Chapter 515:Comfort.

Chapter 515: 515:Comfort.

After sneaking in, the first thing Silver noticed when Ravenna opened her dormitory door was that she wasn’t smiling.

That alone was enough to tell him something was wrong.

Normally, Ravenna would greet him with a small smile, a sarcastic remark about how long he’d taken, or a complaint about his tendency to spend more time training than resting. Sometimes she would simply pull him inside before he had an opportunity to say anything, particularly on evenings when they hadn’t seen much of each other.

Their relationship had become considerably more comfortable over the past several weeks, and he had grown accustomed to the little habits she’d developed around him.

Tonight, however, she simply stood in the doorway, her white hair falling loosely around her shoulders and her eyes looking unusually tired.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is concerning," he softly said.

Ravenna blinked.

"What?"

"You’re not insulting me."

She blankly stared at him.

Silver continued with a serious expression, "Normally, you’d have already complained that I took too long, asked whether I destroyed another training room, or accused me of doing something stupid with my spatial abilities. The fact that none of those things has happened suggests something catastrophic."

She looked at him for several seconds before a reluctant smile appeared.

"You’re an idiot."

He nodded.

"There it is. I was getting worried."

She shook her head and stepped aside.

"Come in."

Silver entered the room, closing the door behind him before removing his jacket and placing it over the back of a chair. His gaze briefly moved across the desk, where several research documents remained open beside her academy tablet. Diagrams of beast cores, biological structures, and soul-energy circulation pathways covered the display, and he noticed that she’d highlighted several passages concerning abnormal mutations.

"Studying already?" he asked, approaching the desk. "Your specialization hasn’t even properly started, and you’re already behaving like someone who hasn’t seen sunlight in three years."

Ravenna folded her arms.

"Some of us enjoy learning things that don’t involve hitting people with swords ," she mumbled between her teeth.

Silver looked offended.

"I’ll have you know I also shoot people."

"How sophisticated."

"Thank you."

She laughed quietly, but the expression disappeared almost immediately.

He noticed.

He turned away from the desk and approached her.

"All right. What happened?" He softly asked.

Ravenna looked toward the window. For a moment, she seemed uncertain whether she wanted to answer, yhen she sighed.

"My father called."

His expression changed.

He didn’t immediately speak; instead, he pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, gesturing toward the other.

"Come here."

Ravenna looked at him.

"Silver, you don’t have to..."

"Ravenna."

He smiled faintly.

"I came because you asked me to. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s bothering you, and considering how stubborn you are, that could take a while. So we might as well sit comfortably."

She stared at him, then shook her head.

"You’re the stubborn one."

"Debatable."

Nevertheless, she sat opposite him.

Silver leaned back.

"So. Your father."

She lowered her gaze.

"He wants me to help Shirley," she quietly said.

His eyebrows rose.

"Help her with what?" He asked.

She laughed bitterly.

"Apparently, she has been having difficulties at the academy, and according to him, it’s my responsibility as her older sister to make things easier for her."

Silver remained silent.

Ravenna continued, "He also mentioned that the family business has been suffering since the beast migrations began. Several contracts were cancelled, transportation costs have increased, and they’re having problems with creditors. He thinks establishing a connection with the Ruddington family would solve some of those problems."

He slowly nodded.

"Ah."

Ravenna looked at him.

"What the hell, that’s all you have to say? Can’t you say something more"

He considered it for a moment before responding.

"Would you prefer something less polite?" He asked.

Despite herself, she smiled.

"Probably."

He leaned forward.

"Then your father is an idiot."

Her eyes widened for a few seconds before her laughter filled the room.

"Silver!"

"What? I’m being generous. I could’ve said something considerably worse."

She covered her mouth.

He continued, "Let’s see if I understand this correctly. Your father calls you after barely showing any interest in your life, informs you that the family is having financial problems, and decides the obvious solution is for you to convince your boyfriend to help the same sister who tried to kiss him during an emergency evacuation."

Her smile faded.

"Yes."

He stared at her.

"That’s impressive."

"Silver..."

"No, genuinely. The man has somehow managed to combine terrible parenting, poor business judgment, and an extraordinary lack of shame into one conversation. That’s almost a talent."

She laughed again, although this time her eyes were becoming wet.

Silver’s expression softened.

"Hey."

She lowered her head.

He reached across the table and took her hand.

"What else did he say?"

Ravenna hesitated, then quietly answered, "He threatened my academy placement."

Silver stopped smiling.

For several seconds, he simply looked at her.

Then he asked, "How?"

"He implied that if I refused to cooperate, there might be complications with my enrollment, you know that incident. I think they’ll use it against me or something, I don’t know. They might even create a problem out of the blue and use it as evidence just to force me into submission," she quietly said. "I’m scared it might really work. My father can be very cruel."

Silver frowned.

"Let me asked you this simple question, are they paying your tuition?"

"No, but I can’t help it."

Silver slowly nodded.

"Right, so he’s threatening something he actually has no control over."

Ravenna looked down.

"I know."

"Then why are you worried?" He quietly said, as he tried to get her put of her fog.

She remained quiet.

Silver waited.

Eventually, Ravenna spoke.

"Because he has done things like this before."

Her voice was softer now.

"When I was younger, whenever I disagreed with him or my stepmother, they’d remind me that I was living in their house. That they were paying for everything I have. That I should be grateful because other children didn’t have the opportunities I had. Sometimes they’d take things away. Sometimes they’d threaten to send me somewhere else. And sometimes..."

She stopped.

His tightened his grip on her hand.

"Sometimes?"

Ravenna swallowed.

"Sometimes they’d simply stop speaking to me until I apologized."

Silver remained silent.

She gave a small, humorless laugh.

"It sounds ridiculous now. I’m almost Rank Three. I’ve fought Tier Four beasts, survived Hollow Creek, and spent months living away from them. But the moment I saw his name on my communicator, I felt like I was back in that house all alone and helpless."

Silver studied her expression, then quietly said, "That doesn’t sound ridiculous."

Ravenna looked toward him.

He continued, "You spent years learning that disagreeing with your family had consequences. Knowing you can defend yourself now doesn’t automatically erase that."

She lowered her gaze.

Silver leaned forward.

"But listen carefully. Your father doesn’t get to decide whether you belong here, the admission ticket is under the Ruddington family,so he shouldn’t be able to get much of a say unless someone from home talks to the academy. Also, to ass on that, you earned your admission, you earned your ranking, and if he tries to interfere with that, we’ll deal with it through the academy’s actual regulations rather than whatever threats he’s making over the phone."

She looked at him.

"And Shirley?"

His expression became colder.

"Shirley made her own decisions." He paused. "She tried to interfere with our relationship, ignored me when I told her to stop, and chose to do it while civilians were dying around us. I don’t hate her, Ravenna, but I’m not going to pretend that behavior was acceptable just because her family wants something from mine."

She slowly nodded.

Silver continued, "If she wants to repair her reputation, she can start by taking responsibility for what she did. That’s not your job."

For several seconds, she stared at him, then stood.

Silver blinked.

"Ravenna?"

She walked around the table, sat sideways across his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

He laughed softly.

"Well, hello beautiful."

"Shut up."

"Very romantic indeed."

She buried her face against his neck and he placed his arms around her waist. They remained like that for several minutes.

Eventually, Ravenna whispered, "They’re coming to Alpha Three."

His expression changed.

"When?"

"He didn’t say exactly. Just that he and my stepmother wanted to discuss reconciliation."

Silver considered it, then nodded.

"All right."

Ravenna raised her head.

"All right?"

"Yes."

"What does that mean?"

"It means when they arrive, we’ll hear what they have to say. If they behave reasonably, wonderful. If they don’t, we’ll handle that too."

She studied him.

"You’re not worried?"

He smiled.

"Ravenna, I have relatives who would probably celebrate if I disappeared tomorrow. Your father wanting a business introduction isn’t particularly frightening by comparison."

She frowned.

"That’s not funny."

"Wasn’t entirely joking."

Her expression became serious.

"Silver."

He sighed.

"I know."

She touched his cheek.

"Shawn said something about your family, didn’t he?"

He looked at her and nodded.

"Apparently, my uncles have been making some interesting business arrangements."

"What kind?"

"Security contracts, outside organizations and discussions about Grandfather’s succession."

Her eyes narrowed.

"That sounds dangerous."

"It might be."

"Have you told your grandfather?"

"Shawn’s looking into a few things. I’ve never really had a good relationship with the old man."

Ravenna stared and said firmly, "Don’t try to handle everything alone."

He smiled faintly.

"Funny. I was about to tell you the same thing."

She leaned forward until their foreheads touched.

"Then maybe we should both listen."

He laughed quietly.

"Agreed."