CHAPTER 92: FALSE HOPE

The room fell into deep silence that stretched for a moment and was only broken by the stupefied voice of Yabin’s question.

"What?"

Anna’s expression turned dark as she nodded and began explaining.

"I needed to burn the shadow vines of that star beast... So, I began to look through the past of the awakened islanders in search of the rune of fire." She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in and continued.

"But... there were too many of them and I needed to find it fast, so I forced my trait to show me what I wanted to see... and by doing that I learned the rune but at the price of cracking my star core."

Anna turned to look at the Night Seer, but she knew that the Night Seer would be mad at her; thus, she involuntarily closed her eyes. But the Night Seer didn’t say anything, and as the mood was turning awkward. She opened her eyes and looked at the Night Seer, who had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Umm... Saintess?" Anna called out to her in a low voice.

Yabin looked at her with a raised eyebrow and questioned.

"Did you say that you ’forced’ your trait?"

"Yes?"

Yabin looked at Anna with an expression one gave to something they found strange and alluring at the same time. She shook her head and asked.

"How can you even force it? You speak of your triat as if it’s a living being..."

Now Anna was puzzled at her words; she blinked a few times and asked in a perplexed tone.

"Is it not supposed to be? How would one know the ways to use it then?"

Yabin furrowed her brows and spoke.

"What are you even talking about? We have to find that out by ourselves."

Yabin’s voice turned low at the end as her eyes widened.

"Wait, wait... Did you know how to use your trait right after the awakening?"

Anna nodded at her, and the room again fell into deep silence. She lowered her head as the Night Seer kept looking at her like she was looking at a monster.

"I-I see..."

Yabin mumbled as she stood and walked towards the door. She stooped before the door and spoke.

"We shall talk about it later. You should rest for now."

Anna nodded at her words as she lay back in the bed and began to stare at the ceiling.

’I have to find a way to fix my star core...’

She placed an arm over her head and closed her eyes.

Neo had also woken up from the sleep and was standing at the balcony of the room he was in within the Night Tower, and looked at the bustling Moonveil city. The crystal walls of the builders glistened under the moonlight, painting it with vibrant colour. The blend of colours didn’t appear chaotic; instead, it had a strange order which he was trying to find.

"Like what you see?" A female voice came from behind.

He, however, didn’t answer and continued to look at the city with interested eyes.

"Hah..." Yabin heaved a sigh and shook her head as she walked and stood beside him.

"You aren’t a lowborn." She said in a serious tone as she looked at him with the back of her eyes.

Neo’s expression broke into a frown as she scowled.

"You don’t have to feed me false hope, Miss Noctvelle."

Yabin turned and stared at him for a few minutes, after which she shook her head and asked.

"How do you know I am lying?"

"Young Master has already tried to find ways to awaken me."

"It doesn’t imply that I am lying."

Neo turned silent on her words and lowered his head. He knew that he was being rude to the saintess of Night Tower, who held strength no weaker than Damien’s. But he didn’t want to have any false hope, because false hope may take away whatever he has right now.

"You are scared, aren’t you?" Yabin questioned as she turned to look at the moonveil city.

Neo didn’t answer and just stayed as he was before.

Yabin also didn’t speak for some time and let the silence sink in. The silence was heavy and deafening in its own, yet it was salvation to Neo.

The silence stretched until Neo decided to break it with his answer in a shaky voice.

"I am... I fear losing what I have just for the allure of what I could have."

He paused as he took a deep breath and continued.

"I have goals I can’t fulfil as I am, and I have responsibilities as I am... And I can’t lose one for another," he stated with a bittersweet smile.

"You don’t have to, you just have to follow Anna on her journey," Yabin said as she continued to look at the city.

Neo frowned at her words and asked in a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?"

The Night Seer looked at her with a wide smile, but didn’t answer. She turned around and spoke as she left him alone.

"You should get comfortable here, you will stay here for quite some time after all."

Neo’s frown deepened as he looked at the departing figure of the Night Seer. He lifted his hands and rubbed his face as he mumbled.

"Am I the only sane one here?"

Lavina Heart, the mayor of Moonveil City, sat in her office chair as she looked through the documents with a furrowed brow.

Right at that moment, someone knocked at her door.

*Knock* *Knock*

She furrowed her brows as she put her quill down and spoke.

"Come in."

A young man in a grey robe walked inside with a troubled face.

Lavina raised an eyebrow and questioned.

"What’s wrong, Derrick?"

Derrick stopped in front of her desk and answered in a grave tone.

"Miss mayor... It’s a huge trouble."

Lavina collapsed in her chair as she spoke.

"When is it not a huge trouble?"

Derrick turned silent at her question, and she continued.

"So what is this huge trouble?"

"The public demands to see the Golden Angel," Derrick answered.

Did she hear wrong, or did his tone hold a bit of reverence? Lavina didn’t ponder it and shook her head as she asked with a puzzled expression.

"The who now?"