The next morning, Adrian gathered everyone before him.
The three won were confused—and more than a little worried—when he didn’t wait for Annabelle to wake up on her own and instead gently roused her earlier than usual. That alone told them sothing was different.
Now, he sat across from them, quietly finishing his coffee.
None of them were fooled.
They knew Adrian well enough to recognize that he wasn’t savoring the drink. He was buying ti. Organizing his thoughts. Preparing himself for a conversation he hadn’t quite decided how to begin.
Annabelle returned from the bathroom after washing her face, her hair still slightly damp. She studied him for a mont before speaking, her voice cautious.
"Darling..." she began, then hesitated.
"You’re not going anywhere dangerous again, are you?"
Adrian shook his head lightly. "I don’t know what kind of image I’ve built in your eyes lately," he said, "but I’m still a peace-loving person."
Annabelle exhaled sharply, patting her chest in relief. "Don’t scare like that," she muttered as she moved to sit beside Ruby.
Ariana watched him silently.
Her throat still ached, and speaking required effort, but the silence pressed on her far more heavily. After a mont, she forced the words out, slow but clear enough.
"Would... you... say it already?"
Adrian looked at her.
She t his gaze, unwavering despite her weakness.
Not just Ariana—Ruby and Annabelle had noticed it too. Since the previous night, sothing had shifted in him. A weight lingered behind his eyes, sothing unspoken yet ever-present.
Whatever Adrian had learned, it hadn’t left him.
And his silence was beginning to hurt them more than any truth might have.
The room grew still, all attention fixed on him.
Adrian set his cup down.
At last, he inhaled slowly.
And began to speak.
"So... before I begin," Adrian said slowly, "I want you all to know this first. Whatever decision you make after listening to , I will respect it."
His gaze moved from one face to another.
"And please," he added, "don’t listen only with your emotions. Use your judgnt too."
Ruby and Ariana exchanged a brief glance. Annabelle, on the other hand, shifted uneasily in her seat, a bad feeling settling in her chest.
Adrian took a breath and continued, "With the help of Valor, I managed to use my emotions to overpower Nytharos—at least for a short while. But eventually, he cornered ."
His fingers tightened slightly against the arm rest.
"At that point, I had no choice but to teleport into the Ti Chamber."
That alone was enough to make their expressions tense. Still, none of them interrupted him.
"That’s when soone intervened," Adrian said. "He beheaded the Fallen God."
Everyone blinked in surprise. But it was nothing in comparison to what followed.
"And when I turned to look at the one who saved ," Adrian went on, his voice steady but heavy, "I saw another Nytharos walking toward ."
Annabelle shot to her feet. "What?! You fought two of them?"
Adrian shook his head at once. "No. This one wasn’t hostile."
Her panic stalled, confusion replacing it.
"According to him," Adrian explained, "Nytharos has multiple fragnts scattered across the world. Each fragnt carries a portion of his mories... and his emotions."
He paused, letting the weight of that sink in.
"The one I t wasn’t there to fight ," he said quietly. "He was there to tell things. Information I needed to hear."
Ariana frowned. "You... don’t trust what he said, do you?"
Adrian smiled helplessly.
Of course she would think that. That his unrest ca from believing the words of a Fallen God. That he had been shaken, misled, or manipulated.
But that wasn’t it.
"Ariana," he said softly, "he didn’t create my doubts."
He lifted his gaze, eting hers directly.
"He only placed the final pin. The one that connected everything."
That was when the silver-haired woman’s concern deepened. It wasn’t confusion she saw in him. It wasn’t disbelief or hesitation.
It was conviction.
Ruby hesitated before speaking, her voice careful. "What... did you find out, Adrian?"
He didn’t answer imdiately.
Instead, his eyes shifted toward Annabelle.
"Bella," he said quietly, "there’s sothing I’ve always wondered."
Annabelle blinked, caught off guard. "What...?"
"Why you never asked about my immortality."
The room went still.
Annabelle’s expression froze, shock flickering across her face.
Adrian lowered his head slightly, his voice dropping. "You watched age before your eyes. From my twenties to my fifties."
He let out a quiet breath. "You saw stand at death’s door more than once. You saw choose life again—with Querella."
His fingers curled slowly.
"And yet," he continued, "you never asked how. Or why."
He looked up then, eyes steady, searching her face.
"You never asked what I was," he said. "Or what kind of existence could accomplish sothing so... inhumane."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Annabelle spoke hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I thought... maybe one of your creations allowed sothing like that, Darling."
Adrian smiled faintly.
"Well," he said gently, "I don’t need to rely on mories to know you’re lying right now, Bella."
Annabelle bit her lip and lowered her head, unable to et his gaze.
Adrian turned toward Ariana and Ruby.
"You two have seen return from the embrace of Death," he said quietly.
"Sothing not even the being closest to the deities—the Great Hero of Light—was ever able to achieve."
His eyes lingered on them.
"And yet, neither of you questioned my origin."
Ruby parted her lips to speak, but no words ca.
Because the truth was uncomfortable.
She had wondered. More tis than she cared to admit. How Adrian could defy sothing so absolute, so deeply woven into the laws of existence. But every ti that thought surfaced, she forced it down.
Because she trusted him.
And trust ant choosing silence.
Ariana reached out and took Adrian’s hand.
Her expression was gentle, steady.
"I know you trust us," she said softly. "That’s why you’re telling us all this."
Her thumb brushed against his knuckles, grounding him.
"So please," she continued, "don’t be afraid. Tell us what you found out yesterday."
The room held its breath.
And for the first ti since the truth had begun weighing on him—
Adrian felt ready to speak.
Parting his lips, he finally revealed the truth, "I...have the essence of Darkness inside . The sa creature who nearly wiped humanity a thousand years ago and is still feared by the masses."
His gaze hardened before he added, "I am its sole heir."
°°°°°°°°
A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been enjoying the story so far, please consider dropping a comnt.
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