Kaelo sat on the edge of his thin, Zero-rank cot, his head in his hands. The sword lay at his feet, a cold reminder of the 999 tragedies he couldn't remember but could still feel. The isolation was starting to settle into his bones like frost.

  A soft, hesitant knock at the door broke the silence.

  Kaelo instinctively reached for his mask. He wiped his eyes, straightened his shoulders, and let that "Walking Warmth" glow return to his face. "Come in," he called out, his voice smooth and welcoming.

  He expected Jude or a professor. Instead, the door pushed open to reveal a small group that looked entirely out of place in the elite Academy hallways.

  There was Old Man Elian, the gardener whose hands were permanently stained with soil; Mina, a young kitchen maid with flour on her apron; and Leo, a younger student from the lower years who always walked with a slight limp.

  "Master Kaelo?" Mina whispered, her eyes red as if she’d been crying.

  Kaelo stood up, genuinely surprised. "Mina? Elian? What are you all doing here? The Zero dorms aren't exactly the place for a visit."

  "We heard," Elian said, his voice gruff but trembling. He stepped forward and placed a small, rough bundle on Kaelo’s desk. It was a collection of Sun-fruits, the ones Kaelo used to help Elian harvest when the old man’s back was too pained to move. "We heard they stripped your rank. We heard they were... afraid of you."

  Kaelo laughed softly, that gentle, self-deprecating sound that usually put people at ease. "It's just a misunderstanding, Elian. I’m fine, really."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "No," Leo interrupted, stepping forward. He gripped a small wooden charm in his hand—the same charm Kaelo had carved for him a year ago when Leo was being bullied for his limp. Kaelo hadn't fought the bullies; he had simply sat with Leo in the dirt for three hours, talking about the stars until Leo felt like a person again. "You’re not fine. You look... tired, Kaelo."

  Kaelo froze. For the first time, his mask didn't work. These people weren't his "elite friends" who loved him for his Rank 1 power. They were the people he had helped in the small, quiet moments that history books never write down.

  "I only sat with you for a while, Leo," Kaelo whispered. "And Elian, I only helped with the harvest because I liked the sun. It wasn't much."

  "It was everything to us," Mina said, stepping closer to take Kaelo’s hand. Her palms were rough, but her grip was like a lifeline. "When my mother passed, you didn't give me gold, Kaelo. You just stood by the kitchen door and listened to me talk about her until the sun went down. You stayed when everyone else walked past."

  [ ANOMALY DETECTED, ] Sola’s text flickered, but this time the indigo glow was soft, almost warm. [ EMOTIONAL RESONANCE IS SHIELDING THE HOST FROM THE DIVINE GAZE. ]

  For a moment, the weight of the Divine Spectator vanished. The "Gaze" from above couldn't pierce through the simple, honest worry of these three people. Kaelo felt a rare, genuine peace wash over him. He realized he didn't need 999 lives of glory; he just needed to know that in this life, he had made the world a little less cold for a gardener, a maid, and a lonely boy.

  "Thank you," Kaelo said, and for once, the "Walking Warmth" wasn't a mask. It was real. "I think... I think I needed to see you more than you know."

  As they sat with him, sharing the Sun-fruits in the dim light of the Zero dorm, Kaelo looked at the indigo mural on the wall. The hand in the painting seemed to relax, its fingers curling as if it were finally resting.

  He was cursed by being loved, yes. But as he looked at the family he had accidentally built, Kaelo wondered if love was also the only thing that could keep the Silver Scourge at bay.