68: Chapter 62 Escape

I don't know when it started.

Maybe it was when I first arrived at St. Freya and she held my hand.

Maybe it was even earlier, when we lived under the same roof.

Maybe even earlier.

So early that I can't even remember it clearly myself.

My name is Kiana Kaslana.

I grew up on the streets, and since I was little, what I saw most was the ugliness of human nature and the coldness of the world.

I don't trust anyone, nor do I rely on anyone.

I just want to survive on my own—owing nothing to anyone and depending on no one.

But Kaiwen appeared.

At first, I thought she and I were just ordinary colleagues.

Until I saw her true side.

I thought she had escaped from somewhere just like me, so I saw her as someone who shared the same experience—or rather, as family.

But I knew I was lying to myself.

I realized I would uncontrollably pay attention to her every move.

When she talked to others, I would look at her expression; when she ate, I would look at what food she picked up; when she walked ahead of me, I would watch how her hair swayed in the wind.

I did these things very discreetly.

At least, I thought it was discreet.

I even did some things that were even less presentable.

Once, I passed by her room, and her door wasn't fully closed.

I stood at the doorway hesitating for a long time, but in the end, I still walked in.

I picked up the sleepwear she had left next to her pillow.

Then I buried my face in it.

Her scent.

Very clean, very faint, like sun-dried cotton mixed with a subtle, fleeting hint of floral fragrance.

I stood in her room, holding her sleepwear, smelling it for a long time like an idiot.

Afterward, I folded the clothes neatly, put them back where they belonged, spent ten minutes getting my heartbeat back to normal, and then returned to the living room as if nothing had happened to watch TV.

Ever since then, this kind of thing happened more than once.

I, Kiana Kaslana, would actually secretly smell a girl's clothes.

I felt like I was sick.

But I couldn't cure it.

Because every time I made up my mind to keep my distance, she would do something that caused all my defenses to collapse completely.

For instance, when I was sitting alone in the living room staring blankly at night, she would always bring a cup of hot milk and place it in front of me.

Or when I got injured during training, she would gently bandage me up.

Or like that one time when I woke up startled from a nightmare, but when I opened my eyes, she was sitting by my bed, soothing my head.

"Had a nightmare?"

Her voice was very soft, her fingers naturally brushing aside the hair stuck to my forehead with sweat.

At that moment, my heart almost jumped out of my throat.

I didn't dare to look into her eyes.

I was afraid she would notice.

Notice that my feelings for her had long exceeded what could be contained by the word "family."

Her presence took up a larger and larger share of my world—so large that I would sometimes zone out on the training grounds, so large that I couldn't help looking in her direction in the cafeteria, so large that when I closed my eyes at night, my head was filled with her face.

I tried my best to act like I didn't care.

But I couldn't do it.

I couldn't.

...

When there was a knock on the door, I was sitting on the sofa in the living room with my arms crossed over my chest and my mind completely blank.

Rita stood outside the door, elegantly smiling while holding a transfer order stamped with the Seal of Schicksal's Lord Bishop.

"Good evening, everyone. Pardon the intrusion."

I could clearly feel her gaze landing on Kaiwen.

"I am here to convey the Lord Bishop's official transfer order."

She said a lot, her tone so perfect she sounded almost like an AI.

But I didn't take in a single word.

I only heard one sentence.

"Student Kaiwen, please come with me now. Schicksal's special transport is already waiting outside the main academy gate. Please quickly pack your personal belongings. I will be waiting for you in the vehicle."

After Rita finished speaking, she bowed slightly again, then turned and left.

Silence fell over the dorm once more.

I wanted to mock myself a little. How could I have lived for so long yet not even dare to run away for my own family?

"I'm going to take her away. I will never allow Kaiwen to go back to that terrible laboratory!"

Miyuki spoke as well.

"I want to go too." Her tone was full of resolve. "Wherever Kaiwen goes, I go."

I glanced at her.

"No."

"Why?!"

"Too many people, we won't be able to escape."

In reality, your previous actions made it impossible for me to trust you anymore, and I've become a bit afraid of you.

Afraid of what? I didn't quite dare to think about it.

Miyuki glared at me, but in the end, she didn't say anything more.

She could tell I was serious.

I turned my head and looked at Himeko.

"Teacher Himeko."

"Mm."

"I'm going to take her away."

Himeko looked at me for a long time.

But in the end, she didn't ask anything.

She didn't ask where I was going, didn't ask if I had thought about the consequences, and didn't ask if I knew what this implied.

She merely let out a sigh.

As if packing all of today's exhaustion and helplessness into that single breath.

"...Alright."

Then she pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"It's me... Right... Can the small shuttle at Helipad No. 3 take off right now? ...Mm, two people... Don't ask. Prepare it now."

She hung up the phone and looked at me.

"Go out through the back window and follow the path along the back mountain. You can reach the helipad in ten minutes. Someone will be waiting for you there."

She paused.

"Hurry. Rita won't wait for too long."

"Bronya will stall Rita together with Teacher Himeko." Her voice was as calm as a stone. "Kiana, take her and go."

Miyuki looked at me. I felt as if her rage was about to swallow me whole, but in the end, she could only throw out a sentence before looking away from us.

"You better take good care of her!"

I didn't know why she didn't force her way along to leave; there must have been other reasons as well.

I walked up to Kaiwen.

She had been sitting quietly on that chair by the dining table, not saying a word from beginning to end.

I reached out my hand.

"Let's go."

Kaiwen raised her head and looked at me.

Her eyes were very calm, but there was a layer of something inside them that I couldn't read.

"...Where to?"

"Leave this place first."

"Why?"

I looked into her eyes.

I had a thousand reasons to answer her.

Because Schicksal wants to take you away.

Because Otto is not a good person.

Because I promised to protect you.

Because you are my family.

But none of those were the real answer.

"Because I won't allow it."

I said.

Kaiwen looked at me without saying a word, but in the end, she reached out her hand and took mine.

I let out a long sigh of relief in my heart. Luckily, she was still willing to trust me.

Her hand was very cold and very soft, but I held it very tightly.

I pulled her along as we climbed out the back window.

The night was very cold.

We ran for ten minutes along the mountain path behind the dormitory.

No one spoke; there were only footsteps and breathing.

I could feel her hand held in my palm the whole time, never letting go.

On the helipad, the engines of a small shuttle were already humming softly.

A pilot wearing a Far East logistics uniform stood at the cabin hatch. Seeing us run over, he asked nothing and stepped aside to clear the entrance.

I pulled Kaiwen with me as we stepped into the cabin.

The door closed.

The engine roared.

The shuttle taxied a short distance down the runway before suddenly pulling up and climbing into the pitch-black night sky.

Outside the aircraft window, the lights of St. Freya Academy grew smaller and farther away behind us.

The coastline of the Far East turned into a blurred arc in the night, eventually vanishing completely beneath the cloud layer.

I leaned back against my seat, looking out at the boundless darkness outside the window.

Beside me, Kaiwen was also looking outside the window.

There was only the hum of the engine inside the cabin.

After a long time, Kaiwen softly said a word through the headset.

"Kiana."

"Hmm?"

"...Thank you."

What was she thanking me for? I didn't know, or rather, I didn't really care anymore.

I turned my back to her, looking out the window, not daring to let her see my expression.

Though I couldn't see my own expression either, it was likely a terrifying smile.