Chapter 279: Did You Enjoy Your Night, Brother?
I let out a long, slow sigh, my hand coming up to rub my temples as the final remnants of adrenaline drained from my system. I looked from Kyle’s massive grin to Sira’s giggling face, and finally to Emma, who was still looking at me like she had just pulled off the heist of the century.
I shook my head, a genuine, helpless smile finally breaking through my blank expression.
"All that hassle just for this?" I muttered, my voice filled with exasperated amusement. "I honestly thought someone was being assassinated up here."
Kyle let out a booming laugh. "Hey, if we just asked you to come up, you would’ve found some excuse and stayed in bed!"
"He’s correct, Jin," Sira chimed in, flashing a bright, unrepentant smirk. "You’re a total homebody."
Tobias simply offered a dry nod of agreement, adjusting his glasses as he began pouring the sparkling drinks into the crystal glasses. Emma didn’t say anything at first; she just let out a soft, highly pleased hum, her shoulders swaying slightly as she basked in the success of her little plot.
Before I could even think about retreating back to the safety of my room, Kyle and Sira flanked me.
"Alright, enough standing around! Time for the guest of honor to actually do something," Kyle barked, throwing an arm over my left shoulder.
Sira grabbed my right arm, and together, the two of them cheerfully hauled me forward. I didn’t even bother resisting, letting them drag me across the moonlit stone tiles directly toward the beautifully decorated table.
As we closed the distance, the rich, sweet scent of the towering chocolate cake filled the air, and Emma smoothly glided back around the table, picking up a silver cake knife and presenting it to me with a flourish and a smile that could outshine the moon itself.
The silver knife slid smoothly through the thick, rich layers of the chocolate cake. The moment the first slice was pulled away, the last remnants of restraint among our group completely vanished.
"Dibs on the corner piece with the most frosting!" Kyle shouted, practically lunging across the table.
"Kyle, you absolute animal, use a plate!" Sira yelled, swatting his hand away with a silver fork.
What followed was twenty minutes of absolute, unadulterated chaos.
Kyle tried to steal a second slice when Sira wasn’t looking, which resulted in a chase around the decorated table.
Sira ended up tripping over the leg of a chair, sending her flying straight into Kyle’s midsection. The impact knocked both of them backward, and they tumbled spectacularly onto the smooth stone tiles in a tangled, laughing heap.
Even Tobias wasn’t safe. As he stepped aside to avoid the carnage, his foot caught the edge of a discarded napkin, causing his posture to completely fail him as he slid awkwardly into a low ottoman, his wire-rimmed glasses slipping down his nose.
I sat back quietly in my chair, taking a slow, measured sip of the sparkling beverage Tobias had poured. To my right, Emma was doing exactly the same. We sat side-by-side in the relative safety of the corner, watching the battlefield of chairs, cake crumbs, and laughing students with a shared sense of detached amusement.
Emma let out a soft, melodious giggle, leaning her shoulder lightly against mine as Kyle loudly groaned from the floor, claiming Sira had fractured his ribs.
Eventually, the chaos wound down. Exhausted from their own antics and thoroughly stuffed with cake, the group began to pick themselves up from the tiles.
"Alright, I’m officially dead," Sira wheezed, brushing off her uniform as she stretched her arms. "If I don’t get to bed right now, I’m going to pass out right here on the roof."
"Yeah," Kyle grunted, giving me a sloppy, heavy pat on the shoulder. "Happy birthday again, bro. Great party."
Tobias adjusted his glasses, offering a polite, dignified bow. "A successful venture. Goodnight, Raith. Goodnight, Vale."
With a wave of trailing goodbyes, the three of them shuffled toward the heavy iron rooftop door, their voices fading down the stone stairwell until the heavy latch clicked shut.
Silence rushed back to fill the void, leaving only the gentle evening breeze and the soft chirping of the night insects.
I was just about to stand up and suggest we head inside too, when a delicate, cool hand smoothly slid into mine. Emma’s fingers wrapped firmly around my palm.
"Come here," she whispered softly.
Without waiting for an answer, she gently tugged my hand, guiding me away from the messy table and toward the very edge of the rooftop. The stone perimeter was lined with an elegant, warded iron railing that overlooked the sprawling, moonlit grounds of the Academy.
She sat down right on the edge, letting her legs dangle slightly through the gaps in the stone balustrade. She looked up at me, her bright blue eyes reflecting the silver light, and patted the empty space right next to her.
I hesitated for a fraction of a second, then quietly took a seat beside her, leaning my back against the stone pillar.
The wind gently rustled her hair, casting a faint scent of floral shampoo across the small space between us. She clasped her hands over her knees, tilting her head up toward the vast, unobstructed sky.
"The moon looks beautiful, right?" Emma said softly, her voice dropping into a rare, serene tone that felt entirely stripped of her usual theatrical sweetness.
I looked up, staring at the massive, glowing silver crescent suspended in the sea of stars, casting its pristine light over the quiet world below.
I let out a slow, peaceful breath and nodded.
"Yeah. It really does."
We sat there in silence for a few moments, the gentle rustle of the wind the only sound breaking the quiet night. We talked in low, murmured tones about nothing in particular, the upcoming exams, Kyle’s ridiculous antics, and how surprisingly tolerable Tobias could be when he wasn’t acting like a walking encyclopedia.
Slowly, Emma shifted closer. She leaned her head gently onto my shoulder. Her fingers slid down between mine, slowly intertwining our hands until our fingers were fully interlaced.
I tensed slightly and looked down at the side of her face.
"Emma," I said, my voice quiet but steady.
She didn’t lift her head. Instead, she gently squeezed my hand, her grip warm and surprisingly grounded.
"Just five minutes," she whispered, her voice sounding genuinely tired. "Just let me stay like this for five minutes, Jin."
I closed my mouth, letting the words die in my throat and didn’t push her away.
We stayed right there on the edge of the rooftop. Time seemed to lose its strict pacing; the minutes stretched out under the vast, silver crescent of the moon. I lost track of how long we had been sitting in the dark until I noticed the rhythm of her breathing had slowed into a deep, steady cadence.
I tilted my head and saw her eyes were fully closed, her features completely relaxed in sleep.
I let out a quiet, resigned sigh, turning my gaze back to the moon, then over to the messy table covered in leftover cake and scattered chairs.
"Tomorrow is going to be such a mess to clean up," I muttered to myself.
Carefully untangling our interlaced fingers, I shifted my position and slid my arms beneath her. Pushing myself up from the stone ledge, I lifted Emma effortlessly, bringing her up into a secure princess carry. She let out a soft, incoherent hum, her head naturally lolling against my chest, but she didn’t wake up.
I walked across the silver-lit rooftop, pushed through the doors, and carried her down the quiet stairs of the top floor.
Then walked into her dark, plush room, carefully laid her down onto the soft mattress, and pulled the heavy blanket up to her shoulders. She shifted slightly, burying her face into the pillow, completely out cold.
Without a sound, I stepped backward, closed her door until the lock clicked, and walked the short distance to my own room.
I stepped inside the dark, quiet space of my dormitory and let out a heavy breath, glad the long night was finally over. But just as the heavy oak door swung shut behind me—
I froze.
Sitting right on the edge of my neatly made bed was a figure.
The brilliant, cold silver of her hair caught the incoming moonlight, practically glowing against the shadows of the room. Her piercing, icy grey eyes were locked onto me with a terrifying, unblinking intensity that made the air in the room instantly drop to near freezing.
She was wearing a loose, elegant dark silk nightgown that shifted slightly in the moonlit breeze, her legs crossed casually over one another. Down in the shadows, her bare feet extended slightly, her sheer, nude-painted toenails catching the faint silver glint of the night.
A dangerous, icy smile touched her lips, cutting through the dark room like a razor blade.
"Did you enjoy your time well, brother?"