Chapter 234: Used as a Trap
Kai’s foot landed harder at the last step down the staircase.
His eyes met with Talitha’s instantly.
It had been months since he returned to his room, but he always felt her presence. Not through feelings or anything—but because she actually managed to put clean uniforms on the landing zone of the Dead Range.
One night, a student approached him and told him about the bundle on the landing zone.
Everyone knew that it was his since there was a sticker with his name on it.
And when he saw that the bundle contained his clean uniforms, he realized who it was from.
Talitha said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes. She stood rigidly at the center of the room, fingers pinching the hem of her clothes with quiet nervousness. She must have been lonely, and it was unfair of Kai to vanish without a word—yet there was no anger in her posture, only a patient ache.
He made it clear that he never saw her as his servant.
If she wanted to, she could speak and act freely.
And yet, despite being abandoned without a word, she wasn’t angry at him.
Even though he appreciated her kindness, this only made him feel worse than he already had.
Just as Kai was about to open his mouth, someone knocked on the door.
He snapped up towards the door and frowned.
"Did you bring someone here while I was away?"
"No, Master Kai. I wouldn’t dare."
"Then who is it?"
Kai ascended the staircase again and unwrapped the Blood-phantom Scimitar in his hand.
Ever since the volunteer mission that had strained his relationship with Bree, no one had come to his room. Bree stopped visiting, and thus, Matilda had no reason to come, too. So—a knock this late was unexpected.
Unwarranted, even.
I’m pretty sure the others would be waiting in the Aerial Stable. Who is it?
Carefully, Kai ascended the staircase.
Since he was living in the basement, the door didn’t have any peephole.
He needed to open the door to know who it was.
Kai held the scimitar with his left hand, pointed the tip at the door to stab whoever was on the other side—in case it was a hostile person. And then, he cracked the door open with his right hand just enough for him to peek out.
Once he saw the person on the other side, his brows furrowed together.
"Abigail?"
"Hi... I’m sorry to disturb you. Can I talk to you for a second?"
Realizing that it was only Abigail, he placed the scimitar down and leaned it against the wall.
He didn’t want her seeing him holding the scimitar.
It would be awkward.
"Master Kai," Talitha called from the bottom of the staircase. "Who is at the door?"
"Abigail," Kai replied loudly without turning. "It’s your sister!"
"It’s only me!" Abigail leaned in on the door frame, announcing herself to Talitha. "Just me."
Kai heard something fall to the floor, and then noticed a crumpled paper.
A frown crept onto his face.
It wasn’t there before, so it must be from Abigail.
Talitha’s voice rang again from below before he could say anything.
"Abigail? What’s she doing? Is she looking for me?"
"No, she wanted to talk to me."
Kai stared at the crumpled paper, and then back to Abigail again. He was about to ask about the crumpled paper, but she forced a smile and slightly shook her head as if warning him not to say anything about the paper.
A secret message? Does she not want Talitha to know, or is there something else I’m not understanding?
He cleared his throat and then pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.
"Do you want to come in or—?"
"No, it won’t take long."
"O—kay?"
Kai stepped out from his room.
He didn’t forget to kick the crumpled paper down the staircase and then closed the door.
"What’s up? Do you need something from me?"
"Yes... Actually."
"Okay. What do you need?"
"I can’t tell you right now since it’s not fixed yet. I was wondering if I can meet you tomorrow at night in the storage building. Since I heard you’ve been hunting in the Dead Range, meeting there shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
"Storage building? You mean the one in the transit cloudlet?"
"Yes, that one."
"Sure..." Kai nodded in agreement—but saw Abigail signaling something with her eyes. Like his answer was not enough. "As long as it’s not going to take long, then I suppose I can meet you there."
"Great." She smiled and slowly backed away. "I’ll meet you tomorrow then."
Abigail turned and walked away.
As she did, Kai’s mind went back to what Abigail was doing this last month.
Not too long ago, about a month or so, Kai heard from Dorian that Abigail had found her way into the Ichor Legion. She had turned down his invitation to the Ambrosia Pact and chosen to remain groupless instead.
And she stayed that way for quite some time.
But surprisingly enough, she managed to actually get into the strongest group.
One with Chester leading it.
And now, he was worried that she was given a hard time in that group.
Perhaps knowing her relationship with Kai’s group, Chester used her as an outlet.
Someone whom he could use to vent his anger at Kai and the Ambrosia Pact.
He was worried about her, and guessed that she might want to get into the Ambrosia Pact.
Just as she was about to make a turn, Kai stopped her.
"Abigail!"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Are you sure you don’t have anything else to say to me?"
A long pause stretched between them.
And then she shook her head.
"No. That’s all I wanted to say. Good night, Kai."
"Okay, then. Good night."
Kai stared at the end of the corridor until Abigail disappeared around the corner. He frowned in utter confusion as the exchange was strange—and contemplated what was really going on with Abigail.
He then pushed the door open to get back inside, but it hit something with a dull thud.
"Ah—!"
"Talitha?!"
Kai poked his head inside and found her sitting on the stairs, rubbing her forehead.
She must’ve been eavesdropping right behind the door, and the door had struck her when he pushed it open to get in. He quickly slipped inside and sat beside her, cupping her face with one hand to examine the red, swelling lump already forming on her skin.
Remembering the crumpled paper, Kai was rushing to get in.
Naturally, he put a bit more strength than he needed to open the door.
And given that he was a Supernal and Talitha was not, the swelling lump came as no surprise. If anything, he was relieved it was only swelling. A cracked wound, bleeding from the impact, would have been far worse.
"Why do you feel the need to even eavesdrop?"
"Sorry... I was curious."
"Sigh..." Kai sighed and shook his head. "You don’t have to apologize, and you can simply ask me if you’re curious. I’m going to grab the healing cream; there should be some left, right? I’ll help you apply it."
"Master Kai, I can do it o—"
"Just stay there."
Kai stood up and went down to grab the healing cream.
On the other hand, Talita tapped her knuckles against her own head, mortified that Kai caught her eavesdropping on his conversation. "Aghh..." She buried her face in her hands, wailing with a shame-filled muffled voice. "He barely got back tonight, and I’ve already done something so foolish."
Her face flushed scarlet as the embarrassment surged through her.
"Talitha! Where did you put it?!" Kai shouted from downstairs.
"Ah," Talitha put her hands away. "It’s near my bed! Should be around there!"
Just as she was about to get up and help Kai find it, her eyes caught the crumpled paper.
It was right where Kai was sitting earlier.
A frown crept onto her face.
Despite Kai’s absence, she never slacked off in doing her duties as his personal servant.
She cleaned the room to the point of excessiveness, fearing that Kai would find another reason not to return to the room again. Everything was sparkling clean—and there should not be any rubbish, too.
Especially not one as big as this crumpled paper.
Talitha would’ve noticed.
Confused—she grabbed the crumpled paper and unfurled it. There was something written on it. A single word, to be exact, and is writing in bold letters. At the exact same time, Kai finally found the healing cream and ascended the staircase.
He saw her holding the crumpled paper.
For a quick second, he forgot why he had rushed inside.
"A trap?" Talitha frowned and turned the paper towards him. "What does it mean, trap?"
Kai covered his mouth and looked down at the wooden staircase.
His pupils trembled in contemplation as he slowly pieced the pieces together, and he realized what was really going on. Even though he had found the situation to be odd, as Abigail never came to his room and was acting strange, he didn’t really think much about it.
At least not until he learned the secret message.
Someone is watching her...? Did someone send her to come to me?
Kai thought Abigail didn’t want Talitha to hear their conversation, but that’s not the case.
Someone must’ve been watching her, which was why she was acting that way.
But who? And why?
Just then, Kai’s eyes widened.
He recalled the words that the senior had earlier said to him before leaving.
’If you still believe that victory is decided on the day of the tournament, then you have already lost. Right now, in this moment, the tournament already started.’
’You just have to be able to see it.’
Earlier, he didn’t really understand what the senior meant by that. But now, he understood it. The Dragon Ring tournament is days away—but it already started way before that. The victor is the one who already made their move even before the day of the tournament.
The battle hadn’t begun on the day of the tournament.
It had already started—now, tonight, perhaps long before. Kai simply hadn’t seen it until now.
Barbara? No—it must be Chester.
Kai had assumed Chester learned of Abigail’s history with his group along with the fact that his personal maid is her sister, and took her in purely out of spite. Especially after their spiteful previous encounter.
But he was wrong.
Chester was preparing to use her to lay a trap.
Had it not been for Abigail’s warning, Kai might never have seen it coming.
"Abigail is being used to lure me into a trap."
"What? What do you—?"
"Abigail asked me to meet with her tomorrow night, saying that she needed something from me. She didn’t tell me what she needed. Just that she wanted to meet with me tomorrow, and alone. It must be a trap set for me."