Chapter 749: A bone chilling hatred [3]

In the end, I never got to tell her the truth.

It wasn’t like I didn’t try. However, I also understood in that moment that it was best for me to keep my mouth closed.

Delilah didn’t look to be in the most optimal state of mind.

This was honestly an unexpected development.

Delilah had always struck me as a strange contradiction — silly, almost childish at times, yet undeniably powerful. She would constantly complain about her duties at the Academy, whining about how exhausting they were, and more often than not, she’d change the topic to talk about chocolate and how she liked it.

She was also the type to steal a chocolate fountain and then bring it for her own events.

Every now and then, though, when the occasion called, she’d show another side of herself. A regal, commanding presence that stood above everyone else.

But this…

This was different.

For the first time, I saw her stripped of her usual facade. There was no trace of her lighthearted grumbling, no hint of the pride she’d sometimes show.

What I saw instead unsettled me.

Cold and alien.

She felt…

Like a completely different person.

‘This is rather concerning.’

I had a sort of idea of what was happening. Piecing all of the information that I knew, it wasn’t hard to figure out the gist of the situation.

‘…Now that she’s almost reached the Zenith, the blood within her body is stirring. She’s likely facing the repercussions of it.’

I could still see the pitch blackness that took over her gaze for a brief moment while we talked. The coldness of her hand and the distant look on her face.

These all pointed to the same thing to me.

Not only that…

‘That might also be the reason why she needs to eliminate all of the gods.’

Not just for revenge, but also because of the blood that flowed through her body.

I bit down on my lip at the thought. A faint sting followed, sharper than I expected, and before I realized it, something warm slid down the corner of my mouth. I froze. My hand lifted on instinct, brushing along my chin, only to smear against something wet. When I pulled it back, a streak of red clung to my fingers.

“…..”

I stood in silence before wiping my mouth and looking ahead.

‘It’s only just a guess for now. There’s no need for me to come to conclusions.’

Despite my thoughts, my heart couldn’t help but sink. With everything that I knew, I understood that this was very likely the situation.

Still..

Not all hope was lost.

‘She said that she will leave once she reaches the Zenith. There are a few months until that happens. I have a bit of time to properly assess the situation and think about what I need to do.’

The most important thing was understanding if it was worth telling her the truth.

I trusted Delilah, but it was obvious that her current state of mind wasn’t the same as the one that I was used to. There was a very high chance that she might act out impulsively due to the blood in her system.

But then again…

This was merely my assumption.

“Ugh.”

I ruffled the back of my head while walking back into the venue of the ‘party’.

There were a lot of things that I needed to think about. From finding a way to fix my ring, figuring out what the Marquis was planning, to Delilah’s situation, and also being careful about the potential moves coming from Toren’s organizations.

Just thinking about all of the things that I needed to do made me feel overwhelmed.

‘Get a grip.’

I placed both of my hands against my cheeks and pulled them.

‘There’s no point feeling overwhelmed. I have time. There’s no need to rush.’

I took several deep breaths to calm myself down.

Then, once my breathing was even, I entered the main venue where I immediately spotted several familiar figures.

“Where were you?”

Leon was the first to greet me. He was holding onto a couple of pastries himself as he held a cup of wine with his other hand.

I scratched the side of my face.

“To the bathroom?”

“For thirty minutes?”

“It was big.”

Leon’s eyes widened before turning back. He seemed to be looking in Evelyn’s and Kiera’s direction, but the two were in their own world, trying whatever food they wanted. From time to time, Evelyn would take out a small notepad and write notes on it, inciting a barrage of curses from Kiera.

I shrugged and looked back at Leon.

“Anything happen while I was gone?”

“Hmm. Not really.”

Leon shook his head while taking a sip of the wine.

“Everything was relatively calm. There were some discussions here and there, but that’s about it. You didn’t miss anything big.”

“Is that so…?”

I was a bit surprised by this, but it was also welcomed. I really didn’t want any more problems.

In fact, I wanted to rest a little.

Not just for today. But at least for a few days.

I was exhausted.

“Should we get going?”

As if noticing my tiredness, Leon spoke.

I looked around before nodding.

“I don’t see why we need to stay here any longer. All I’m getting is weird stares, and all the most important people have already left. I guess it’s time that we return to the main estate.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Leon’s lips trembled slightly as he looked at me. His eyes shone too. In fact, he looked quite expectant.

‘What’s wrong with him? Why is he acting like this?’

It was quite the creepy sight.

I decided not to pay mind to his behavior and calmly walked out of the venue, bidding Kiera and Evelyn goodbye at the same time. The two gave me a brief farewell before returning to whatever they were doing.

Either way, I was going to see them soon, so it wasn’t like the goodbye was necessary.

“It’s nice out.”

Stepping out of the venue and feeling the cold air of the night, I paused for a moment to enjoy the breeze before shifting my attention towards a certain carriage.

I had just taken a step towards it when—

“Hold on.”

A hand grasped my shoulder.

When I turned back, I saw Leon staring at me with a frown.

“Aren’t we heading back to the Evenus Estate?”

“Yeah, we are.”

There was no longer a need to stay in this territory.

I also had a lot of things to take care of.

“That’s far, isn’t it?”

“No, not really.”

Azmonia was relatively close to the Evenus Household.

It had to be that way.

“No, it’s far.”

“What?”

I looked at Leon in confusion. He was glaring daggers at me for some reason, his face screaming things like, ‘Agree with me, you fool. Just say it’s far.’

“But it isn’t…”

Leon’s teeth ground together.

“It is.”

“It isn’t.”

“But it is—You know what, it is far.”

I decided to concede when I realized the argument was going nowhere. I prepared to turn and head to the carriage again when Leon pulled me once more.

“What is it wit—”

“Fuck sake!”

Leon’s voice rose, momentarily leaving me at a loss.

Did he just—

“Why are we using the carriage? You have a literal dragon! Let me use the damn dragon!”

“…..”

Oh.

So that’s why.

I nodded in understanding.

But still….

“No.”

“What, why?”

“Because I’m not allowed. At least not until I register it.”

“What? What sort of nonsense is this?”

“It’s not nonsense.”

I took out my communication device and showed him my recent messages with Aoife.

“See?”

I pointed at the last message.

“I’m apparently supposed to register Pebble to the Empire before I’m allowed to fly with it. Therefore…”

I turned to look at the carriage.

“Carriage it is.”

Leon’s face turned pale as he looked at me. He looked like someone whose entire world was crashing down on them. I silently smiled when I saw him like that.

Honestly, I could probably fly if I wanted to.

But this sight was worth it.

Who the hell listened to Aoife anyway…

***

“…Hmm. This needs a little bit more seasoning. I’d have scored it higher if not for that fact.”

Mumbling to herself, Evelyn jotted down a few things in her notepad before reaching for another plate in front of her. She had recently been neglecting her reviewing side gig, and as a result, people were slowly starting to lose interest in her opinions.

This couldn’t be helped, however.

She had gone missing for quite some time due to the Academy expedition and all the recent events. She didn’t really have the time to put out some reviews.

‘Let’s try this one.’

Looking at the dish in front of her, which seemed to be some sort of mead dish, she smacked her lips a couple of times before reaching forward with her hands.

She had just reached for it, when—

“What are you doing?”

Kiera interrupted, her head popping behind her shoulder as she looked at the notepad in her hand.

Her face turned weird.

“Still doing that?”

“…Leave me alone.”

“You know that’s weird, right?”

“It isn’t.”

“No, it is. I’m pretty sure Aoife feels the same.”

“…..”

Evelyn proceeded to ignore Kiera from that moment forward. She had no time to engage in her nonsense. This was far more important.

She reached for the dish again.

This time, she hoped to be able to eat it without any problems.

But would that really happen?

“….!?”

A hand reached from behind her, grasping the food on her plate and shoving it in her mouth.

“Hey!”

Evelyn immediately turned her head back to glare at Kiera. But by then, it was already too late, as Kiera had already eaten the food.

“What did—!”

Before Evelyn could voice out her protests, Kiera reached forward and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the place.

“Wait, what are you doing? What are you…!”

Kiera didn’t listen.

She just dragged Evelyn away before eventually stopping in front of a large carriage.

Evelyn paused at the sight of the carriage.

Her eyes were mixed between confusion and surprise.

But then—

Clank!

The carriage opened, and a lock of red hair appeared in Evelyn’s vision.

She paused at the sight as Aoife sat by the carriage, smiling at the two of them.

“It’s been a while.”

She patted the leather area next to her.

“There’s a lot that I want to talk with you about. Care to give me some time?”