Chapter 266 Stupid Thoughts

A vine wrapped around his neck and pulled back.

Lotus had her brows twitching from the accusation.

"Let him go!" Gia hissed as her eyes glowed with fury, ready to defend Lank.

The vines untangled and retreated into the little pot of flowers in the corner of the living room.

She took a cup of tea on the low table and sipped on it, pretending she had done nothing to cause a commotion.

Lumina had a twisted smile from the encounter and proceeded to test if the same would happen to her.

Leaning forward with her elbows on the table, she decided to pry further in. "Do you wish that you two did something more while in the room?"

Lotus had the cup suspended in front of her face, then she looked up at Lumina.

"You sure are blunt with your words, and more personal than the first," Lotus commented with a light chuckle and dropped her cup.

"No wonder you're Zhao's favorite student."

"I am not a student, neither was I anyone's favorite." Lumina hissed in irritation at the reminder.

"I beg to differ, Lumina." Lotus countered with another chuckle, finding their conversation amusing.

Back in the academy, she had not been given much opportunity to interact with Lumina to understand what had drawn Zhao to her–excluding her rare gift.

With an opportunity Lotus has, she is confident about getting closer to Lumina.

"Yes, I did wish something like that had happened." She finally replied with a grin and glanced through the shocked faces of the rest.

Solis gulped and looked away, it was just a reminder of something that looked more like a fleeting memory to him.

'Everyone is getting paired up except me." Solis sulked silently in his corner.

Lank clicked his tongue at how easy it was for Lumina to get an answer and he was almost strangled by a plant.

"Where are Nix and Alex?" He muttered.

"They headed towards Fegan's daughter's room and it isn't for some condolences." Lotus wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Lumina punched a hole into the table at the mention and immediately got to her feet.

All present got a jump scare from the encounter, their eyes followed Lumina once she had gotten up and headed in the same direction she had seen the two leave before.

Lotus rested her head on her palm and had a grin, "it's going to be fun, don't you think?"

Solis stared but said nothing, while Lank rolled his eyes and refused to believe it and instead sought comfort in Gia's presence.

–––––––––––

In Hana's room,

Alex stared at the lady that lay peacefully on her bed, the bed cover tucked in nicely and firmly holding her limp body in place.

Her sleeping posture was rather stiff and without any signs of movement, her hair was spread around her like a fan.

"S-she's the girl in my dreams." He took a step back in disbelief.

Nix grabbed onto Alex's wrist and shook his head. "What is the point of bringing you here if you would act so cowardly and leave?"

Fegan's suspicions only began to rise when he stepped in between the two to get a closer look at Alex.

He tapped on his forehead, trying his hardest to recall the name his daughter had whispered before passing out.

"Sir, is there an issue?" Alex questioned, looking over Fegan's shoulder so he could steal a glance at the sleeping lady.

Aware of what Alex was doing, Fegan created several wooden puppets that stacked up onto one another, creating a barrier tall enough to touch the ceiling.

"Do I have your attention now?" Fegan snapped, folding his arms with a displeased look.

Although knowing there had to be a reason Nix had wanted to see Hana, that didn't make him comfortable with the stranger that suddenly had a keen interest in his daughter.

'What if he's merely interested in her to fulfill his desires?' Fegan thought as his eyes shifted around and then back at Alex in paranoia.

Alex nodded his head and decided to hold back on his actions which would seem strange and suspicious to the father.

'You can control this, you own your life!' Alex repeated with a nod.

Sensing the brewing hostility for Alex, very well aware of how much he cared for his daughter, Nix pulled back Alex and gave a smile.

'Should I use my charisma trait skill?' Nix was caught in a dilemma on going the spontaneous but slightly easier way or the unpredictable and hard approach.

If he were to use his charisma skill on Fegan, it would work for the time, but afterward, it would get to his knowledge of the missing memory and might assume Nix had aided Alex in assaulting Hana.

Giving himself a slap to recover from the scene that vividly played in his head, he had his hand suspended and close to his face as the two looked incredulously at him like he had gone mad.

'Stupid! Stupid thoughts!' Nix chastised how his mind had deviated to a demoralizing subject so easily.

Covering up the awkward situation he found himself in with a light chuckle, he shoved his hand into his pocket and explained what had happened as an internal struggle.

"Ri–ght!" Alex nodded his head but had the eye of suspicion.

"Young man..."

"You never referred to me in that way!" Nix cut in, a bit upset by the difference when comparing it with a 'kiddo'.

Alex tried to hold back a laugh and was pleasantly surprised by how jovial and childish Nix was around Fegan.

"Is he like your father or maybe uncle?" Alex joked.

"Yes."

"No!"

Fegan and Nix replied respectively which prompted a stare down from both parties.

Fegan had readily accepted Nix as a nephew figure so Hana would kill the idea of being with Nix.

Nix on the other hand dreaded being too close to anyone to waste his effort in building relationships outside that of his feelings for Lumina or friendship.

"You wish!" Nix spat, "would you like another beating, old man?"

"Old man?!" Fegan repeated and had his jaw dropped at the name-calling.

It had reminded him so much about someone in his past who had also made a similar outburst.

'Lyra...' his thoughts trailed as he gave a bitter smile.

Alex pulled Nix aside and pegged his lips with his fingers.

"Would you please shut the f*ck up and let's see what he has to say?!" He hissed in Nix's face.

Nix was left stunned after the incident and merely nodded his head so he could allow Alex and Fegan to speak to each other.

"Sir?" Alex calmly brought his thoughts back to reality.

Shaking his head, Fegan blinked till he adjusted to his environment. "Did I miss anything?"

Nix had wanted to scream, 'you forgot the part where you called me young man but instead bottled it all up and swallowed his words.

"You had wanted to ask something of me," Alex recalled with a bright smile.

Fegan snapped his fingers and nodded his head to the revelation, immediately starting where he had stopped.

"What is your name?" He looked at Alex with curious eyes.

Fegan could feel the wash of anxiety cloud his thinking after he had correctly remembered the name mentioned.

"Alex."

Fegan staggered back in shock at how easy it was to remember the correspondence between the two.

"You're..." He paused to think of his next line of action, there was no way he could handle this without blowing a fuse.

He turned towards Nix and spoke, "you knew about this, right? That's why you insisted."

Nix nodded his head and hoped Fegan would get over his shock, "it would seem that you also know about what is going on with Hana."

Feeling guilty, he quickly avoided having eye contact with Nix and looked in his daughter's direction.

Klak!

Klak!

...

One by one his puppets drop to the ground, opening a way for Hana to become visible again.

"After there was a breach in my barrier..."

Nix rushed up to Fegan and grabbed him by the collar, "how is it possible that your barrier could be breached?"

Fegan didn't struggle out of his grasp, but could only feel guilty that because of this, he had no will to live if his daughter was still in her comatose state.

"She's been like this for four days now because I couldn't save her from what had befallen her." He sniffled, lowering his head in despair and he let out a sigh.

Refusing to give up, Nix shook Fegan so he could look him in the eye. There was something about the way he spoke that made him feel uneasy.

If it wasn't for the map, it was nearly impossible to navigate a way to Fegan's solitude, even though he couldn't understand how Lotus had done it, he could tell she didn't mean any harm to him, so it couldn't be termed a breach.

"Who breached your barrier?!" He questioned with a cold voice and his grip tightening on Fegan's collar.