CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 83: OWE

"If I were you in your place, I would have despised myself too." Ivy’s word echoed in the private training ground, making the atmosphere turn stiff.

"Ivy, you don’t need to..." Silas began, but stopped when Ivy continued her words as if she were some kind of robot,

"I understand your concern. I rejected him repeatedly while letting the Ravencroft family take advantage of him blindly like a fool. I never intended to harm him, but my foolishness harmed him in the end."

The feel of Silas’s warm, sticky blood had left a lasting impression on Ivy.

The cold shoulder given by others never bothered her. But whenever she was all alone in the room, she would remember a certain child who used to chase her.

From childhood to teenage to adulthood, he remained by her side. Loved her deeply. He was the hope of many, yet he only hoped to be loved by her.

Smart, talented, and powerful. Perfect epitome of a ruler. And how did he die? Because of her foolishness.

Often, when she missed him, while the endless darkness surrounded her, she wondered how things would have been if she hadn’t been foolish.

Maybe he would have survived... and his family would have thrived. Maybe they would have been a happy couple... and maybe... just maybe... the Blackthorn family wouldn’t have suffered so much misery all alone.

What stung her the most before was... the Blackthorn family’s acceptance. They hard dropped by to blame Ivy. Freya did blame her, but even she left a letter accepting the fact that it wasn’t Ivy’s mistake.

It was clearly her mistake, but they couldn’t bear to scold her because... they knew... that was what Silas wanted.

She owed them an apology and owed them an explanation. She owed them lives, and it was only right for her to bear their anger.

"Talia, I apologize, and I assure you, going forward, Silas will never get in danger because of me. And I will protect him." Ivy’s voice was calm, as if she were making a casual remark.

Talia stared at Ivy before bursting into mocking laughter. "Hahaha! Hahaha!"

"Talia!" Silas tried to stop her, but Talia ignored him, and her laughter abruptly stopped before she looked at Ivy with a mocking expression,

"Oh, Ivy, I never thought you would resort to mind games now. What a smart move."

"I am not playing any." Ivy calmly but sharply inserted.

Yet, it was as if Talia couldn’t hear her; instead, she continued even louder than before, "Hmm... what are you eyeing this time, huh? Is it Silas’s supplies? You must be out of supplies, right? Or you are scared that no one will protect you in the apocalypse..."

"Ivy, ignore her. Let’s leave." Silas held Ivy’s hand and tried to drag her away, but Ivy didn’t move; instead, she stared at Talia.

Seeing her not leaving Talia, smirked, "What? Don’t you feel insulted? Or is it that you are machoist?"

"You are just worried about your brother not insulting me." Ivy easily decoded the meaning behind Talia’s words.

The smile on Talia’s face stiffened, while Silas froze. Ivy continued,

"Don’t worry, I can serve aquatic animal meat every single day to the entire military, still have food left for the upcoming decade."

The smile on Talia’s face had vanished completely, and she asked in a venom-laced voice,

"What? So what is it that you want this time? Money? Gold? Protection? Power?"

"Neither," Ivy shook her head, "I am here to repay what I owe. Talia, don’t leave the military compound, you will awaken your second superpower soon, and at that time, you will be extremely weak, and the timing will overlap with when your fiancé will ask you to meet."

Silence. There was a long silence before Talia asked in a challenging voice,

"What if I don’t?"

Ivy’s brow furrowed, while Silas scolded, "Talia, don’t push your luck. She is telling it for your own good, follow it."

"I, too, asked you to stay away from this girl for your own good," Talia said sharply, "You didn’t listen, so why should I?"

For the first time, Silas felt frustrated. He was worried, something might happen to Talia, but he couldn’t even force her to listen to his words.

Suddenly realized how Talia must have felt all this time, and a trace of guilt appeared in his heart.

Not for loving Ivy, but for ignoring Talia.

"What can I do to let you stay?" He asked, anxiety visible on his face, making Talia pause.

’Why is he even acting like the world would end if I don’t follow Ivy’s words? She was only correct once, that too in Uncle Stephen’s case. Has he even thought what if Ivy had planned everything and made it seem like she had future vision just to scam him again?’

But her heart still warmed up when she thought about how he cared for her. Masking her touched emotions, she turned toward Ivy and thought,

’She seems to have changed. But I still can’t trust her. It would be better to separate her from my brother. Once she has to face the cruel reality of today, she will stop with her scheming and might even become so scared that she will give up.’

"Not you." Talia smiled, her eyes locked on Ivy, "Her. After all, when Ivy wanted to attend a party, Isla had asked Silas to kneel for an entire hour, and he did. So now... It’s time to return the favor."

’This girl will definitely decline... worse, she might even cry.’

"No!" Silas declined.

"I agree," Ivy spoke louder than he did. "What is the condition?"

Talia raised an eyebrow before smiling, "Simple. I have heard that there are new evolved zombies who seem to have a crystal. I want 1000 of such. As long as you can bring it to me within 7 days, without buying it from other and on your own, I will listen to you and not leave."