Chapter 77: Truth [Part-1]

A silver-haired girl and a black-haired boy sat on opposite ends of a long wooden bench in the sprawling academy garden. Soft, green grass cushioned the ground around them, and beautiful flower beds burst with vibrant, contrasting colors designed to catch the eye. The thick canopy of a giant tree shielded them from the warm afternoon sun, letting only a cool, refreshing breeze sweep through the air.

Alicia tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear and shot him a sidelong glance, waiting patiently for him to speak.

Just as she felt her patience wearing thin, he finally broke the silence.

“Why did you do that to me? Did you have some sort of grudge against me that you needed to repay?”

She shook her head. Remembering what she had done to him brought a heavy feeling to her chest. It wasn’t about being obsessed with him; that was an entirely different story.

In truth, the original Alden’s suffering was a direct result of her actions. The reason he was exiled from his family? Her. The person who helped his brother frame him? None other than her.

She betrayed him before they even really knew each other. It was the dark past she wanted to hide the most, but she never expected Syrene to find out and expose it. All her past mistakes were driven by a desperate need. She wanted something specific from the Astra family that would benefit her, which was the only reason she struck a deal with his brother in the first place.

‘What should I tell him? That I was stupid and didn’t know any better?’ she thought to herself.

‘Well, I didn’t actually know him back then, but that doesn’t change what I inevitably did to his life.’

“Sorry…”

Alden didn’t even turn to look at her. He just kept his eyes fixed on a colorful butterfly resting on a flower petal.

“What did you want from my brother?”

Alicia remained silent. She didn’t flinch. He already knew she did it for her own benefit. It was obvious—nobody goes out of their way to ruin a pathetic, unknown boy and get him exiled just for mere amusement. She was the daughter of an SS-ranker from the prestigious Valerius family. She wasn’t the type to care about a fallen heir of the Astra family for no reason.

She looked at him, her face a perfect, unreadable blank slate.

“Do you really want to know?”

Alden turned his head, meeting her eyes fully, and gave a firm nod.

…

Alicia looked at him silently for a few minutes, lightly tapping her fingers against the wooden bench. Slowly, she lifted one finger and pressed it against his bare hand.

A sudden, biting frost rushed over his skin. Alden felt his entire hand paralyze as a freezing, bone-chilling coldness spread through his veins.

*Snap!*

He immediately yanked his hand away, acting on pure instinct. He genuinely felt like his hand was about to fall off.

“W-what? What was that?”

He couldn’t feel anything but pure shock from the sudden ice. He flicked his wrist two or three times to shake off the numbing sensation and calm his racing heart.

Alicia pulled her hand back. Her own finger shivered slightly as she looked right at him.

“That was the exact reason I made a deal with your brother. In order to suppress my awakening, I desperately needed an artifact from your family. It is called the ‘Stellar Core’, the crystallized core of one of your ancestors.”

Alden looked at her, feeling a rush of genuine surprise as he finally understood the deal. He glanced at her hand. Her skin was a pale, snowy white, and her body radiated a coldness that made it seem like she was forged from ice.

“If you got the artifact, then why aren’t you cured? Did it not work?”

She shook her head, her voice calm and steady.

“No, it actually worked. I was able to suppress the frost for a long time. But in the end, the power was too much. The core shattered after being frozen from the inside out.”

Alden nodded at her reasoning, tilting his head with a curious furrow of his brows.

“So, what kind of power are you trying to hold back? Why not just let it out?”

A small smile curved on her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She stared at her pale hands and stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

“No… If I do that, then I will lose myself. I will destroy everything, just like last time.”

Alden noticed the complicated look on her face. It was as if she was holding back a massive secret she couldn’t quite explain to him yet.

“Does it hurt?”

Alicia went completely still. This was the first time since her suffering began that someone actually asked if she felt pain. Of course it hurt. Every single second she breathed, parts of her cells literally froze. She couldn’t control it, and she lost her emotional stability every time she tried to act calm.

Even after coming back to this life, enduring the exact same torturous pain was not easy—especially when she already knew she would eventually die soon anyway.

She nodded involuntarily. There was no use hiding it or lying to his face; her expression spoke volumes.

Alden gently placed his warm hand over hers. He released a steady flow of pure Stellar energy. A soft golden light swept through her pale hands, and a comforting warmth washed over her figure, melting away the freezing coldness in her bones.

She looked up, meeting his crimson eyes.

“You do not have to do that. There is no use. It is only going to make me suffer more when the warmth fades. There is no real way to suppress this power.”

Alden remained quiet. For the first time since arriving in this crazy world, he felt entirely helpless. He couldn’t fix her. He looked at her silent figure, seeing her in a new light. She wasn’t just the untouchable daughter of a strong Awakener, and she wasn’t just a powerful girl demanding respect. She was just a girl suffering through her own agonizing problems. It wasn’t his business to meddle in her life, but for some weird reason, he couldn’t help but want to save her. He didn’t want her to feel this pain.

Alden leaned in slightly and spoke.

“Why did you tell me the truth, though? You could have easily dodged the question. If you wanted, you could have just stayed silent. It is not like I could force you to answer.”

A small, genuine smile curved on her lips. This time, she didn’t try to hide her amusement as her grip on his hand tightened just a fraction.

“Do you really want to know?”

Alden nodded eagerly, waiting impatiently for her big answer.

“Ha! Can we talk about this later? I am feeling so hungry!”

Alden blinked, totally caught off guard. He narrowed his eyes at the sudden change in topic. Alicia looked around and noticed the evening shadows creeping in as the sun dipped low on the horizon. They hadn’t even realized that their little talk on the bench had actually taken hours.

Alicia looked at him with a bright, unhidden smile.

“Let’s find some good place to eat, shall we? Or do you prefer eating a dinner made by me?”

He sighed and shook his head with a wry grin. Here he was, sitting next to the very girl who just revealed she helped ruin his life, framed him, and got him exiled.

But did he actually blame her? Nah! In fact, it was a massive good that he got exiled from that toxic family. He wasn’t the original Alden who desperately craved recognition from a family that didn’t even care about him. The new Alden just wanted independence, freedom, and a happy life away from all that noble drama. He didn’t want to suffer the way the past Alden had.

Even if Alicia hadn’t played a part in his exile, Alden was pretty sure the original owner of this body would have died of depression anyway. What she did actually worked out better for him in the long run.

“I kind of want to eat the food made by you… But let’s postpone that for later. Let’s go outside somewhere nice today.”

Alicia’s eyes shone brightly. “Okay! Then let’s meet outside the academy gates in fifteen minutes!”

Alden raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk forming on his lips.

“Oh, really? Are you sure you will be ready in just fifteen minutes? From my perspective, you are definitely going to make me wait for at least an hour or two!”

Alicia stopd up from the bench. She pulled her hands behind her back and took a few playful steps away, looking back at him with a cheeky grin.

“Hehe… Then you just have to wait! Unless you want to eat alone.”

Without waiting for his comeback, she spun around and started jogging cheerfully out of the garden.

Alden stared at the empty space where she stood just a second ago, then glanced up at the setting sun.

“Sigh… It seems I have to postpone today’s training session.”

Shaking his head with a soft chuckle, he stood up and headed out of the garden. He walked toward the boys’ dormitory, eager to get cleaned up and wear some appropriate clothes for a dinner out in the city.