Read Novel Full Chapter 449: Commemoration Ceremony [III]
Chapter 449: Commemoration Ceremony [III]
I was half-confused and full-offended.
Not because of the offer itself, but because of how she offered it. Like she was negotiating a hostage exchange instead of… whatever this was supposed to be.
I lowered my glass slowly. “Excuse me?”
Thalia’s expression hardened, as if she had expected exactly this reaction. “You heard me.”
“No, I heard the words. I just can’t believe my ears are apparently malfunctioning,” I spat. “Are you asking me to help you? With that tone? Did you leave your brains in our mother’s womb or were you just born stupid?”
A flicker of irritation crossed her face, which was a lot less than the avalanche I actually expected. “Don’t phrase it like that,” she gritted out. “I’m offering a reconciliation. Look… I… why can’t you just obediently follow me? We can bring back Father’s artifact together. We don’t need to assist Ezra, either. We can do it with just the two—”
“Oh, so this is about him,” I scoffed. “You don’t want to share the glory of being Daddy’s favorite little soldier, and you’re realizing Ezra is going to use you—”
“This isn’t about him!” she all but screamed. If anyone nearby heard us, they sure did an incredible job of ignoring the juicy sibling drama. Thalia swiftly composed herself. “This isn’t about Father or Ezra or glory.”
That was it. That was where she stopped, as if it was all the explanation I needed. As if those few words were supposed to magically erase years of taunts and hate.
What was this even about?
“Lia, I won’t cancel my challenge. It’s a challenge you issued to me first anyway. You can’t suddenly back off just because you don’t see your odds overwhelming mine anymore,” I laughed, humourless. “And even if I did, Father still won’t send you to Iron Height. You are prophesied to die there.”
Thalia rolled her eyes. “More often than not, prophecies are a bunch of crap and most seers are idiots who can’t talk without composing idiotic doggerel.”
W-Well…
I wanted to defend the honor of all the oracles of old and new. I really did. But she had a point about how incredibly annoying their rhyming riddles could be.
Like, dude, just say what will happen in a way we normal humans can understand, you absolute walnuts! And it didn’t help their case that most seers actually were nuts, driven to lunacy by their own revelations.
“Well, I still won’t,” I shrugged, using a sharp tone that brooked no argument. “I still want my title back.” And I still wanted her position as the heir of Luxara.
My sister glared at me, vexed by my blunt stubbornness. I believed that was the end of our discussion. Now was the part where she’d throw some insults and threats, then leave.
So I was entirely ready when she opened her mouth and started, “Look, if you want your title back, I—”
But I didn’t get to hear her finish. Because the corner of my eye caught the sight of Lily breaking away from her captors and darting for the exit.
No one aside from the people who were calling after her seemed to notice. Those few who did were too engaged in their own schemes to care.
“Hold that thought,” I muttered, setting my glass down on a passing waiter’s tray and starting after Lily.
“Hey, wait—!” Thalia hissed, reaching out to grab my sleeve. But I deftly twisted my shoulder away to leave her fingers clutching empty air.
•••
The fresh night breeze outside, cold even as it was, was more than welcome.
The dark clouds above Ascent had opened up last night and it had not stopped raining since.
Even now, a soft drizzle was dampening the stone floor of the courtyard.
She was standing by a towering balustrade, sheltering under the narrow eaves. It seemed she was about to step out into the rain.
I slowed my stride, stopping a few paces away so as not to startle her. “If you wanted to leave, you could’ve told me. I have a very high tolerance for committing white-collar battery.”
Lily flinched, her shoulders bunching up as she spun around.
“Sam!” her tone was more reflexive than actually surprised, so she immediately calmed down once she properly took me in. Her quivering hands went up to drag over her face. “Sam… oh, I couldn’t breathe in there. I really couldn’t.”
“I get it,” I said simply, closing in a few steps.
She shook her head, face still buried in her palms. “I’m sorry…”
“What? Why are you sorry?” I was confused.
“Because!” she lifted her hands to make a vague gesture at literally everything. “I’m a… I’m a mess. I don’t want to be around anyone. I don’t want to face him. I made you all worry,” her voice was cracking. “I don’t know what to do, who to blame, how to feel. I’m in no mental condition to fight for you. I’m just unraveling and I don’t—”
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop,” I cut her off gently, closing the remaining distance between us until I was standing close enough to hear her erratic wheezing. “Take a breath. Take a few.”
She looked up at me, her eyes red-rimmed and glassy, and did what I said.
“Worry about yourself for once,” if my expression betrayed any concern, then maybe it was genuine.
She looked like a porcelain doll that had been dropped one too many times, fractures clearly spreading beneath the surface.
“I didn’t come after you to recruit you,” I mean, I kind of did. “I came to see how you were doing. You don’t owe anyone your company if you’re not in the right headspace. It’s fine to prioritize yourself. And this Mock War is my fight. You don’t owe me your allegiance, Lily. But you do owe yourself your recovery. So… how are you doing? Are you okay?”
Looking down, she nodded a few times. Then stopped and shook her head. “No. No, I’m not.”
“Did you see a therapist?” It was a stupid question.
She burst into a chafed laugh, her smile tight.
“See a therapist and tell them what? Hey, Doctor! My boyfriend — ex-boyfriend — had a demon inside him that made me start a bunch of shit? Can you prescribe me a time machine to fix my fuck ups!” she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You almost died because of me, Sam. You were hospitalized for three days! He was manipulated by that demon because of me. My father pretends I’m dead. I just… Grghhh!”
She growled and started pulling her hair.
I had to catch her wrist to make her stop.
Going from dejection to anger, solemnly laughing one moment, crying the next, self-harming without warning…
To say she was emotionally unstable would be an understatement. I initially had a plan in mind to fix her spiralling, but this seemed no time to risk a gamble.
“Lily, stop. Just stop. Blaming yourself for a literal demon manipulation is like blaming yourself for getting struck by lightning!” I shook her wrists gently. She let go, staring at me, trembling a bit. “It was pure bad luck. For everyone involved. And your father is an ass.”
That made her snort, a half-laugh and half-sob.
“Don’t see a therapist, but talk to someone,” I said, releasing her wrists and stepping back to give her some breathing room. “You have your friends. Did you talk to anyone inside?”
She gave a small shrug. “Alexia.”
Of course.
“And what did she say?”
“Nothing that I want to hear or don’t already know.”
Of course.
“That’s her alright,” I let a wry smile touch my lips. “She has this annoying habit of being right.”
The rain kept drumming against the ground, a soothing rhythm that seemed to absorb some of the frantic energy vibrating between us.
After a while, when her breathing finally slowed down into something resembling a normal pace, she inhaled shakily. “I should go home.”
“Okay,” I replied, then paused to think. “Wait, do you even have a home to go back to? We ran into a bit of a problem with our dorm arrangements.”
Lily looked at me confusedly before understanding dawned on her face. “Oh, right. I got irritated with this poor staffer and beat him up. He fixed me with a small apartment. I tried apologizing afterward, but I don’t know if he was entirely conscious to hear me.”
I stared at her, completely blank.
Yeah she really needed help.
And I think I knew which poor staffer she was talking about.
“I… uh, I see. Well, good seeing you,” I nodded.
“You too. And, Sam… good luck for the Mock War,” she was hesitant to say that, I could tell.
With a cursory nod back, she turned around and walked through the drizzle, crossing the courtyard and leaving the premises.
I went back inside but didn’t see Thalia anywhere. I wouldn’t meet her until the day of the Mock War.
I did see some old Western Royal Military Generals. And they didn’t leave me alone for the rest of the night.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed conversing with them.