"I lied about Razeal trying to rape me… I… I lied about everything that day." Selena's voice barely carried.

The words fell from her mouth in fragments, each one heavier than the last. She couldn't make herself look up. Her gaze stayed fixed on the ground, as if the stone floor might open and swallow her whole. Her fingers twisted together, knuckles pale, shoulders drawn inward like she was bracing for a blow.

She had prepared herself for shouting. For shock. For anger, disgust, disbelief. She had prepared for Nova's face to harden, Even as for Marcella to step forward in outrage as she was here too, for everything to finally come crashing down on her.

But it didn't.

Nothing happened.

Marcella, standing slightly to the side, didn't react the way Selena feared. No sharp intake of breath. No furious denial. She only stilled, her expression tightening just a little, as if she were absorbing something unpleasant but not entirely unexpected.

And Nova… Nova didn't move at all.

The silence stretched. It was worse than any scream.

"I know what you're trying to do," Nova said at last. Her voice was cal. It didn't rise nor shook.

"But you don't need to lie, Selena," Nova continued, turning fully toward her. "If you're saying this because you think it will make me change how I see him… if you think I'll take him back gently, apologize for what I did… So things will be easier between us."

Nova shook her head once. "You don't need to do this."

She stepped closer, close enough that Selena could feel her presence without looking up.

"I know you," Nova said quietly. "I know you've always felt guilty about Razeal breaking away from the family.. And i know you taking that as your responsibility and are carrying that guilt. But you need to remember something."

Nova reached out and placed a hand on Selena's shoulder. Her touch was warm, steady.

"You were right," she said. "Don't sacrifice yourself for someone else's mistakes. He was wrong. It wasn't your fault."

"It was our fault," Nova went on. "Mine. The family's. We didn't handle that situation properly. We failed both of you."

Her hand tightened slightly, a grounding pressure.

"But it was never your fault."

Nova's voice softened further, dropping to something almost intimate.

"Maybe if I hadn't acted the way I did that day… maybe things would've turned out differently. Maybe."

She let out a slow breath.

"But that doesn't change the truth. You didn't do anything wrong."

Selena listened, frozen.

Nova still believed she was lying.

That realization hit harder than any accusation.

Nova spoke with complete certainty, with compassion even, but none of it was for the truth Selena had just confessed. It was all built on the assumption that Selena was sacrificing herself again. Lying again. Protecting Razeal again.

And Nova wasn't alone in that belief.

Marcella remained silent, but her lack of reaction said enough. No outrage. No horror. No shock. Just acceptance of the lie Nova thought she was hearing.

Selena felt something hollow open in her chest.

Nova continued speaking, unaware

"If you said this to anyone else," Nova added carefully, "outside these walls… it wouldve destroy you."

"To admit you lied about something like that?" Nova said. "The backlash would be enormous. You'd be branded a liar. Everything you are would be questioned."

She paused, her expression turning troubled.

"You're a saintess," Nova said. "Chosen by the God of Light himself. Even if your title as saintess couldn't be stripped away… your standing would never recover. And your family.."

"They'd be dragged into it. The church would be criticized. Their credibility would suffer. You could lose your position as heiress."

Nova looked genuinely concerned now.

"This isn't a small thing, Selena," she said softly. "It's too much to ask of you.. Don't take and say thing's like this so lightly."

Nova felt sadness rising in her chest sadness at how deeply Selena cared for her brother. Enough to risk everything. Enough to destroy herself if it meant easing Razeal's burden.

It hurt to see.

It also made Nova painfully aware of something she tried not to think about: that Selena would probably still accept Razeal, even now. Even after everything. She would smile, convince herself she was happy, and never look back.

Nova knew her too well.

And that only made it worse.

Because Razeal didn't deserve her.

Not then nor now.. He was fucking bastard.

Selena finally lifted her head.

Slowly. Carefully.

Her eyes met Nova's.

They weren't tearful. They were complicated hurt layered over disbelief, disbelief edged with something sharper.

Nova stopped speaking.

Selena had listened to every word. And with every sentence, understanding had settled in her chest like a stone.

Nova didn't believe her.

Not for even a second.

Even after Selena had said it plainly. Even after she had confessed without excuses.

Nova still thought she was lying.

For Razeal.

Selena remembered Nancy's words then. The quiet certainty in her voice. It wasn't your fault. They didn't believe him not because of you, but because they chose not to.

Now she saw it clearly.

Even now, even faced with the truth laid bare, Nova couldn't accept that Razeal might have been innocent. Not really.

Selena's voice was steady when she spoke, though something deep inside her shook.

"Do you really trust him that little?" she asked genuinely saddened.

Nova blinked.

"I just told you he didn't do it then he didn't," Selena continued, her tone quiet but piercing. "I said I lied. I admitted it outright. And still… you can't believe, even for a second, that he might be innocent?"

She held Nova's gaze, refusing to look away this time.

"Do you have that little trust in him?"

The question landed harder than Selena intended.

Nova stiffened.

Something in Selena's voice something raw, something wounded made her chest tighten. It wasn't accusation alone. It was disbelief. Hurt. A plea that had been buried too long.

Nova turned her head slightly, breaking eye contact.

"It's not like that," Nova said.

Her voice was lower now. Strange. Uneven.

Nova wasn't someone who avoided confrontation. She never had been. Yet now, she found herself staring off to the side, lips pressed together.

"You're saying I can't trust him even for a second," she murmured.

She let out a breath that sounded almost bitter.

"But that's not what this is about, Selena."

She turned back, offering a small, sad smile.

"I always believed he didn't do it," Nova said her voice resolute.

Selena's breath caught.

"I trust him," Nova continued quietly. "I trust that he wouldn't do something like that."

A faint frown slowly formed on Selena's face. "You… always believed in him?"

The words sounded strange even to her own ears. For a moment, she genuinely thought Nova might be lying. The thought unsettled her more than she expected. Nova wasn't the kind of person who hid behind words or softened the truth. She was direct to a fault.

And yet, if she truly believed in him

"Then why did you…?" Selena asked, her voice trailing off, confusion tightening her chest.

Nova exhaled slowly.

"Trust and feelings can blind you," she said. "They don't just influence you. They control you."

She spoke evenly, but her expression was tense, restrained.

"When you care about someone, you stop believing they're capable of things you think are wrong. Your feelings manipulate your thoughts until you only see what you want to see. I trusted him. I still do. I believe he didn't do it."

"But I'm not weak enough," Nova continued, her tone firm, "to abandon my reason completely. Not when doing so could lead me to something truly wrong."

She shook her head once, as if rejecting her own past self.

"Sometimes you have to think far beyond your feelings. Because the moment emotions step into judgment, they destroy everything you are trying to protect."

Nova paused, then spoke again, more quietly.

"It's like a judge who loves the defendant."

Selena didn't interrupt.

"The judge doesn't step away because they think the person is innocent or guilty," Nova said. "They step away because they love them too much."

Her gaze hardened.

"If they stayed on the case, their love would soften every piece of evidence. Every flaw would seem smaller. Every doubt would be silenced by hope. Every mistake would be excused before it's even examined."

Her eye's hardened.

"So the judge forces themselves to be impartial. Not because they distrust the defendant, but because they fear blind faith."

Nova's voice lowered.

"Because they know their heart can rewrite reality. Turn belief into certainty. And certainty into denial."

A brief pause.

"And yes," she added, "the defendant could still be guilty.."

She continued, quieter now.

"It's the same with parents and children. Parents know their children deeply. Love them fiercely. But they also understand that love doesn't erase wrongdoing."

Her lips pressed together.

"A parent doesn't stop loving their child when they make a mistake," Nova said. "But they don't deny the mistake either. They hold both truths at once."

"Its like.. I love You," she murmured, "but you still did wrong."

Silence settled between them.

"So no," Nova said at last. "Forcing myself not to.. Well."

Her expression was tired now.

"It was self-protection."

She lifted her gaze again.

"Because belief without restraint becomes blindness. And love, when unchecked, can imprison the mind."

Nova took a breath.

"I don't doubt him because I don't trust him," she said. "I doubt him because I trust feelings and facts too much to let either decide alone."

Her voice softened.

"So it's not that I didn't believe in him. I chose not to believe in myself and my judgement when it came to him."

"That's why I chose facts."

Selena closed her eyes.

The sadness hit her all at once.

"You made a very stupid choice, Sister nova," she said quietly.

There was no anger in her voice. Only exhaustion.

"You really did."

"You should have believed in him," Selena continued, eyes still shut. "Facts can lie.."

She couldn't understand Nova's reasoning. But she didn't doubt her sincerity.

Because even then Razeal had never left Nova's heart or mind.

When everyone believed he was dead, when grief settled into the family and everyone who cared for him, when some gave up searching and others learned to live with guilt and sorrow Nova hadn't.

Even Selena had accepted his death. Just like everyone else. Even his mother.

But Nova hadn't.

Nova had been the only one who said she would bring him back. Even if she had to drag him from death itself.

Selena had seen it.

The sleepless nights. The endless research. The old legends, forbidden texts, forgotten stories anything that hinted at resurrection.

Nova had given everything.

So much of her life had become about him that nothing else remained untouched.

Even the organization she had built R.A.V.E.N.

The secret intelligence force that answered to her alone.

Selena knew the truth of it better than anyone.

Nova Virelan had never formed R.A.V.E.N. for power, influence, or ambition. She had created it for one reason only ..him.

To find Razeal.

To find clues about where he went.

To dig through forbidden archives, sealed histories, lost research anything that hinted at reversing death, rewriting fate, or dragging someone back from beyond the point of no return.

Eighty… maybe ninety percent of the organization's true efforts had been poured into that single goal.

If not for that obsession if not for the last five or six years spent chasing shadows and impossible answers Nova would have been terrifyingly stronger than she already was. More efficient, dominant or dangerous.

R.A.V.E.N. could have been an empire of information.

Instead, it had been a desperate net cast endlessly into darkness.

And Nova had never said any of this aloud.

She never would.

But Selena knew.

No one no title, no duty, no ambition mattered more to Nova than Razeal. Not even herself.

Fighting her own mother for him was proof enough.

That alone was something no sane person would ever dare.

Merisa Virelan.

A name that made even seasoned nobles hesitate.

A woman so incomprehensible that fear and respect were inseparable in her presence.

She had killed her own husband.

And when asked why

She had answered calmly, without hesitation:

"Because he was my brother."

The words themselves defied reason.

Husband. Brother. Father of her children.

To kill someone like that not in rage, not in grief, but with cold certainty was beyond cruelty. It was beyond morality. It was something that couldn't even be judged by ordinary standards.

No one truly knew what Merisa took seriously… or who she might decide to erase next.

That was why even the Virelans feared her.

Why the entire household functioned like a perfectly disciplined machine silent, obedient, unshaking. One didn't need threats when fear itself was absolute.

Selena understood all of this.

Which was why Nova fighting Merisa physically standing against her said more than any confession ever could.

When Selena finished speaking, the room fell quiet again.

Nova was silent for a long moment.

Then

She smiled small and almost tired.

"Facts can lie," Nova said at last, her voice steady. "But facts that come from people you know… people who care about him just as much as you do…"

Her eyes lifted and met Selena's fully now.

"That makes me understand something," Nova continued softly. "That I was wrong."

Selena's breath caught.

"I believe celestia," Nova said. "And I believe you."

Her words were simple but firm.

"You could never harm him," Nova added. "Neither of you."

Selena's fingers tightened at her sides.

"Just like you said earlier," Selena replied quietly, shaking her head, bitterness creeping into her tone despite herself. "Feelings can make you misunderstand the truth."

She looked directly at Nova now.

"You believing us instead of him… isn't that the same thing?"

Her voice sharpened, just a little.

"Doesn't that mean you trusted us more than him?"

The words hung between them.

For a moment, Nova didn't answer.

Selena felt something heavy settle in her chest.

So Nancy was right after all… The thought surfaced unbidden, aching.

Nova exhaled slowly.

"No," she said at last. "That's not it."

She looked away, jaw tightening, eyes narrowing as if she were staring at something unpleasant inside herself.

"No. It's not the same. I didn't refuse to believe him I refused to judge him. Loving someone means I know my feelings would interfere, so I stepped back instead of pretending to be fair."

"With you, it's different. You were the person who accused him in first place," Nova said quietly. "There was no partiality as for believing you i just looked at everything..?"

Selena blinked.

"I didn't want my feelings deciding what was right or wrong," Nova continued. "I needed something solid. Something objective.. Facts"

She turned back.

"And that was you two.. You two were the only options to begin with."

Her gaze softened, but her tone remained firm.

"You were his best friend," Nova said. "Celestia was his fiancée."

A faint frown crossed her face.

"I don't like how she's like now," Nova admitted bluntly. "But I know one thing she still cares. She would never want to destroy his life."

Her eyes hardened slightly.

"And you?" Nova said, looking directly at Selena. "Why would you ever lie about something like that.. This isn't feelings trusting you.. It is fcts and evidence.. I saw no profits?"

"You had no reason," Nova went on. "No benefit. No gain."

She shook her head.

"You could only say something that serious if you had no other choice," Nova said firmly, her voice steady but heavy with conviction. "Only if you were being wronged. Because doing something like that wouldn't save you it would destroy you. Your image, your future… even your life. You were risking not just yourself, but your entire family.

"What if we had simply killed you and your family to silence you? Don't tell me you were naïve enough back then not to understand that. This world runs on power. Right and wrong only exist when someone is strong enough to enforce them. Without power, you don't get justice.. you get erased.

"And the facts alone were enough. Even Celestia was involved. Let's say, for a moment, that you were lying what reason would Celestia have to do this? She had everything anyone could ever wish for. By doing this, she gained nothing. If anything, she ruined her own image. And for someone like her… her image mattered more than anything else at that time.

"I was certain.. absolutely certain that she would never declare him guilty, even if he truly was. Not unless she had no choice. Perhaps she did it because her mother was present. But even then, do you really think the Imperial Empress couldn't see through a lie while sitting there, watching the trial unfold?

"I didn't trust your words," Nova admitted quietly. "I trusted the facts. Every calculation. Every detail. Do you think I didn't want to prove him innocent?"

Her voice wavered for the first time, emotion bleeding through the steel in her tone.

"Believe me… no one in this world wanted him to be innocent more than I did."

Her voice lowered.

"So don't put this on yourself, Selena."

"You did the right thing."

Selena's lips parted, but Nova wasn't finished.

"No matter how good someone is to you," Nova said, her expression unwavering, "if something is wrong, you say it's wrong."

She meant it.

Every word.

Selena swallowed.

"There were still better ways," she said finally, her voice quieter now, but no less steady. "Better ways to find the truth."

Nova stiffened slightly.

"You shouldn't have put it on us," Selena continued. "We were wrong, Sister Nova.. We betrayed him together."

Her eyes didn't waver.

"Just like Razeal said."

Nova's expression shifted subtly, but unmistakably.

"You had a choice," Selena pressed on. "You all did."

"You could have read his memories."

The silence deepened.

"You never did," Selena said softly. "Because of rules?"

Her gaze sharpened.

"I can't say anything about Aunt Merisa," Selena admitted. "But you?"

Her voice trembled not with fear, but with hurt.

"Even you… why didn't you read his memories.. He was begging you two to be..?"

She searched Nova's face.

"You could have," Selena said. "I know you could."

The words weren't an accusation.

They were a wound.

And for the first time

Nova didn't immediately have an answer.

"…Yes. I could have."

Nova's voice came quieter than Selena expected. Not sharp. Not defensive. Just… tired.

She stood there for a moment, fingers curling slowly into her palm, eyes no longer on Selena but somewhere far past her past the room, past the mansion, past the years she had spent refusing to cross a single line.

"I didn't," Nova continued. "Because I was afraid."

"I believe in him," Nova said, her words steady but heavy. "I always have. I believe he didn't do it. That he couldn't have done it."

"But everything else… everything else facts and all says he did."

She exhaled sharply, as if the air itself hurt to hold.

"I was afraid of knowing the truth," Nova admitted. "Afraid of seeing it with my own eyes.. I just wanted to have hope he never did it alive in myself."

Her gaze lowered.

"If I had looked into his memories and found out…" Her voice faltered for a fraction of a second. "…that he really did it if I had seen it then everything would have shattered. Not just doubt. Not just hope."

Her shoulders stiffened.

"Everything."

Nova laughed once, quietly. There was no humor in it.

"So I chose not to know," she said. "I chose to live with doubt.. Because i just wanted to."

She looked back up at Selena, eyes dark and conflicted.

"I wanted to keep believing he was innocent," Nova said. "Even if it meant never proving it. Even if it meant living my entire life not knowing.."

Her voice softened into something almost fragile.

"I didn't want to face the truth," she said. "Whatever it was."

Silence filled the space between them.

Then Nova added, more quietly still, "And… even though Mother would never admit it… I think she felt the same."

Selena's breath caught.

"I don't think rules mattered to her," Nova said. "Not more than we did. I think she was afraid too."

She shook her head faintly.

"Afraid that if she looked… she wouldn't be able to turn away."

Nova's gaze sharpened suddenly, fixing on Selena with intensity.

"And stop saying you lied," she said, voice firm now. "Believe me every time you say that, it only makes my belief in him stronger."

Her expression hardened.

"I might do something I won't be able to take back," Nova warned quietly.

Selena went still.

For several seconds, she said nothing. She simply looked at Nova really looked at her.

At the tension in her shoulders. At the conflict etched into her eyes. At the fear she had been carrying alone for years.

Then Selena moved.

She reached out and took Nova's hand.

Nova stiffened in surprise as Selena gently but deliberately guided it upward pressing Nova's palm against her own head.

"Read my memories," Selena said.

The words were calm.

Clear.

Resolute.

Nova froze.

"Selena" she started, frowning deeply. "This.. This isn't funny."

Her hand twitched, as if she were about to pull it away.

"This isn't a joke," Nova said, voice lowering. "Don't do this."

"I'm serious," Selena replied.

Her fingers tightened slightly around Nova's wrist not forceful, but unyielding.

"We lied," Selena said. "Razeal is innocent."

Nova shook her head instinctively.

"I don't want to," she said. "Don't ask me to do this."

"You need to," Selena insisted. "Please."

Her voice didn't waver.

"He really is innocent."

Nova opened her mouth to refuse again

And stopped.

A tear slid silently down Selena's cheek.

No sound.

No sob.

Just a single, quiet drop.

It struck Nova like a blade.

Her entire body tensed.

Could it be true…? The thought surfaced before she could stop it.

Selena's expression wasn't desperate.

It wasn't theatrical.

It was raw.

Honest.

Terrifyingly sincere.

Before Nova could speak, a calm voice cut through the tension.

"Do it, young lady."

Nova turned sharply.

Marcella had stepped closer, her presence no longer distant or neutral. Her expression was serious sharper than Selena had ever seen it.

"From Lady Selena's expression," Marcella said slowly, "I am afraid this is not..."

She didn't finish the thought.

She didn't need to.

"If this is true," Marcella added quietly, "then our young master was indeed innocent.. Don't run away its time you should face whatver its true or not.. Clear out your doubts."

Nova's breath shook.

She looked from Marcella… back to Selena.

Her hands were trembling now.

"Don't push this," Nova whispered, almost pleading. "You'll regret it."

Her gaze flickered not angry, not defensive but frightened.

"Or I will."

Marcella said nothing.

She didn't need to.

Nova closed her eyes.

"You better be lying, Selena," Nova said softly. "Because I don't know what I'll do.. to you… or to myself… if you're telling the truth."

Selena's grip loosened.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

The apology was quiet.

But it landed heavier than any accusation ever could.

Nova felt something inside her crack.

Selena lowered her gaze.

And then

She let go.

Every mental barrier. Every resistance. Every shield she had spent her entire life perfecting.

She opened herself completely.

Nova felt it instantly.

The sensation hit her like stepping into a storm with no armor.

Selena wasn't hesitating.

She wasn't holding anything back.

She was offering everything.

Nova's heart began to race.

The apology echoed in her chest.

"I'm sorry…"

It sounded too sincere.

Too final.

Nova couldn't wait anymore.

Not after that.

Her body moved on instinct.

Her hand pressed fully against Selena's head.

Deep purple light bloomed from her palm.

Selena didn't flinch.

Nova closed her eyes.

And stepped inside.

Virelan mental arts surged to life the strongest mind walking techniques in the world.

Memories unfolded.

Not fragments.

Not impressions.

Everything.

Raw. Clear. Unfiltered.

Nova's consciousness plunged forward

Into Selena's truth.

----

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