression was unusually serious.
"Miria… do you really love me?"
She became flustered, caught off guard.
"How… how can you ask me that?"
"Because it doesn't show much," he answered in a calm but firm voice. "You keep hiding things from me."
"I… I'm not hiding anything from you…"
Asher shook his head.
"Miria, do you know what I hate most in the world? Being lied to. And you… you're lying to me while looking me straight in the eyes."
She said nothing. Asher continued, his voice deeper:
"Since we decided to pass through the town of Ashenford, you've been unwell. That very night, you already started having nightmares… nightmares so intense that they made your powers unstable. The noises you heard every night… they weren't misunderstandings or something else I invented for you. It was you. During your sleep, your powers made objects levitate, lamps flicker… and many other strange phenomena."
Miria brought a hand to her mouth, in shock.
"What…?!"
"And last night was the final straw. You almost killed us all by creating an extremely powerful attack sphere… while you were sleeping."
Miria started to panic.
"Sorry… sorry… I didn't mean to… I…"
Suddenly, her gaze fell on Asher's chest. A small cut the length of a middle finger, but fairly deep, was visible. She wanted to touch it, but Asher immediately hid it with his hand.
"Did… did I do that?" she asked, on the verge of tears.
"It's fine. It's not that serious."
At those words, Miria jumped to her feet and left the tent, furious with herself. Asher followed her, calling out.
"Miria!"
"It would be better if everyone stayed away from me!" she shouted without turning around.
"Because you think that would be better?"
She stopped dead and turned around, her face pale.
"What really happened in Ashenford?"
At the mention of that name, Miria went completely white. Asher approached her.
"Miria… I know all this turmoil is due to your past. To one of your previous lives. But no matter what happened… if you talk to us about it, maybe we can…"
She let out a bitter, almost broken laugh.
"Maybe we can what?! Asher, do you think it's that simple?! Fine… you want to know everything? Okay."
She looked him straight in the eyes, tears already ready to fall.
"What would you think of me if I told you that I'm a monster?"
Asher said nothing. He looked at her calmly. Behind them, hidden in their tents, the others watched the scene, holding their breath.
Miria, her eyes misty, displayed a bitter smile.
"So…? If I told you that I'm the one who destroyed the town of Ashenford? That I killed everyone? If today there's nothing left… if Ashenford is considered a ghost town… it's because of me."
She collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
"I was so naïve back then… and so stupid. My parents had told me to focus on my mission. My friends had told me not to trust him. But I was so blind that… and because of me… everyone died."
She stood up abruptly, challenging him, tears flowing freely.
"So now that you know the woman you love is a destroyer… what do you think of that?! Huh?!"
Asher remained perfectly calm, unflappable, his eyes still fixed on her. The more she saw him like that, the more confused Miria became.
"Why aren't you saying anything?!" she cried in tears. "I'm a monster, is that it?! I'm no better than Vareck, right?!"
Barely had she spoken those words when Asher slapped her.
The slap was so violent that Miria's face turned to the side. Behind the tent canvases, everyone remained stunned. Diana even fainted from the shock.
Miria, trembling, slowly turned her head toward Asher, still in shock from the slap.
Asher looked at her in a glacial, calm voice, but filled with absolute reprimand.
"I don't allow anyone… I mean anyone… to insult the woman I love. And that includes even if it's herself who does it."
Miria lowered her head, overwhelmed by shame.