Aurora's face went through about five different expressions while she walked toward me. My smile faltered. I started wondering what was about to happen.

  She approached like she was going to hug me, making my stomach do something weird, but that wasn't what happened at all.

  Instead, she slapped me.

  The sound echoed through the quiet forest. My cheek stung, but honestly, the surprise hurt more than the actual hit.

  "You..." She seemed to be struggling to find the words. Her voice shook slightly. "You could have died!"

  I stood there, rubbing my cheek. Okay, so apparently saving myself wasn't enough to avoid getting hit. Good to know.

  "But I didn't," I pointed out. "I'm fine. Not even a scratch."

  "That's not the point!" Her voice rose, and I realized I'd somehow made it worse. "You had no way of knowing you'd be fine! You just let yourself get taken by that thing with no plan!"

  "I had some idea what I was doing." It sounded weak even to me.

  "Some idea?" Aurora looked like she wanted to hit me again. "Some idea isn't good enough! You can't just throw your life away and expect everyone to be okay with it!"

  Aurelius stood back with his arms crossed, watching us with something between amusement and exasperation. Mira looked concerned, her eyes darting between Aurora and me.

  "I'm the leader," Aurora continued, and now I could see it wasn't just anger. There was something else underneath. "I'm supposed to be the one taking those risks. It's my responsibility to put myself in danger, not yours!"

  "I couldn't just leave you there alone," I said before I could stop myself. "It felt wrong to let you stay behind while the rest of us ran away to safety."

  Her eyes widened. "What?"

  "You were going to stay there by yourself, weren't you?" The words kept coming. "You were going to send everyone else back and face that thing alone. And I just... I couldn't let you do that. Not when there was something I could do to help."

  "That's different!" Her voice cracked slightly. "I can handle—"

  "I know you can handle it," I interrupted. "That's not the point. The point is you shouldn't have to handle everything by yourself all the time. You should be able to rely on other people sometimes."

  "You don't understand the risk you were taking!"

  "Maybe not," I admitted. "But it worked out, didn't it? I'm standing here. You're standing here. Everyone made it back safely."

  "This time!" The words exploded out of her. "It worked out this time! What about next time? What about when you're wrong and you're dead and there's nothing anyone can do about it?"

  I paused, not sure what to say to that. She had a point, but I didn't regret what I'd done.

  "You're asking me to trust you," Aurora continued, exhaustion clear on her face now. "But how can I trust you when you just proved you'll throw yourself into danger without thinking?"

  "I was thinking," I said quietly. "I was thinking that you looked like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. And that maybe, if someone else could help carry some of that weight, it would make things easier. For both of us."

  "By nearly getting yourself killed?" She stared at me.

  "By showing you that you don't have to do everything alone," I said. "And seeing that I'm okay now, you feel relieved, right? Maybe even happy? That's what trusting people gets you. That's what you've been missing out on."

  Her head snapped back toward me, and the look in her eyes was pure fury.

  "Happy?" Her voice was dangerously quiet. "You want to know how I felt? I spent the last ten minutes convinced I'd just watched someone die because I wasn't strong enough to stop it. I felt completely helpless, watching that wall knowing you were on the other side and there was nothing I could do." Her voice cracked. "And you're standing there smiling like it's all a joke."

  I took a step back. That wasn't what I'd meant at all.

  "I thought you were dead," she said, and there was something raw in her voice now. "I thought I'd failed again. That I'd let someone trust me and I couldn't protect them. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

  "Aurora, I didn't mean—"

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "I don't want to look at you right now."

  She turned away sharply and walked off into the forest before I could say anything else.

  I stood there feeling like I'd been hit by something a lot harder than just her hand.

  "Well." Mira approached carefully. "That could have gone better."

  "Yeah." I rubbed my face, still trying to process what had just happened. "I really messed that up, didn't I?"

  "She's just heated from the combat," Mira said gently. "Give her some time. She was really worried about you."

  "I wasn't trying to upset her," I said. "I just wanted to help."

  "I know." Mira patted my shoulder sympathetically. "But maybe next time, find a way to help that doesn't involve getting swallowed by corruption?"

  "Noted."

  Aurelius walked over, and I braced myself for criticism. Instead, he looked almost approving.

  "Not bad," he said. "Bit dramatic, but effective. You made quite the showing back there. Very useful for establishing your value."

  I stared at him. "That's not why I did it."

  "Of course not." He smirked like he didn't believe me at all. "But it's still a beneficial side effect. The others will talk about what happened. Your reputation will improve."

  He'd completely misunderstood my motives, but there was no point arguing. The Prince saw everything through politics. He probably couldn't imagine someone doing something just because they cared about someone else.

  "Let's find the others," Mira suggested. "We should regroup and make sure the corruption is really gone."

  We searched the area for the next hour but found no signs of corruption anywhere. It had retreated completely, leaving behind only dead trees and empty villages. Whatever deal I'd made with that entity, it seemed to have actually worked. At least for now.

  I kept catching Aurora watching me from a distance, but every time I tried to approach, she'd find a reason to be somewhere else. Lina was avoiding me too, though for completely different reasons.

  The walk back to the academy took most of the next day. The group was quieter than before, everyone processing what had happened in their own way. Emberheart kept taking notes, talking about unprecedented corruption behavior in that authoritative way he had. Mary stayed close to Aurelius, occasionally glancing at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Nico remained invisible most of the time, which was probably normal for him.

  Aurora walked at the front as always, leading the way. But the distance between us felt wider than before.

  I found myself near the back of the group, lost in thought. The conversation with the corruption kept replaying in my mind. How fast it had learned, how it had adapted to everything I showed it. I'd revealed more about myself than I probably should have. What if it came back? What if it told others?

  But more than that, I kept thinking about Aurora's face when she'd slapped me. The anger, yes, but the fear underneath it too. The exhaustion. She'd been terrified, and I'd smiled and made a joke about trust.

  Maybe I really hadn't understood. I'd been so focused on showing her she could rely on people that I hadn't thought about how it would feel from her side. Watching someone get swallowed by corruption with no way to help them.

  Yeah, I could see how that might be upsetting.

  By the time we reached the academy gates, exhaustion had set in properly. Not just physical tiredness, but the mental weight of everything. We'd survived, the corruption was gone for now, everyone had made it back.

  So why did it feel like I'd failed?

  The group dispersed once we entered the academy grounds. Most headed toward the dorms to clean up and rest. Emberheart went straight to his office, probably to file reports. The Prince and Mary walked off together, already discussing something in low voices.

  I stood in the courtyard for a moment, watching everyone leave. Lina hadn't looked at me once the entire trip back. Aurora had made it clear she didn't want to talk to me. I'd somehow managed to push away two people who'd actually seemed to like me.

  Great job, Kai.

  I headed back to my room, dropped my bag on the floor, and collapsed onto my bed.

  The ceiling was interesting. It looked like a ceiling.

  I kept replaying the argument with Aurora. Every word I'd said wrong, every moment I'd made it worse. The way her voice had cracked when she said she thought I was dead. The look in her eyes when I'd smiled like none of it mattered.

  I hadn't meant it that way. I'd just been relieved it had worked out, relieved that my gamble had paid off. But from her perspective, I was making light of something that had genuinely terrified her.

  And then there was Lina. She'd discovered my secret about the notebook, and I'd just let her walk away. Too much of a coward to actually explain anything.

  I sat up, staring at my bag where the notebook was hidden. All my secrets, carefully maintained. All the lies by omission catching up to me.

  This wasn't working. Sitting around, letting things happen to me, reacting instead of acting. I'd been coasting along, hiding my abilities, trying to stay out of trouble. But trouble kept finding me anyway, and now people were getting hurt because I wasn't doing enough.

  I couldn't just exist here and hope everything worked out. I needed to actually do something. Make choices. Take action, even if it meant taking risks.

  The thought was uncomfortable, but it felt right.

  First, I needed to talk to Lina. Really talk to her, not just avoid it because it was uncomfortable. She deserved an explanation, and I could use the help to deal with the corruption problem.

  Second, I needed to figure out how to approach Aurora. She was angry and hurt, and she had every right to be. But I also meant what I'd said about not carrying everything alone. I just needed to find a way to show her that didn't involve making her think I was dead.

  Third, the corruption was still out there somewhere. Learning, adapting. It would be back eventually. And when it returned, I needed to be ready.

  I lay back down, still wearing my travel-stained clothes. Too tired to care.

  Tomorrow, I'd start fixing things. Tomorrow, I'd figure out how to actually be the person I kept claiming to be.

  Tomorrow.

  As I drifted off, my last thought was that Aurora had been right about one thing.

  Trust really was like removing your armor and handing someone a blade.

  I just hoped I hadn't stabbed anyone too badly with mine.