***
The Overlord turned out to be a very calm and kind man, and despite his highest status, he did not cause any fear at all.
She had met Rohen before, but had never really looked at his appearance: youthful face with charming eyes, lush black shoulder-length hair, neatly arranged in small strands, covered half of his high forehead, and expressive dark lilac eyes sparkling with blue sparks evoked both awe and goodness at the same time.
"Luanlia, welcome to my Abode!" The pleasant timbre of his voice had a calming effect.
He, dressed in a voluminous crimson robe with thin gold ornaments, sat with solemn grandeur on a wide carved chair in the throne room and smiled friendly at his guest.
"Take a seat!"
He pointed her to a nearby sofa.
"I'm glad to meet you, I hope you enjoy my company too. I'll try not to be a bore," a soft ironic smile and a charming gaze captured her attention.
Luanlia, without looking away, stared at Rohen, and he calmly examined her, as if penetrating her soul with his eyes.
"Yes, it's the same case, usual for Xantarian princesses. Tortured heart! We need to fix it!" He voiced his strange verdict out loud.
He elegantly waved his hand and suddenly a huge image of a lush, shady forest unfolded in front of them, among the trees of which a couple of lovers hid: a winged blond teenager passionately kissed a young girl in a light dress.
Amazed by the realistic moving scene suspended in the air, Luanlia exclaimed:
"What is this? Why are we watching this?"
Rohen glanced at the princess, smiling softly.
"It was on Xantari in the very distant past, when the Syrinx race had not yet moved away from people. We can look at it from any sight."
He moved his palm and the view of the scene unfolded from a different view.
"It's you and Adivaris in previous lives," Rohen explained. "A memory extracted from the depths of your soul. As you can see, your connection is ancient, your feelings are real. Then, in peacetime, teenage syrinxes were not prohibited from dating mortal girls: kids were not born to such couples and such relationships were not considered as issues. The races did not mix with each other; this was banned for the safety of people, although some met secretly. Vamps knew that it was unhealthy for women to marry them, and lived nearby in peaceful neighborhood and friendship, but romantic relationships often arose among young people and especially beautiful girls were pursued by loving youth, just like Gedeon. Love was everywhere, but jealousy crossed all boundaries."
Luanlia's heart began to beat wildly with the realization that this really happened to her a long time ago.
The picture blurred and another forest scene appeared: the same girl meets another winged guy, and they are entwined in a passionate embrace.
"Some other life?" Luanlia became even more excited.
"No, the same one, but there's an another young man with you."
"So … what of that?" Luanlia asked in bewilderment.
"And the fact that your fans, having learned that they were not the only ones, began to arrange deadly duels because of you. Your beauty and desire to possess you drove them crazy."
She suddenly saw the following scene: winged rivals fought fiercely with the sharp sabers among chaotically whirling feathers, splashing shining pearlescent blood from deep wounds in all directions; soon one of them falls exhausted, and the other cuts off his wings and triumphantly raises his weapon up.
"Horrible!" Luanlia exclaimed, covering her face with her hands.
She began to sob loudly from the overwhelming flood of memories.
Rohen stood up and walked over to her, trying to console her.
"Free yourself from this pain, don't hold back!"
He grabbed her into his arms, stroking her head.
"He died, right?" The princess asked sobbing.
"You had a lot of lovers, and the young men have hot mettle. None of them wanted to give in, and you weren't going to choose just one. You easily fell in love with handsome boys and could not stop, seducing more and more new ones."
Rohen sat her down in a chair and continued the story, looking at her with sympathy:
"The fathers of the boys reported you to the Rulers and since then the education of young people has been taken under strict control: all teens were isolated in the guarded lyceums, and their wings were clipped; love relationships with girls became prohibited. And then an alien invasion began, and an endless war unfolded. Xantari was engulfed in a totalitarian military regime where every life counted. Then they approved the Prosperity Code, and attracted women for reproduction, so that the race would not disappear due to wars of extermination."
"If I was an ordinary mortal, how did I become a syrinx?"
"In that life, you were arrested, convicted and ordered as punishment to give birth to kids from vamps who lost their sons due to duels. You lived in turn with everyone in captivity, and the lost boys were reborn. You did not survive the third birth, but after death your soul decided to enter the family of syrinxes, because you liked them very much. The Source accepted your Essence as a Daughter, by agreement, giving you the opportunity to be born a princess."
"What kind of agreement is this?"
"Give love to everyone who adores you and give birth to offspring according to the Code of Thrive. In return, immortality and the magical gift of creation are granted. But your soul broke during your first life as a princess. After three hundred years of life, you are tired of the attention of men and continuous childbearing. The former crazy love for handsome men no longer disturbed your heart, and it cooled. Under the influence of depression, you got rid of the Adivaris crystal, and the Archons decided that you were not worthy of life."