Chapter 177: The Gone Star

Date: January 1, 2018 | Time: 10:45 AM

Location: Guild Master’s Office – Requiem Guild

Perspective: Celia

I stared at the back of Sophia’s head, my gaze unblinking.

“Sophia,” I said.

My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was hollow, a vibration of pure, focused intent. Sophia flinched, her shoulders jumping as she slowly turned to face me. The moment her eyes met mine, she froze.

“Celia, your eyes—” she started, her voice trailing off into a panicked breath.

“You never said you had connections to him like that,” I said, my words coming out slow and sharp.

I took a step toward her, the floorboards seemingly groaning under the weight of my intent. “You said… you were just searching. That you were friends. You s-said…”

“I—I didn’t think it mattered!” Sophia stammered, her hands coming up as if to shield herself. “It was a l-long time ago, Celia! We were just kids at the academy and it—it didn’t even last that long because he’s a j-jerk!”

I took another step. The Ring of Empty Chaos on my finger thrummed, the Cobalt Blue section swirling violently as if sensing my agitation.

She touched him. She held the title I had to bleed and burn for.

Suddenly, a hand settled firmly on my shoulder. The touch was cool, steady, and unmistakably Kaiser’s. I stopped instantly, the heat in my chest hitting a physical barrier.

“Celia. Enough,” he murmured.

I didn’t pull away, but my gaze remained locked on Sophia’s trembling form. Kaiser stepped forward, positioning himself as my barrier, his eyes flicking toward Sylvia with a warning glint.

“We’re not here to spark any past chases or revive dead memories, Sylvia,” Kaiser said, his voice dropping an octave.

“Keep the conversation on the present. Don’t bring anything else up.”

“Ohhh, wow. Cold as ever, Kaiser,” Sylvia said, though she didn’t look intimidated. She let out a small, staged cough to clear the air and sat back on her desk.

“Fine. Let’s talk logistics. The Avalon Island raid is scheduled for three months from now. That gives you plenty of time to clear 50 quests and build the necessary reputation for an independent charter.”

She reached for a ledger on her desk, her silver eyes scanning the pages. “You three can register as a temporary team with Marcus downstairs. But kaiser… about the rewards. Payment is tied to rank and reputation. What may yours be?”

“E-ranked.”

“For a registered E-rank like yourself, the economy is… well, modest.”

“Explain it,” Kaiser said.

“It’s a standard decimal system,” Sylvia replied.

“100 copper pieces = 1 silver. 100 silver = 1 gold.”

“E-rank quests—mostly pest control or basic delivery—pay in copper. Maybe a few silver if you’re lucky. D and C-ranks move into consistent silver. Once you hit B or A-rank, you start seeing gold. S-ranks? They don’t even look at the coins; they get land grants or artifacts.”

She looked at me and Lucas, her smirk returning. “And what about these two? What are their ranks? I need to know how to calculate the party average.”

“They are unranked,” Kaiser stated flatly. “And I prefer them staying that way for now. We’ll take the E-rank workload and scale it by volume.”

Sylvia raised an eyebrow. “Unranked? Bold choice. Fine by me, as long as they don’t die in the first week. It’ll make the paperwork easier if I only have one official file to track.”

She stood up, gesturing toward the door. “Go talk to Marcus at the reception. Tell him I gave you three specific permission to bypass the cooldown timers for quest-taking. As for Sophia…”

She glanced at the trembling girl. “We can talk about that thing later. You’re dismissed.”

Lucas nodded, his face regaining that casual, ’aura-farmer’ mask. “Finally. I was starting to get bored.”

As we all turned to leave, my eyes lingered on Sophia’s back for one more second.

You’re lucky he’s holding me back.

For now.

“Kaiser, stay for a moment,” Sylvia said suddenly. “I have something specific to discuss with you regarding the party’s legal standing.”

I stopped dead, my hand moving toward my belt. The crimson in my eyes flared again.

She wants him alone?

Sylvia saw my expression and waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, relax, little princess. It’s strictly party-related. I need a signature for the independent waiver that only the designated leader can provide. It’s boring, legal, and completely non-romantic. You three can go ahead.”

I stayed rooted to the spot, my breath becoming shallow. I didn’t trust her. I didn’t trust anyone with silver eyes and a sharp tongue.

Kaiser turned to me. He didn’t say anything at first, but then he did something that caught me completely off guard.

He smiled—a small, genuine tilt of the lips—and gave me a subtle wink.

The tension in my body evaporated. My heart did a clumsy flip, the possessive rage being replaced by a dizzying, feminine feeling.

“Go with Lucas,” he said quietly.

“I… okay,” I mumbled, my face heating up. “I’ll be waiting downstairs, Kai.”

I turned and followed Lucas and a very shaken Sophia out of the room, my hand subconsciously twisting the soul-mate ring on my finger.

He was mine.

The descent down the grand staircase felt longer than the climb. Behind me, I could hear the light, uneven footsteps of the girl who had apparently once claimed a piece of Kai’s life.

“Celia?”

I stopped. I didn’t turn around. I let my black eyes remain fixed on the polished stone of the stairs.

“It’s Jenny,” I said. My voice was as flat and lifeless.

“U-uh… yes. Jenny,” Sophia stammered. I could hear her fingers fidgeting with her clothes. “C-can we… can we t-talk? Just for a—a second?”

I slowly turned my head, looking at her over my shoulder. My eyes had returned to their dark, deceptive void, but beneath the surface, the crimson was waiting to resurface.

“About what?”

Sophia flinched, her eyes darting toward Lucas, then back to me. She opened her mouth, but only a small, breathy sound came out.

Lucas let out a long, dramatic sigh. He stepped away from us and flagged down a man carrying a bucket and a mop near the landing.

“Yo, man. Does this place have a balcony or something? Somewhere with a view?”

The man stopped, looking utterly bewildered. “What? I’m the janitor.”

“Cool career choice. Does it have one or not?” Lucas asked, his voice losing its patience.

“Uh… there’s one on the fourth floor,” the janitor muttered, pointing upward.

Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, jagged grey stone. He tossed it to the man with the confidence of someone handing over a gold bar.

“Thanks. Keep the change.”

I stared at the “coin” in my mind.

That’s literally just a rock, Lucas. It isn’t even painted halfway.

“Pleasure doing business,” the janitor beamed, tucking the rock into his pocket and whistling as he moved along.

Lucas turned to us, giving a casual wave. “You two can clear up any ’misunderstandings.’ I’ll be waiting by the receptionist—or whatever Marcus is. Don’t take too long; I’m hungry.”

I nodded once

Lucas disappeared down the stairs, leaving me alone with the ghost of Kai’s past. I turned my cold gaze back to Sophia.

“Follow me.”

We climbed back up to the fourth floor. The hallway was quiet, the air smelling of old wood and the faint scent of rain. When we reached the heavy oak door leading to the balcony, I reached for the handle.

It didn’t budge. Locked.

“O-oh…” Sophia muttered, her shoulders sagging. “Locked? Now…?”

I didn’t blink. I stood perfectly still, my eyes fixed on the iron lock mechanism.

Crownless. Go invisible, slip inside the mechanism, and shatter the pins. Now.

「 As you wish, my Queen. 」

A faint, localized pressure built up around the door. I didn’t move a muscle.

Mirage. Conjure a fake image over the lock. Make it look like a simple, lucky turn of the handle. Fool her.

I felt the magic flow. I reached out again, and this time, the handle turned with a smooth, effortless click.

“Let’s go,” I said, pushing the door open.

Sophia gasped, her eyes wide with awe. “Wait—how did you—? That was so cool! But… aren’t we breaking in? Is that allowed?”

“We can deal with that later,” I said, stepping out into the biting January air. “First, the matter at hand.”

The balcony overlooked the sprawling expanse of Sylvaris. From here, the city looked like a clockwork masterpiece—the Vitreous Veins pulsing below, the Market District a colorful blur, and the river cutting through the stone like a silver scar. It was beautiful, but I didn’t care about the view.

I walked to the railing and turned around. The dark veil in my eyes finally snapped. The crimson returned—a dead, murderous red that seemed to absorb the winter light.

I stared directly into Sophia’s amber eyes, my presence expanding until the balcony felt small and claustrophobic.

“Now,” I said, my voice dropping into that hollow, predatory tone. “What did you want to say?”

My eyes remained fixed on her, a deep, pulsing red that I knew mirrored the blood I was currently imagining spilling from her neck.

“How have you been… Celia..?”

“I–I’ve been okay, I guess,” she stammered, her hands shaking as she gripped her skirt.

“Since Rinascita, I’ve just been… wandering. Looking for clues. Trying to stay out of trouble. Sylvia helped me find a place to stay here in Sylvaris, so I’ve mostly been lying low—”

“I don’t care how you’ve been,” I interrupted. My voice was a dead weight.

“I um… I am your friend right..?

“You were my ’friend,’ weren’t you?”

“Celia! Back in Rinascita I didn’t know where you were, and I thought—well, I tried to ask around, but no one knew anything. I–I would have come for you if I could have!”

“You didn’t want to. Just like I didn’t want to go back.”

“Now, tell me the truth. What exactly was your relationship with Kaiser?”

Sophia flinched, her breath coming in shallow hitches. “We… we d-dated. A little. Back at the academy. But it’s not what you think! It’s c-complicated… trust me, it’s not—”

“What’s complicated about it?” I stepped closer, the crimson in my eyes flaring.

“You touched him. You sat with him. You dared to think you could hold a place in his heart. There is nothing complicated about a parasite clinging to a host.”

“He was a jerk, okay!?” Sophia cried out, her voice cracking with a mix of frustration and terror.

“It didn’t work out! We were too young, we didn’t understand anything… it just ended! I’m not a part of his life anymore, Celia! I’m really not!”

“You were once,” I whispered, my face inches from hers.

“You took pieces of him. You have memories of him that I don’t want to exist. You have a history that exists outside of my control. Do you have any idea how much that makes me want to kill you?”

“Celia, please… I know how much you care about him, but it’s in the past! We’re friends, right? Team Hearts? You, me, Isaac, Arius… we were a team! Friends don’t kill friends over—over some old academy crush!”

“I don’t have friends, Sophia. I have Kaiser. Everything else is just scenery that I haven’t burned yet.”

“If you ever look at him with those eyes again, if you ever even think about the way his hand felt in yours, I will pull your soul out through your throat. I don’t care about the past. I care about the fact that you existed in it with him.”

Sophia swallowed hard, her eyes darting toward the locked door as if praying for a miracle. She looked at me, her face pale and glistening with sweat, and then she leaned in, her voice a desperate mumble.

“We weren’t even dating… it was fake.”

I froze. The red in my eyes flickered, the murderous rhythm of my heart skipping a beat.

“Eh?”

“It–it’s not what she made it sound like,” Sophia stammered, her hands clenching and unclenching.

“Back in the academy… we weren’t actually dating. It was just a hoax to deceive the students, a way to protect our reputations. It’s c–complicated, Celia. I wish I could tell you everything, but Kaiser made me swear a vow using magic.”

“I literally can’t speak about the details without it breaking me… please, just believe me. We didn’t date!”

A hoax? I stared at her, my mind dissecting the information.

Kai never acts without a purpose. If he had gone through the effort of ’fake dating’ someone as clumsy and loud as Sophia, she must have provided some tactical benefit. But looking at her now—shaking, stuttering, and barely holding it together—I couldn’t see what value she could possibly offer a man like him.

Unless… it wasn’t about her. It was about someone else.

“Sophia,” I said, my voice softening just enough to be terrifying. “The first time we spoke, you mentioned a name. You called her ’Elfie’.”

Sophia blinked, her amber eyes wide. “Elfie? Oh… she was Kaiser’s best friend at the academy. They were inseparable.”

“How did she look?”

“Eh? She umm… she had pink hair. And blue eyes. She was really pretty, but also kind of—”

I didn’t hear the rest. My eyes flared into a vivid, murderous red.

That bitch from the forest.

The memories surged back—the day I was helpless, trapped in that rain, watching through the veil as Kaiser walked away. She was the one who took him. She had him all those years while I suffered alone. She had his smiles, his time, his protection.

She was the one he was working so hard to reach now.

She is the primary target. Sophia is just a ghost, but this ’Elfie’… she is the one currently holding the strings to his heart. I need to know everything about her. If I ask Lucas, Kaiser will know I’m digging into a past he wants buried.

But Sophia… Sophia is weak. She can be a window.

I exhaled slowly, letting the red in my eyes fade back into the deep, deceptive black. I pulled my presence back, smoothing the front of my dress.

“Sorry,” I said, offering a small, fragile smile.

“I lost my cool there, Sophia. You’re right. We’re friends. I just… I get very protective over him. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me.”

Sophia’s jaw dropped. She stared at me for a few seconds, her fear slowly being replaced by a confused relief. “Oh… oh! I–I get it! You really, really like him, don’t you?”

“I should have realized. You always were a bit intense, Celia.”

“I can be,” I giggled, stepping forward and softly punching her on the shoulder. It was a light, playful gesture, the kind ’Team Hearts’ would do.

“I’m sorry for scaring you. I’ve just missed you guys so much, and seeing Kaiser again made everything feel… chaotic.”

“I’m sorry too!” Sophia said, her voice turning enthusiastic as her guard dropped completely. “I should have told you earlier that it was all fake! I just didn’t want to break the vow and, well, you looked like you were going to eat me!”

“Me? Never,” I smiled.

I held my hand out to her, palm up. “Team Hearts?”

Sophia beamed, her green eyes shining with a childlike sweetness that made me want to gag. She slammed her hand onto mine. “Team Hearts!”

Keep smiling, Sophia. Tell me everything about the pink-haired girl. And once you’ve served your purpose, I’ll decide if you get to keep that hand.

“So,” I said, my voice light, almost melodic. “What have you even been doing with yourself all these months, Sophia? Still tripping over your own feet?”

Sophia let out a long, shaky exhale, her shoulders finally dropping from her ears.

“Ugh, you have no idea! After Rinascita, I’ve just been… on this endless search. I’m trying to join a guild that actually pays well. I need money, Celia. A lot of it.”

“It’s for something personal—something I want to achieve. I’m tired of just sitting back and waiting for a miracle to happen, you know?”

“I suppose,” I replied, tracing the cobalt gem on my ring.

“What about you?? Where have you been!”

“I’ve been in a place that felt like a labyrinth of fairies. It was beautiful, really. There were fireflies everywhere.” I offered a small, smug smile.

“Kaiser even had one fly onto my hand. He did it just for me.”

“It was quite romantic.”

Sophia’s expression shifted, a flicker of something cold crossing her green eyes before she masked it with a strained smile.

“H-ha… yeah, that sounds like him. He always did have his way of making someone happy when he actually felt like trying. I guess he’s really turned on the charm for you, huh?”

“He doesn’t have to try,” I said, the possessive victory tasting sweet on my tongue.

“He’s mine now. Everything he does is for me. But what about the others? Isaac? Arius? What happened to the rest of our little ’team’?”

Sophia hesitated, her fingers twisting a loose thread on her sleeve. “Isaac… he’s probably with his wife right now. I think so, anyway. After the Rinascita raid, he just… settled down.”

“Isaac has a wife?” I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

“The little lackey who followed Arius everywhere actually grew up? Dang… I guess I should call him Uncle Isaac now.” I tilted my head, my smile widening.

“And what about the star of our group? I bet Arius went solo. Probably still smoking like a chimney, right?”

“I swear, that habit will kill him one day if he doesn’t stop.”

The air on the balcony suddenly felt much colder. Sophia didn’t laugh. She didn’t even look at me. She just stared out at the city, her face turning pale.

“Sophia? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Arius,” she whispered. Her voice was thin, fragile. “He… he sacrificed his life for us, Celia. So we can live…”

My heart felt heavy and empty all at once. The light of the afternoon sun seemed to dim.

“That can’t be… Arius? The one who always had a plan?”

“He’s gone forever,” Sophia said, her voice cracking.

I looked away from her, staring at Sylvaris far below.

I only love Kai…He is my world. Everyone else is meaningless.

But why does my heart feel so hurt? Why does it feel like there’s a hole in my chest that I didn’t know existed? I didn’t even remember Arius that much. To me, he was just a loud, smoking obstacle in my way to Kaiser. But the emptiness feels… real. It feels like I lost something I can never get back.

Like I lost a piece of my kai.

Why was he important to me?

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