The walk back to her chambers had been uneventful enough, other than the fact that she had been stopped a couple of time by passing nobles who wanted to chat for a while.
Skillfully evading said nobles, she navigated her way back to her room, taking her sweet time walking through the maze-like hallways of the grand palace.
This place had always felt a little too alien to Asteria. No matter how much she had tried to get used to the palace after reaching the position of champion, she still found it very hard to treat this place like home. Considering the fact that every single person was always on edge because of how dire the political climate was, one couldn't even blame Asteria for feeling stuffy in this place.
To her, home would always be the small estate in the far left corner of Serenthia, no matter how little time she spent there.
The door to her chambers had finally came into view, pulling Asteria out of her thoughts back to the physical world.
She finally stopped restraining her perception, giving it a little leeway as she made sure that there was no one around to bother her. She was ready to wind down and pack up for her trip to home.
That was when she noticed something strange.
Her steps slowed down, eventually coming to a stop.
She scrunched her brows as she stared at the door to her room.
"What the hell?"
She looked at the beacon of presence shining in-front of her, slightly taken aback.
She definitely didn't remember the child having a presence.
'An infiltrator?'
But that couldn't be right, sneaking into the palace with two champions present is practically impossible. And not to mention, a death sentence. She was sure that there was no one crazy enough in this world to even give that notion a thought.
Her puzzlement only grew when the strange presence suddenly started to pulse, and then, weirdly enough shimmer back into nothing, like it had just exhausted itself.
Finally snapping out of her trance, Asteria hurriedly stepped into the room, beelining towards the direction that she had sensed the presence coming from.
She threw the door to her bathroom open, only to end up pausing.
She blinked at the figure on the ground.
Yuki was curled up on the floor, clutching her head as she peacefully slumbered.
But that was not what concerned Asteria, it was the state the poor girl was in.
Her body was still shivering like it was impossibly cold. And her cheeks were still wet from tears, the skin on her face, which she was grabbing, was starting to lightly bruise from how much pressure her fingers was applying on it.
Her breath was still shallow, and her expression was twisted into something resembling confused horror.
Asteria's breath hitched for a moment.
Taking in a deep breath, she slowly walked towards Yuki, making sure to not make any noise as to not wake up the girl.
She bent down and gently scooped her up with both hands, eliciting a small mumble from Yuki.
"H...Help..."
Asteria gave her a quiet shush, pushing away the hair on her face before stepping out of the bathroom.
***
Asteria didn't really know what to feel.
It had been a long time since she had been put in such a situation.
She gazed at Yuki, who was peacefully sleeping on the bed in-front of her.
She leaned back on her chair, doing her best to keep herself from letting out a dejected sigh.
Her mind was truly a mess.
Seeing Yuki in that state had reminded her of Sylvia, her own daughter.
She recalled that one night in Erethia all those years ago. About how she had find a lost toddler crying for help. How she had so desperately tried to find her parents, only to end up realizing that she never had any.
She gritted her teeth.
Yuki looked like she was in a somewhat similar situation. And Asteria couldn't in her heart of heart, even try to find a solution to this situation. She wasn't even sure how Yuki had ended up in that wasteland of a place, being chased by a creature that usually would ignore normal humans.
She was sure that if she reported this to the council, they would take the poor girl into custody to question her. She didn't even want to imagine what kind of torture they would put this poor girl through in the name of getting information out of her.
Asteria let out an exhale, her mind racing to find an answer as she gazed at Yuki, her tired eyes studying her appearance.
That was when something about her attire caught Asteria's eye.
It was a subtle thing, and most people probably wouldn't even have noticed it if they weren't as perceptive as Asteria, who had the vision of an integrated.
She narrowed her eyes as she leaned into take a closer look, staring at the strangely stitched pattern on Yuki's skirt.
It resembled a bangle, adorned with a single gem at the top.
She racked her mind to figure out where she had seen that mark before.
Then it hit her.
It really, hit her.
She took in a forced breath, trying her best to remain cool. Trying her best from letting her presence leak out.
The bangle with a stone, she remembered where it was from.
"A slave trader.." Her small, defeated voice rang clearly around the room, loud enough to be heard by all, but quiet enough to not startle Yuki awake.
She clenched her fist as she realized how this poor girl had ended up in the rocky wasteland.
She was bait.
She had been bait for the corrupted.
Asteria must have had a lapse in judgement at the moment, missing to notice the presence of Erethia's soldiers hunting Carnis.
Asteria was sure of it.
They were trying to use a slave as bait to lure the corrupted.
She gritted her teeth.
"I should have killed them all."
She took in a deep breath, trying to calm her raging fury.
"I should... have killed them all..." The words still slipped out.
She shook her head, still looking at Yuki, and finally made her decision.
"You're coming home with me."