I Don’t Want This Bad Ending

Evelyn was still in her nightgown and was draped with light clothed in her bed.

It was still early in the morning… to be exact the sun still hadn't risen when she suddenly woke up from her sleep.

Leaning against the headboard, she suddenly recalled the happenings that just recently happened.

It was still vivid when she saw Elise at the dungeon of the annex of the Temple of Light. There were some things that she learned from Elise's loose mouth.

"She definitely knew something…"

Evelyn mumbled before she let out a sigh and looked at the window and the dark clouds outside.

Now that she's awake she knew very well that she won't be able to fall asleep again so easily. So it's best to think about her next plan.

Looking at herself and her new dress she thought that Cassandra must have given orders to clean her. She smiled at the thought of how she missed how Cassandra always thought about her well being like a family.

"Family…" 

The word that left her mouth was so unfamiliar to Evelyn until years ago.

A small smile painted in her red lips. It came voluntarily that she wasn't aware about it and just the thought that there were people who would risk and trust her decision made her feel warmth inside.

Standing in front of the mirror, Evelyn saw that there were traces of Elise stupid act of intimidating her using the shackles that causes her mana to stop.

Tracing the marks that were left in both her hands and feet, she was struck at the thought that it would be the last time that she would use such methods.

Evelyn scoffed at the thought that she did something stupid acting as a weak woman in front of them.

"Though, I learned something from them… and the most suspicious among them is him…"

The dark crimson eyes that reflected the reflection of the abyss was what Evelyn first thought.

However much she thinks about it, there was something in Ishid's eyes that she felt uncomfortable.

Something that if she stares at him for far too long, she will definitely get swept away and suck into a pitless hole of darkness.

And no matter how she thinks about it, Ishid, the right-hand man of Prince Adley, was supposed to be a person who always blended in the background while still accomplishing the task that was given to him by Adley.

But now, there's a certain doubt that she felt every time she remembered the night that he visited her quarters in Prince Adley's secret base.

Now that she thought about it, because Evelyn was so focused on the main characters of the Novel in "The Happy Ending" and her life being on the line, she didn't have the luxury to think about the people that were beside them.

Only the necessary people that would bring her benefit were the only characters that she thought would be alright to befriend like Cassandra.

"Haaa… I really did neglect a lot of things huh…"

Yes… she ignored a lot of things and ran away because she was scared of her fate that was closing every moment that she was at the academy.

Walking at the balcony through the window, a cold wind swept her silver-blue hair and the tip that was colored in black reflected the serene darkness of the night.

She stayed there for a bit longer to look at the things below the manor… the quietness of the night and the melody of the leaves brushing against each other were so vivid that she knew that this would be the only time that she could enjoy this.

Because when the sun comes down, the things that Evelyn will need to handle will be greater than it was before.

At that moment, Evelyn heard a groan and a moan at the next room.

"Huh?"

"Ugh... "

Evelyn heard it again and this time she knew that it wasn't just a hallucination.

Looking at the next room, the doors at the balcony were open and the curtains that were hanging on them were smoothly swaying at every blow of the air.

"Agh!"

The voice was familiar to her and out of curiosity she wanted to know what was happening. And thus, she leapt from her balcony to the next.

Slowly walking through the door, the curtain that was slowly swaying was hindering her view and so she walked even further inside.

"Ugh… mmp"

Evelyn knew that the room next to hers was not occupied by anyone, the guest room was at the other side of the mansion however the voice that was leaking from the person that was on the bed lying and is obviously writhing in pain is someone she knew.

"Cabel?"

In cold sweat, Cabel had wrinkles in his head indicating how much pain he was experiencing.

Worried about him, Evelyn immediately put her hand on his forehead thinking that Cabel must have a high fever but instead he was cold like he just bathed in freezing water.

"What?"

Taking his temperature again thinking that she must have been wrong, her hand swiftly brushed his skin.

"What is happening with you?"

Evelyn looked at the state of the room and found that there was medicine at the top of the cabinet beside his bed. 

There's also a basin that was full of water and a towel that fell to Cabel's side.

Picking it up and soaking the towel with the water, Evelyn immediately thought that it would be better if it was lukewarm water so that Cabel could at least feel warm.

Evelyn used her mana for the first time in a long while and heated the water to her content. She also lit the fireplace so that the temperature inside the room would rise.

"Thinking about it, who the hell left the door open?"

The night wind was colder now because the season of fall is nearing its end.

When everything was prepared and Evelyn was satisfied about the temperature of the room, she immediately got the liquid medicine for Cabel to take.

"Cabel, this is medicine, take it slowly…"

Cabel was still delirious and was still writhing in pain, and so, Evelyn was having a hard time making Cabel drink the medicine.

"Cabel…"

Her worried voice slips through his ears, still, Cabel has a lot of things that he is feeling right now that her voice was like a dream to him.

Soon, Evelyn succeeded in making Cabel take the medicine and so she slowly laid him again at the bed.

"Haa…"

Evelyn sighs in relief. Seeing Cabel regain color in his face. Seeing him like this for the first time shocked her that Evelyn immediately thought reasons how it happened.

And a certain thing popped up.

"It's because of my mother's soul…"

The coldness that Evelyn felt under his skin was not ordinary. She knew that it was because of the mana clashing in his body that it resulted that way.

And the medicine that he drank was only a medicine for cold fever. It just helps his body reduce the heat that the clashing of mana was doing in his body.

When Evelyn saw that Cabel was breathing evenly unlike before that it was ragged and short. She decided to return to her room before the dawn breaks.

The weight that she put beside Cabel as she was sitting, lifted. As she tried to walk away she was put to stop because a light grip was felt on her shoulder sleeve.

"Eve…"

Turning her head around, she found Cabel's red eyes peeking at her even though his lids were heavy.

"Do you need anything?"

Evelyn moved closer, thinking that Cabel must have something that he wants.

However, the words that Cabel spoke left her froze for a moment.

"... don't go… Eve. Stay… please"

Evelyn looked at him she sits at the bed again and brush Cabel's face.

"... I'm here… I'm not going anywhere... "

"Eve…"

"You should go back to sleep…"

Like a sweet lullaby, Cabel fall back to sleep as the words that Evelyn spoke made him reassured.

Evelyn watches him for a while before she goes back to her room.

As she returned. She sighed again and looked at the window, the darkness that was slowly turning blue was slowly creeping in.

Evelyn thought that it would be nice to take a nap before the maid went to her room to wake her up.

***

At her office, Evelyn was wide awake, especially the news that Edickart just gave her.

Everyone was silent in the room. 

There was a lot of agenda that needed to be discussed with Evelyn but because of the heavy atmosphere around her, no one had the guts to speak up and only glanced at her from time to time.

"Haaaaaa"

Whenever she does that, her spirits, Cathy, Chrisfold and Bern flinched. 

Meanwhile, Cassandra was just sipping her tea leisurely. It was because Cassandra already knew what was bugging her that Evelyn could sighed like there's no tomorrow.

Cassandra already heard everything from what King Edickart said.

"Haaaa..."

Evelyn sighed again before she spoke to them.

"Let's talk about what you find out first… Did you find Gil?"

"There was still nothing… the tracks still stop at the back garden of the Temple."

Evelyn thought hard about the Temple of Light that was written in the Novel. She thought that she would definitely find something if she remembered it.

Like a lightning strike, the words "secret chamber of the Temple of Light" rung in her head.

"That's right… there was something like that in the Temple of Light" She mumbled to herself.

"But why would Gil go there with Elise?"

Though Evelyn knew about the secret chamber of the Temple that was said to have the treasure that they keep since their foundation and that the treasure have relics from the past, she still doesn't know why Gil wouldn't tell her about it.

And besides, nothing in the Novel was said about the location and how they could come inside the secret chamber of treasury.

Then it struck her.

"Where did their tracks last seen?"

"In the back garden…"

"Did you find something odd about the surrounding area?"

"What? There's only a small mana but it was most likely a cleaning spell… why?"

Evelyn smiled.

"That's it…! It's that spell!"