Chapter 197. Abandoned World
Listening to Art, the group once again fell into a deafening silence.
Until Evelyn finally parted her lips.
"...Hey, guys." Her voice was small, but it cut through the heavy air like a knife. "Are we really just going to leave Cassius? There’s a high chance he’ll die in there..."
Lilith’s expression twisted. But even she didn’t have the confidence to offer support. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. She simply lowered her head, as if burdened by guilt she couldn’t shake off.
The others weren’t any different.
But Evelyn wasn’t done.
Her hands trembled slightly as she continued, voice gaining strength with each word. "Why...? I know he can be a handful—most of the time, really. But isn’t he still our friend? Haven’t we spent so much of our childhoods together? He was never a bad guy to begin with... Just a little stupid, a little childish."
Freya placed a gentle hand on Evelyn’s shoulder, trying to calm her, to tether her back to reality. "It’s not about whether he’s bad or not, Evelyn. It’s us. We’re the ones who aren’t capable. Even if what Art said was a lie... even if Cassius is still in one piece, we wouldn’t make a difference. We can’t fight those monsters."
"That’s not true, Freya," Evelyn said, shrugging off her hand. Her voice wasn’t shaking anymore. "You know that’s not the reason. No one said a word when Miss Celia publicly berated him. No one even asked where he was during the horde. You all saw it too—how everyone just turned on him in an instant, like he was always some hidden villain."
Celeste snapped.
"You didn’t either, Evelyn! You didn’t speak up for him either!" Her voice cracked with frustration. "How can you point fingers at us, when you’re just like the rest of us?"
Evelyn didn’t flinch. She bit her lip hard enough to bleed and forced herself to nod. "I know that..." she whispered. "That’s why I’m ashamed. No—more than that. It’s like... now I finally see him. For who he is. Or maybe for who he was all this time, but none of us bothered to notice. Didn’t you see? How easily everyone turned on him, without a second thought."