Chapter 102 Volume III - Chapter 23: Trust Problems
After Clara had left the room, Julian spoke slowly.
"Well… you and your sister are not on good terms, huh?"
"It's complicated, but we're not hostile."
I paused for a moment.
"I guess."
Then Julian chuckled again.
"You're good at making jokes, and you're making people worry."
Slowly the others joined the conversation. It wasn't long before the topic shifted from me to them, and I listened to what had happened to all of them during the attack. Our conversation went on and on.
Lucia wasn't even here when the attack happened. Melany must have sent her to their house for a short time, just in case. That explained why she hadn't been able to help Sue with her lessons recently.
Melany, who had been warned once before, quite severely, by the organization, wanted to play it safe and had made dozens of preparations to protect her own family before the operation.
Alysia's room was searched when the attack began, but because of the soldiers' sudden need for backup, the searchers let her go after checking her wrist. Alice thought she would never leave her room, but a fireball hit her window and she was inevitably drawn into the battle. As far as I could see, she didn't seem to be seriously injured except for some minor things.
Sue was in her room during the attack, just like Alysia, but luckily nothing bad happened to her. She stayed safe in her room while everything was happening.
Adrian and Julian were together during the attack. They fought together and escaped together. When they finally got to the safe zone, they suddenly got my message.
When I heard that it was Adrian, I felt a sense of relief and looked at him out of the corner of my eye, but... his expression was still cold, distant.
So I thought of something, a possibility.
I was even more sure when I thought of Adrian's look.
Well... it's not good to talk about it here, but I think I know what happened.
"Have you seen Celine?"
All smiles quickly disappeared with the sudden question that came in a moment of silence.
"No."
This time it was Lucia who spoke.
"We asked the doctors if we could do anything, but for now they said to just give her time."
"I see..."
There was silence again.
"So... did they catch that man?"
My anger rose within me as I remembered that man's face, but I calmed myself before the Absolute Mind.
I need to get information first.
"No, when Adrian and the soldiers got there, the only thing that belonged to the man was his arm, separated from his body by a perfectly good cut."
Huh?
What do you mean, a perfectly severed arm?
My wiera side... is it strong enough to hurt that guy like that?
That guy must be at least a B- grade equivalent with the caora. So... with my strength, it's almost impossible to defeat that man. Not completely, but very close to impossible.
Then he ran away when he heard the soldiers were coming?
But then how did he lose his arm...?
Strange, absurd thoughts started to sprout in my mind, but I didn't let them out.
"Everyone thinks you cut off the guy's arm because you were the only one in the field with scars like from a fight rather than from torture."
I cut off that guy's arm...?
I mean... it wasn't me, but how is that possible? Or... did he underestimate me, or rather my wiera side, too much?
"I... I don't remember anything at all. I was furious, but that guy must have been at least B- grade. I want to say it wasn't me, but..."
"There's no evidence to the contrary, all the signs point to you, and it's absurd for him to hide himself if someone else beat him."
Lucia literally read my mind.
"Yeah…"
Again, everyone fell silent. The cheerful atmosphere in the room had practically disappeared at the mention of Celine.
After a moment of silence, Lucia's watch rang. She spoke for about ten seconds, at the end of which she looked around the room with a pensive expression.
"I apologize, I would like to stay longer but I have to leave."
Her brow was furrowed, there was something she didn't like and I didn't miss it. Still, I didn't say anything different or ask what it was. No one did, so Lucia apologized again and left the room.
After Lucia, Alice also left, saying she had work to do, without doing anything except telling what had happened to her.
Then Julian said he was going to stay with his family for a while, wished me well, and left.
Adrian and Sue looked at each other for a while after everyone left.
They both seemed to insist on staying in the room, although this awkward moment didn't last long. Just like with Lucia, Sue's watch started to ring.
It was her brother.
"I'll be back later, sorry. Get well soon..."
And with that, she left the room. She had pulled the door.
Now, it was just Adrian and me in the room.
"Was it me?"
I interjected before him and Adrian, after a short silence, opened his mouth for the first time in the whole time he was here.
"Yes."
"So you saw what I am."
Adrian was silent again, a silence that confirmed me.
"You don't have to deny it, this is the first time you've been this distant and you were the first to find me. It's not hard to put the pieces in place."
I clenched my fist, afraid of the answer to the question that would come out of my mouth but... I have to know.
"Did I hurt Celine?"
Adrian raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if he expected me to say something else. He answered my question anyway.
"I don't know, but you were walking over to her when I came in, smiling."
That hit me like a slap in the face. I choked on my own words, unable to do anything but stand there.
I... I didn't do anything to her, right...?
"Look, Aiden."
Adrian hardened his expression again, putting the Celine thing aside for the moment. He was almost... furious.
"The person who murdered my parents had both eyes purple and glowing. That person ruined my life. He forced me to live like a beggar for eight years and took everything from me. I can even say that my purpose in life now is to find that man, and you can imagine what I want to do when I find him."
I already knew this, there was nothing I didn't know about him... but I kept listening.
"Can you imagine what I was thinking when I saw you there, with the purple left eye and the wide smile on your face?"
Yes... I can.
I'd better settle this matter first of all.
"I may not be able to give you a satisfactory answer because I can't deny what I am."
Once he's seen me, no matter what I say, if I try to run away I'll be a liar in his eyes, so... I have to be honest, at least as honest as I can be.
"That purple energy you saw is called caora. The fact that the eyes of the person who uses it turn purple is just an indication that caora is flowing in their body, a kind of reaction. Normal people cannot use this energy because it is extremely chaotic, destructive even. That's why the body structure of those who can use caora is different from normal people, it's like they are literally rebuilt according to this energy, but their minds are still affected by the energy."
I breathed, then continued quickly.
"We cannot say that they are completely crazy. They can think logically, from the outside they are no different from a normal person, but they are extremely prone to destruction and chaos. In a way, their minds are always creating chaos, they like it."
Adrian didn't interrupt me, he listened carefully to every word I said. As if there was not a single thing he wanted to miss.
"I'm different from them, I'm neither fully human nor wiera, so my mind wasn't fully affected by the energy. Rather, it was split into my human side and my wiera side. You can say that I have a dual personality if it's comfortable for you, but... I am in control. I'd have to be mentally shaken, weak, or extremely unstable for it to take over, but that's a bit difficult. So... I'm kind of a half-wiera."
After that, I was silent without saying anything. Adrian took a deep breath when he realized that was all I had to say.
"Wiera, huh..."
His eyes narrowed, his focus shifted away from me.
"Do you have a connection with them?"
"No, I don't. They'll only just find out I'm a hybrid thanks to that man over there. If I had any ties with them, I wouldn't be here now, I'd be at their headquarters with a bunch of noble students and Celine, and considering I've come back from the dead three times, they don't like me."
Adrian fell back into thought, his gaze on the ground.
For a moment his whole body trembled. His face twitched and he spoke in a broken voice as if he was in pain.
"Aiden... I can trust you, right? I thought so many things at that moment; I formed so many theories and ideas in my head..."
He paused as if those thoughts were gnawing at him even now, his eyes shifting their focus to different parts of the room, but he could never look at me.
"Even now, I'm thinking about the possibility that you're deceiving me. As if I don't have enough on my mind already, when I add this to it..."
"I'm not saying trust me instantly, Adrian. Trust is not easily earned, especially in this world. If you want to doubt me, I can't stop you, I can't be angry with you."
I smiled slightly, raised my finger, and pointed out the window.
"To add value to my life by exploring this world, by seeing new things; to change my ordinary life. That was my first purpose in this world. I wouldn't say I've lost it yet, but now I have people I love, people who are close to me. It may sound funny to you, but I want to bring this world to a happy ending where I can live and laugh with them."
I turned back to Adrian, still smiling.
"That's why I don't want to lose a friend like you. The happy ending I want to reach should be you living in it, whether you hate me or not. Now... the choice is yours, but remember this."
Adrian lifted his head from the floor, finally looking at me.
"You are the first real friend I ever had. You're the first friend I've ever truly laughed with."
Adrian broke his serious expression for the first time since I woke up. His eyes teared up slightly for a brief moment, and for a moment he just stood there.
Finally, he swallowed, brought the sleeve of his clothes to his face, and started wiping his eyes with a deep breath. While hiding his face from me, he murmured softly.
"Thank you..."
Suddenly he was his old, naive self. The nobility of his high-grade charm had been replaced by a child.
"It's okay."
"I... I should go now."
He headed for the door without saying anything, but paused one last time before leaving.
"Get well soon."
And with that, without saying anything else, he quickly left the room, leaving me alone in the room.
Although... I wasn't alone.
'You've made some pretty good friends since I fell asleep, huh?
After Sith's words, a smile appeared on my face again.
"Yeah."
For the first time, the word 'friends' felt so real and refreshing.
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