Chapter 137
In the game scenario he knew by heart, this moment was supposed to be filled with a cold rebuttal and a dramatic departure.
However now, the teacher merely sat frozen, as if undergoing a far deeper and more personal inner battle than anything ever depicted in the game's storyline.
Every second of silence that passed was a reminder of the agency possessed by each character, a truth that they were not pawns that moved only according to a script, but entities with free will capable of choosing to resist the current of their own fate.
The possibility that Aldraya would choose her own path felt increasingly real and entirely plausible, especially considering she remained in that profoundly meaningful silence.
Her silence was not one of resignation, but the silence of deep contemplation—a sign that Ilux's words had pierced through the strongest layers of her defenses.
Theo realized that this was no longer about predicting the plot, but about witnessing the birth of an alternate reality in which a wounded teacher chose not to run, but to stand and face the music, no matter how bitter the melody she had to hear.
"I'll take my leave now."
Thud — thud!
'Just as I thought, Aldraya has absolutely no intention of opposing Ilux's opinion and simply chooses to leave.
This is the second time she has moved outside the Flo Viva Mythology scenario, right after yesterday's date agenda.'
A bitter intellectual satisfaction filled Theo's chest as he watched Aldraya's silhouette finally rise, a movement marking the end of the conversation.
Although the teacher still chose to excuse herself and walk away, as in the original scenario, there was one crucial detail that set it apart.
There was no rejection.
No rebuttal against Ilux's sharp criticism.
Her decision to leave was not an emotional, reactive escape, but a deliberate and calm departure, as though she carried all her student's words with her to be digested in solitude.
Theo realized that his prediction had been correct.
This character had chosen her own path.
Theo's unease deepened when he saw Aldraya calmly gathering all the books Ilux had given her, including the love-themed book that had previously earned her skepticism.
Rather than refusing or limiting herself, Aldraya instead took out a small tool from inside her robe, a magical item capable of storing objects without adding weight to her body or form.
Her movements were smooth and accepting, starkly contrasting the game's scene in which she would often abandon gifts she deemed unsuitable.
This simple action, for Theo, was a silent confirmation.
Aldraya was not only listening — she was willing to carry that new perspective with her, a character development entirely unprogrammed within Flo Viva Mythology's code.
From behind the thick foliage, Theo watched Ilux's silhouette fall still, perhaps shocked by this calm and receptive response from her teacher.
Meanwhile, Aldraya's shadow, after ensuring all her belongings were stored neatly, turned away and began to slowly step out of the room.
Her departure this time felt different.
It was not a defeat or an escape, but a departure meant for transformation.
She was no longer a static figure trapped within the storyline, but an individual choosing to carry her wounds and lessons into a new journey.
'Even so, something feels off — as if Aldraya truly refuses to discuss anything whenever Ilux is the one standing before her.But if she's leaving right now, I've got no time left to wait.'
Whoosh!
'Just get down… quickly… before her silhouette leaves my range.
Just one more jump. And—hah, finally on the ground.'
Theo's movement was like lightning, a dark silhouette sliding down tree trunks with near-inhuman agility.
Every grip of his fingers and every foothold was precise and confident, like a creature of the forest born in harmony with the trees.
The breeze brushed through his hair, but his gaze remained sharp and fixed on one point.
Aldraya, who was about to walk away.
There was a strong instinct within him, a hunch that the teacher's departure this time carried a different weight — a decision born not of anger, but of the deepest, bitter contemplation.
His feet landed on the damp earth almost soundlessly, accompanied only by the faint rustle of dry leaves.
His body bent slightly, absorbing the fall before straightening again.
From his current position, he could see more clearly the door Aldraya would pass through.
His earlier unease crystallized into certainty.
There was something Aldraya deliberately did not reveal to Ilux — a truth, or perhaps a wound, that only she herself could grasp, or perhaps, Theo, who had been observing from behind the scenes.
With slightly labored breath, Theo rearranged his plan.
If Aldraya chose her own path, deviating from the scenario, then he too had to adapt.
This was his chance to no longer be merely an observer, but to dive in and influence the story—or at the very least, to understand the root of this unexpected change.
He braced himself like a runner at the starting line, waiting for the exact moment Aldraya would step through the door, carrying a future no longer predictable by his memories of a game.
'Gotta hurry!'
Theo sprinted across the quiet stone path, his long purposeful strides carrying him swiftly through the corridors between dormitories.
His own shadow flickered faintly across stone walls illuminated by moonlight, moving like a specter racing against time.
He knew he had to reach the outer gate of the male student dormitory before Aldraya passed through it.
That was the major crossroads, the place where the path toward the academy's main gate began.
Every breath he exhaled became a puff of white mist in the cold air, while his mind spun rapidly, analyzing every possible outcome of this storyline deviation.
With impressive agility, Theo slipped through corners of buildings, avoiding the light spilling from windows still lit.
He was like a hunter stalking his prey — except this time, what he hunted was the truth behind the changed fate of a silver-haired girl.
His earlier unease had now fully transformed into certainty: something crucial was about to be revealed at that gate, something unwritten in any scenario.
'Why am I running this fast in air this cold?
My breath is ragged. Idiotic.'
"Enjoyed spying on my conversation with Ilux?"
"Aldraya… Kansh Que?"
Theo's body froze instantly, the breath he was about to release catching in his throat.
That voice came from right behind him — so close, yet it felt like an echo from another realm.
A voice soft, flat, completely untouched by emotion of any kind, piercing directly into his ears.
Every syllable was pronounced with perfect clarity, a question delivered in such calmness that it felt more terrifying than a scream of rage.
It asked whether he, Theo, was satisfied after stalking the entire intimate conversation between her and her student.
Slowly, with neck muscles stiff as rusted iron, Theo turned.
There, standing still beneath the pale moonlight, was Aldraya Kansh Que.
Her figure looked even more monotonous and cold under the natural lighting of the night, her silver hair seeming as though coated in frost.
Her eyes, like two unmoving pools of ice, stared straight into Theo's soul, as if piercing through every layer of disguise and hidden intention.
To be continued…