Chapter 235 - 234 : Soft-hearted

Chapter 235: Chapter 234 : Soft-hearted

"Tell him to let me meet Father once."

For a moment, Aiden simply stared at Arina.

The night air was cold, but the tension between them was colder still.

Aiden’s exhausted face hardened as her words sank in. His first instinct was to tell her to get lost. Arthur was not even here, and even if he were, Aiden had no intention of going to him with a request from the Imperius family.

Not after everything they had done.

Not after what Arthur had been forced to endure.

Aiden still remembered the day he and his friends had been captured by the Imperius family guards. The suffocating pressure. The humiliation. The fear that they might never escape alive.

And yet, compared to Arthur, Aiden knew they had only seen a small part of the cruelty hidden behind the Imperius name.

Aiden narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me one good reason why I should help you," he said. "Why should I trouble Arthur after everything your family put him through?"

Arina’s body stiffened.

Aiden continued, his voice low but sharp.

"I do not know the full story. Arthur never told us everything. But I noticed it."

Arina looked at him silently.

"That sorrow in his eyes," Aiden said. "The one he tries so hard to hide by acting tough, by joking around, by pretending none of it matters."

His expression darkened.

"Whenever someone asks about his family or his past, he looks like he wants to deny it ever existed."

For the first time since arriving, Arina could not meet Aiden’s gaze.

"I know," she said quietly.

Her voice trembled.

"I know. I want to apologize to him too, but he will not even talk to me."

She fell silent for several seconds, gathering what little courage she had left.

Then she continued.

"Can you at least give him my message?" she asked. "My family is in terrible condition. If Father does not return soon, everything may collapse."

Her hands clenched at her sides.

"Things are only being held together because Grandfather and Mother are managing them. I just want to know whether Father is alive or not."

Aiden gave a bitter smile.

"Isn’t that great?" he said. "You are all finally reaping what you sowed."

Arina flinched.

"Remember," Aiden continued, "you were the ones who started this."

Every word struck Arina like a needle.

She gritted her teeth, but she could not deny it.

Aiden was right.

Tears slowly gathered in her ember-colored eyes.

"I see," Arina whispered. "You are right."

She lowered her head.

"Forgive me for taking your time. And... forgive me for all the suffering I caused you and your friends in the past."

Then she turned away.

She began walking down the path, her shoulders lowered in defeat.

Aiden watched her leave.

For a moment, he stood still.

Then his expression became conflicted.

’Did Arina Evan Imperius just apologize to me?’ he thought. ’Maybe the bruises and exhaustion are making me hallucinate.’

But as he looked at her retreating figure, another memory surfaced.

He remembered travelling from place to place in search of Astarte.

He remembered chasing faint rumors, false leads, and impossible hopes.

He remembered returning again and again with nothing.

No answer.

No sign.

Only disappointment.

He knew better than anyone what it felt like to long for family so badly that even a single piece of information could feel like salvation.

To wonder whether someone you loved was alive or dead.

Aiden let out a long breath.

’Damn it. Maybe I am too soft-hearted.’

"Wait."

Arina stopped immediately.

She turned around slowly.

Aiden was standing behind her.

"I will tell him you want to meet him," Aiden said.

Arina’s eyes lit up.

"Thank you, ver—"

"Listen before thanking me," Aiden interrupted.

Her expression became serious.

Aiden crossed his arms.

"I will only tell Arthur about your request. Whether he accepts or not will be entirely up to him."

Arina nodded.

"As you know, Arthur is the type of person who does whatever he wants," Aiden continued. "No one can force him to listen."

Arina thought for a moment.

Then she nodded again.

"Thank you," she said. "Even that would be enough. I will remember this favor."

Aiden gave a short nod.

Neither of them said anything else.

They turned away from each other.

As Arina walked down the quiet road, she let out a shaky breath.

"Father," she murmured, "I really miss you right now."

───────────────

Aiden walked back into the house.

The moment he entered, he found Astarte standing near the doorway with a cup of ice cream in her hand.

A little ice cream was smeared on her lips.

She looked completely at ease, as though she had spent the entire evening enjoying herself rather than pushing Aiden through brutal training until he could barely stand.

"That girl," Astarte said, "she is Arthur’s sister, right?"

Aiden nodded.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped the ice cream from her lips.

"How can you be so clumsy, Sister?" he said. "You are making a mess."

Astarte let him wipe her face without complaint.

In fact, she seemed to enjoy it.

Ever since returning to Aiden’s life, she had begun allowing him to spoil her in small, quiet ways.

Then she looked at him.

"What happened?" she asked. "Why did you not tell her that Arthur is not here anymore?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"And that he is living with some other hussy, leaving us all alone?"

As Astarte spoke, she squeezed the ice cream cup in her hand.

Some of it spilled onto the floor.

The rest fell across Aiden’s already dirty shirt.

Aiden looked down.

Then he sighed.

"Come on, Sis," he said. "Why are you in such a bad mood since this afternoon? Now I will have to wash this shirt, well It was already dirty enough so it doesn’t matter."

Astarte looked at the melted ice cream on his shirt.

Then she paused.

’Am I really angry?’ she thought.

She had not realized it until Aiden pointed it out.

But why?

Was it because she had not seen Arthur since the afternoon?

Or was it because Arthur had forgotten that he was supposed to serve her? Instead, he had left her behind and gone to live with another woman.

Astarte’s eyes narrowed faintly.

She did not like someone else playing with her toy.

A dangerous thought surfaced in her mind.

’Should I kill that woman?’

"Sister?"

Aiden’s voice pulled her back.

"Sister! Oye, are you even listening to me?"

Astarte blinked.

"Do not shout," she said. "I can hear you loud and clear."

Aiden watched her closely for a while.

"You had me worried for a moment," he said.

Then he rubbed his sore shoulder and sighed.

"So, I was asking... can I go to sleep now? I really do not have the strength to train anymore."

His face twitched.

"And seriously, what the hell are those horrifying undead creatures inside your domain? I cannot even defeat one."

Astarte looked at him with disappointment.

"That is because you are weak as hell," she said. "I did not know you were so pathetically weak."

Aiden’s face froze.

"Did you neglect your training just because no one was there to discipline you?" Astarte asked.

Her words struck him like an arrow through the chest.

Aiden quickly defended himself.

"It is because you are absurdly strong," he shouted. "I am sure no student in this academy could defeat those undead creatures."

Astarte casually threw the empty ice cream cup toward the dustbin.

It landed beside it.

She held out her hand.

Aiden handed her the handkerchief.

She wiped her fingers with it and spoke with complete indifference.

"That only proves you are weak," she said. "Those are the lowest-ranked summons I have."

Then she looked directly at him.

"Arthur would have defeated ten of them without any problem."

Aiden’s eyes widened.

For a moment, he stood completely still.

Then something changed.

A different emotion rose within him.

Not embarrassment.

Not anger.

A fire.

His sister had praised someone else in front of him.

And not just anyone.

Arthur.

The person Aiden wanted to surpass more than anyone else.

The person he wanted to defeat with his own hands one day.

Aiden’s fists clenched.

His exhausted eyes sharpened with determination.

"Let’s go," he said.

Astarte raised a brow.

"I am not sleeping tonight," Aiden continued. "Not until I take down at least one of those undead bastards."

Astarte smiled faintly.

’I was right,’ she thought. ’He sees Arthur as his greatest rival after all.’

That night, Aiden trained like a madman had possessed him.

Again and again, he entered Astarte’s domain.

Again and again, he fought the undead creatures.

Again and again, he was knocked down, thrown aside, and forced to rise once more.

His body ached.

His hands bled.

His breath became ragged.

But he did not stop.

Not until the first light of dawn began to creep across the academy grounds.