Chapter 223: Among The Crowd
Summer didn’t answer immediately. The wrinkles between her brows deepened as her hand unconsciously rested on her flat stomach.
Her eyes drifted somewhere far away, as though she was searching through memories she had buried a long time ago.
She was so different from the Summer Gideon had first met.
More mature. Yet somehow, more fragile.
Without saying anything, Gideon reached across the table and gently took the hand resting there, giving it a soft squeeze.
"It’s okay if you don’t have an answer," he said quietly. "I know you’re just as shocked as Freya."
"That’s the problem, Gideon."
She let out a quiet sigh before straightening her back. Her free hand slowly rested on top of his as she searched for the right words.
"I... I don’t even know how to explain what I’m feeling."
She remained silent for a moment before continuing.
"I’m seven years older than Freya. I saw things she never did. She only remembers Dad through the eyes of a little girl."
A faint smile appeared on her lips before quickly disappearing again. "They were always much closer than he and I ever were."
She slowly shook her head. "But I remember the husband he was... and the father he tried to be."
"So I understand why Freya reacted like that."
Gideon quietly nodded. "So deep down, you already knew Leon might still be alive?"
Summer slowly shook her head. "No. After that expedition... I found my mom crying. I tried to comfort her, but instead she grabbed my shoulders so tightly it hurt."
Summer took a deep breath before imitating Delilah’s panicked voice.
"I’ve done something terrible... I shouldn’t have done that... Oh my God... what if he comes back? What am I supposed to do?"
She let out a long sigh. "Then she made me promise not to tell anyone and I kept that promise."
Silence quietly settled between them. Even Gideon didn’t know what to say.
Finally, he spoke. "That must’ve been hard."
Summer chuckled softly before shaking her head.
"No. It wasn’t. I actually felt relieved after Dad disappeared."
"At least Mom didn’t have to lower her head anymore because of him. She didn’t have to keep apologizing for things she never did or clean up another one of his messes."
She looked directly into Gideon’s eyes. "I resent my father. I loved him... but I think I love my mother even more."
She smiled bitterly. "Does that make me a terrible daughter?"
Gideon blinked. It was the first time he had seen this side of Summer.
Not the stubborn girl that trembles beneath his touch. Not the cheerful woman who laughed at almost everything.
But someone quietly carrying years of complicated feelings behind an innocent smile.
He gently smiled back at her. "No. Love and resentment aren’t opposites. Sometimes they exist together so closely that even the person feeling them can’t tell where one ends and the other begins."
His thumb gently brushed across the back of her hand. "You’re not a bad daughter, Summer."
Her eyes immediately brightened.
Without warning, she leaned forward and wrapped both arms tightly around him, and just like that, the mature woman disappeared as her usual clingy self returned.
"Where have you been all this time?!" she complained while lightly punching his back. "I’ve missed you so much! Have you been too busy flirting with your other women?"
Gideon couldn’t help laughing. "Of course not." He hugged her back. "I’ve just been busy trying to stop the world from falling apart."
"So dramatic."
"It isn’t."
He smiled helplessly. "Actually... I should tell you everything. I don’t think anyone else has enough patience to listen."
And so he did. He told her about the grave flowers spreading beneath the snow, Arthur’s disappearance, the Scions of the Lord, Leon, and finally Jace’s infection.
By the time he finished, Summer simply stared at him in disbelief.
"What the hell..." She blinked several times. "Is... another apocalypse about to happen?"
Gideon laughed quietly. "I hope not. But even if it is... I’ll deal with it."
Summer gently cupped his cheek. "I know you will. Just don’t die before our child is born... or I’ll kill you myself."
Gideon laughed so hard that even she started laughing with him.
"So I die either way?"
The two of them spent the rest of the evening together, talking about anything except disasters, allowing themselves, if only for a few hours, to forget the storm that was slowly gathering beyond the walls of Cinder Dusk.
***
Two Weeks Before Winter
The four Eagle Union’s members entered Climber Rift and looked no different from the countless travelers who arrived every day.
Their clothes were dusty, their boots were worn out from weeks of walking, and each of them carried only a single backpack.
The guards at the entrance simply asked where they came from, checked the supplies they carried and let them pass after collecting the entrance fee.
As soon as they stepped inside the settlement, however, something changed.
One of them suddenly stopped walking.
His shoulders trembled violently as his head tilted slightly to the side, his lips moving soundlessly while his unfocused eyes stared at the bustling market.
"...Together..."
"...More..."
"...Don’t..."
A merchant carrying vegetables frowned before tapping his shoulder.
"Mate, are you alright?"
The man blinked several times before looking at him with a confused expression.
"Oh... sorry." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven’t slept well these past few days."
The merchant chuckled. "Get yourself a warm meal first. You’ll feel better."
He nodded gratefully before continuing to walk as though nothing had happened.
The same thing happened to the other three.
Sometimes they walked with a slight limp before suddenly returning to normal. Sometimes their hands shook uncontrollably, only for the trembling to disappear seconds later.
At one point, one of them even stood completely still in the middle of the street while quietly mumbling to himself, but after blinking a few times, he politely apologized to everyone he had blocked.
No one thought much about it.
Everyone simply assumed they were exhausted travelers.
Once they reached the center of the market, the four men silently stopped. None of them looked at each other, yet almost at the exact same moment they walked in different directions, disappearing into the sea of people without exchanging a single word.
Ethan no longer remembered why he had come here.
Every time he tried to think about it, his vision shattered into countless fragments. The colorful stalls around him twisted into impossible shapes while every face split into dozens of overlapping images, like he was looking through a giant kaleidoscope that never stopped turning.
The only thing guiding him was the whispers that kept talking to him.
’They are alone.’
’Bring them with us.’
’Make them our family.’
Ethan instinctively pressed both hands against his temples until the pain slowly faded.
His breathing gradually returned to normal, the distorted colors disappeared, and Climber Rift became an ordinary settlement once again.
A warm smile slowly appeared on his face.
"I understand."
That evening he wandered into one of the busiest taverns inside the settlement. He wasn’t looking for alcohol.
He was looking for someone lonely.
It didn’t take long before his eyes landed on a young woman sitting by herself near the counter.
She looked tired, occasionally glancing toward the entrance as though expecting someone who never came.
Ethan naturally walked over and asked whether the seat beside her was free and she welcomed him.
Their conversation flowed effortlessly. They joked about winter, complained about traveling and laughed over the terrible food the tavern served.
Ethan spoke with enough confidence to make her laugh but never enough to sound arrogant, and before long she was already leaning closer whenever he spoke.
"You know," she teased after finishing another drink, "you’re either a really charming man..."
She smiled playfully. "or a terrible liar."
Ethan laughed. "Maybe both."
She couldn’t help laughing with him.
By the time they stepped outside for fresh air, the streets were almost empty.
She turned toward him with a shy smile. "I guess this is where you kiss me."
"I suppose it is."
He gently held her face before leaning forward.
The kiss began naturally. For one brief moment, Ethan actually forgot about the whisper.
Then something moved inside his throat.
His smile disappeared.
The woman’s eyes widened in confusion as Ethan suddenly forced the kiss deeper. Before she could pull away, thick black fluid surged from his mouth straight into hers.
She desperately struggled, trying to push him away, but he held her firmly until every drop disappeared down her throat.
She stumbled backward, coughing violently while clutching her neck. Terror filled her eyes as her entire body began shaking uncontrollably.
"E... Ethan..."
He quietly caught her before she collapsed.
"You’ll be alright," he whispered gently. "Soon... you won’t be alone anymore."
The woman lost consciousness only a few seconds later.
When she woke the following morning behind the tavern, like nothing happened.
Ethan did the same thing again the next night and kept doing the same thing. Different faces. Different taverns.
The same gentle smile. The same whisper guided him toward people who looked lonely enough to trust a stranger.
Two weeks later, Ethan stepped out of another tavern just as two men quietly blocked his path.
He immediately recognized the emblem sewn onto their heavy coats.
Freebound.
The older man calmly looked at him before opening a small notebook.
"You there."
He smiled naturally. "Yes?"
The man closed the notebook. "You will come with us to the quarantine camp."
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