CHAPTER 148: RECIPE OF A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP

"There he is," Laila sighed as she entered the infirmary alongside Lizel and found Kevin still seated at the same spot as last night.

Over the past few days, these few academy students had gone through a series of events.

First, the unexpected assessments they were thrown into, followed by the attack from the Devil, and the cancellation of the whole event.

If that was not enough, on their way back to the Academy, the carriage in which Kevin, Natalie, Gizel, and the vice-headmaster were traveling was suddenly attacked.

It had been two days since they returned, and yet Kevin hadn’t moved from Natalie’s side even once.

The two girls approached the bed before Lizel asked, "Did you sleep last night, Kevin?"

The raven-haired flinched, as if he didn’t sense them coming, before he looked up and nodded, "Yeah. I arrived here just an hour ago."

Laila narrowed her eyes. "Really? Then why are your eyes so red?"

Kevin exhaled a sigh as he rubbed his eyes and said, "I might have gotten an infection. Anyway, did you two have breakfast?"

Lizel and Laila shared a nervous glance before the former approached him and held his shoulder before stating, "Kevin... you saved them. It’s not your fault that Natalie got injured. Why are you beating yourself over it?"

Laila also said, "That’s right. What matters is that you all survived."

Kevin shook his head. "You two don’t understand." He glanced around before he uttered in a quieter voice, "That being was there for me. The others were just a source to mentally break me."

Laila frowned at those words. "You never mentioned anything about it before."

Lizel nodded. "You didn’t tell that to the Headmaster either."

Kevin’s shoulders sank. "Because I am unsure at the moment." His gaze fell to the ground before he added, "That being... he was calling me the Chosen One, even though I don’t know what it meant, and he mentioned that he had been monitoring me for a long time."

"The Chosen One?" Laila hummed in confusion. "Did he mention anything else? And, more importantly, if that creature was strong enough to knock out even the vice-headmaster, how did you defeat it? Don’t tell us the same lie as you told the others."

The pink head wasn’t having the same crap she heard from him when Kevin was recounting the whole incident before the Headmaster.

It sounded so absurd to hear that just when the corrupted human was about to kill Natalie, a strange golden glow appeared out of nowhere and saved the day.

She knew Kevin had something to do with it.

The black-haired young adult sighed... he can’t hide anything from them, can he?

Lizel hesitantly spoke, "You don’t have to force yourself to tell us if you—"

"No, it’s okay." Kevin shook his head as he held her hand and told them, "I believe I had somehow used the Sacrificial Ritual... or what I am assuming."

Natalie was taken aback while Lizel flinched at those words.

The success rate of the Sacrificial Ritual was concerning. Many aether users might lose several years of their lives in the attempt.

"What do you mean by you don’t know?" Laila pressed for an answer. The matter now sounded more grim than it already was.

Kevin looked at his hands and muttered, "I don’t know... I saw a being who gave me power... but he didn’t say anything and returned me to the mortal world, where I suddenly had the strength to behead that corrupted human."

Laila and Lizel exchanged another uneasy glance.

A brief moment of pause settled between them before Laila muttered, "Well, I was at least right about the fact that you killed that bastard."

Kevin chuckled as he looked up at her. "How could I have let that asshole go after he threatened my friends?"

Lizel softly smiled, seeing his usual energy returning, before she urged, "Now, let’s go and have breakfast."

Kevin didn’t stop her from pulling him as the two girls started to lead him out of the infirmary.

What they completely missed to witness was how quickly Kevin’s expression shifted from a smile to grim seriousness.

He hadn’t forgotten a single word spoken to him by that being who saved his life.

Not a single word.

....

The morning breakfast was quite... quiet, Vitori noticed.

The smile, the exchange... it was all missing between the two young ones.

The only sound that came was from the fork of Nana, who was barely managing to swallow the big pieces of pancakes.

She loved pancakes!

Emma finally noticed that Nana couldn’t chew those big chunks properly, so she took her plate—only to be met by Nana’s big, round, panicked eyes.

Emma sighed. "I will give it back."

The girl watched her big sister slice the pancakes into pieces and instantly picked up the spoon of honey, ready to pour more once her plate was returned.

William kept glancing at Emma but didn’t say a word.

They... had barely exchanged a word ever since the last exchange they had near the staircase.

It wasn’t even an argument. Emma was just reluctant to tell him something that was very important to William. It was about his identity. His origin.

Vitori finally broke the silence and asked, "Have you changed your mind about your partner in just one day, Emma?"

Emma paused, then her eyes lifted, and she found William looking back at her.

The silver-haired girl coughed before saying, "We are... going through our first fight. Don’t interfere."

William almost laughed. "This is not even a fight. You should apologize for what happened, and here you are giving me the cold treatment."

Vitori chuckled. "Expecting to hear sorry from a lady after an argument? Quite high hopes you have."

William blinked before he turned toward the man. "Is it not normal to expect an apology if the other person is wrong?"

Vitori shook his head. "You clearly don’t have much experience." Lifting his fork, he added with a nod of his head, "The recipe of a healthy relationship: the lady is always right."

William dumbly turned to look at Emma, as if asking for confirmation.

The silver head smiled shamelessly and said, "Well, not sorry, but if you feed me a slice, I might forget this little fight."

William couldn’t believe that his hand moved before his mind could register it, and he stabbed a piece of the cake before extending it toward her.

Emma parted her soft lips and took the bite. Her small tongue licked her lips as she enjoyed the pancake with an audible hum.

"Sweet. Alright, the fight is over," she declared.

William just sat there, unable to believe what had just happened.

Wasn’t he supposed to be the victim here?

°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Bruh.