Chapter 206
The flame (5)
"…I killed them all. Every last one. You are looking at the final—and only—head of the Gold family."
The room fell into a heavy silence. The ticking of a golden desk clock echoed like a countdown. IAM and Omari stared at one another, two completely different people locked in quiet eye contact.
Neither blinked.
IAM slowly rubbed the front of his neck, his fingers grazing skin without purpose, He forced a small, uncertain smile as he exhaled
"I… see," he said. "She's dead."
He leaned back slightly in his chair, exhaling through his nose. The pieces were still falling into place. This… wasn't how he expected one of his mysteries to be solved. A thread tugged free and unravelled in just a few words.
From a man seated above almost everyone else in the academy, casually tossing gold coins while recounting cold-blooded murder.
IAM's gaze drifted toward the massive window behind Omari, his eyes briefly scanning the distant silhouettes of the campus—the towers, the courtyard, the long stretch of stone paths winding through this city-sized academy.
This was Hope Academy. And here he was, learning that someone who wanted to adopt him had ties that reached all the way to one of the vice principals.
It was… surreal.
He found himself wondering how the real IAM would've taken this.
Would he have cried?
Would his fists be clenched, his eyes burning and voice cracking in sadness?
Would he have felt anything at all?
IAM doubted it. The boy from the diary had already seemed cracked by the time he'd written those pages. Hope wasn't just a country's name—it had been the last word he'd believed in, and even that had let him down.
But now here IAM was, sitting in his place. Not the real boy, not the one who lived those memories. Just a stranger walking through the rest of his life.
To be completely honest... he didn't feel anything.
To him...
She was dead. That was it. Nothing more. A woman in a diary. A silhouette in someone else's story. Diana Grimm—whoever she had been—was nothing more than a ghost of a possibility, now snuffed out with a sentence from her brother.
It was simple.
But he respected the boy who had once lived in this body enough to feel something.
His eyes returned to Omari. The man was still watching him, his coin glinting between his fingers.
IAM straightened his back slightly in the chair. He asked, "Why... are you telling me this? It's not something you owe me."
"Oh, but I do," the Flame said easily. "How could I not tell my older sister's child about her past—about what happened to her? It's important that you understand where you came from."
IAM didn't say anything. His expression remained unreadable.
"...There is also another reason."
IAM's shoulders tensed slightly. He had figured it wouldn't be as simple as that.
"I wish you… would visit her grave. When you find the chance."
IAM blinked. That was it?
The Flame kept flicking the coin between his fingers, letting it dance effortlessly over his knuckles. "As the Vice Principal—and especially with the Principal currently absent—I can never be too far away. If I step away for even a moment, the opposition might see it as weakness and make a move. All of us have to stay here to hold down the fort."
IAM was beginning to understand.
"And I'm sure… she would love for her child to visit her once in a while. It's not something you need to rush. This is simply a favor. When the time comes—and if you feel like it—I would like you to pay a visit."
IAM gave a slow nod. "Okay."
The Flame's expression softened ever so slightly. "It's located in the middle sector. I'll send the location directly to you. I think she would love to see how you've grown." A glint of humor touched his voice. "I mean, you're attending The Hope Academy… and you're rich enough to casually drop a hundred gold coins."
He chuckled at his own joke.
IAM didn't smile nor laugh.
There wasn't anything funny about it.
He simply gave a small nod again, more out of politeness than anything else.
He would do it.
Maybe it was for the boy who had waited for someone who never came. Maybe it was for the woman who had meant so much to someone, only to vanish before her story could begin. Or maybe it was just the strange reality of it all.
"I'll go," IAM said.
Omari Gold, the Flame, didn't say anything else. He just smiled, a bit more softly this time, like he understood.
The Flame's expression turned serious. The shine in his eyes dimmed slightly, and his hand stilled with the coin mid-spin.
"However," he said, voice was low and firm, "do not misunderstand. As one of the Vice Principals, I have a code to abide by. I will not be helping you. I will not be babying you. Everything must come from your own effort."
His gaze sharpened as he leaned back slightly in his chair. "Our relationship does not change anything. It does not grant you protection, and it will not open doors. Do not use my name to intimidate others. If you do… I will not help you."
IAM stared at him for a second.
Inwardly, he kissed his teeth.
So that was it?
IAM inwardly kissed his teeth, After dropping such depressing words and asking for a favour, he just ends it with a 'you're on your own buddy.'
What was even the point of being a Vice Principal if he couldn't squeeze at least one cheat code out of it?
Well… it didn't really change anything.
He would just keep doing what he'd already been doing.
"I see," IAM muttered. Then, a little louder, "If that's all… I'd like to leave. I need to clear my head."
"Of course," the Flame replied, already returning to flipping the coin between his fingers.
Elliott was already waiting by the door. His smile hadn't budged once since IAM arrived.
He gave a shallow bow of his head, all formality and professionalism. "Right this way," he said politely.
IAM walked past him in silence.
Elliott re-entered Omari's office.
"How was it?"
Elliott paused, tilting his head slightly. "Are you sure he's Diana's adopted child?"
The Flame looked up, his eyes glinting in the light.
Elliott continued, "I was watching him the entire time. He had a few expressions—shock, surprise—but he didn't seem particularly sad or distressed. Maybe I'm overthinking it… The last time they met was probably when he was eleven."
The Flame stood, moving to the wall-length window. He stared down at the academy grounds, the sprawling campus below like a miniature city. His hands moved automatically, twirling the coin between his fingers.
He said nothing. The silence stretched, broken only by the faint clink of metal, the coin catching the light as it spun.