"So it was just a concussion to the top of her skull. That's it?" Kaze asked after hearing the story.
"Yes." Jake confirmed, looking at Veronica hesitantly.
"It doesn't seem like there's permanent damage." The emperor commented.
"It's just a normal attack that instantly healed. These things happen, so we should just be thankful it didn't require drastic action, as it would be dangerous."
"These things happen." The regent chuckled bitterly, "You mean like turning Veronica against me for a test?
I know that's what that was, and that test almost killed her.
Is your lack of trust so great that you'd risk Veronica's life to test it?"
Veronica turned away from Jake, ashamed because she was the guilty party that accepted the job.
Kaze frowned and reached out to touch the man's shoulder but drew his hand back, seeing his regent preparing to slap it out of the way.
"You've earned my confidence, Jake. Now, I stand before you, having saved Veronica's life." He asserted, "But what would have happened if you betrayed me and then required my help to save her life?"
Jake's eyes trembled in disarray, turning to the emperor with conflicted eyes.
"If that was a genuine situation, and you betrayed me, she'd be dead, and you'd be homeless." Kaze declared.
"I already explained to you this was both training and a test in information handling.
You got to learn these lessons without being able to make irreparable mistakes."
After [fate] guided Evalyn to learn the lessons the hard way, the emperor determined that he would create a simulation for Jake to learn from instead of risking true tragedy.
It was that sincere desire that drove Veronica to accept.
Jake him a wry smile. "Did you have to test my loyalty by pitting you against Veronica?"
Veronica turned away with a guilty expression, making him feel worse.
"Do you think her a woman that would betray you?" The emperor asked, "If that situation happened without Veronica's help, you'd be in serious trouble would you not?"
Jake's eyes glided to the left, and then he turned to Veronica, who gave him an earnest expression.
"It's true." Veronica confessed, "While I benefited, we agreed you needed help. So we created a strategy to protect you, prevent problems, and teach you the best way we could.
My two conditions were that I'd only execute the strategy if it were necessary, and I'd reveal my deception immediately to ease your concerns.
So it's my fault I got hurt after exposing her immediately."
His eyes trembled in disbelief, and he turned to Kaze, who nodded.
"It was benign, Jake." The emperor asserted, "Of everything, you're missing the most important lesson here."
Jake swallowed nervously. His emotions cooled down, and now he understood the gravity of the situation. "What's that?"
"With your power, you could have easily stopped Veronica from hitting that wall." Kaze stated bluntly, looking at the woman.
"You were far too trusting of your surroundings, too indecisive, and too craven to act."
The regent gave him a bitter smile. It was one thing to get berated for his weakness when moving kegs, but associating it with his partner almost dying was painful.
"There are consequences to being weak and indecisive. You learned that today--without loss--and understand what you must do to protect the people you love." The emperor warned.
"Otherwise, even returning to the past won't bring them back to life. Your relationship and the part of you that loves them will die--such mistakes are eternal."
Evalyn looked at Kaze with a complex expression, thinking about his parents.
If he killed them, she was certain that what they went through was far worse than what her mother experienced.
Moreover, unlike her, who he could fall in love with again as someone [new], he couldn't learn to love his parents again--or vice versa.
Evalyn couldn't imagine what it must have been like to meet them again, knowing that the boy they loved was gone, replaced by him, the immortal cultivator they had never met.
The only thing connecting Kaze Lexicon to his parents was an autobiographical memory of whatever traumatic event they went through before dying.
She still couldn't understand what drove him to seal their meridians.
However, she felt like the rational was more humane and was glad to know that his cynicism wasn't universal.
"It was benign, benefited me greatly, and taught me a lot... huh." Jake chuckled in disbelief, "Just once, I want you to be wrong so I don't feel so bad."
"As the Director of Faction Affairs job is to find faults with my opinions and viewpoints." Kaze smiled, "One day you will, but you must learn the job.
Unfortunately, our job right now is to deal with the slanderous swine who have committed atrocities mere moments ago.
Dealing with such people moments after they've wronged you is nauseating, but that's what we do."
Jake dry-swallowed nervously. "What do we need to do?"
"I'm not sure." Kaze replied pensively, "Trust is critical in the situation. A lot is riding on the situation.
If I walk in exacting justice on those that wronged me, it would prove them right by showing I have absolute dominion over people's lives. That would invalidate everything."
"Your only goal is to build trust and loyalty with them before revealing the surprise, right?" Evalyn asked straightly.
"Correct." He replied decisively.
"Hah. You're having trouble because your playboy side is associating trust with charm." Evalyn replied mockingly, "You should've just proved you were honest from the beginning."
"What people do not know cannot be communicated or be strategized about." Kaze retorted, "That's the purpose of information control.
So pray tell, Evalyn. How would you prove me honest without giving people the truth?"
"Give me new clothes, a phone, and ten minutes." Evalyn replied, "Every person in that room will trust you by the time I leave.
I'm doing what's best for you, so naturally, you should trust me."
Kaze grinned in amusement, listening to her vicious, trailing sarcasm. "And if it takes ten minutes or less?"
"You're not asking for what I'm betting for losing?" Evalyn asked in confusion.
"I haven't the time to waste on the frivolous." He clarified with a slight smile.
Her eyes widened, and she blushed slightly but turned away in annoyance. She hated getting dragged down a charming rabbit hole, especially during serious situations.
"If it takes eleven minutes, I'll ask you to thank me tomorrow instead of in ten minutes." Evalyn replied dryly, "That's all."
"Deal. Let's get you a phone." Kaze smiled in amusement.
...
In the basement of the Lockheed mansion, everyone was sitting around whispering with anxious expressions.
They didn't know if Veronica would die, one of their members was certain to go to prison, and they didn't know what was happening outside.
Everyone could get punished, lose privileges, or get expelled.
Anything could happen.
It left everyone nervous and fearful of the future, so no one spoke.
The door abruptly opened, and many prepared to speak to Kaze. However, to their shock, they were staring at another familiar face.
"Evalyn?" Brad whispered in confusion, "What are you doing here?"
Whispers rippled through the room instantly as people turned to the blonde, who stared at them with a ruthless gaze.
"Immortal Skye." Evalyn replied mockingly, ignoring further explanation, "Can anyone tell me why someone almost died a half hour ago?"
The Kaze Kills College Students faction members trembled.
"We panicked." Regina replied timidly.
"So you tried to kill someone?" Evalyn mused with a malicious smile.
Silence met her question.
"Now that we've established that hurting and killing each other isn't acceptable...." The blonde smiled, panning their faces.
"Can someone explain why a bunch of people learning billion-dollar techniques in a decadent mansion can't stay put for seven days without someone dying?"
The students dry-swallowed with shallow breaths.
When she bluntly laid out the situation, everyone felt shame wave through them, especially the guilty.
"No one?" Evalyn chuckled playfully, "You're telling me that people sought to destroy Kaze's life, sow mass distrust, and defile the integrity of survivors' words--without reason?"
Everyone in the Kaze Kills College Students faction panicked.
"W-We just want to know why there's a steel door!"
"Military members captured us, and we woke up here!"
"You saw what happened at the party, right!?"
Each member immediately threw out a rationale.
"Just to ensure we're on the same page." Evalyn smiled, "You think something horrible is happening outside?
So you tried destroying Kaze because he's hiding the truth from you and is thus dangerous.
Do I understand that correctly?"
The group nodded in assent.
Evalyn looked around the downstairs area with an amused grin.
"So... the world's going to hell outside." She laughed breathlessly, "And Kaze is a villain for setting you up in a mansion with swimming pools, gyms, and good food to wait it out. Is that right?"
Everyone in the room cringed. It was far easier to focus on the negative than the positive. So they didn't think about it from that perspective often.
"And you wish to destroy the person giving you a good life in your doomsday scenario?" Evalyn mused, "Are we on the same page?"
Haiden and Regina grimaced and averted their gazes. The blonde was far more ruthless than Kaze was; they missed him.
Evalyn panned everyone's faces with a venom-laced smile. "Now that we've removed these farcical excuses for your actions, let's talk about the real reason.
Kaze has set up intense information control. That's making you feel anxious and helpless, correct?"
Haiden swallowed nervously. "Yes."
"Yes." Regina nodded solemnly.
The other group members and many who weren't in the group also nodded.
"Wonderful." Evalyn grinned, "So we've determined that Kaze is generous, might be your savior, and is insistent on information control and keeping you here--I'm none of those things."
A wave of negative synesthesia spread through the students. The fear of one multiplied the fear of those around them in a chain reaction.
"Haiden. Veronica is alive, so we've arranged transport for you to go home in two hours." Evalyn smiled, "A government official will arrive shortly to escort you to ensure people don't get paranoid."
Haiden's eyes trembled in confusion, and she turned to everyone else to get verification. The others nodded to confirm she didn't hear incorrectly.
Kaze insisted that no one could leave the room, so everyone agreed that there was something eerie about casually letting someone who nearly killed another student leave.
"But before you go...." Evalyn smiled ominously, "I'd like to show you the surprise we're keeping from you and everything fun you're missing out on."
She pulled out a smartphone and motioned to Haiden playfully, beckoning her close to prevent others from seeing.
The woman walked up close to look at the smartphone screen.
Evalyn smiled and pressed play on a video of Immortal Skye.
It showed Kaze speaking to thousands of members with smiling faces, aerial drone footage over the campus, and inside shots of dozens of mansions.
Haiden watched in a trance. Everything looked so... normal. She was sad she was leaving because it looked like everyone had similar living situations but could roam around.
The Lockheed students watched her carefully, studying her facial expressions.
Evalyn abruptly switched the video to aerial footage of Meridian City.
Arson.
Violent riots.
Razed hospitals.
Mile-long soup lines.
High unemployment rates.
Dehydration death statistics.
Grid-locked highways.
Economic disasters.
Dead bodies.
Haiden cupped her hands over her mouth. She tried to speak but felt something sharp move up the back of her neck, sending horrifying shivers down her spine.
"Shhhhhhh." Evalyn shushed, putting her index in front of her lips playfully.
"I know you're sad you can't stay, but these people can because they aren't criminals.
So you can't reveal our surprises and ruin it for them."
Everyone watched Haiden's face in perplexion. Her eyes filled with tears and regret, and her breathing became strained.
"No...." Haiden shook her head desperately, "Please don't make me leave."
"Hoh? Just an hour ago you attempted to destroy the leader of this place with false accusations, and now you're begging to stay?" Evalyn mused.
"Please, Evalyn." Haiden trembled, tears pouring down her face, "Please don't take me... home. I'm begging you. I-I'll do anything. [Literally] anything."
"Hey! What are you showing her!" Regina cried, triggering a wave of panic.
Evalyn sent her a menacing smile that shut up everyone present. "I'll show you the surprise, but then you're going home too. Do you still want to see?"
"Fuck your surprises, I--"
"R-Regina!" Haiden cried in panic. When Regina made eye contact, the crying woman shook her head with trembling eyes. "D-Don't. Y-You don't want to leave here."
"Touching." Evalyn mused, "Haiden, do you think it's a good idea for Regina to follow the few simple rules here without complaint?"
The bawling woman nodded, leaving everyone confused and fearful.
Regina stared at her friend with pain in her eyes. Haiden's expression didn't express regret or sadness--it displayed primitive fear.
"Why are you crying?" Evalyn mused, "Have you realized how lucky you were that Kaze brought you to this paradise and offered you strength, comfort, and luxury?"
The woman bawled harder, drawing sympathetic gazes.
Rightful or not, Evalyn's actions were ruthless, callous, and cruel.
"Y-Yes, I do." Haiden stuttered, "I-It's a paradise, and I realize how lucky I was now. I-I regret my actions.
E-Evalyn, p-please don't make me... leave. P-Please, let me stay."
"If it were up to me, I'd have taken you home days ago." Evalyn scoffed, breaking her sinister playfulness and revealing the blunt emotions behind it, "But it's not up to me.
We're taking you to another offensively cushy location where you can't leak the surprises.
You can thank that heartless softy you've foolishly villainized for holding me back. The irony here is sickening."
Haiden swallowed her tears and wiped her eyes with an awkward smile. Her look of sheer relief sent shivers down people's spines.
"Now, let's go." Evalyn ordered sternly. She grabbed Haiden's arm lightly, opened the door, and left.
A commotion instantly broke out once Evalyn and Haiden left the room, but Sage clapped aggressively, getting everyone's attention.
"It seems you idiots don't understand what you just saw, so let me translate it for you!" Sage yelled.
"Evalyn just confirmed something horrifying is happening outside.
It's a lot worse than we originally thought, we're extremely lucky to have Kaze in our lives, and we shouldn't ask questions."
"Who the fuck do you think--" A man snapped before getting cut off.
"I'll stop you right there, you clown." Sage snapped angrily, "Did you see Haiden [beg] Regina to shut the fuck up and stop asking questions?
Because I definitely saw Haiden [beg] Regina to shut the fuck up and stop asking questions.
Did anyone else miss something that haunting to watch?"
The room fell silent aside from gasps of anxiety and hyperventilating. Haiden's expressions were carved into their memories and branded on their souls.
"Yeah, that's right." Sage said caustically, "Until we know what's actually happening, don't fuck up our living and learning situation.
I don't know the [surprise], but I know Haiden was a derisive cunt 24/7, yet she looked like she'd offer her body to him to stay."
Everyone trembled slightly, turning away with fearful expressions.
"Also, if you've never met Evalyn Skye, you should know she sure as hell wasn't like that a week ago." Sage continued.
"Something horrible happened to her, and I don't want it to happen to me.
So unless you're talking about cultivation, swimming, or anything else positive, shut the fuck up, or I'll find a way to ruin your life once we leave this room."
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