Chapter 144: Burdens of the Future
"You need to hear me out, Princess."
"I’m here under direct orders from your father."
Nearly an hour earlier, Cher had received the most unexpected message imaginable. It came from a sixth-year student of the Avaron Clan, a gifted prodigy who had already secured a respectable position within the clan.
What surprised her wasn’t that he contacted her, but that he carried a message from Chaz Avaron himself.
At first, she assumed her father intended to offer advice, or perhaps threaten her before the upcoming mission. Driven more by caution than curiosity, and keeping Silas’ condition in mind, she decided to meet him. If nothing else, she hoped to glimpse what her father was planning.
She simply hadn’t expected the conversation to take this turn.
"And?"
Her voice remained calm, her expression indifferent, revealing none of the thoughts crossing her mind.
"He wants you to return to the clan and accept the offer he made before."
Cher almost found the request disappointing in its predictability.
"So he still refuses to give up."
The air around her turned noticeably colder.
"Go back and tell him I’ll never return, nor will I ever follow his wishes."
She turned to leave, only for the older student to stop her.
"He expected that answer."
"But he also wanted me to warn you about your next mission."
’Here we go.’
That was the only reason she had agreed to come.
Even then, she kept walking, pretending she had lost interest.
"He said the mission won’t unfold the way you think."
"He warned you about the item you brought back from the mine."
"It’s cursed."
Her footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
’That’s impossible.’
Slowly, she turned around.
"What are you talking about?"
The older student met her gaze. Judging from his expression, he clearly didn’t know the full story behind the message he had been entrusted with, but even he could tell how serious it was.
"He said the item carries a curse."
"A curse powerful enough to kill you."
He paused, carefully recalling Chaz’s exact words.
"He warns you not to use it."
"And he wants you to return. Even if you’ve already taken it, he believes he can still save you."
Cher knew her father wasn’t bluffing.
The curse was something only she, Silas, and the others had learned after Darius revealed the truth.
’How does he know?’
The question lingered in her mind, yet it failed to shake her resolve.
"Tell him I won’t come back."
She turned around once more, her steps firm and unwavering.
"I accepted my death the moment I challenged him."
"Whether I die to a curse or by his own hands makes no difference."
Even the older student felt the weight behind those words.
He remained where he stood, silently watching until Cher disappeared beyond the end of the corridor.
"No one knows what truly happened between those two..."
His lips slowly curled into a faint smile.
"But whatever it is, it’s far more valuable than I first imagined."
His eyes gleamed with calculation.
"Now the real question is how I can profit from it."
Conflict between the clan leader and his own daughter had already guaranteed opportunities for ambitious people like him. Yet now, he sensed something even greater hidden beneath that rift, a secret valuable enough to elevate his standing within the clan.
"Easy..."
He slowly composed himself.
"First, I need to uncover that secret."
His gaze drifted elsewhere, as though it could pierce the academy walls.
"I need to meet that useless orphan and see how much he knows."
Chaz hadn’t only instructed him to deliver the message to Cher. If she refused, his next target was Silas.
The timing, however, had been emphasised repeatedly.
He had no intention of disobeying Chaz’s orders.
Still, if an opportunity presented itself, he fully intended to profit from it.
***
"I swear on my babies that I’ll never do this again."
Standing inside one of the academy’s vast gardens, Lara wore an expression full of conflict. Every word she spoke carried visible reluctance.
"You already know the price of what you’re asking for."
Standing opposite her, Darius looked as composed as ever, his expression serious and unwavering, as though nothing about this conversation troubled him.
"I know..."
Lara hesitated before glancing toward the three squirrels she had grown deeply attached to.
"I want to make them stronger."
"That flower can do it... right?"
She looked back at Darius, searching for reassurance that would ease at least a little of the guilt weighing on her heart.
Darius, however, remained as stern as before.
"You know my ability isn’t omnipotent."
He could see the conflict written across Lara’s face. Anxiety, hesitation, and regret were already beginning to overshadow her resolve. If his plan was going to work, she had to keep her mouth shut.
"Yet..."
"You saw how desperately that dragon wanted it."
The mention of the dragon made her expression shift for a brief moment before a bright smile appeared.
"You’re right."
She glanced toward her babies.
"I even had to pry it away from one of them by force."
She remembered taking the flower from Cher. The Mana Squirrel that carried the bag had refused to let go, as though it understood the flower’s value.
"It must be something precious for my babies."
Even so, the relief she felt was quickly swallowed by guilt. Every time she remembered what she was about to do, her expression darkened once more.
"Let’s get this over with."
Watching her emotions swing so violently made Darius increasingly uneasy. The longer they stayed here, the greater the chance she would change her mind. It would be far better to leave her alone, allowing her excitement and guilt to battle each other in silence.
Seeing her fall quiet again, he pressed on.
"Did you bring it?"
For a fleeting moment, Lara wanted to refuse. She wanted to turn around, return to her dorm, and pretend this conversation had never happened.
"Don’t forget..."
Darius offered her no escape.
"If you don’t give me what I asked for now, I won’t tell you how to obtain the flower in the future."
Those words shattered the last of her resistance.
She stared at him for a long moment before letting out a weary sigh.
"Here."
A small bag appeared in her hand out of thin air before she tossed it toward him.
"But if you get caught, I never gave you anything."
Darius opened the bag and briefly checked its contents. After confirming everything was there, a satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Don’t worry."
He tossed the bag into the air, storing it inside his portable device.
"I’ll never get caught."
His confidence did little to ease Lara’s conscience.
"Now tell me."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Tell me how, when, and where I can find the flower."
Darius recalled several of his recent visions and sighed.
"What I’m about to tell you will sound completely insane."
"But one day, you’ll find yourself standing beside Cher and someone else on top of a massive stone surrounded by a very dangerous sea of moving sands. Cher will be swept away by the sand, with only a bag keeping her connected to you..."
The more he spoke, the more bewildered Lara became. Everything sounded like a fairy tale.
"There isn’t even a desert in the Elfine Kingdom."
She couldn’t help interrupting him.
"And who said the place I’m talking about is inside the kingdom?"
Darius fell silent.
He knew far more than anyone could imagine, but after speaking with Silas, he had made a decision. He would never reveal the full extent of his visions to anyone.
He refused to interfere with the future, no matter how hopeless it appeared. That resolve had been born from a belief he had only recently begun to develop, a belief in Silas, and in his ability to shatter whatever grim future awaited him.
"But..."
"Just listen."
Darius knew exactly how confused she was.
"I won’t explain any of this. I only need you to remember one thing."
His expression turned completely serious.
"When that moment comes, you must let go of Cher, grab the bag, and feed the flower inside to one of your monsters. If you don’t, both you and Cher will die at the hands of the third person standing beside you."
He stepped closer before she could interrupt, meeting her eyes as he emphasised every word.
"If you choose to keep holding onto Cher instead of feeding the flower to your monster, trying to save her from getting crushed by the moving sand, you will only get both of you killed."
"This..."
Lara could tell he wasn’t joking. Every word carried an unsettling weight.
Before she could ask another question, Darius turned around and walked away.
"Wait..."
She called after him, but he never slowed down. Within moments, he had disappeared from sight.
"I only wanted to ask if it’s alright to tell Cher..."
Her body trembled faintly as his warning echoed in her mind.
"I can’t carry something this important by myself."
"If..."
"If she’s willing, then maybe I should be the one to jump into the sand and let her feed my babies instead."
It wasn’t a death wish.
Lara simply couldn’t bear the burden of holding both her own life and Cher’s in her hands. From the way Darius had described that future, she knew it would be a desperate moment where every decision had to be made within seconds.
And Lara knew herself better than anyone.
She had never been someone who handled pressure well.