CHAPTER 221: THREADS IN THE DARK [3]

"Let’s go eat something. I’m hungry," Reo said, standing up and stretching like a cat that had just woken from a nap.

"Finally, something we can all agree on," Cassian said, pushing his chair back with a grin.

Luna nodded, slipping her notes into her bag. "Sure."

Cedric glanced toward Kyle with his easy, agreeable smile. "Lunch sounds good."

Kyle rose from his seat as well.

"Alright, cafeteria it is."

They were halfway toward the door when a familiar voice called from across the room.

"Kyle! Are you going to the cafeteria too?"

He turned to see Eleanora walking over with Serena at her side.

Eleanora’s hair caught the sunlight, and there was that small, almost uncertain curve to her lips.

He gave a short nod. "Yeah. We’re heading there now."

Serena’s eyes flicked over the group but she said nothing. Her usual calm presence like a quiet shadow next to her best friend.

As they all moved toward the doorway, Kyle felt a faint tension tug at him.

Things had been... a little awkward with Eleanora lately.

Ever since he’d started to suspect she might have feelings for him, their interactions carried a subtle weight.

Not enough to break the flow of things, but enough for him to notice.

The moment they reached the door, though, they stopped.

A crowd had gathered just outside, clogging the hallway.

Cassian frowned. "What’s with the traffic jam?"

Kyle craned his neck slightly but couldn’t see past the bodies.

Reo tapped the shoulder of a nearby student. "Hey, what’s going on?"

The boy glanced over. "Some senior’s here. One of the top-ranked ones. And she’s... uh... extremely beautiful."

That last part was said with the kind of worshipful awe usually reserved for priceless art.

Kyle blinked.

Seniors almost never came into the first-year building.

The academy kept them busy with training sessions and, more importantly, missions...

Small assignments issued from the second year onward to give students real-world experience.

They were a chance to earn both grades and credits, and the best ones could choose the most lucrative or challenging tasks.

For someone like a top ranked senior, every moment was valuable.

’So what was one doing here?’

The crowd shifted, and then he saw her.

A girl with flowing black hair and eyes just as dark stood near the wall, speaking to a flustered first-year who looked seconds away from fainting.

She was dressed in the academy’s uniform, but on her it looked like it had been tailored to perfection.

Every movement she made carried that dangerous ease of someone entirely aware of their effect on the people around them.

"Oh," Luna said with a little spark of recognition. "That’s Senior Elizabeth Veyl. Second year. Rank one."

Reo gave a low whistle. "Rank one, huh?"

Luna nodded, her tone almost respectfull.

"They say the gap between rank one and rank two is huge. Like... not even close."

Kyle’s stomach sank.

’What the heck is she doing here? She’s not here for me... right?’

The first-year she’d been talking to suddenly pointed in their direction.

Specifically... at him.

Kyle’s expression didn’t change, but inwardly he cursed.

’Oh, no. No, no, no. This is exactly what I was thinking, isn’t it?’

Elizabeth’s gaze followed the pointing finger.

Her lips curved, subtly, knowingly. And she began walking toward them.

"Uh... why is she walking toward us?" Luna asked, leaning slightly toward Kyle.

He feigned ignorance with the smoothness of a man who knew it wouldn’t help.

"I have no idea."

The crowd parted without hesitation as she approached, her presence like gravity itself, pulling every eye in the hallway toward her.

Elizabeth stopped just before them, her gaze settling on Kyle.

She noticed the faint flicker of annoyance in his eyes, too faint for most to catch, and smiled to herself.

"...Kyle," she said, her voice a pleasant, measured thing. "Let’s have lunch together. There are some things I’d like to talk about."

He inclined his head slightly.

"Alright."

He already knew what this was about.

’The deal.’

She could have chosen any other time, somewhere without an audience.

Instead, she’d picked now, in the middle of the hallway, in front of half his year.

’Perfect for drawing attention.’

A sigh formed quietly in his chest.

Around them, whispers had already started.

Eleanora, however, wasn’t moving. Her eyes were locked on Elizabeth. A frozen expression on her face that said more than words ever could.

Luna, ever the trouble-maker, tilted her head and asked with an entirely too-innocent tone.

"Excuse me, Senior... but can I ask what your relationship is with our Kyle?"

Elizabeth turned her attention toward Luna. Her expression shifting into a faint, almost theatrical hurt. Then she looked back at Kyle.

"Oh my, Kyle," she said, her tone light but carrying just enough weight to make his stomach twist.

"...You didn’t tell your friends I’m your supposed-to-be fiancée?"

The word landed like a spark in dry grass.

"WHAT?" It came out of several mouths at once. Reo, Cassian, Luna, even Cedric.

Kyle’s smile was cool, his tone measured.

"My Senior... when did we agree to marriage?"

Inside, though, his thoughts were far less calm.

’You’re doing this just to get your revenge on me, aren’t you?’

Elizabeth smiled right back. "But we haven’t rejected each other either, have we?"

He closed his eyes briefly and exhaled through his nose.

"I’ll be eating lunch with Senior Elizabeth today," he told the others, as if that settled everything.

The hallway was still buzzing as he and Elizabeth began to walk away together, disappearing into the corridor beyond the crowd.

Serena stood quietly beside Eleanora, who hadn’t moved since the first mention of "fiancée."

Her best friend’s expression was still frozen, though now. If you looked closely, there was a hint of anger there too.

Serena glanced at her and sighed.

’Love’s a cruel little mess, isn’t it?’

———————

The rooftop was quiet except for the the soft rustle of wind pushing across the academy grounds.

From up here. The chatter of students and clinking of cutlery from the cafeteria seemed like they belonged to another world entirely.

Elizabeth stepped forward. Her shoes clicking softly against the stone surface, and leaned on the waist-high railing.

The sunlight caught in her black hair, giving it a sheen that seemed almost liquid in the breeze.

Kyle stayed a few steps back, hands tucked in his pockets.

He let his gaze travel across the horizon before finally speaking.

"You know," he said, "you could have picked literally any other time to talk. But no... you had to do it when half of the first-years were watching."

Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder. A faint, knowing smile curving her lips.

"I’m not sure what you mean," she replied, her tone light, almost playful.

Kyle let out a small, resigned breath. "Of course."

She turned fully to face him. The playful curve vanishing from her mouth.

"Let’s get to the point, shall we? Why we’re really here."

"Oh, right." He shifted his weight, eyes settling on hers without flinching.

Elizabeth took a step closer, her gaze sharpening.

"Do you... really know who killed my family?"

Raw and bare words with no dramatics and no pretence. Just a question that had been burning holes in her for years.

"Yes," Kyle said simply.

The air between them seemed to tighten.

Her expression hardened.

"You’d better not be wasting my time."

"I’m not," he said.

"But... before I tell you, I need you to do something for me."

The change in her was instantaneous.

One moment she was standing there.

The next she was right in front of him. So close that their noses nearly touched.

Her hand fisted in the collar of his uniform, knuckles pressing into his chest. Her eyes, dark as midnight, burned with unrestrained rage.

He didn’t flinch. He could have stepped back, could have dodged her grip with some effort. But he didn’t.

Her voice was low and deliberate.

"If you think you can manipulate me into your little games..." Her voice dipped lower, almost a whisper.

"...and if I find out you’re lying to me—"

She leaned in even closer. The tension between them was heavy.

"...I’ll kill you."

The words weren’t a threat. They were a promise.

Kyle’s gaze didn’t waver. "I’m not lying."

"Then tell me. How am I supposed to believe that?"

He held her stare. "We can sign a soul contract."

Her grip on his collar eased slightly, but she didn’t move away. "Of the highest order?"

"..."

For a moment, nothing was said.

Only the wind filled the silence, cool and restless against their faces.

A soul contract of the highest order wasn’t something people suggested lightly. It was a binding pact that tied one’s very soul to the truth of their words.

Break it, and your soul core would shatter. There was no escape, no loophole.

Finally, she spoke.

"You’re either very confident... or very stupid."

"Maybe both," he said evenly.

Another long pause passed.

Elizabeth’s eyes searched his, not for the truth itself. But for any trace of hesitation, any flicker of deceit. She found none.

She let go of his collar. But didn’t step back right away.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other. The tension still strung tight between them.

"Okay," she said at last. "But if I agree... what is it you want from me?"

For a while, they simply stared at each other.

A gust of wind swept across the rooftop, pulling strands of her hair into the air.

She tilted her head slightly, waiting.

He spoke.

But whatever he said was lost to the wind, carried away before it could reach the ears of anyone but her.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened.

———————