CHAPTER 197: 197. ABANDONED WORLD

Listening to Art, the group once again fell into a deafening silence.

Until Evelyn finally parted her lips.

"...Hey, guys." Her voice was small, but it cut through the heavy air like a knife. "Are we really just going to leave Cassius? There’s a high chance he’ll die in there..."

Lilith’s expression twisted. But even she didn’t have the confidence to offer support. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. She simply lowered her head, as if burdened by guilt she couldn’t shake off.

The others weren’t any different.

But Evelyn wasn’t done.

Her hands trembled slightly as she continued, voice gaining strength with each word. "Why...? I know he can be a handful—most of the time, really. But isn’t he still our friend? Haven’t we spent so much of our childhoods together? He was never a bad guy to begin with... Just a little stupid, a little childish."

Freya placed a gentle hand on Evelyn’s shoulder, trying to calm her, to tether her back to reality. "It’s not about whether he’s bad or not, Evelyn. It’s us. We’re the ones who aren’t capable. Even if what Art said was a lie... even if Cassius is still in one piece, we wouldn’t make a difference. We can’t fight those monsters."

"That’s not true, Freya," Evelyn said, shrugging off her hand. Her voice wasn’t shaking anymore. "You know that’s not the reason. No one said a word when Miss Celia publicly berated him. No one even asked where he was during the horde. You all saw it too—how everyone just turned on him in an instant, like he was always some hidden villain."

Celeste snapped.

"You didn’t either, Evelyn! You didn’t speak up for him either!" Her voice cracked with frustration. "How can you point fingers at us, when you’re just like the rest of us?"

Evelyn didn’t flinch. She bit her lip hard enough to bleed and forced herself to nod. "I know that..." she whispered. "That’s why I’m ashamed. No—more than that. It’s like... now I finally see him. For who he is. Or maybe for who he was all this time, but none of us bothered to notice. Didn’t you see? How easily everyone turned on him, without a second thought."

Her fists clenched. "Yes, what he did wasn’t right. But don’t forget who Verena is. She’s been hounding him for quite a while. I’m surprised he hasn’t lost it and done something worse. If anything, he’s been holding back."

Freya’s expression softened, conflicted. "We get what you’re trying to say, Evelyn... but that’s just the reality. Cassius has changed. A lot. He’s not the same innocent boy we used to play with. I can’t say he’s evil or anything like that... but I won’t lie to myself either. He’s not some heroic saint."

Celeste added with a bitter tone, "Before our field trip... he approached me."

Everyone turned.

Her eyes were sharp, but her voice was steadied. "He gave me a proposition. He wanted me to spread bad rumors about Verena. He wanted her reputation in ruins. Wanted her isolated, with nowhere to go. Just for revenge."

A beat of silence passed before Freya finally spoke, eyes wide. "What?! Rumors? He wanted to destroy her reputation?"

"Yes." Celeste nodded. "He thinks Verena’s manipulating Mia. That’s what he said. That he’s only doing this to protect his sister."

Art sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. "...Wow."

Freya pressed again, "Surely, you didn’t help him?"

Celeste scoffed. "Of course not. I might be harsh, I do hate commoners... but even I wouldn’t stoop that low. It made me realize—he really doesn’t understand people. I don’t even know why he chose me of all people."

Art lazily leaned back, groaning. "Is that really a mystery? He chose you for your political influence. Rose Academy may preach equality, but we all know it’s a façade. The hierarchy still exists. You have connections—leverage. He just tried to play the game like everyone else."

He looked away with a crooked smile. "Honestly? I kind of respect that."

Evelyn, whose head had been hung low through it all, suddenly lifted it. Her voice was a whisper—but it was the kind that demanded attention.

"So what?"

Celeste blinked. "What?"

Evelyn looked at her dead in the eye. "So what if he’s made mistakes? Are we seriously going to leave him to die for that? Did everyone already forget—he helped find Amelia’s mother. He kept the Everhart and Lancaster families from falling apart. You know what would’ve happened if he hadn’t stepped in?"

The room fell into silence again. Only Art remained unfazed.

He approached Evelyn, placing a hand gently on her shoulder—not to console, but to level with her.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "He’s done a lot. I won’t deny it."

Then his tone turned grim.

"But I’m scared, Evelyn. I’m too scared to fight. That’s the truth. I want to live. If he was stuck in a tight spot, and I could help without dying, I would. Gladly. But this? This isn’t helping someone—it’s suicide. He chose this path, he knew the risks."

He paused.

"There’s no need for you to feel guilty."

Evelyn didn’t answer. She just stood there, fists trembling—eyes defiant, but unsure.

Until a voice called out from behind them.

"He really has no one."

The group turned around, only to find Miss Celia standing just a few meters away. Her expression wasn’t as rigid or cold as before—calmer now, maybe even regretful.

She slowly walked toward them, her heels tapping softly against the floor, and stopped beside Evelyn. Without a word at first, she gently placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

"Don’t worry, Evelyn," she said quietly. "I’ll go look for him. Even though... I said some harsh things earlier, I didn’t mean them the way they sounded. My anger was never directed at him... it was toward his parents. I felt frustrated, and I took it out on the wrong person. I’m ashamed of that."

Art clapped his hands together lightly. "Great! Then you should be happy now, Evelyn. There’s finally an adult looking after him, so no need to worry anymore, right? We can go home with lighter hearts. Oh! And I’m still all in for all of us staying in one place together. It’d be more fun that way!"

His cheerful tone was met with silence. Miss Celia’s eyes lingered on him a little longer than necessary, a faint flicker of something unreadable dancing in their depths. But she didn’t say anything. She just shook her head and sighed.

"Alright, you children can decide where you want to go. Just remember—none of your parents are going to be home," she said, her tone leveling into something more serious. "Everyone’s been deployed. All of them are on the front lines, fighting against the Rift monsters."

There was a brief silence again before Leon, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke. "That’s... something. Then... what about you? Are you on a break or something?"

Miss Celia gave a faint smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. "Not exactly. I was given the responsibility of keeping you all safe. And yet I let a child wander off into danger... I lost sight of that duty. I’ll bring him back. That much I owe him—and all of you. Now hurry and decide where you want to go. I’ll teleport you there. You have time until I bring Kaelira and Cassius back."

With that, she turned and left.

The group stood in silence once again. It lingered this time, heavier than before.

Art, ever the self-appointed mood lifter, clapped his hands again. "Okay! That’s enough of the gloomy atmosphere. The rescue team’s already on the move, right? Let’s not dwell around anymore."

But Evelyn didn’t appreciate his enthusiasm in the slightest. She shot him a cold glare, one full of disdain and unspoken judgment, then turned on her heels and walked away without a word.

Freya instinctively tried to go after her, but Celeste gently held her back with a shake of the head.

Art remained frozen, staring at Evelyn’s retreating figure.

Zyon, watching everything from the side, let out a long breath before walking over and giving Art a pat on the back. "You’re genuine trash, you know that?" he said with a wry smile. "I get it, what you said was probably for our sake. But man, there were better ways to go about it. That... that was the worst possible way."

Art didn’t deny it. He didn’t even flinch. Just shook his head and muttered, "This isn’t the time to sugarcoat things. She has her own teleportation method. I was just trying to drill the reality into her head—that saving him might not even be possible."

He paused, eyes growing distant.

"I was escalating the severity of the situation because it’s already worse than any of us can imagine. I’m scared of what Cassius is up against. I want to help him—I will help him—but I don’t want anyone else getting involved. Not when it’s that dangerous."

Zyon raised an eyebrow. "Even me?"

Art didn’t even glance at him. "Even you."

He said it plainly. "No one can defeat them. Killing isn’t even an option, not with the kind of enemies we’re talking about. It feels like... like the gods have abandoned this world."

Zyon went quiet for a moment, then whispered, "Vorr’Kael..."

Art gave a small nod. "Yeah. That name... We need to dig deeper into it. A lot deeper. History’s been erased. The true history. But I still have some of the old records. My parents aren’t home either. So..."

He turned to face the others with a grin full of mischief and resolve.

"Let’s go to my castle. We’ll have our summer break there. And while we’re at it—let’s uncover the truth."