"Miss, can you hear me?"

In the sterile environment of the hospital room, Sylvie slowly opened her eyes.

The harsh fluorescence overhead cast a cold glow across the room. Blinking against the bright light, she found herself lying on a clean, white bed.

Immediately, she realized where she was, and the memories of the recent events flooded back, her eyes widening with horror.

The blood that was spilled...The feeling of dread that was emanated from that masked figure...Astron's death...

Everything felt so unreal that she could only feel empty inside. The reality of the situation weighed heavily on her, and fear gripped her heart. She tried to speak, but her voice felt weak and shaky.

"I-I can hear you," she stammered, her gaze darting around the room as if searching for an escape from the haunting memories.

A nurse, clad in a crisp uniform, approached her with a reassuring smile. "You're in the hospital. You had quite a scare, but you're safe now."

'Safe.'

The word echoed in Sylvie's mind, but she couldn't shake off the lingering fear. The room felt suffocating, and the sterility of the environment only heightened her discomfort.

As the nurse checked her vitals and asked routine questions, Sylvie's thoughts spiraled into a whirlwind of regret. She wished she could go back and change the events, prevent the tragedy that unfolded before her eyes.

Astron, the masked figure, the blood—images flashed like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

'I should have been more careful. I should have stayed out of it.'

She had never seen such intense emotions before. The hatred oozing from that masked man was so intense that, even if he hadn't done anything, she knew she would never be able to look into his eyes.

But then, the scene that followed was something else. Blood spilled, and screams echoed.

Even if it was the screams of that Mason, even if he was a demon follower...It was too much. She still remembered the horror in Mason's eyes, as if he knew that death had come for him from the start.

It was scary.

But most importantly, the regret engulfed her heart, suffocating it. Knowing the fact that she was the reason for his demise made it almost impossible to hold it in.

As Sylvie grappled with the weight of her emotions and the haunting memories, the hospital room's door opened, and Officer Margaretta entered with a calm and composed demeanor.

"Miss Sylvie, I hope you're feeling better," Officer Margaretta greeted with a slight nod, acknowledging the distress evident in Sylvie's eyes. She had already checked her identity from the database and face matching system, so she knew her name was Sylvie, and she was a student of the Arcadia Hunter Academy.

Sylvie managed a weak nod in response, still processing the aftermath of the traumatic events. Margaretta's presence, although professional, held an air of understanding.

"I'm Officer Margaretta from the Awakened Local Security. Captain Harlan has requested that I speak with you about the incident. Whenever you're ready, we can discuss what happened. Your cooperation is crucial for our investigation," Margaretta explained, her tone gentle and encouraging.

Sylvie took a deep breath, attempting to collect herself. The room seemed to close in on her, but she understood the necessity of recounting the events. Even though she was scared about the events that unfolded, she at least knew it was her own responsibility to recount everything.

'This is what I owe to him.'

Even though the one who killed him might be dead, she at least wanted him to be buried.

"I'll do my best to help," Sylvie murmured, her voice steadier than before. After that, Margaretta asked about what had happened and how she had been kidnapped.

Sylvie recounted everything that had occurred, starting from how they had come to this city because of a trip and how they had been ambushed. After that, she recounted what happened with Astron.

"Wait for a second." At the mention of Astron's name, Margaretta suddenly stopped Sylvie. "What did you say his name was?"

Sylvie took a moment to compose herself before answering, "His name was Astron Natusalune." Her voice wavered as she spoke Astron's name, and silent tears threatened to stream down her cheeks. The pain of the recent loss was still raw and overwhelming.

In response, Officer Margareta swiftly opened her tablet, her fingers tapping on the screen with purpose. As Sylvie watched, a picture of Astron appeared on the device. It was from the database, and Margareta was about to confirm if any updates were made in his name.

But at that moment, Margaretta's eyes squinted in recognition. She immediately remembered the body that was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The face also matched.

'Is it him?'

She thought. If it was him, then the possibility of him dying was very low. After all, even though he was injured and scarred, Margareta could see the flow of mana inside his body with her trained eyes, and she knew the boy wasn't in that much of a critical condition.

While waiting for Sylvie to wake up, she saw him more clearly. His unique color of eyes also matched. Purple eyes weren't that common, and the boy's features quite matched the picture.

He was quite handsome, and it was Margareta's hobby to collect the handsome faces in her mind.

After all, in this line of work where she had to see countless disgusting things, she needed something to cleanse her mind. Even though that face wasn't on the top of the list, it could probably enter the first fifty, and that itself was the biggest compliment.

"Wait, this could be a misunderstanding," Margaretta said, her tone softening. "Astron might not be dead. In fact, he might be in this hospital right now."

Sylvie's eyes widened at those words, and immediately, a surge of mana covered her body.

-SWOOSH!

Without waiting for Margaretta to finish, she rushed out of the room. It was so fast that even Margaretta was slightly surprised at the sudden burst.

However, she just watched Sylvie leave, shaking her head with a sympathetic smile.historical

While she could have stopped Sylvie or provided more context, she understood the urgency and the emotional turmoil Sylvie was experiencing. Sometimes, hope was the only anchor people had in moments of crisis.

Sylvie ran through the hospital corridors with unbridled urgency.lightsnovel

"Hey! Don't run in the corridors!"

Nurses and staff shouted at her to slow down, but the desperate concern for Astron fueled her speed.

As she turned a corner, she spotted the person she was looking for—Astron, leaving a room with some of his body bandaged.

The face was still the same, the same eyes she knew. The same hair she knew and the same emotions she knew.

'He is really alive. He is really alive. He is really alive.'

Without a second thought, Sylvie shot forward, her emotions overpowering her. It was as if she desperately clung to the feeling of hope at that very second, and now she felt the whole world lifted from her shoulders.

SWOOSH!

She reached Astron and enveloped him in a tight hug, her momentum crashing both of them into the nearby wall.

CRASH!

The impact, however, was secondary to the overwhelming relief and joy of finding him alive.

"Astron! You're alive!" Sylvie exclaimed, her voice a mix of tears and laughter. She pulled back slightly to look at him, making sure he was real and unharmed.

The worry and fear that had gripped her heart since the incident now released their hold, replaced by an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Astron, slightly surprised by Sylvie's sudden embrace, winced a bit from the collision with the wall but quickly recovered.

'I owe her at least this much.'

He thought bitterly, looking at the girl hugging him with all of her strength.

He looked into Sylvie's eyes, his expression filled with guilt and bitterness. "Yeah, I'm here. Are you okay?"

lightsΝοvel Tears streaming down her face, Sylvie nodded vigorously. "I thought you were... I thought..." Her words trailed off as emotions overwhelmed her. After all this time, she really thought he was dead all this time and was trying to hold it in for the sake of him.

Even when she was in front of Margaretta, she refused to cry and talk about everything she could.

But even then, she hit her limit long ago and was holding it in very hard, and now she no longer held herself back, and that was the breaking point.

"I'm here, Sylvie. Everything's okay now." Even if he was an awkward, edgy guy, even Astron knew what kind of thing Sylvie went through.

'I really feel like a piece of shit.'

And knowing that he did it intentionally made it a lot harder for him not to care and brush it off.

In the end, all he could do was offer Sylvie peace of mind in his embrace and pat her back, reassuring her from the start.

"It is okay."

Astron gently patted Sylvie's back as she cried in his embrace. The mixture of relief, sorrow, and joy overwhelmed her, and the weight of the emotions she had suppressed finally found release.

The guilt and bitterness Astron felt were momentarily pushed aside as he offered Sylvie comfort and reassurance.

For some reason, he also didn't feel repulsed by the fact that Sylvie was touching him like that, but he simply shrugged it off and thought it was because of Sylvie's trait.

In the hospital corridor, some nurses threw scornful looks at Sylvie for running like that in the hospital, breaking the usual decorum.

However, as they observed her tear-streaked face and Astron's reassuring gestures, understanding replaced their initial disapproval.

It was clear something intense and emotional had transpired, and they allowed the moment to unfold without further interference.

However, this moment was not going to be that long.

After a minute or so, Officer Margareta interrupted the emotional reunion, approaching Sylvie and Astron with a serious expression. Inside her heart a little, she felt jealous of this girl.

'I should get a boyfriend soon, too.'

The loneliness that she fended off with her job appeared on the surface once again, and she wasn't happy with that fact.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, but we need to proceed with the investigation. We still have a lot to uncover about what happened back there. Can you both come with me to answer some questions?"

Sylvie, her eyes still swollen from crying, nodded, composing herself as best she could.

Astron also got serious and nodded his head. "Sure, we'll cooperate. Just give us a moment. She needs to calm herself."

He was about to continue, but Sylvie's words cut him off. "I am okay." Saying that she immediately got away from his arms, her face flushed.

What she had done now came crashing on her, and she didn't know what to say about it, so she desperately wanted to change the locations and the topic.

Astron looked at her and realized she was okay, so he also didn't object.

Margareta, maintaining her stern demeanor, accepted Sylvie's assurance with a nod. "Very well. Follow me, and let's get this done," she stated, leading the way to the room.

And just like that, they started recounting everything.