Ever since Malric left the academy grounds, Sera had started keeping her distance.
It wasn’t a sudden, loud dramatic change.
It was a subtle shift, but prominent enough for anyone paying attention to notice.
She stopped sitting right in the middle of their group.
When all four of the guys came into her quarters, she stayed near the arched window, gazing outside.
When someone spoke directly to her, her responses were short and detached.
Yes.
No.
Fine.
Nothing beyond the bare minimum.
For the first two days, Lucien tried to play it off and act like nothing had changed.
But on the evening of the third day, he pushed her door open without knocking and walked straight in.
”Alright, that’s enough,” he said, his voice carrying a genuine tone of frustration for the very first time.
”I’ve been trying to act like everything is normal for two full days now.” ”You’re not being normal.” ”Just tell us what’s going on in your head.” Sera was standing by the window.
She turned around slowly to face him.
”I was just thinking about how naive I used to be,” she replied quietly.
Lucien’s face turned serious.
”What is that supposed to mean?” ”It means I actually believed you guys were sticking around because you cared about me,” Sera said softly.
There was no anger in her voice.
Just pure, heavy exhaustion.
”Now I realize my power came first.” ”I was just the vessel attached to it.” Lucien went silent.
He stood there for so long that Sera looked up to meet his eyes.
”You’re not even denying it,” she observed.
”Because I don’t want to lie to you,” Lucien answered, a rare heaviness weighing down his tone.
”In the beginning…
yeah.
I was curious.” ”My family collects information, and everything happening around you was far from normal.” ”I came close to inspect that mystery.
But now—” ”Now what?” Sera interrupted.
”Now you suddenly care?” ”Because now you think I’m valuable?” Lucien opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
He didn’t have a clean, easy answer for her.
A knock sounded at the open doorway, and Kairos stepped into the room.
Taking one look at the atmosphere, he realized instantly how serious the conversation was.
”I want to hear this too,” Kairos said quietly.
Sera looked at both of them.
”Fine.
Then listen carefully.” ”I’ve been piecing things together.” ”When Caelum touched my hand back then, his eyes changed.” ”Riven could feel my power from the very first day we met.” ”You are tied directly to the Temple.” ”And Lucien’s family collects high-level secrets.” ”None of this is a random coincidence.” Kairos took a slow, deep breath.
”Your doubts aren’t wrong.
But—” ”Don’t say ‘but’,” Sera cut him off.
She sounded calm, but it was clear she had made up her mind.
”I don’t want to hear any excuses right now.” She moved toward the door to leave.
But Riven and Caelum stepped into the hallway right at that moment.
It was as if they knew this confrontation was bound to happen today.
Caelum stepped inside and shut the door behind them.
”Now that everyone is here, let’s clear the air.” Sera looked at the four of them standing together.
For the first time, the spacious room felt claustrophobic.
Caelum spoke up first, making no attempt to hide the truth.
”I approached you because of your power.” ”When I touched your hand that day, I felt something extraordinary inside you.” ”I am a prince.
I couldn’t just ignore a power like that.” Riven spoke next, his dark eyes fixed on her.
”I felt it on the very first day.” ”I came close because the entity inside you was pulling at me.” ”Not you.
At first, it was strictly the entity.” Kairos looked down before facing her.
”The Temple gave me direct orders to observe you.” ”I was torn between my duty and my conscience.” ”I still am.” Lucien finished, holding her gaze.
”Like I said before.
Curiosity and information.” ”I won’t pretend otherwise.” A suffocating, deep silence fell over the room.
Sera looked at each of them, one by one.
There were no tears on her face.
She didn’t shout or scream.
There was only a cold, sharp understanding settling in her heart.
”Thank you,” she said softly.
”At least everything is clear now.” She walked past them toward the exit.
Caelum instinctively reached out to grab her hand.
But Sera pulled back sharply before he could touch her.
”Don’t touch me,” she said.
Her voice wasn’t angry, just deeply tired.
”Please, just don’t touch me right now.” She reached the doorway and paused, her back still turned to them.
”I’m not saying you’re still those same people,” she said quietly without looking back.
”But I can’t just trust you right now.” ”I need time.” She opened the door and walked out, leaving the four of them standing in silence.
Lucien let out a dry breath.
”Well…
that happened.” ”I thought this conversation would come up much later down the road.” ”It came pretty fast.” Nobody laughed.
Riven turned toward the window, watching the empty courtyard.
”She’s going to pull away from us.” ”Starting today, we need to earn her trust back,” Caelum said.
Kairos nodded slowly.
”And if we fail…” ”Then we lose her entirely,” Caelum finished.
Out in the long stone corridor, Sera walked with quick, deliberate steps.
Inside her chest, that familiar warm golden surge flared up.
It was followed immediately by a cool, icy wave of energy.
This time, both forces felt like stark reminders that she could easily end up standing alone in the end.
She squeezed her hands into tight fists.
She brushed the thoughts aside and kept walking forward.
Down in the main courtyard, the grand carriage pulled away.
Its heavy wheels ground against the gravel.
The royal guards fell into formation and followed closely behind.
The surrounding crowd of students began to disperse in small clusters.
Low whispers were already breaking out among them.
But Sera remained standing right where she was.
Her feet felt rooted to the ground.
Behind her, the four male leads stood in a silent half-circle.
Nobody dared to break the quiet.
Sera turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on Caelum.
Suddenly, her mind was dragged back to a memory from three chapters ago.
It was the day after their intense sparring session when she had touched his hand for the first time.
His bright blue eyes had flashed silver for a split second.
Back then, she just ignored it and thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Now, that old memory came back right alongside Malric’s words.
Did he know back then too?
she asked herself, unable to pull her eyes away from Caelum.
Did his eyes change that day because he already knew something about me that I didn’t even know myself?
Caelum felt the heavy weight of her gaze.
His jaw tightened, his features setting into rigid lines as if he could read the exact suspicion running through her mind.
Yet, he stayed silent and offered no defense.
Lucien broke the tense silence, though he didn’t sound as cheerful as usual.
”So…
that was today’s motivational speech.” ”Personally, I give it a 2 out of 10.” ”A bit too dramatic for my taste.” No one replied, but the rift between them had officially opened.