The metal carriage continued to move across the frigid terrain of Glaswold, only occasionally pausing to give the horses respite. The older sibling in the meantime went back to sleep again to help alleviate her sprained ankle, which improved with each passing hour.

  The cold, oppressive night passed, replaced by a dim sun, illuminating all of the frosty biome. Sunlight entered the metal box from a narrow vent, falling directly on the older sibling's closed eyes. The beam was not fierce enough to bother her, yet not gentle enough to ignore entirely.

  The sun here is so cold; can't believe I miss Sereplain's heat, the older sibling thought. But, she did not move a muscle, and continued to feign sleep.

  Meanwhile, the other inhabitants were locked in a spat.

  "You attacked a girl—my wife-to-be, Sena; that's not alright! And behind my back to boot," Teo complained.

  "Relax musclehead, I'm also a girl in case you didn'th nothice. And wife-tho-be really?" Sena replied, still suffering from her lisp.

  "Also, can't you see me?" she opened her mouth, revealing her missing teeth. "Who do you think atthacked whom, musclehead?"

  Teo looked confused for a moment, but shaking his head he rebutted, "I don't believe you Sena, you fight with Gar all the time. Who knows how they got knocked out? But good riddance, I say."

  Sena cracked her knuckles: "You wanna say thath again, Holm."

  Teo flinched back: "N—no, Sena... I was just saying, y'know."

  Reclining, Sena added, "Besides, what'd you have done, even if you were awake—take punches on her behalf, huh."

  "Yes," Teo replied plainly, not catching the sarcasm behind her comment.

  Sena, puzzled, tilted her head: "Aagh, you are thoo sthupid tho insulth."

  Livia quietly leaned closer to the older sibling, and said, "Hey, I, did you not refuse Teo's proposal clearly?"

  The older sibling's eyes were still closed, but her lips parted and whispered, "Yes, I had hinted very strongly that I had no interest."

  "You hinted," Livia giggled. "Do you know what it means for a guy like him—a positive sign. I don't mean to flatter, but you are very pretty, so you must say it outright, else he'll keep on coming. Gods, I know I had to refuse him eight times."

  The older sibling whispered, "Then he stopped?"

  "No, then you arrived," Livia retorted, making them both laugh.

  However, their quiet banter did not go unnoticed. Teo caught them laughing and exclaimed: "I! You're up."

  With her ruse ruined, the older sibling sat up and greeted everyone, "Hey, Teo; everyone, morning."

  Teo quickly approached her with both arms stretched. The older sibling saw the impending love attack coming miles away, but her weakened body and injured leg could not dodge away in time—and the collision occurred.

  Hugging her, Teo said, "I'm so glad you're alright. If Sena ever bullies you again, tell me, I'll handle her."

  "I don'th think I'm messing with thath one ever again, and whath'd you mean—handle me, musclehead?" Sena spoke from the background.

  Shoving Teo's head away, the older sibling clarified, "I think you've got the wrong idea, Teo. There's nothing between us, okay."

  "But... There can be?" Teo smiled awkwardly.

  "No. Alright, no—not now, not tomorrow not ever," the older sibling asserted.

  "Man, talk about being brutal; way to go I," Gar commented.

  Livia nodded from behind, giving her silent affirmation.

  Teo's smile faltered for a moment, before again brimming with confidence as he countered, "Ah, I get it. You are just shy, aren't you. It's totally fine, I'll wait till you are comfortable enough to confess, I." He then gave her an approving thumbs up.

  Having no means to pull Teo out of his delusion, everyone became silent. Only Gar remarked, "He's going to be waiting for a long time isn't he."

  A few hours passed in idle chatter when the metal carriage again came to a halt. The older sibling reckoned this was going to be another one of the temporary stops. But soon, the metal doors opened and standing on the other side was a skinny man with long hair.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  A deep scar ran diagonally across his face, giving him a grave look. The scarred man tossed a package wrapped in cloth: "Food. Eat it."

  Finishing his mechanical command, the scarred man turned and walked away; the older sibling noticed a long dagger on his belt.

  Livia grabbed the package and gestured everyone to follow after her as she got off the metal carriage. The children promptly followed after her. The older sibling, bewildered, looked warily at the baffling development. She could not understand why the enslaved children were allowed to roam free.

  "Come, I, I'll lend you support," Teo merrily extended a hand.

  Limping along the way, the older sibling took Teo's hand and got off the carriage: "Thanks, Teo."

  "Sure, no problem."

  Using Teo as support, she reached the other children—sitting around a pile of twigs and bushes. Taking a seat beside Livia, she asked, "Do you plan to light a bonfire?"

  "Yes, masters graciously give us food once every day. This is our daily lunch break of sorts, where we burn away contaminants from the food, also it makes food much tastier."

  Graciously and once, in the same sentence, the older sibling reflected.

  "Thasthier, my ass! Raw food thasthes far betther than cooked ones—there's no compethithion," Sena commented.

  "I think mildly-cooked food tastes the best," Gar added.

  "That counts as cooked: team cooked food 2; team raw food 1," Livia noted.

  Sena grumbled inaudibly, clenching her fist she was about to hit something when she noticed Olren scraping chunks from a raw fish and putting them on his tongue.

  Sena grinned and quickly raised Olren's hand: "Ren likes raw fish thoo, see his thongue and hand," she said, opening his palm to reveal pieces of raw fish clutched inside, and continued, "See."

  "Is that true, Olren," Livia probed.

  Olren, blinking rapidly, looked flustered, he tried to open his mouth to speak something. However, before he could, Sena placed herself between them: "Quit trying to get him to defect—you mean bully."

  Letting go of his arm, Sena stared evenly at Livia, and spoke, "2-2, Liv."

  Livia maintaining the stare, said, "Two more votes are still pending; don't get ahead of yourself, Sena."

  They both simultaneously looked at Teo, who puffed his chest and said, "I've always liked steamed food the best."

  Livia smiled: "Counts as cooked. That brings the score—"

  Sena interrupted her by putting a hand in front of her, and hastily added, "No, he's thoo sthupid tho geth a vote—thath does noth counth."

  Teo's chest deflated and smiled waned, he lowered his and stared at the ground. Livia caressed his back, comforting him: "Don't worry Teo, it's not your fault. She'd do anything to win."

  Letting out a light chuckle, Livia left Teo to his state and pointed at the older sibling: "But fret not friends for we still have one last vote remaining—I's vote."

  The older sibling had been quietly enjoying the fresh, crisp air of Glaswold, when Livia spoke. It abruptly grabbed the older sibling's attention as she looked up, and asked, "What? Why're you all staring at me like that?"

  Sena leaned to reply first, but she was stopped by Livia: "Let me explain, we don't want there to be any miscommunication, right?"

  Sena paused briefly to think, then replied, "Fair pointh. You explain, Liv."

  Livia briefly explained the situation and left the older sibling to decide, which team wins; team cooked food or team raw food.

  After a few seconds of thought—an eternity to everyone else—the older sibling gave her answer: "Apart from some fruits, I've rarely eaten raw food like fish or vegetables so, I can't say if I can relate to Sena's team. My vote goes to team cooked food."

  Suddenly members of team cooked food erupted in jubilation, while the members of team raw food—Sena only—began arguing regarding the partiality in competition. But her protests drowned within the triumphant roar of the victors.

  Soon, Gar lit the twigs, forming a modest but warm bonfire. Everyone except Sena cooked their fishes and began enjoying it in the midst of laughter and joy.

  "Hey Sena, c'mon cook your food, it's not safe eating raw fish if it has gone stale," Livia asked.

  Sena took a large bite of the fish and replied with her mouth full, "Theam raw food, forever."

  But, despite her bravado, Sena soon did slip into team cooked food as she started heating the remainder of her fish.

  The older sibling prodded Livia, "Hey, Livia."

  "Yes, I."

  "Why don't you just leave? Those masters... enslavers can't catch all of you."

  Livia, unbothered, simply shrugged: "What do you mean leave? How? Where? Look around you I, we are here because we don't have anywhere or anyone to go to. Masters are helping us reach a new home, we should be grateful to them."

  Shifting her gaze back to the bonfire, Livia casually added, "And what was that enslaver thing?"

  Suddenly, the true nature of slavery dawned on the older sibling, as she absentmindedly responded, "Oh... That.... It was nothing—forget about it."

  She realized the insidious nature of slavery—that makes a slave love the very chain that bound them. The children were here because they wanted to, just like the slaves back at Caldraveth.

  They hauled goods throughout their life under the draconian Pilgrimage tradition, but there was no force that actually enforced it. The guards in the city, the cruel punishments; these were more embellishment than actual deterrent over millions of slaves.

  Empires with vast armies could perhaps enforce an institution as deplorable as slavery, but brute force alone could not sustain it. It required the willing consent of the slaves themselves to function. Therefore, powers, like Caldraveth, create an illusion of salvation from the miseries of their own making.

  So long as the illusion holds, no one dares to speak—and when it breaks, it’s already too late. The Mother of the siblings had managed to break free of her mirage when the safety of her daughters was threatened. She was also fortunate to have a reliable friend, the Manager of the café King's Delight.

  But, what about the others? Do most of them ever break free of their mirage? And even if they do—what remains for them?

  Staring into the fire, the older sibling contemplated, Perhaps, Teo had noticed this too. But, finding himself utterly helpless, he took solace in the lie everyone told him. Wearing the mask of confidence, he fools everyone. And when his anxieties do surface, he begins to hurt himself like those scars. Teo is not stupid.

  The bonfire's warmth was shared by everyone, yet only older sibling saw the shadows it cast.