"Well, it would be a good idea. Except maybe for the massive war that I managed to dodge since I was away. For all you know if I had stayed I could be dead right now."

"You could have also been closer to me." She smiled. "You're the closest thing to a friend I've ever had, besides Erina.

"With a half and half chance of those two events happening, I would be glad that I forsook a close relationship with you in order to survive. After all, I have an acquaintance with you now... and my life."

"T'was lonesome though, being stuck in hiding to save my own skin." Miv sighed. "War is horrible."

"War is terrible. But it is necessity. If there was no war, then the world would not have chaos. Without chaos, law would dominate. If law dominated... then we would not be allowed to live."

Miv smiled. "I prefer it this way."

"This was the way that the world was meant to be. An equal balance and trade between law and chaos."

"D'Artigo, would you ever show me your face?" She asked suddenly.

D'Artigo does not reply immediately. He waits, looking at Miv. Then he shakes slightly, and then he begins softly laughing.

"Pale Rose, I don't think you understand what my face means to me. My face is a hidden treasure. I have made many enemies. But since they don't know who I am, then I am safe. My mask keeps me safe. And I don't intend on showing anyone my mask intentionally."

"So you don't trust me." Miv's face hardened again. "That's good, in a way. Trust is for fools."

"Miv, don't take it personally. The fact that I'm telling you this is me trusting you. Ever since I was turned, I've worn this mask. The only people who have seen me without it are dead right now. I killed them. Don't think of it as a trust issue. Think of it as a survival skill."

"That's a lie. Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Rand D'Artigo remembers everything like that. I didn't want to tell you this, because she means a lot to you... but sooner or later, Erina will die. She knows too much. She knows my face. She will die. Nobody can know. I'm doing this to protect you. I don't want to have to kill you. You mean too much for me to kill you."

"Huh?" Miv took a step back. "I'm not important. I'm just a tag-along."

D'Artigo snorts. "Miv you're the bloody queen of the Vampires. You're too important. Hell, I've acknowledged you as queen. That's saying something, considering I hate the system. But there's just something about you that's different... You will make a great queen."