CHAPTER 572: MY OWN PERSONAL GAINS

Liam emerged from the bathroom with a towel draped loosely over his head, steam still clinging faintly to his skin. Droplets traced down the lines of his shoulders as he crossed the room at a relaxed, almost sluggish pace, dressed in nothing more than his pants. He stopped at the foot of his bed and lowered himself to sit on its edge, rubbing the towel through his hair until it was only slightly damp. When he finally pulled the towel away, his eyes lifted—and inevitably landed on Mabel, who stood exactly where she had been before he went in, as unmoving and composed as a shadow bound to its post.

"About taking me to the training grounds tonight," he said, voice level, almost tired. "Let’s postpone that. I don’t feel like it right now."

Mabel inclined her head just slightly. "Of course. As long as that’s what you want."

"Thank you," Liam muttered, tossing the towel carelessly to the side. He leaned back on his palms and let his eyes drift upward toward the ceiling, letting the quiet settle around him. His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm, but the tension in it never eased.

’For a day without sparring or drills, I feel way too exhausted,’ he admitted inwardly. His mind wandered back to the ridiculous amount of openness he had allowed himself earlier. ’And all because I decided to talk more than I usually do. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Letting myself be that open is... annoyingly tiring.’

As Liam sat in his own small storm of regret, Mabel stood in the dim corner with that steady, unreadable patience that always made her presence quieter than most silences. Her eyes softened slightly as she watched him.

’It’s as if he knew something was going to happen,’ she thought, remembering the confrontation with Percy earlier. It hadn’t left her mind since it happened.

Before arriving at the academy that morning, Liam had given her very clear instructions—borderline orders, really. She was not to interfere with anything that happened around him, whether it was harmless harassment or outright danger. Whether it came from first-years, second-years, or even third-years... he wanted her to stand down. He would handle whatever came his way.

And when he and Sheila encountered Percy near Block 2, Mabel had been just steps away, hidden under her invisibility spell, watching. When Percy flicked that ice dagger toward Liam’s face, her fingers had twitched at her sides, ready to break her concealment and put the overconfident third-year flat on the ground. If he hadn’t been a student—and if Liam hadn’t warned her beforehand—she might have already done so. The thought of it still made her chest tighten.

’Good thing I didn’t act on impulse,’ she admitted to herself. ’I could have killed a student. And that would have made a complete mess for me... even if I was only doing my job.’

A small sigh left her, muffled under her mask. Her gaze drifted back to Liam, studying the angle of his jaw, the slight narrowing of his eyes as his thoughts churned. She remembered how Percy had looked at Liam after their exchange—how the tension had crackled thick enough that even she had felt it.

Liam finally shifted, sensing the weight of her stare. His eyes drifted from the ceiling to her, examining her expression—or what he could see of it.

"You know," he said, his tone soft but steady. "You can ask whatever you want. It doesn’t bother me."

Mabel blinked, flinching just slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"You have this look you get," Liam replied, straightening his posture as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "This slight head tilt. And your eyes sharpen a bit whenever there’s something you want to get off your chest." His voice remained calm, analytical. "So go ahead. Ask."

For a moment, Mabel wondered how in the world this sixteen-year-old boy had managed to read her so precisely. She had been trained for years to suppress her tells. None of her instructors had ever pointed such a thing out to her. And yet... Liam did. Casually and effortlessly. As if it required no more effort than breathing.

Still, she pushed the surprise aside. If he’d already seen through her, then there was no point in pretending.

"Well," she began slowly, "since you can tell... I might as well ask." She clasped her hands lightly behind her back, making her posture even straighter. "You accepting Percy Granger’s duel—what’s the real reason behind it?" Her voice stayed steady, not prying, not demanding, just searching. "I doubt you agreed with no motive. And while you don’t owe me an answer, I’m curious because I know you well enough to understand you never do things without reason."

Liam tilted his head, watching her carefully. "Since you were eavesdropping"—he said it without accusation, just stating a fact—"I’m sure you heard me set a condition before accepting."

"Yes, I know that," Mabel replied evenly. "But if we’re both being honest, Percy has nothing to offer you that holds real value for you. Not as a third-year. So when you told him he needed to give you something in return... it was because you already knew he was the only one who could fulfill whatever you have in mind."

"You’re not wrong," Liam admitted after a quiet beat. "Only he can do what I’m aiming for. And honestly, if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have accepted. I have no interest in unnecessary fights right now."

Mabel stared at him through her hazel-brown eyes, measuring his words, weighing the intent behind them before speaking again. "Then why accept it if you had no intention of fighting? What could be so important that you’d agree anyway?"

Liam’s detached gaze didn’t waver. But something shifted behind it—something quiet, almost buried.

"It’s because of Sheila."

Mabel’s eyes widened a fraction at his answer, her mind turning over the words but failing to grasp the reasoning behind them. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice steady but laced with genuine confusion.

"I’m sure you noticed the tension between those two siblings," Liam said, his tone calm and almost detached. "How Sheila practically shrank the moment Percy appeared... almost like his presence snapped something inside her."

"I did notice that," Mabel replied, folding her arms lightly. "But what about it?"

"Well, that tension is something that could end up affecting me later on," Liam said, not missing a beat. "Indirectly. Potentially. But enough for me to get ahead of it."

"I’m still confused," she admitted, her brows furrowing behind her mask.

Liam exhaled quietly through his nose before fixing his gaze on her. "Look... Sheila has the potential to be a strong figure here. A leader among the first-years—more so than anyone else. And I don’t want to see her falter in that aspect. Because if she does, I’m one of the next people who’ll be dragged into handling pointless academy responsibilities I want absolutely nothing to do with."

His expression didn’t shift, but the irritation in his tone hinted at how unwilling he was to be roped into anything he deemed a waste of time.

"And this tension with Percy," he continued, "could get under her skin. It already is. All it takes is someone like Chris bringing it up to embarrass her or throw her off balance in front of others."

"You mean Queen Lucy’s son?" Mabel asked.

"Yes. And he doesn’t like Sheila at all," Liam said bluntly. "He’d do anything petty just to get to her—just to make himself look better. And the last thing I want is to have someone like him become the reason I get dragged into unnecessary academy issues."

Mabel nodded slowly. "And with Sheila, you won’t?"

"With Sheila," Liam replied, "I’ll have leverage to keep things exactly the way I need them. Her being mentally strong isn’t just useful here at the academy—she’s the princess of the Crescent Kingdom. The daughter of the man who wants me dead. If there’s anyone who can keep me from dealing with Crescent-related headaches in the future, it’s her."

Silence settled between them as Mabel processed his words. For a moment, she simply watched him with narrowed eyes, putting the pieces together.

"So... in order to secure all of that," she said finally, "your plan is to fix the rift between her and Percy by forcing them to interact. To make them talk. To get them to resolve things."

"Pretty much," Liam replied without hesitation. "Which is why I had to nudge Sheila a bit tonight, so when I tell Percy my condition—talking to her—she won’t shut down or make the entire situation unbearable."

Mabel listened quietly. Then, behind her mask, a faint smirk rising to her lips. "You know... hearing all this almost makes me wonder if you have feelings for the princess. It’s almost amusing how far you’re going just to help stabilize her emotions."

She barely finished speaking before the air around Liam seemed to drop several degrees.

His expression dulled instantly, slipping into a look of pure irritation that shadowed his usually calm demeanor. "First of all... I do not have feelings for Sheila. At all. And I doubt I ever will." His voice was eerily controlled, each word sharpened by annoyance. "Secondly, you clearly didn’t listen to anything I just said."

Mabel blinked, taken aback by how cold he had suddenly become.

"All of this," Liam continued, leaning forward slightly, "is for my personal benefit. Yes, Sheila gains something from it—good for her. But that’s only because her improvement is what opens the door to what I need. Nothing else is more important to me than that."

Mabel held his gaze for a moment before giving him a small, respectful nod. "Alright, then. I hope you’re able to achieve your goal."

Liam looked at her again, the irritation still lingering faintly in his eyes. "Yeah... anyway, I’m going to sleep. Don’t stay in here like you used to in Veridn. It gets uncomfortable."

"Understood," Mabel replied with her usual evenness. "Rest well." She lifted a hand, preparing her invisibility spell, her form already beginning to blur at the edges.

As she phased out of sight and began moving toward the door, a private thought slipped through her mind. ’Strange how he looked more irritated at me suggesting he had feelings for Sheila than when that blond friend of his teased him about it.’

’Did I say something wrong?’ she wondered, the question lingering even as she disappeared fully and slipped out of the room.