Classes finally ended, the hum of chatter and movement filling the hallways. Cain rose from his seat, tucking the note carefully into his bag. Jayden followed close behind, her tail flicking slightly as her ears twitched with attention to the crowd. Zara stumbled after them, still half asleep, dragging her bag loosely by her side.

Cain walked with a purpose, moving through the hallways with a silent authority. The whispers he had overheard earlier still lingered in his mind. Tobias. Paigos. Tyrant skill. Every step reinforced the image he could not shake. One of a boy beaten nearly to death.

They reached the emergency ward, the sterile smell of disinfectant hitting Cain immediately. Nurses and staff bustled about, but he ignored the bustle and headed straight for the patient rooms. The hum of fluorescent lights overhead seemed almost deafening in the tense silence that followed him.

At the end of the corridor, a nurse nodded toward a room, her expression unreadable. Cain's steps did not falter. Jayden stayed close, ears alert, while Zara slowed slightly, her expression shifting as she noticed the subtle tension in the air.

Inside the room, Tobias lay motionless on a hospital bed. Tubes ran from his arms and throat, feeding him oxygen and medicine. Machines beeped steadily, each pulse of sound marking the rhythm of his fragile life. Cain's gaze locked onto the boy's white hair, damp and matted with blood, and his body tightened. Anger burned low in his chest, a slow, dangerous heat that coiled around his spine.

Cain gritted his teeth, his knuckles tightening on the edge of the bed. How could someone act like this? How could anyone, driven by a Pseudo Skill or not, strike another human being to this degree? He let the fury wash over him in small waves, keeping it contained. He would not let the emotion leak, not here, not yet.

Jayden's ears flattened slightly, tail stiffening. She leaned in closer to the side of the bed, her eyes narrowing with disgust. "How could someone do this?" she muttered quietly, voice tight.

Zara's face paled as she approached, her steps hesitant. Her hands twisted together nervously, tail curling inward. She forced herself to look at Tobias, noting the bruises forming dark maps across his pale skin. Something clicked in her mind immediately. She had seen the way Paigos vented his rage. She had known of his cruelty, everyone had. He was the Academy's Tyrant. She knew this boy had been part of Paigos's circle of subordinates. And she knew, that despite the official confirmation, this 'accident' was anything but accidental.

Her stomach knotted as realization struck her fully. The boy's white hair mirrored the subtle resemblance she had mocked not long ago. Her teasing, her irreverence toward Paigos, could have been the trigger. Her own reckless mockery might have sealed Tobias's fate. A small, panicked thought clawed at her mind.

Cain noticed her shift in expression and her frozen stance. He stepped closer and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. The weight of it was light but grounding, a silent anchor in the storm of her guilt.

"Zara," he said quietly, voice steady and measured, "it is not your fault. None of this is your fault. You should not blame yourself."

She opened her mouth, ready to retort. "How can you say that? How isn't it my fault? I—"

Cain's eyes met hers, and she froze mid-sentence. The look in his eyes stopped her words cold. It was a mixture of rage and sorrow, the kind of anger that seethed quietly beneath a controlled exterior and sorrow that weighed like stone. He did not know Tobias personally, yet the injustice, the cruelty, pierced him. Rage at Paigos, sorrow for the boy who had no protection, both entwined in his gaze.

Zara swallowed hard, words dying in her throat. She could not refute the certainty and intensity in Cain's expression. Her tail twitched nervously, ears tilting slightly backward. The guilt she felt still throbbed in her chest, but Cain's calm yet powerful presence steadied her.

Jayden's ears flicked toward Cain, noticing the way his eyes darkened, the subtle rise of his jawline as he clenched and unclenched his fists. She did not speak, but Cain could feel her tension, the quiet understanding that the world outside the classroom had shifted dramatically in just a few hours.

Zara shifted slightly closer to the bed, taking in the full extent of Tobias's injuries. Her thoughts returned to Paigos, to the Tyrant skill that had almost destroyed this boy. She could not shake the memory of her own voice mocking a resemblance she now feared had triggered the chain of events. Her chest tightened with guilt and fear.

Cain remained silent for a long moment, letting her process it, letting the fury and sorrow settle into a quiet resolve. "Listen to me," he said finally, still maintaining a calm edge, "you did not do this. It is not your fault. Paigos is responsible, and he alone. Tobias is alive because he was not beyond saving. You do not get to take that responsibility from him. Focus on what can be done, not what cannot."

Zara hesitated, still tense, but the firmness in his tone, the certainty in his eyes, began to ease the tight grip of guilt on her chest. She wanted to argue, wanted to insist otherwise, but something about Cain's composure, the raw mix of anger and sorrow in his gaze, stopped her.

While she was aware of Cain's reputation and image before he had come back from the Abyss, he might as well been invisible back then. Nobody had respected him, let alone chose to stand by him. He was a waste of a prince with no redeeming qualities. But was that really true? Had what he had endured a few months ago tempered him into what he was today? Or had it always been there, hidden just beneath the surface.

Whatever it was did not matter though. She was just grateful that she was able to know the truth: He was the kind of man who would care about injustices carried about against others, even if they were not his own. In a world full of power hungry men and women, he at least had the semblance of righteousness that would eventually bring people to his side.

If there was one thing Zara was positive of in this life, it was for her eye in people.

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