Amidst the quiet of the night sky, Phoebe and Seth waited outside the Coven of Solace.

The cold air from the building kept the silence sharp and tense.

Seth did not feel intense worry, but a steady concern lingered in his mind.

Phoebe's mother and sister were the first people in this strange new world who had shown him simple, unasked-for kindness.

Letting them die to some supernatural curse wasn't something he could just ignore.

Neither of them spoke.

The anxiety on Phoebe's face was clear, though she was trying hard to hide it behind an expressionless facade.

Seth, on the other hand, was calmly analyzing the situation and running scenarios in his head.

He broke the silence between them first as he spoke up.

"The coven will definitely investigate. They'll ask us questions about how your mom and sister got sick."

Phoebe turned to him slowly.

Seth's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a calm that steadied the air around them.

"If they do, just answer calmly. Tell them exactly what you remember about the last few days with them. Stick to simple facts and don't volunteer extra information, also avoid putting suspicions on yourself."

He paused for a second, organizing his thoughts.

"If you can, find a way to mention the stress over financial trouble your family has been under. And make sure you mention how it involves your uncle Fredero Tangen."

Understanding dawned on Phoebe's face.

"You want them to connect it to him."

Seth gave a single, slight nod.

"That uncle of yours has been causing quite a lot of trouble. Once they know you're related to him, they'll link this incident to his activities. It'll add pressure on him from another angle."

He then delivered a necessary warning as his tone turned serious.

"Of course, I can't guarantee they won't use other methods, and in the process, discover that you're a witch. They might have a way to put you in a trance, or use supernatural means to make you speak only truth. I do not know how you can resist such things, so just be careful once you're inside..."

Phoebe was silent for a long moment, absorbing his calm, analytical breakdown of the danger.

She found herself admiring it, even as it scared her.

Then, a thought struck her.

"What about you?"

She asked, turning to look at him directly.

"You talk as if you're not going to be investigated, too. They'll want to question you as well."

This time, it was Seth who fell silent.

He stared out at the dark, serene environment, the peaceful night sky a stark contrast to the grim building in front of them.

"I don't plan on being implicated too deeply," he finally said.

"I admit, I have my own secrets, just like you do. It's fair that you don't trust me completely. But there are things about me that would put my life in extreme danger if the covens discovered them."

This was the plain truth.

He had no idea how the established covens would react to a Progenitor of a new Sin walking among them.

Would they see him as an ally, a curiosity, or an abomination to be dissected?

Until he understood their attitude over his existence, walking voluntarily into a coven's interrogation site was suicide.

A thoughtful, rather than angry, look settled on Phoebe's face as she gazed into the middle distance.

Seth had expected her to be upset by his admission of self-preservation, to call him selfish, or to raise a dozen questions over what kind of "secrets" he had.

But contrary to his expectations, he saw no anger in her at all.

"Thank you," she uttered softly.

The words left Seth genuinely confused.

"For what?"

"For helping me as much as you have," she said, her voice firming.

Before Seth could formulate a reply, she spoke again, her tone shifting to something more resigned and self-aware.

"I know you think I'm a bit stupid. And maybe even clumsy. I can't deny that I am... not the cleverest. To you, and to many others, the goals I have probably seem impossible because of that. My own sister and mom worry I'll get myself killed. My mentor thinks I'm too impulsive."

She took a shaky breath.

"But it's exactly because of that, because everyone doubts me, that I have to see this through. I have to achieve my revenge."

Seth pondered her words.

He tried to piece her logic together, but the connection between her perceived lack of intelligence and the drive for revenge eluded him.

"Why?"

He asked plainly.

Phoebe answered with a calm that surprised him.

"Because in my entire life, my father was the only one who never doubted me. He was the only one who looked at my big, clumsy dreams and said, 'I believe you can do it.' So I have to do it. For him."

Seth fell completely silent.

Her words struck a chord he hadn't expected.

A pang of guilt surfaced in his mind, after all.... he truly had looked down on her intelligence.

He had immediately sought go straight to Phoebe's mentor for guidance instead of her due to his image of her clumsiness.

He had seen her as a problem to be managed, not an ally with her own form of strength.

Perhaps... it was only now that Seth had finally come to understand Phoebe.

This revenge of hers... is probably what's been driving her to live on.

As he thought of this, a notification suddenly popped up in Seth's mind.

[Advancement Task: Understand the core purpose that drives different individuals to live.]

[5% Complete]

Seth stared at the notification for awhile before finally replying.

"I'll return the parchment paper in a week," he said.

Phoebe opened her mouth to say something else, but at that moment, the heavy door of the coven creaked open.

The young man with the cold eyes, Sybil, stood in the doorway. His gaze swept over them, and he raised a sharp eyebrow, his expression one of mild, annoyed confusion.

"Where did your friend go?" he asked, his voice cutting through the night.

Phoebe instinctively looked to her right, where Seth had been standing just a moment before.

The space beside her was empty.

Only the faint, lingering chill of the coven's aura remained where he had been.

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