2026-04-24 18:20:26Mia stood frozen, her eyes darting between Harold’s trembling hands and Riley’s bored face. She felt like her heart was trying to claw its way out of her throat.
"You’re lying," Mia whispered, her voice cracking. "Harold, you’re playing a joke. It’s a sick, twisted joke. Give me that."
She didn't wait for him to hand it over. She lunged forward, snatching the device from Harold’s grip with such force that his broken arm let out a sharp, painful hiss. Her thumbs flew across the screen, her eyes scanning the official academy header, the red-wax seal of the Mayor’s office, and the words that felt like a death sentence to her pride.
‘Registered Resident: Riley (NFA).’
‘Status: VIP Scholarship / Direct Royal Recommendation.’
The phone slipped from her fingers. It didn’t break—it was a high-end device built to withstand essence flares—but the dull thud it made against the thick rug sounded like a gavel hitting a desk. Mia’s knees buckled slightly. Her fair skin, usually so radiant, looked like grey ash.
"No," she breathed, her head shaking in a frantic, rhythmic motion. "No, there has to be a mistake. A system glitch. A typo! Maybe there’s another Riley. A noble Riley from the northern provinces. This... this thing standing in front of us is a scavenger! He was eating dirt in a restricted zone three hours ago!"
"Mia, the facial recognition matched," Harold said, his voice dropping into a tone of forced calm. He looked exhausted. "The system doesn't make mistakes like that. Especially not when the Royal Seal is involved. We need to go."
"Go?" Mia shrieked, her arrogance returning like a reflex, a desperate shield against the truth. "Go where, Harold? This is our father’s recovery suite! We paid for this! We spent weeks securing the permits! You’re telling me we’re going to walk out because some slum pig found a way to hack the registrar?"
She turned back to Riley, her eyes burning with a murderous light. "I don't care what that screen says. I don't care who you bribed or what kind of identity theft you’re pulling. You are not staying here. You belong in a cage, not in silk sheets. If you don't leave right now, I’ll scream so loud every guard in this academy will be in this room in ten seconds. I’ll tell them you tried to assault me."
Riley didn't move. He didn't even look bothered. He leaned against the marble pillar, his arms crossed over his chest. "You should be careful with your voice, good ma," he said, his tone flat. "Screaming like that isn't good for your blood pressure. And honestly, it’s getting a bit repetitive. If I’m a pig, you’re the one currently squealing."
"You... you dare!" Mia’s hand flew to her belt, searching for a weapon she had left on the table.
"Enough!" Harold shouted. It was the first time he had truly raised his voice, and the authority in it made even Mia flinch. "Whether he owns the place or there’s a mistake, the authority has spoken. If the security team comes and sees us defying a Royal Seal order, our entire family will be blacklisted before sunset. We leave. We sort it out with the Dean later."
"But Father—" Mia started, her voice breaking.
As if on cue, a wet, hacking sound erupted from the inner alcove of the suite. It was a deep, rattling cough that sounded like stones being ground together in a bucket of water.
Mia’s rage vanished instantly, replaced by a frantic, raw terror. She rushed toward the bed where an elderly man lay beneath layers of essence-infused blankets. The man’s face was a sickly shade of purple, and as he coughed, a spray of dark, clotted blood stained the white pillows.
"Father!" Mia cried, grabbing a damp cloth to wipe his chin. "Doctor! Do something! Why is he getting worse?"
The doctor, who had been trying to hide in the shadows of the room, rushed forward. His hands were shaking as he checked the man’s pulse. "The... the toxin is spreading faster than I anticipated. The armored beast’s venom has a secondary necrotic effect. I’ve done everything the standard protocols allow."
"Then use the non-standard ones!" Harold demanded, standing over the bed. "We are paying you a fortune! Fix him!"
"I can't!" the doctor wailed, his face red with a mix of shame and fear. "His essence veins are collapsing. Only the Academy Dean has the specialized healing core required to purge a God-tier toxin. We just have to wait for him to arrive. If we move him now, his heart will stop."
Harold turned back to Riley, his eyes no longer filled with arrogance, but with a desperate, pleading light. "Please," Harold said, his voice low. "Look at him. He’s dying. I don't care about the room anymore. I don't care about the insult. Just let us stay until the Dean arrives. If you have any spark of humanity in you, don't throw a dying man into the hallway."
Mia looked up from her father’s side, her eyes red-rimmed. Even now, she couldn't bring herself to beg, but the way she gripped the bedsheets showed how close she was to breaking.
Riley walked over. He didn't walk with the hurried pace of a doctor or the frantic energy of a relative. He walked with the slow, deliberate stride of someone inspecting a piece of broken machinery. He stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the old man’s purple face and the way his chest struggled to rise.
"Really sick?" Riley muttered to himself.
"Of course he's sick, you idiot!" Mia snapped, though her voice lacked its usual bite. "He’s been poisoned by a God-tier beast! His organs are shutting down!"
Riley tilted his head, his gaze shifting to the doctor’s medical kit, then back to the dying man. A small, mocking smile played at the corners of his lips.
"He isn't dying from the toxin," Riley said, his voice echoing clearly in the silent room. "He’s dying because your doctor is a hack who’s been feeding him the wrong essence stabilizers for the last three hours. He just needs a few basic medicines and he’d be standing up by dinner."
The room went cold almost instantly.
The doctor’s face went from purple to a bright, angry red. He stood up, his chest puffing out. "What did you just say? You... you slum-born brat! I studied for twelve years at the Royal Infirmary! I am a certified Grade-A Healer! How dare you suggest that I am the cause of his condition?"
"Twelve years?" Riley asked, raising a brow. "You should ask for a refund on your tuition. You're treating him for a 'paralytic' venom when this beast uses a 'circulatory' suppressant. Every drop of medicine you’ve given him has just been thickening his blood like grease."
"Harold, throw him out!" the doctor screamed, pointing a trembling finger at Riley. "He’s trying to kill your father with his lies! He’s a scavenger! He knows nothing of the medical arts!"
But Harold didn't move. He looked at Riley, then at his father, who was gasping for air like a fish out of water. He remembered the beast zone. He remembered the clean kill. And he remembered how Riley had looked at Mia’s neck and told her exactly where the purple veins had been.
"A few medicines?" Harold asked, his voice a whisper. "Which ones?"
"Don't listen to him, Harold!" Mia cried, though she looked at Riley with a flicker of something that wasn't quite hate anymore. It was confusion.
Riley ignored them both. He looked at the doctor, who was now clutching his medical bag like a shield.
"If you give him another dose of that blue liquid in your hand," Riley said, "his heart will explode in exactly four minutes. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a slum rat, right?"
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
152
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO Miles continued driving through the avenue surrounded by armed men with their faces covered with silver masks that matched their outfits. Jessica and Riley looked around the environment, while Miles concentrated on the road, driving slowly as some of the guards pulled away the retractable barricade, giving him enough space to get to the metal gate that stood about twenty feet tall. About four guards were standing in front of the metal gate that had strange spikes in front of it, accompanied by a structure that showed that it had a functional engine within it. Miles had to stop the car a few meters away from the gate as soon as he saw another guard approaching with his gun strongly clutched in his right hand. He tapped on the window, and Miles had to bring down the glass, which he had rolled up after meeting with the first guard. “Get down.” The guard said with an icy tone, while the trio stared at him, wondering why he said what he said, and in that t
151
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE “Okay, son. Please, take care of yourself. If there is any danger there, don’t hesitate to come home. I can’t lose you.” Mrs. Ederson said with a shaky voice, and the tears that she had managed to hold still eventually trickled down her face. “You said you were not going to cry, Mum.” Riley wiped his mother’s tears with his left hand while he held onto his bag with his right hand. He cleared his throat after a few seconds before he continued. “I really have to go now, Mum. Today is our first day, and we can’t be late.” Riley said calmly, and his mother drew him closer to herself and embraced him tightly. “I am going to miss you very much, Riley. Make sure you stay close to Jessica. I will call her as soon as I get a phone with the money I have in the bank. Stay safe, son.” “I have heard you, Mum. I have to go now.” Riley pulled out from his mother’s embrace almost immediately, and then he looked at her for a few seconds before he sighed heavily. “I
150
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FIFTYRiley went into the room where his brother was, and he sat down on the bed beside him, dropping his bag on the ground. He turned to look at Sammy, and taking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly without taking his eyes off him or even blinking. “Hey, bro.” He said with a smile on his face, and then he sighed heavily before he continued. “Finally, I now have a true identity just like we had hoped for. I just got accepted into one of the biggest Guilds. Actually, I think it’s one of the best, the Silver Guild. Cool, right?” Riley nodded, and then he grabbed his brother's hands and patted them gently. “I know you may not be able to hear me, but I still came to give you the good news. A lot has happened, Sammy, and I really need you to wake up so that I can give you the full details of my encounters. I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that I succeed just like you have always wanted me to.” Riley said with his eyes bulging and almost
149
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE “And what is wrong with that? You are acting like we are doing something wrong.” Miles said with a smirk on his face. “I didn’t say that. I just think that it’s too early to let anyone know about it. We just started what? Yesterday?” “It still doesn’t matter, Jess. As long as we care about each other, that’s all that matters.” Miles argued, his hands still holding onto Jessica’s waist. Jessica sighed heavily, and then she grabbed Miles by his hands and withdrew them from her waist at once, avoiding his gaze that melted her heart. “I still insist, Miles. Everything is happening so fast, and I don't want it to seem like we rushed things, okay? I think what matters is that we are in this together, and not the opinion of some other person.” “So I was thinking, guys…” Riley said with a smile on his face as he walked into them, looking toward the direction of the couch where Jessica was sitting until he saw her standing in front of Miles and was forced t
148
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT “Guys? Is there anything I should know?” He asked, looking at the two of them one after the other. Miles slowly withdrew his hand from Jessica and looked at Riley with an expression that was meant to prove that he was oblivious to what he was talking about. “What are you talking about?” He asked without taking his eyes off Riley, who had a smirk on his face. Jessica shared the same look of ignorance on her face, looking at Riley with her eyes wide open. “Don't act like you don't know what I am talking about, guys. I see the look in your eyes; it looks like you both are in love.” “What?” “Yes, Jessica. It’s clearly written in your eyes, especially Miles. He looks like he just won a jackpot!” “I don’t know what you are talking about,” Jessica said with a frown, and Miles added almost immediately with the same expression. “You must really be mistaken, Riley. I don’t know what you are talking about.” “Lies, Miles. You are not a wonderful liar; none
147
CHAPTER HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN “Mum?“ He said calmly, and when he saw the tears trickling down his mother’s cheeks, he gasped at once and grabbed her hands. “You are crying, Mum. Please, don’t do this.” Riley pleaded while he was forced to get into a sad mood just like his mother. “You are making me sad, Mum. Please, don’t cry.” Riley let go of his mother’s right hand, and then he extended his right hand to her face and wiped some of the tears that refused to dry up. “Don’t cry, Mum. Everything is gonna be alright. I promise.” Riley said calmly, and when he was sure that she had gotten a grip on herself while she sniffled, he nodded in satisfaction. “There. You look very beautiful now that we have gotten rid of all of those tears.” Riley said with a smile on his face, and then he adjusted himself on the seat and cleared his throat. “I will be very fine, Mum. I promise, and I will be coming whenever I can to see you. You have to trust me.” “It’s not you that I don’t trust. It’s
You may also like
