Chapter 77 Ashton is innocent.

Chapter 77: Chapter 77 Ashton is innocent.

AUTHOR NOTE: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG Chapter. IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE IN TWO BUT I MADE A MISTAKE. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.

Noah blinked, feeling a soft rush of energy spread through his body. It flowed gently through his system, almost as if it was trying to repair parts of him he didn’t even know had been damaged.

Trying to sit up, however, he immediately realized he couldn’t move freely.

Strong arms were wrapped around him, holding him so tightly and carefully that it felt as though he were made of fragile glass.

"I don’t understand... why is everywhere so dim?" he muttered.

His voice came out weaker than expected.

Then he heard it.

Someone was crying.

"What the..."

Looking up properly, he felt warm tears fall onto his face.

His brows knitted together.

Was something wrong?

Did something happen?

Just as he was about to force himself to remember the events from before, the person holding him pulled him even closer, burying his face against Noah’s neck as he inhaled his scent desperately.

"Oh, fuck... you’re back to me." Eugene whispered, his voice cracking. "I really thought you weren’t going to open your eyes."

His grip tightened again.

Noah felt his breath catch.

"Hmm... Eugene..." he croaked.

"I am about to become a corpse in less than a few seconds."

The moment those words left his mouth, Eugene hurriedly loosened his embrace. He wiped his tears away while sniffling like a child caught crying.

"I’m sorry." Eugene laughed awkwardly between sniffles. "I thought you had died. You weren’t breathing for a second."

Noah simply stared.

His brain refused to process what was happening.

Eugene Haines...

Crying for him?

In which universe?

It felt so absurd that he almost wondered if he was still unconscious.

Wasn’t this the same Eugene who rejected Ashton countless times?

The same Eugene who supposedly hated him?

Then why...

Why was he crying so desperately over someone as insignificant as him?

An omega who had supposedly assaulted him.

Speaking of assault...

That was Ashton.

The original owner of this body.

But even then, Eugene should still have hated him.

Yet here he was.

Holding him.

Protecting him.

Looking like he had nearly lost the most important person in his life.

Noah suddenly sat upright.

"Okay... I did something."

His expression stiffened.

"Oh fuck... what exactly did I do?"

He immediately tried to climb off the bed, but Eugene quickly stopped him.

"I don’t think you’re fit enough to move."

His expression became serious.

"You used an insane amount of magic. That’s dangerous, especially when you’re an omega."

He paused before adding with a teasing grin,

"No offense... but you guys are really fragile."

His hand reached over and gently patted Noah’s head.

Playfully.

Affectionately.

Noah could only gape.

He honestly felt like he had just witnessed an abomination.

What exactly did he just see?

Eugene...

Caressing him?

So naturally?

That wasn’t something any sane human was supposed to witness.

"I appreciate your concern," Noah said slowly, "but I want to see what happened."

He frowned.

"This feels... strange."

"I don’t even remember what happened."

"I can’t remember anything I said either."

"What exactly did I do?"

Eugene’s smile gradually disappeared.

Even he couldn’t answer that.

The power Noah had unleashed had gone far beyond anything anyone expected.

The madness that followed...

The destruction...

It wasn’t something the students would recover from anytime soon.

Someone had died.

Maria.

Although Eugene still couldn’t understand why Noah had called Maria evil while trapped in that strange trance, one memory refused to leave him.

He remembered seeing her during Noah’s birthday party.

Standing in the distance.

Wrapped in a crimson cloak.

There had been something...

Wrong.

Something sinister about her presence that day.

Something so overwhelming that even remembering it now made his skin crawl.

Yet strangely enough...

The memory itself seemed to blur the harder he tried to think about it.

Almost as though someone had deliberately erased it.

"You don’t need to see any of that," Eugene said softly.

"Just rest for now."

"Take a deep breath."

"I don’t want you blaming yourself for something that wasn’t your fault."

Those words made Noah panic immediately.

That meant...

He really had done something horrible.

"I..." he whispered.

"I didn’t kill anyone... right?"

His breathing became uneven.

"Tell me, Eugene."

"I didn’t kill anyone... did I?"

While speaking, his eyes finally noticed the thick bandages wrapped around his own body.

Cuts.

Bruises.

Burn marks.

His pupils shrank.

"Oh fuck..."

"No..."

"No, no, no..."

"I did this to you."

He hurried closer and carefully touched Eugene’s injured arm.

At that exact moment, Eugene sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

But he hid it immediately.

He forced a smile before Noah could notice.

"See?"

"It doesn’t even hurt."

"So don’t worry about it."

"I’m being honest."

Noah remained silent.

He wasn’t stupid.

That smile...

That voice...

Everything about it screamed that Eugene was lying.

He was hiding the pain because he didn’t want Noah to blame himself.

That realization made Noah’s chest tighten painfully.

This was someone who had probably thrown himself in front of danger just to protect him.

Someone who had exhausted every ounce of strength he possessed.

Noah wasn’t completely certain...

But deep inside...

He already knew.

Eugene was the reason he was still alive.

Then why...

Why was everything different from the novel?

This wasn’t Eugene’s personality.

Not even close.

Or...

Was this simply the author’s fault?

Maybe the idiot deliberately turned Eugene into one of those cold-hearted male leads because readers seemed obsessed with emotionless men who barely knew how to smile.

Something Noah himself had never understood.

Seriously...

Why would anyone willingly crush on someone who looked at them like they were invisible?

Abeg.

At least show small feelings.

But the Eugene sitting before him now...

He was nothing like that.

He wasn’t cold.

He wasn’t indifferent.

He wasn’t the detached man Noah had expected.

He was...

A sweetheart.

Someone ridiculously gentle.

Someone who cared so much that Noah wasn’t even sure how to react anymore.

Yes.

He had been distant before.

But this sudden change...

Noah simply couldn’t understand it.

"Can’t you look outside?" Noah asked quietly.

"There aren’t any students around."

"I definitely did something."

"My instincts are telling me that."

His eyes drifted toward the window.

Dark smoke rose high into the sky.

It came from the direction of the cafeteria.

His heart skipped.

That was where everything had happened.

There was no doubt.

He was responsible.

"Am I going to be expelled?"

The question escaped before he could stop it.

Ironically...

He had once wanted nothing more than to leave this academy.

Now...

His thoughts had changed.

If he ever left...

It would be by his own choice.

Not because the academy forced him out.

And if he walked away one day...

He wanted to leave beside friends.

People he genuinely cared about.

"I promise you," Eugene said quietly.

"You don’t want to see what’s over there."

"So please..."

"Let’s leave it for now."

Noah looked directly into his hazel eyes.

Those same eyes he had always believed were filled with disgust.

Hatred.

Rejection.

Yet now...

Every time Eugene looked at him...

They seemed to hold nothing but affection.

Almost...

Love.

Noah swallowed.

"Didn’t I do something you hated?"

"I thought I assaulted you."

"So why..."

"Why would you care about someone who did something so horrible?"

"I always believed you hated me."

"So what changed?"

"What happened?"

"And..."

He hesitated.

"How long have you been carrying these feelings?"

The question surprised even himself.

Out of everything happening...

That was what he chose to ask.

The smoke outside continued rising into the sky.

People were probably injured.

Someone had died.

He should have cared more about that.

But strangely...

None of it mattered as much as the man sitting in front of him.

"This isn’t the time, Ash."

Eugene lowered his gaze.

"I’ll tell you later."

Noah immediately frowned.

He hated those words.

Later.

He knew exactly how stories like that ended.

Someone would leave.

Someone would die.

And the confession would become nothing but regret.

Even if he didn’t want to imagine Eugene dying...

He still wanted the truth.

A selfish part of him desperately wanted to hear those words.

At least then...

His heart would finally stop wondering.

"When is later?" Noah asked quietly.

"Running away won’t solve anything."

"So tell me."

"Please."

"If not for yourself..."

"Then for me."

The room became silent.

Eugene’s trembling hands gently tightened around Noah’s.

Despite his injuries...

Despite how exhausted he looked...

He still refused to let go.

Noah slowly squeezed his hand back.

"Talk to me."

"No matter how bad it is..."

"I’m still here."

"So tell me."

Eugene closed his eyes.

Then finally spoke.

"The truth is..."

"You never sexually assaulted me."

Noah froze.

"I..."

"I lied."

"I faked everything."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I wanted attention."

"Especially yours."

"I was actually the one chasing after you."

"I kept sneaking into your room."

"I kept looking for excuses to see you."

"I was always the one following you around."

A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"But..."

"You always acted like you didn’t notice."

"So..."

"I created that lie."

"I thought..."

"Maybe then..."

"You’d finally look at me."

Silence.

Complete silence.

Noah’s brain stopped functioning.

If...

If that was true...

Then...

Who exactly had Ashton been chasing all this time?

The original novel clearly stated Ashton pursued the four male leads relentlessly.

So what the hell was this?

Everything had been backwards from the very beginning.

Noah slowly covered his face.

"Damn..."

"The author was actually a devil."

Ashton was innocent.

That realization nearly made Noah choke on his own saliva.

How?

How could they paint Ashton as someone without a backbone? Someone so helpless that he looked no different from a frightened kitten?

Why was that the story everyone believed?

Now that he thought about it more carefully, Noah realized something else.

Throughout the entire novel, Ashton never truly had a personality of his own.

His whole existence revolved around the four male leads.

The readers never knew what he liked, what he hated, what dreams he had, or even what kind of person he really was. None of that mattered because the author kept distracting everyone with endless smut.

Honestly...

It was outrageous.

Then another thought struck him.

Wait...

Was the novel even BL?

Or was it actually straight?

Ashton definitely wasn’t the heroine.

That meant it should have been a straight novel.

So all those explicit scenes...

Were they between Sylvia and the four male leads?

How was that even normal?

Seriously...

Who willingly reads straight smut all day?

Unfortunately...

He used to.

Back before discovering BL novels.

Ever since then, anything straight simply couldn’t hold his attention anymore.

"No."

He shook his head firmly.

"That’s not acceptable."

His brows furrowed.

"Why would you go that far?"

"Do you know that’s basically slander against my name?"

"There has been a misunderstanding surrounding me this whole time."

He stared directly at Eugene.

"I don’t think wanting my attention is enough of a reason."

"There has to be something else."

"There is something you’re not telling me."

His voice softened.

"What is it?"

"I want to understand you, Eugene."

"What has been going through your head all this time?"

"I really want to know."

Eugene smiled.

It was small.

Gentle.

Embarrassingly handsome.

He lowered his head, almost as though he wasn’t proud of the decisions he had made just to drag Ashton into his life.

Watching him, Noah suddenly remembered another issue.

Why hadn’t he received all of Ashton’s memories?

Everything he knew came only in scattered fragments.

Broken pieces that never fit together.

That was exactly why he had believed Killian was Ashton’s murderer.

The memories had pointed in that direction.

Thankfully...

He had been wrong.

"I’m sorry."

Eugene finally spoke.

"You were always serious whenever it involved them."

"But never me."

His fingers tightened together.

"So..."

"I did something stupid."

"I wanted your eyes on me."

"And somehow..."

"It worked."

"I honestly never expected it to."

Noah stared blankly at him.

Just how desperate had Eugene been?

How lonely?

At this point...

Ashton truly felt like the victim.

The poor guy had unknowingly fallen into the middle of a disaster created by emotionally unstable Alphas.

One after another.

No wonder everyone hated him.

"I still don’t understand."

Noah rubbed his forehead.

"There are too many things that don’t add up."

"I know you’re being honest..."

"But you’re not telling me everything."

"It feels like you’re still going around in circles."

Eugene froze.

His smile disappeared.

His sharp hazel eyes narrowed slightly.

Then...

He spoke.

"Maybe..."

"We should stop talking about me."

Silence.

"And instead..."

"We should talk about why you keep referring to yourself like you’re someone else."

His gaze locked onto Noah’s.

"You aren’t Ashton..."

"...are you?"

The words exploded inside Noah’s head.

His entire body stiffened.

He had been found out.

This...

This was dangerous.

What would they do if they discovered he wasn’t Ashton?

Would they think he possessed the body?

Would they try to kill him?

And the affection everyone was showing him...

It wasn’t for Noah Evernight.

It belonged to Ashton.

If they learned the truth...

Everything would change.

"I always knew."

Eugene’s calm voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I just didn’t want to say anything."

"When you woke up after falling from the building..."

"I visited you in Mr. Harold’s care."

His eyes became distant.

"And the person lying there..."

"...wasn’t Ashton."

Noah stopped breathing.

"I don’t know whether the others noticed."

"But I did."

"There was..."

"A different soul inside you."

"I could sense it."

"And from that moment..."

"I knew."

The words Noah wanted to say died inside his throat.

So...

That explained it.

That was why Eugene’s attitude had changed.

Not because he hated Ashton.

But because...

He realized the person before him wasn’t Ashton anymore.

Eugene placed a finger against his lips.

"Shhh..."

"Don’t tell anyone."

He smiled awkwardly.

"I can somehow sense spiritual cores."

"And the movement of spirits."

"I honestly don’t know why."

"It isn’t connected to my affinity."

"It just..."

"Happens."

Noah looked at him with widened eyes.

At that moment, he realized just how little he actually knew about the four Alphas.

Everything the novel told him barely scratched the surface.

Their personalities...

Their abilities...

Even their emotions...

Most of it had been watered down.

The author had simply painted Eugene as another arrogant jerk because that image sold better.

And Noah...

Had believed every single word.

Maybe the real Eugene had always been this gentle.

Maybe nobody ever bothered looking close enough.

"Okay..."

Noah sighed deeply.

"I think we should stop here."

"My head already feels like it’s about to split open."

"This is way too much information."

His entire understanding of the novel had collapsed within a few minutes.

Nothing made sense anymore.

One thing was still bothering him though.

Had Eugene really been the person Ashton liked?

Or...

Was that another misunderstanding?

Dang...

He was even more confused than before.

Then another memory surfaced.

Killian had once told him Ashton assaulted Eugene.

If Eugene was saying that never happened...

Then Killian genuinely believed it.

Meaning...

Whoever spread the rumor fooled everyone.

Or...

There was someone hiding in the shadows all along.

Thinking about everything made his headache worsen.

Then there was another issue.

He was a pureblood.

Not an ordinary one either.

That discovery alone was enough to shake the entire academy.

Just how much worse could things possibly become?

"You’re having a headache?"

Eugene immediately stood.

"Come on."

"I’ll take you to Harold."

He reached out as though intending to carry Noah again.

Noah quickly caught his wrist.

The moment his fingers brushed Eugene’s burned arm, Eugene instinctively flinched.

It was only for a second.

But Noah noticed.

His expression darkened.

"What about you?"

He frowned.

"Look at those burns."

"Come on."

"We should treat you first."

Ignoring Eugene’s protests, Noah slowly stood.

His legs still felt weak.

The moment he looked ahead, he noticed three figures sprinting toward him.

Squinting slightly...

Recognition flashed across his face.

The other three Alphas.

Killian reached him first.

Without warning, he wrapped Noah in his arms before lifting him completely off the ground and spinning him once.

Only after setting him down did he hug him tightly.

Damian followed immediately.

Then Marcus.

Each of them embraced him with visible relief.

"You’re okay..."

Killian whispered.

His voice trembled.

"Eugene..."

He looked toward him in disbelief.

"You actually did it."

"I still don’t know how you broke through that barrier."

His jaw practically dropped.

Marcus quickly stepped forward.

"How are both of you feeling?"

"Should we get Harold?"

He was already about to leave when Noah suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

"I..."

His voice became quieter.

"I didn’t kill anyone..."

"...right?"

Once again...

Silence answered him.

His heartbeat pounded violently.

Just as panic threatened to consume him, Damian laughed.

"Stop overthinking."

He gently smacked Noah’s shoulder.

"Why would you kill anyone?"

"Of course you didn’t."

Noah finally released a long breath.

Thank goodness.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

"Lamia."

"And Rose."

"They’re still inside."

"I need to see them."

"It would be terrible if I just left them there."

He started walking toward the cafeteria.

Marcus immediately stepped in front of him.

"They’re already at the infirmary."

"Harold treated them first."

"We’ll meet them there."

His expression remained perfectly calm.

Too calm.

Noah didn’t notice anything suspicious.

He simply nodded.

What he didn’t know...

Was that Marcus had lied.

None of them wanted Noah anywhere near the cafeteria.

Not after what happened inside.

Fear settled heavily inside Marcus’ chest.

Noah had unintentionally caused a disaster that would shake the academy.

And once the investigation began...

Things would only become more dangerous for him.

The group slowly headed toward the infirmary.

Marcus and Damian supported Eugene from both sides.

Killian kept one arm resting protectively around Noah’s shoulders.

As they passed the dining hall, Noah glanced sideways.

The entire building looked as though it could collapse at any moment.

He opened his mouth to ask about it.

Marcus noticed immediately.

"We got our memories back."

His words successfully diverted Noah’s attention.

"And our powers."

"I’m sure it all started that night."

"The night we celebrated your birthday."

"We saw monsters."

"And this academy definitely knows what they are."

Noah blinked.

That was right.

The attack on the lodge.

The missing memories.

Everything suddenly connected.

"Yes..."

He frowned thoughtfully.

"The attack on my lodge."

"I knew we were supposed to remember something."

His thoughts became restless again.

As if sensing it, Killian unconsciously released a gentle wave of pheromones.

Comforting.

Warm.

Protective.

"It’s alright."

Killian smiled, his dimples appearing naturally.

"Let’s enjoy this silence for now."

"Especially if you don’t want to remember."

"This school isn’t worth dying for."

"So stop torturing yourself."

"Just this once..."

"Let’s be selfish."

"I don’t want you losing your sanity."

Noah looked up at him.

Those dimples...

That smile...

Seriously.

How was someone allowed to look that handsome?

His mouth hung open before he quickly looked away.

Unable to find any words, Noah simply rested his head against Killian’s shoulder.

For now...

He allowed himself to stop thinking.

The others quietly walked ahead, while Killian remained beside him, making sure he never had to carry the burden alone.