Chapter 9: Fever

They were scared of their power and the possible catastrophe they could unleash once they went berserk from not receiving guiding for years.

Also, one of the main reasons was that they possibly could not control them. The two were more than capable of ruining humanity on their own if they so wished. This made the government, which was used to the power they held, powerless against them.

It was only that the consequences of such actions would also lead to their death. Not to mention, unnecessary and tiring.

And the two would prefer to fool around with each other than interact with other people. For the past three years, that was their routine.

And they did not know yet that the arrival of this beautiful but cold guide would completely change that.

By this time, Ayen had completely fallen asleep as the exhaustion washed over him, and also the relief that he survived the ordeal.

He did not think about it and let it overwhelm him.

Usually, Ayen did not dream vividly. Of course, nightmares were a common occurrence; he had grown used to adapting to the point of forgetting them when he woke up.

He was not one to remember dreams or force himself to do so, like some people. But now, he found himself in one. The mental barrier he created for himself might have turned off itself to recover.

Ayen saw the familiar corridor, which he had not seen for years. His memories of this place were not exactly pleasant, and looking at his current state, this was probably the worst one of all.

“E-class? Huh, that’s basically trash.”

“How come?” a confused one asked. “He’s the genius one they always praise, right?”

“They even said he has the potential to be an S-class Guide from the preliminary examination.”

“Eh, what genius? He’s been a useless guide since the start.”

“Probably his parents are using connections to create a false image.”

“Look, it backfired!”

These apprehensions were few and far between, and most reactions were insults, as the whole organization was laughing at someone who had fallen from grace.

If Ayen could recall, it was truly like falling from heaven to hell. He never thought such a situation would happen to him.

But what went wrong?

Ayen’s mind was clouded by that point; he did not even hear the whole explanation by the examiner. Only a sentence kept repeating in his mind at that time.

“He’s a guide but like an ordinary person.”

And now he stood in the same situation as the people around him, scrutinizing him. He lifted his blank and almost lifeless gaze and looked at the two people who looked at him in disgust.

He still remembered how his heart shattered that time. It was like his whole life was judged as a failure at that point.

“Mom… Dad…”

Ayen opened his mouth, trembling. The 17-year-old him called his parents desperately. To the people he believed would be there even if the whole world abandoned him. Yet, what awaited him was heartbreak.

“Useless!” His father twitched his lips, disgust and anger plastered on his face. “Are you sure he’s our son? I can’t believe a failure has come in my bloodline!” He even cupped the back of his neck as though about to faint.

Ayen cried and looked at his mother, pleading in his eyes.

His mother averted her gaze, pursed her lips, but did not say anything.

One would say, not saying insults were better, but for Ayen at that time, his mother’s blatant silence was more of a betrayal than the insults and doubts of his father.

Ayen hated to be relieved of that despair, of how he was disowned by his parents for being labeled as a useless guide. He was truly in a nightmare.

But at least… It was not his worst memory. Ayen mocked himself for thinking like that.

While Ayen in the dream cried, he was actually indifferent to it all. It had been almost 10 years, and he was numb through it all. The wounds were there, but he had done a good job patching them up until they could barely be seen on the surface.

The nightmare continued, and Ayen waited until he woke up. And soon, he did, and slowly his eyes opened. Despite remembering that dream or a memory, there was no hint of it when he woke up.

He looked at the ceiling, not trying to move, intending to stay for as long as he could. However, it seemed even this would not be easily obtained.

“You’re awake?” Without looking, Ayen already knew it was. His voice was deeper and calmer than the other one.

His gaze turned to the side and met a calm gaze. It was Khal.

“Feeling alright now?” he asked.

Instead of answering, Ayen remembered someone.

“Keeran?”

For the first time, Khal furrowed his brows.

“Aren’t you more concerned with your condition?”

Ayen did not speak. Khal stared at him and soon sighed.

“She’s still not awake. Wait, listen.” Khal stopped Ayen from fully getting up. “She might have needed more rest because of trauma, but she’s stable. But you…”

Khal shook his head, seeing no waves in those eyes like the first time he had seen them.

“You only recovered from a high fever last night.”

“I had a fever?”

Ayen did not feel anything; he felt fine.

Khal was not the one who responded this time, but someone else.

“Heh, it’s not just fever.” Devion’s loud mouth appeared. He was soon beside Khal and stared at Ayen with astounded eyes. “You’re burning up, literally.” He even motioned exaggeratedly, as though it was his first time seeing a human with a high temperature like that. After all, Ayen was not an Esper. Even an Esper would only have that same temperature if they were on the verge of losing control.

Khal facepalmed but did not deny and agreed.

“Even making this room colder did not help lower your temperature,” he added to Devion’s rambling.

Hearing that, Ayen looked around and only noticed that it seemed to be the case. The room was still covered with ice, and even surrounded the bed with thick ice.

“We thought you were about to die, but, strangely, you look fine.”

Ayen looked at him weirdly. What did that even mean?

Devion became defensive. “He’s unconvinced, Khal. Explain to him.”

Khal raised a brow. “Why don’t you do it?”

He shrugged. “I’m not good with words, and he doesn’t trust me.”

Ayen narrowed his eyes and retorted inwardly. I don’t trust either of you.

Khal let out a deep sigh.

“Devion’s telling the truth. You were burning up, but your condition was stable. Your pulse was steady, your heartbeat normal. Nothing was wrong except your absurdly high temperature.”

What else did he need to add? That was a simple and correct explanation of it.

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