CHAPTER 166: BANTER.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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And of course, Orion noticed the details he would never say aloud.

Selene was developing faster in certain aspects.

Her shape was... impressive.

Seris caught the faint pause in his gaze instantly.

"You’re gawking, Orion," she said with a smirk.

There it was.

The ruinous mouth belonging to an otherwise ethereal beauty.

Orion closed his eyes for a second.

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"You don’t have to deny it," Seris said as she and Selene took their seats, her smirk widening just slightly. "Beauty attracts gazes."

Her voice carried that effortless confidence that always made Caelum’s eye twitch, and today was no exception. A waiter stepped in, took their orders quickly—mostly light snacks, since they would eat dinner after—and left the four alone.

"So," Seris leaned forward, resting her chin against her palm, "what’s up? You had something important to discuss with us?"

"You knew it was important," Caelum said, smirking as he picked up a snack from the tray, "yet you still went for your party."

Seris immediately grabbed the snack from his hand and popped it into her mouth, returning his smirk with twice the intensity. "Firstly, it wasn’t a party. It was an outing. Secondly, it was also important."

Caelum stared at her with a completely blank expression. "I don’t see the difference."

"I concur," Seris said dramatically. "You’d never understand."

"I’m sure you didn’t mean that as a compliment," Caelum replied with a shrug, "but I’m going to take it as such."

"Oh, look at you," Seris clapped lightly, sarcasm dripping from her tone. "So proud of yourself. Should I applaud harder?"

Caelum’s eyes narrowed, a silent try me flickering in them.

"What?" Seris teased, leaning back smugly. "Out of responses?"

She popped another snack into her mouth, fully enjoying herself.

"Hmm. I’d really rather not hurt your feelings," Caelum replied, shrugging again.

Seris snorted—then burst into laughter. "That’s all you’ve got, pretty boy? Come on, try again."

Orion and Selene exchanged a look. The same Caelum who clipped his sentences to three words in front of Orion was suddenly a chatterbox around Seris. Caelum had evolved from "hm" and "yeah" to full paragraphs.

It was unsettling.

Honestly, Orion felt like a third wheel.

He had far too much experience with that feeling back on Earth.

"That’s enough," he cut in before Caelum got verbally strangled. "Seris, what was the par—sorry, outing

. What was it about?"

"A birthday," Selene replied before Seris could.

"You were together?" Orion asked, brow raised. "And whose birthday?"

"Yes, we were both invited," Selene said, stretching her arms slightly. "I also felt like winding down."

"And you don’t know the person," Seris finished casually.

Orion blinked, confused.

"What?" Seris said, gesturing dismissively. "Unlike you two book nerds, we have social lives and many friends."

"I have friends," Orion muttered unconsciously, feeling strangely offended. Back on Earth, he had been decently social—not Seris-level social, but social enough. Now... he mostly found socializing tedious. Still, he had friends.

"Erevan and the rest of A1 don’t count, Orion," Seris replied, wearing a pitying expression. "Apart from them, you barely know anyone."

Orion deadpanned at her.

"Speaking of people you do know," Seris suddenly said, expression sharpening, "I heard you met that brown-haired bitch yesterday."

Caelum, mid-sip, froze and nearly choked.

"Language, Seris," Orion sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What?" she shrugged. "A bitch is a bitch. No need to sugarcoat it."

Selene continued eating quietly—completely unbothered—but Orion noticed the slight twitch of her brow. Even Selene, who rarely disliked anyone, had a mild dislike for Margaret. Aside from drawing ridiculous attention from the boys, Margaret also attracted predatory attention from the girls.

Her beauty did not make her many female friends.

"You’re the one who has a problem with her," Orion said, reaching for a snack. "It has nothing to do with me."

Seris narrowed her eyes. "You went to look at her boobs again, didn’t you?"

Orion coughed violently, nearly inhaling the snack.

He swallowed, fighting the urge to glare. "No, I did not."

"For someone so intelligent," Seris said slowly, emphasizing each word, "you are very, very bad at lying. You went. To look. At her. Breasts."

At this point, Caelum and Selene were both staring directly at him.

The betrayal stung.

"You can think whatever you want," Orion replied, regaining composure with rigid dignity. "We had a meeting."

"I still don’t understand what you see in her," Seris said, shaking her head. "She’s not even that pretty."

"Can we change the topic?" Orion asked, desperate to escape the battlefield she was dragging him across.

"You wanted to discuss our future," Selene said suddenly, her voice cutting smoothly through the noise.

Her expression shifted—calm, collected, serious.

And because she had changed tone, all of them did.

Even Seris straightened slightly, leaning back and fixing Orion with a steady gaze. The teasing faded. The playfulness fell away. They were A1—top of the generation—and when needed, they shifted effortlessly from friends to future elites.

Orion exhaled softly.

"Yes," he began, his voice settling into something steadier. "It’s about the next few months months. And... what happens after."

Selene folded her hands on the table.

Seris tilted her head, eyes narrowing with interest.

Caelum placed a finger between the pages of his book, marking the spot before closing it—a rare sign that he was paying full attention.

Orion looked at each of them in turn.

The gang.

His people.

The ones who stood with him through the academy’s nightmare of training, endless trials, humiliating simulations, victories, failures—everything.

"The rumors about A1’s final test," Orion continued. "The one that takes place outside the academy."

Seris’s smile vanished completely.

Selene’s brows lowered.

Caelum’s fingers tightened slightly on his book.

"You believe it?" Selene asked quietly.

Orion looked at them with a calmness he didn’t entirely feel.

"I have reasons to," he replied.