Chapter 16: Coincidence?
Terrence stared at Lucas with a flat, lifeless gaze, feeling a deep, suffocating fatigue wash over him.
What a cursed day. First the petty mockery at the tailor shop, then an ambush by merchant enforcers, a near-miss with a luxury car, and now his former brother blocking his path.
None of these encounters were fatal, but the sheer, relentless annoyance of it all was draining his inner spirit.
This day was laughable to his mind, but his body said different.
He took a slow exhale and looked straight into Lucas’s eyes.
"Can you move? You’re blocking the door."
His voice was deadpan, laced with undisguised annoyance.
He knew Lucas wouldn’t obey him the way he used to when they were naive children running around the main estate. But Terrence couldn’t care less. He didn’t have the patience to play polite.
Lucas snickered, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back, resting his forearm heavily against the glass frame of the Agency’s double doors.
"Why? Are you actually registering?" Lucas drawled, his eyes gleaming with condescension. "Are you planning to enter a rift?"
Lucas was practically radiating arrogant disbelief. He couldn’t wrap his head around why an unawakened outcast like Terrence would even step foot near the Contribution Agency.
The only logical explanation was that Terrence had completely lost his mind—desperate enough to try illegal, uncontracted rift diving, which would instantly trigger Mana Miasma and turn him into a mindless monster.
Terrence read the thoughts plain as day in Lucas’s smug face. It was the same look of utter disdain he had worn the day he kicked Terrence out onto the street.
"Why do you care?" Terrence asked, reaching out. "I thought I was finally rid of the family. Do you keep tabs on me or something?"
Without waiting for an answer, Terrence grabbed Lucas’s forearm and forcefully shoved it off the doorframe.
Lucas stumbled half a step, his breath catching in his throat. His mouth opened slightly in pure shock.
Ever since Terrence failed his awakening at sixteen, he had always swallowed the family’s ridicule in silence. He was supposed to be a broken, meek trash heap. Yet here he was, staring back with cold eyes and physically shoving a Lee Family member aside.
The absurdity of it made Lucas’s blood boil.
"Hey. Did you... actually awaken or something?"
"Yes," Terrence answered flatly. "Does it matter to you?"
The words hit Lucas like a sudden splash of ice water. His eyes widened, a sudden spike of volatile rage flaring in his chest. His fingers twitched before coiling into tight, white-knuckled fists.
’What?! That’s impossible!’ Lucas screamed internally. ’He’s eighteen! Nobody awakens that late... but then again, no one else has ever missed their awakening except him. It has to be delayed.’
Ignoring the storm brewing in Lucas’s head, Terrence turned his back and reached for the silver door handle.
Before he could pull it open, a hand clamped down on his wrist. Lucas’s grip was tight, but Terrence could feel the subtle, erratic tremor running through his brother’s fingers.
"Are you sure about that?" Lucas whispered, his voice strainingly tight. "Or are you just lying to build up hope that the patriarch will let you crawl back into the family?"
Terrence stopped. He didn’t even turn his head, merely glancing over his shoulder with a cold, disgusted side-eye.
"Why would I ever want to come back?" Terrence retorted sharply. "Didn’t I tell you before? I’m ashamed to even share the same bloodline as the Lee Family. Why would I waste my time returning to a pile of trash?"
Terrence yanked his wrist free from Lucas’s shaking grip and pushed the door open.
"Terrence Lee?"
A voice called out from behind them. It was smooth, calm, and carried a clear, serene quality that cut straight through the noisy street chatter.
Terrence froze. Instinctively, he halted his step and turned around toward the bottom of the Agency’s marble staircase.
Standing at the base of the steps was a young woman flanked by a squad of sharp escorts. Behind her was Clara as well, which she shared the exact same striking features—fair, porcelain skin and breathtaking, diamond-clear amber eyes that seemed to catch the sunlight.
Terrence’s jaw went slightly slack as his heart did a sudden, violent flip against his ribs.
’Clame Neil?!’ his mind screamed. ’The Lady Commander of Nara City?!’
A wave of pure shock rendered Terrence speechless. He instinctively straightened his spine, pulling his shoulders back. He tried to force a polite smile onto his face, but his muscles were so tense it felt terribly awkward.
Clame Neil was a living legend across the sector. Seeing her on news broadcasts or military communication feeds was one thing, but standing just ten feet away from her was surreal. She wasn’t just a powerful tamer; she was a war hero who had single-handedly saved an unaligned border settlement and obliterated a high-rank dungeon rift boss before the military could even deploy.
Beside him, Lucas’s eyebrows furrowed into a tight, ugly knot. He instantly recognized the high-ranking commander standing at the steps.
’Why the hell is she calling him?’ Lucas thought, a heavy lump of disbelief forming in his throat.
His pride flared up violently. He couldn’t let an outcast take center stage in front of someone with that much political weight.
Lucas took a quick step forward, cutting in front of Terrence. "Terrence! Where are you even staying right now?!"
"Terrence, how have you been?" Clame spoke at the exact same second, completely ignoring Lucas as her warm, amber eyes locked directly onto Terrence.
Terrence blinked, momentarily stunned. He glanced at Lucas’s twitching face for a fraction of a second before turning his full attention back to Clame.
His pulse hammered in his neck. Standing up close, her angelic presence was almost overwhelming.
Lucas, noticing how completely he was being sidelined, clicked his tongue with an audible, bitter snap. His face twisted in pure, burning frustration as he glared back and forth between them.
’Just why the hell is the Lady Commander here for him?!’