Chapter 472: The Story He Was Never Meant to Tell

Chapter 471: The Story He Was Never Meant to Tell

Sophia and Orion stared at Eldric.

They waited.

And waited.

The house felt unnaturally still. Even the faint crackle of the dying hearth seemed to fade into the background, as if the house itself had decided to listen.

Eldric’s head was bowed.

His brows were drawn together in a deep frown.

Minutes passed. And there was still nothing.

Orion shifted first.

"Are you going to speak anytime soon?" Orion asked Eldric. "You said you were going to tell us why I was able to kill Dolion."

Eldric’s jaw tightened.

His fingers curled slowly over the arms of the chair.

"Yes. The reason you were able to kill Dolion is because..." He stopped.

His lips parted again.

And then closed.

Orion’s eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Eldric exhaled through his nose.

"I can’t."

The word dropped between them like something fragile.

Orion blinked.

"You can’t... what?"

"I can’t tell you."

The silence that followed felt heavier than before.

Orion straightened slowly.

"What do you mean you can’t tell us?"

Eldric lifted his head.

For the first time since he had promised answers, real frustration flickered across his face.

"I mean exactly that," he said quietly. "I cannot say the words. It’s there, but I can’t say it."

Orion stared at him.

"That’s not an answer."

Eldric’s throat moved.

"I am trying to tell you," he said, his voice low. "I have been trying to tell you, but I just can’t say it."

His eyes darkened slightly.

"It is as if something..."

He hesitated.

"...something is stopping me."

Orion’s stomach dropped.

The words were far too familiar. Noctis had told him something similar regarding the beast in the cave. The same thing... he could not tell Orion.

Orion’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"...fucker," he muttered under his breath.

Sophia turned to him.

"What?"

He shook his head slightly.

"Later," he mouthed at her.

Sophia turned back to Eldric.

Her hands were clenched together in her lap.

"So... there’s really nothing you can tell us?" she asked softly.

Eldric’s shoulders sagged.

"I want to," he said quietly. "I truly do."

He lifted a hand and rubbed at his temple.

"I want to tell you guys why Dolion was still alive when you guys met him. Why he was in chains. How you were able to kill him."

His eyes closed briefly.

"But every time I get close to saying it, I can’t. It doesn’t come out."

He shook his head faintly.

"I suspect you guys will have to find the answer yourselves," he told them.

"But," Eldric added quietly, "there is still a way for you to learn who Dolion truly was."

Orion’s eyes snapped back to him.

Sophia leaned forward.

"Really?" she repeated.

Eldric nodded once.

"And why he remained alive for so long."

Sophia’s brows furrowed.

"...how?"

"You may already know," he said.

Sophia froze.

"I... what?"

He tilted his head.

"You may not realise that you know. Orion, maybe you haven’t gotten to that part yet..."

"What part? What are you talking about? You said this before—that I may already know something—but I know nothing. I’m in the dark about everything," Sophia said to Eldric, frustration bleeding into her voice.

Eldric frowned at that. "You have the book, though."

"What book?!"

"The blue one," Eldric told her. "The one you took from the library."

"You..." she whispered.

She lifted her eyes.

"You know about that book?"

Eldric nodded faintly.

Sophia’s mouth went dry.

"How?"

He watched her.

And then he said quietly—

"Because I gave it to you."

Orion stiffened.

Sophia’s breath caught sharply.

The room felt suddenly too small.

"...You?" she asked.

Eldric nodded again.

"Yes."

Her voice barely came out.

She stared at him.

Her mind reeled.

"You weren’t even in the library that day," she whispered.

"I know."

The answer unsettled her far more than it should have.

She shook her head slowly.

"But... I found it myself," she told him. "It was wedged between..."

She paused at that, remembering just how strange everything had been that day. It was like someone had placed that book right there for her.

"And you took it exactly as I hoped you would," Eldric told her with a smile on his face.

Eldric inclined his head.

"I know you like books," he said simply.

Sophia blinked.

"I know you trust what is written down far more than what people tell you."

Her fingers clenched.

"And I knew," he continued quietly, "that you would be more likely to believe what was written in those pages... perhaps even more than what I could ever tell you myself."

Sophia and Orion stared at each other. Orion didn’t need Sophia to spell it out for him. This was the same book that Sophia had been looking for. The same book he had turned his home upside down for, the one that was currently missing.

Orion cleared his throat and turned to Eldric.

"There’s something I want to ask you."

Eldric looked at him.

Orion straightened slowly.

"You told me before... that you are here because of Sophia."

Eldric nodded.

"You said you vowed to protect her."

"Yes."

Orion’s eyes sharpened.

"But I still don’t understand how."

His voice dropped slightly.

"How you are even able to be here at all? I know you said ancient magic, but I want to understand why and how. Why do you want to protect Sophia? Why are you here for her, and how too?" he asked Eldric.

Eldric did not answer immediately.

Instead, he leaned back slightly in his chair.

He lifted one hand and adjusted his glasses.

"Perhaps, I may have the time for one more story before I leave," Eldric told them. "This tale is less grand than the one about the goddess, but it continues from there. And it’s about the apprentice to the first priest that both of you met in the cave."

Eldric swallowed. "This is a tale about me. I was Dolion’s apprentice, and I was to take over from him as priest when he stepped down," Eldric said, staring directly into Sophia’s eyes