[Volume 2 | Chapter 60: The Reappearing Scion (IV)]

The Irregular was… utterly dumbfounded.

"I... what?"

"Do you have any idea—" Leila voice caught, and for a moment, Acacia glimpsed the rawness and vulnerability beneath her fury. "Do you have any idea how it felt to call Big Sis Dora, worried sick about where you were, only to find out that you'd gone off on some mysterious errand with Elias? Specifically choosing him over me?"

"Leila, that's not—"

"After everything! After saving your life from Apollo! After sneaking you out of the hospital! After fighting Apollo together! After nearly dying by Nemesis because I wanted to help you!"

Burning hot tears threatened to drop at the corners of her eyes, though she refused to let them fall.

"I thought we were... we were friends... and then you go and... and leave me behind!"

Accusations hurt the most when there was truth to them. Acacia had no defense against the raw emotion in her voice or the accusation in her eyes.

Despite everything they had shared—the danger, the trust, the moments of genuine connection—when it came time to seek help, Acacia had instinctively turned to Elias.

Not because he trusted Leila less, but because... because what?

Because it felt easier?

Because Elias didn't challenge him the way she did?

Because admitting he needed her help felt like exposing too much vulnerability to a girl? Not to a friend, not to an ally, but to a girl?

He didn't have an answer that would satisfy her.

"I found out from Pandora that you two were heading to the library together... Do you know what I was doing when I called? I was wrapping a gift for you. Something I'd been working on for weeks because I thought... I thought it might help you feel more at home here."

Acacia's throat tightened. "What gift?"

"It doesn't matter now." She turned away, her hair falling like a curtain across her face. "I was such an idiot, thinking you might actually want—" She cut herself off. Her shoulders grew rigid.

He hated feeling this helpless.

He hated feeling guilt.

He felt it every time he woke up. Every time he entreated the heavens, why was it he who lived rather than the people of Litore.

But seeing Leila like this, hurt not by Alaric or some enemy, but by him, it was…

"I never asked for any of this."

A weakness he refused to surrender to.

"For God's sake, I never asked you to care so much about what I do or where I go. We've known each other for what, a few weeks? It doesn't make sense for you to get this invested in someone like me."

The silence that followed was deafening. Even Elias, still recovering on the academy steps, looked up with wide-eyed horror at what had just been said.

"Someone like you?"

Leila asked the question in a tone devoid of inflection, her back still turned.

"Someone... like you."

She repeated it slowly, as if tasting the words on her tongue and finding them acrid.

Then, without warning, she whirled around and marched straight up to him.

"You think this about pity? Sympathy? Because I felt sorry for you?"

Acacia flinched at the sudden intensity in her eyes.

"You really don't understand anything, do you?"

"Leila—"

SLAP!

The sound echoed across the academy grounds like a gunshot. Acacia's head snapped to the side, cheek stinging from the impact.

Elias's mouth hung open in shock.

"I don't care anymore! I'm tired of waiting for you to figure it out! I hate you! You're just as bad as Alaric! You're just as bad as all the nobles who think they can toy with people's lives!"

Leila's breathing was ragged, her face flushed not with anger but with something closer to despair. Her eyes, brimming with tears she still refused to shed, bored into Acacia's with a raw intensity that made him want to look away but couldn't.

She immediately flinched when she understood just how cruel her words were to him.

For a moment, they stared at each other across a gulf that seemed suddenly impossible to bridge. Two people who had shared danger and trust and something approaching friendship, now reduced to wounded animals lashing out at whatever was closest.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Then Leila turned and ran.

Acacia stood frozen in place, his hand rising instinctively to touch his burning cheek. The sun had begun its descent toward the horizon, painting the academy grounds in shades of gold and amber that seemed to mock the darkness settling over his heart.

"Real smooth, Acacia."

Elias's voice carried a note of dry amusement, though his mint eyes held some semblance of concern as he finally managed to pull himself to his feet. He moved carefully, testing his range of motion where Leila's healing had worked its magic.

"I didn't—" Acacia started, then stopped. What could he say? That he hadn't meant to hurt her? That he was sorry?

"You're...probably the smartest guy I've ever met, Acacia. But you're completely horrible when it comes to understanding people."

The sunset painted everything in shades of ending—the dying light of day giving way to the uncertain darkness of night. And somewhere in that gathering dusk, Acacia couldn't shake the feeling that he had just lost something irreplaceable.

Something that he might never get the chance to find again.

The walk back through Windsor's evening streets carried a weight that had nothing to do with the day's physical exertion. Acacia found himself matching Elias's careful pace, hyperaware of how his friend favored his left side, where Alaric's [Repulsa] had reopened old wounds. The golden hour light painted everything in deceptively peaceful hues, as if the world was determined to pretend that the last few hours hadn't changed everything between all of them.

"Library's probably closed by now anyway," Acacia communicated, breaking the silence that had stretched between them since leaving the academy. "We can try again tomorrow. Maybe when there aren't any homicidal nobles lurking around the entrance."

Elias could only manage a weak chuckle.

"Haha, it's... pretty optimistic of you to assume Alaric won't be camping out there with a tent and a collection of Strategic Class spells."

Then he paused, studying Acacia's profile with those perceptive mint eyes.

"You don't have to walk me home, you know. I'm not going to collapse in the middle of the street."

"I know... I just, really don't want to be alone right now."

He promptly looked away.

"That's selfish of me, I know."

It was a lot more honesty than he'd intended to share, but seeing the approaching dusk made emotional walls feel pointless. The past few days had drained him in so many ways. Lorelei's revelations, the training with Pandora, the confrontation with Alaric, and then…

He pushed thoughts of Leila's devastated expression firmly from his mind.

Elias seemed to understand that Acacia was going through a lot, or at least, he didn't push the issue. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Well then, I suppose I should be honored to serve as your evening companion. Though people might start to talk if they see us strolling through the residential district together. Are you sure this isn't some elaborate attempt to court me?"

"Court you? Please. If I were going to seduce someone, I'd at least bring flowers. Maybe chocolates. This is clearly just two friends taking a leisurely walk," Acacia deadpanned, playing along with the ridiculous conversation. It was a welcome distraction.

"I see, so flowers and chocolates are your idea of seduction," Elias mused. "How romantic. You truly are a man of refined tastes, Acacia Belmont. But, unfortunately for you, my heart belongs to another."

"Really? Who's the lucky person?"

"My sword."

"..."

"..."

"The fact that I could actually believe that is the most concerning thing," Acacia admitted with a laugh. "Well, I can't be talking. I have quite the tendency to attract violent homicidal maniacs and cause interpersonal disasters."

The humor died as soon as he said it, the memory of Leila's stricken face rising unbidden in his mind.

"She'll come around," Elias said quietly. "Leila, I mean. She's hurt right now, but she's not the type to hold grudges forever. Especially not against someone she..." He trailed off, seeming to catch himself before completing the thought.

"Someone she…?"

"Someone she cares about. I'm... probably the first close friend Leila has ever made. She was always distant from the other girls and especially guys at our school. Like, she was friendly towards others, but she never let anyone get too close. Not like she did with me, and I guess you now."

Elias's gaze turned inward, his expression softening into a wistful smile.

"Leila is the kindest girl I know, because every person she sees as a true friend is someone she fights for to the end of the world. I think that's a very noble trait. She really has to think about who she considers to be a friend versus who she's friendly towards. That's why when you tried to imply that she didn't have any reason to be your friend, she got really hurt... because to her, you were her first real friend besides me. And you rejected her."

Acacia absorbed Elias's words. His chest guiltily, regretfully, and something else he couldn't quite name.

"But... why me? I don't know what I've done to deserve her... her loyalty, her trust, her friendship."

Elias merely sighed at that.

"With a guy as dense in understanding people like you, it's best if you just ask her directly. Give her time to cool off. Then try apologizing instead of whatever that disaster was back there."

"Speaking from experience?"

"More or less."

After that, they walked in comfortable silence, the evening air carrying the scents of summer flowers and distant cooking. Windsor's residential district emanated middle-class vibes with well-maintained houses with neat gardens, children's bikes abandoned on front lawns, and the soft glow of windows where families gathered for dinner. It was the kind of normalcy that Acacia had only ever observed from the outside, never quite believing it could be real. Elias's house fit the pattern perfectly. Two stories of solid construction with cream-colored siding and dark green shutters, it spoke of modest success and careful maintenance. A small garage sat slightly apart from the main structure, and Acacia could glimpse the edge of a backyard where someone had clearly invested time in creating a proper garden.

"Home sweet home," Elias said as they paused at the front gate. "Nothing fancy, but it suits us. Mom always said a house should feel lived-in rather than displayed."

The way he spoke of his mother, present tense despite what Acacia had witnessed at the hospital, made his chest tighten sympathetically. But before he could find appropriate words, Elias was already moving toward the front porch and climbing the steps.

"Thanks for the escort, and for well... everything today. It did end up being a bit more eventful than anticipated."

"That seems to be my specialty, turning routine errands into life-threatening disasters," Acacia replied, following him up to the porch.

"Maybe next time we can aim for just 'slightly perilous' and call it progress," Elias said with a smirk. He reached out and clasped Acacia's shoulder in a gesture that felt oddly brotherly.

Then he hesitated.

"Hey, listen, Acacia... about Leila..."

Acacia tensed, expecting another reprimand for the disastrous end to the day, but Elias's expression was more thoughtful than angry.

"Actually... never mind. Well," Elias said, reaching for his keys, "I should probably—"

The front door swung open.

Elias froze. His hand was still extended toward the lock, and his face went pale.

He hadn't calculated properly. Training, medical appointments, the afternoon's chaos—he should have had at least another hour before…

"Elias, you're here early."

Rudyard Scryer, the Iron General, filled the Scryer household doorway.

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