Chapter 19: Who Are You?
The garden was quiet—too quiet for the midday rush of the academy grounds.
There, beneath the blooming shade of a tall Cercis, stood Cordelia and Noah. The tree’s heart-shaped petals rained gently over the cobbled path, painting the stones with flecks of pink and violet. Its branches arched above them like a delicate cathedral, filtering the sunlight into a warm, fragmented glow.
But the mood was anything but serene.
Cordelia’s fingers tightened around Noah’s sleeve. She stepped closer, her voice barely more than breath against the soft hum of spring air.
"Who are you?"
Noah didn’t flinch. His eyes remained calm, detached—as if he’d been waiting for that question all along.
"No," he said evenly. "Who are you?"
Cordelia blinked. Her brows creased. "What do you mean by who I am? Who are you? You don’t act like Noah."
Noah tilted his head slightly, his gaze steady. "What do you mean I don’t act like Noah? I act like me."
"That’s exactly it," she snapped. "Noah is timid. He didn’t have any skills at all. He grew by passing obstacles, by struggling—one hardship at a time."
Noah gave a dry, humorless smile. "Yes. That’s me. I did the same, you see. But who the fuck are you, girl? I never saw you in any of my playthroughs... nor in my past life."