Chapter 57: Please Don’t Leave Him Alone

Unexpectedly, Archer didn’t ask her to do anything. He only asked her to sit beside him on the bed.

"I’m sorry. I actually just needed somewhere private, away from the guards," Archer admitted.

He let out a heavy sigh and rested his hand under his chin as he looked away. "You can charge me for this too."

Summer furrowed her eyebrows because this whole guiding business somehow always sounded very similar to prostitution. But well, it wasn’t like she disliked it.

To be honest, she probably would have been even happier if they did something right now while Archer was still wearing that prison uniform.

"Since I’m apparently stuck here with you for an hour, I can still guide you a little," Summer said.

She placed her hand over his and slowly slipped her fingers between his.

"Just holding hands is enough too, right?" she asked.

From the original body’s memories, Summer knew that guiding didn’t always have to turn sexual.

If a Sentinel’s pollution level was still low, even something as simple as holding hands or having skin-to-skin contact could help calm them down.

And it seemed to be working. Archer’s pollution level slowly began to drop, and his body gradually relaxed as well.

"I’m so sorry," he said quietly. He held Summer’s hand too, but not too tightly. "You shouldn’t have had to witness our argument."

Summer answered carefully, "Family is complicated. I understand."

"It’s actually more complicated than that." Archer’s expression darkened as soon as he said it, almost like he had suddenly remembered something he really didn’t want to think about.

"I worry about him," he continued. "But every time we talk about this, it never ends well."

Summer wondered why.

If both of them—especially Archer—could control their emotions a little better, maybe their conversations wouldn’t always turn into arguments.

Still, it wasn’t like Summer knew the full story.

"What happened?" she asked softly. "If you don’t mind me asking."

Instead of answering right away, Archer looked at her for a moment. "Did you see any of the big news last year?"

Summer fell silent for a few moments. She tried to dig through the original body’s memories, searching for anything that might match what Archer was talking about.

But too many things happened last year. There were disasters, monster attacks, military news, political scandals, and all kinds of accidents.

Therefore, she had no idea which one he meant.

"What news?" she finally asked.

Archer took a slow breath. For a few seconds, he said nothing.

Not long after, his expression changed slightly, and when he finally spoke, his voice was much lower. "An orphanage in Safe Zone 10 exploded last year."

He didn’t continue right away, but the moment he said that, more pieces of information started to surface from the original body’s memories.

It happened last year, around the tenth month.

There had been an explosion in the center of Safe Zone 10. It wasn’t large enough to destroy the entire area, but it was still deadly.

The barrier protecting the safe zone was damaged, and almost everyone within three kilometers of the center of the explosion died. People farther away survived, but many were badly injured and exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

The explosion had started from an orphanage standing near the center of the safe zone.

All twenty-seven children inside died on the spot, so did the five caretakers.

At the time, the authorities claimed that an old military bomb buried underground had gone off by accident.

But now that Archer had suddenly brought up the incident, Summer could only think of one possibility.

"It wasn’t a military bomb, was it?" she asked quietly. Her eyes stayed on Archer as she added, "Was it Ilya?"

"Yes." Archer’s answer came out quickly. He lowered his head before continuing. "His last Guide died about a week before it happened. The Defense Minister blamed him for it, and Ilya was already under a lot of stress."

He paused for a moment. "That’s why I told him to go somewhere safe for a while. Somewhere familiar, like our old orphanage."

Summer felt Archer’s hand tighten slightly around hers.

"The oldest kid there, Niki, was supposed to celebrate his twelfth birthday that day," Archer continued. "So I told Ilya to go there."

His voice became quieter. "I was busy, so I couldn’t go with him."

For the first time since entering the room, Archer looked less angry and more tired. "It was just... the worst thing happening at the worst possible time."

Summer didn’t say anything and Archer lowered his gaze again. "The stress, his Guide dying, and the fact that he hadn’t been guided properly for days..." he said. "All of it made his heat come earlier than anyone expected."

For beast sentinels, heat was already dangerous enough on its own.

Their body temperature would rise, their senses would become sharper, and their energy could become harder to control. But for someone like Ilya, it was worse.

His pollution level would rise along with it and the higher it climbed, the harder it became for him to stay calm.

"At first, he was still conscious. He knew something was wrong, so he tried to leave the orphanage before it got worse." Archer sighed. "But Niki stopped him because he thought Ilya was sick, so he asked him to stay instead of leaving."

Unfortunately, Ilya was like a ticking bomb. Even one second was extremely important for him.

Before he could pull Niki’s hand away, his body finally gave out. His blood reacted with the machine attached to his body, and the energy inside him exploded all at once, almost like a nuclear bomb.

"The government covered up the accident with a lie because they didn’t want to lock away one of their valuable assets," Archer said. "But I think... Ilya believed it would’ve been better if they had given him the death penalty instead of letting him stay alive."

Summer listened to the whole story in silence, not even sure how she was supposed to feel.

People often envied elite Sentinels and Guides. They saw their power, status, and money.

But most of them never wanted to think about the pain, pressure, and guilt carried by these so-called saviors of humanity.

"I’m actually really frustrated right now," Archer admitted.

He suddenly locked his gaze on Summer. "I’m ashamed to ask you this, but... if you can, could you talk to him?" he asked quietly. "I really don’t want him to be alone right now."