Chapter 26: Her Inner Thoughts

Evan was standing at the doorway in a hospital gown, looking surprisingly fresh despite having been in Rampage only a few hours earlier. Perhaps that was one of the advantages of being an SSS-rank Sentinel; they seemed to recover far faster than ordinary Sentinels.

His gaze swept across the room before settling on Lumi.

"No..." His voice was low and slightly hoarse. "I’m sorry to break it to you, but you don’t have a choice."

Lumi’s eyes widened.

Evan continued walking into the room, his steps steady as though he had never just awakened from a Rampage.

"We will finish the ceremony on our own..."

Lumi’s eyes widened even further.

The Fated Bonding Ceremony?

He was talking about the ceremony that had been interrupted by his Rampage.

Evan stopped beside her, his gaze briefly falling over the wound on her forehead before shifting toward the rest of the room.

Then his eyes settled on Felix.

"And, Master Pei..." He paused for a moment, giving Felix a deadly stare. "We really need to settle our score later."

Felix’s face immediately paled, but he still tried to explain.

"Young Master, we really didn’t notice the swap between our daughters. As you know, they both look the same, and—and..."

He paused, gulping before turning toward Celestine.

"Celestine... apologize." Felix pulled Celestine from the bed and pushed her forward slightly, forcing her to bow toward Evan.

"She really made a mistake, Young Master Caesar. She idolizes you so much that she couldn’t think clearly and asked her sister to take her place at the ceremony, and—and..."

Felix paused again, his eyes shifting toward Lumi. "Lumi also knew about it and agreed to it."

Lumi’s eyes widened.

’What?’

She looked at her father in disbelief.

Evan’s eyes landed back on Lumi. He walked straight toward her and stopped right in front of her. "Really?"

Lumi looked up at the tall man looming over her. Her eyes blinked several times, but no words came out of her lips.

’How could I explain?’ She glanced slightly at her parents and Celestine. ’They put every blame on me and decided to make me the punching bag for their mistakes.’

Her fingers slowly curled against the fabric of her dress.

’If I deny it, Father will say I’m lying. If I tell the truth, they’ll probably say I’m trying to frame Celestine again.’

She lowered her gaze.

’And what am I supposed to say? That I was locked up for an entire week, had my phone taken away, and was dragged there to watch the entire ceremony?’

Her lips parted slightly, but before she could say anything, Felix spoke again.

"Of course she knew, Young Master Caesar. Lumi agreed to help her sister. They both knew what they were doing."

Evan didn’t even look at him. His eyes remained fixed on Lumi, as though he were trying to see through her expression and uncover what she was thinking.

He tilted his head slightly, a faint frown appearing between his brows.

’I clearly heard her thoughts when I was in Rampage earlier...’ His gaze lingered on her for another moment. ’So why can’t I hear anything now?’

Evan gently reached for Lumi’s hand.

"Let’s go."

"Go...go?" Lumi’s eyes widened. "Where to, Mr. Young... I mean—"

"Just call me Evan."

Before she could respond, Evan turned around, taking Lumi with him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Raphael, who had been silent on the side, finally cleared his throat and raised one hand. "Excuse me? I am still here..."

Evan completely ignored him. Instead, he glanced slightly toward Leon, who was standing calmly beside Raphael.

"Thank you."

Leon understood immediately what he meant and gave a small nod.

"Wow." He clicked his tongue, watching Evan disappear through the doorway with Lumi. "So it was true, then... the rumours about Number One being arrogant and terrible at fan service."

Leon glanced at him. "The rumours about you being crazy are all over the internet too."

Raphael looked at him. "Crazy Number Two?"

Leon chuckled lightly. "No... the Number Two with two loose screws."

He turned and walked away, leaving Raphael standing there in silence.

Raphael’s eyebrow twitched.

"Hoi!"

Leon didn’t even bother looking back.

Raphael sneered and turned his attention toward the Pei family, who were still standing awkwardly at the side.

"I’ll deal with you guys later..." His gaze finally settled on Celestine. "And you... Celestine, right?"

Celestine stiffened.

Raphael’s eyes narrowed slightly. "You should be glad your face saved you this time..."

With that, he turned and rushed out of the room.

"Stop! I’m not done talking to you, Forever Number Two!"

The moment Raphael’s voice faded down the hospital hallway, the Pei family finally let out the breath they hadn’t realized they were holding.

Felix immediately rushed toward the door and closed it, his expression tense.

"Where is Rei?"

Esther swallowed before answering, her eyes still darting anxiously toward the door.

"He went out earlier to attend his Guide’s weekly meeting." She looked at her husband helplessly. "What do we do now, husband?"

Felix didn’t answer immediately.

He stood with his back against the closed door, staring at it as though he could somehow see through it and make sure Raphael was truly gone.

Only after several seconds did he finally walk back toward the bed. "We didn’t just make an enemy of the Caesar family, but also the Valens..."

"What do we do, then?" Esther kept asking, her voice growing more pressing.

"How do I know?!" Felix snapped. "This is your fault! Why did you suggest the swap?"

Esther’s face paled, but the anger quickly twisted her expression. "You also wanted to swap them! Why are you putting all the blame on me?!"

Felix’s jaw tightened. "I agreed because you kept insisting Celestine was the only one who could stand beside Evan!"

"Stop!" Celestine covered her ears. "Both of you are so noisy!"

Her voice was weak, but the frustration in it was enough to make Felix and Esther fall silent.

Celestine slowly lowered her hands, taking a shaky breath.

"Father... Mother..." Her eyes moved between them. "What we should think about now is bringing Lumi back home first."

Felix frowned. "Bringing her back?"

"Yes." Celestine’s fingers tightened around the blanket. "She can’t stay with Evan."

Esther looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"Because..." Celestine hesitated, her eyes dropping. "If she stays with him, everything we’ve done to her will come to light sooner or later. You really need to bring her back, or you will be doomed, father."

Felix was stiff,

because at that moment, he understood the meaning behind Celestine’s words.