Chapter 274
In their eyes, Theo was nothing more than a bastard, a figure with a bad reputation associated only with women and money.
The contrast between him and Aldraya, who seemed as if she belonged to an entirely different world, was bound to spark curiosity and mockery.
Without wasting any more time, he stood up from his chair, his movements firm and decisive.
With a subtle tilt of his head, he signaled Aldraya to move from that place, to seek out a quieter corner where whispers and gazes could not easily reach them.
Aldraya, as always, responded with perfect obedience and without a single question.
She moved, stepping calmly until she was aligned with Theo's right shoulder.
The distance was close yet proper, suggesting a closeness that was deliberate but not intimate.
They walked out of the classroom together, making their way down a corridor that grew strangely silent with each step they took.
Theo could feel dozens of widened eyes, stares filled with disbelief clinging to his back.
The students were witnessing something impossible.
Aldraya Kansh Que, an untouchable and mysterious entity, walking obediently beside Theo Vkytor, the individual deemed insignificant.
Every step they took left behind a trail of stunned silence.
They continued onward, passing several turns in the corridor and distancing themselves from the main crowd.
Theo deliberately chose a quieter route, moving through side hallways and near the library, which was usually deserted during break time.
His effort to ignore the stares almost succeeded, because the farther they went, the fewer people they encountered.
The atmosphere finally shifted.
The low rumble of academic life faded into murmurs, then disappeared entirely, replaced by a silence broken only by the sound of their own footsteps echoing against the wooden floor.
They were now in a corridor lit by dim light from tall windows, far removed from the bustle of the cafeteria or clusters of students.
This place was notably quieter, a temporary bubble of isolation they had created.
Within that newly claimed silence, Theo finally voiced the question that had been floating in his mind since Aldraya appeared.
His voice was low, trying to sound casual despite the lingering tension.
He asked Aldraya whether the reason for her sudden visit was to invite him to eat together.
He offered a neutral option, the cafeteria or somewhere similar, attempting to frame the interaction as a normal school activity.
"Is this what you call an advantage for yourself, Theo?"
The dim light in the quiet corridor wrapped around them like a thin mist, gilding the tips of Aldraya's silver hair with a cold hint of eternity.
Her eyes, two ruby pools that usually reflected the world without distortion, now held a subtle tremor.
The shock was not a crashing wave, but a fine crack behind solid glass, an admission that the unfolding scenario exceeded her initial calculations.
Her sharp analytical mind, a remnant of her previous state of consciousness, spun rapidly to assess this new variable.
Theo's presence beside her, the invitation to eat together, and all the fragile implications that followed.
In the deepest silence of her inner world, she questioned whether this was an unspoken transaction, a byproduct of her integration with the mysterious RWIA entity.
Was this comfort, or even this simple attention, the currency paid for her memories and identity now stored within an unreachable digital vault?
An illusion of safety purchased with false intimacy.
"One part of it is exactly as you just thought."
Huuuuh!
"I'm actually too lazy to look through every part of your mind one by one.
There's too much there, and not all of it needs to be seen.
But as a precaution, a small fragment of RWIA has already settled beneath your awareness—right in the subconscious layer, alongside your own identity."
Fiiiih!
"The function is simple. If something happens one day that requires my intervention, while I'm absent or unable to respond, you can call for me.
The system will bridge the connection. Think of it not as surveillance, but as a safeguard. Solely for you."
Golden light slipping through the leaves of the atrium garden illuminated Aldraya's flawless profile.
Driven by a sudden and difficult-to-explain impulse, Theo extended his hand.
Fingers that usually danced across paper or gripped a pen tightly now moved with a steadiness that bordered on certainty as they touched the surface of Aldraya's left cheek.
The touch was not a harsh pinch, but a gentle one, a light squeeze that felt more like a playful, familiar caress.
Aldraya's skin felt cool and smooth like sunlit marble, yet carried a faint elasticity of life.
Theo pulled back slowly, with great care, as if handling a priceless glass artifact.
The movement was a defensive instinct, a precaution to avoid triggering tears or an unexpected reaction from the entity before him, whose essence he was still learning to understand.
Maintaining that gentle contact, Theo nodded.
The nod was an acknowledgment, a confirmation offered without many words.
He stated, his voice low yet clear in the garden's quiet broken only by rustling leaves, that one of the advantages of uniting with RWIA was indeed exactly as Aldraya had suspected.
The statement was a key turning within a lock.
It meant that the fundamental desire swelling within Aldraya's heart—a simple wish to invite him to eat together—had been read, recognized, and subtly crystallized into reality by the system now fused with him.
RWIA acted as a translator for subconscious desires that might not yet have fully formed within Aldraya's own awareness.
However, Theo quickly added an explanation, as if to balance that acknowledgment with a boundary.
He spoke in a tone that sounded like a mixture of honesty and reluctant restraint, saying that he himself felt lazy, even unwilling, to dive into the entirety of Aldraya's ocean of thoughts.
To him, it was a territory too vast, too complex, and perhaps too personal to enter completely.
Such absolute knowledge felt like a violation.
Nevertheless, for the sake of caution and as preparation for unforeseen possibilities in the future, a small portion of RWIA's essence had been deliberately placed.
It resided in the deepest layer, just beneath the threshold of Aldraya's consciousness, intertwined with the core of her identity.
The function of this small fraction was as a safety mechanism.
If Aldraya were ever to face an urgent situation, something requiring Theo's intervention while he himself was not physically present or was unable to come, the module would activate.
It would serve as a bridge, a subtle alarm, or perhaps even provide initial guidance for Aldraya to take the necessary action, ultimately leading to rescue or assistance mediated by Theo's presence, even from afar.
"Someday, I will find a way to repay it."
Aldraya remained silent for a moment after the explanation lingered in the air.
Her gaze rested on Theo, no longer filled with surprise, but with deep and tranquil processing.
She felt the lingering warmth on her cheek, like the imprint of a decision that had been impulsive yet carefully weighed.
To her neatly structured logic, Theo's actions—from the gentle pinch, to the admission about RWIA, to the placement of a safeguard deep within her soul—felt profoundly irrational.
It was not a transaction with clear balance, nor a strategy with measurable gains and losses.
This was a gift, a protection offered voluntarily, and it created a debt that could not be quantified within Aldraya's value system.
In the silence of her inner world, a resolve crystallized.
One day, in a future she could not yet map, she would have to find a way to repay it.
To be continued…