Chapter 608: Things That Refuse to Settle

Sophia didn’t know what to feel.

Or maybe she did.

But her body...

She shook her head slightly, like that alone could push the thoughts away, like that alone could make things make sense.

It didn’t. Instead, the questions remained—and in full force this time.

Why would her mother give her something like that? From what she just heard, the corpse plant didn’t sound like something one should be ingesting into their body. It didn’t make sense. Something like that should not even see the light of day. It had been banned, and there was definitely a reason why it was banned, right?

And once again, it had ties to black magic. It didn’t make sense...

She stopped then because it did make sense.

Her fingers curled slightly at her side as Ronan’s words echoed in her head. The plant was mainly used as a booster. It helped with dreams, didn’t it?

Sophia sucked in a deep breath as she turned it over in her head. She really didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to think that something like that could be the reason, but denial wouldn’t get her anywhere. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Do you think," she asked in a soft voice, "...my mother was trying to make me see more visions?"

The question settled in the air.

No one answered immediately.

Ronan shifted slightly where he stood, his gaze dropping for a brief moment before he looked back at her.

"That was my first thought," he admitted.

Sophia’s gaze didn’t leave him.

"But now..." he continued, glancing briefly at Orion before looking back at her, "Orion is saying the plant is linked to black magic."

He exhaled.

"And now it’s like all of a sudden everything we’re getting is tied to black magic."

There was a pause.

Then he muttered, almost like he was trying to ease the tension himself.

"Why can’t it just be white magic?"

It was supposed to be a joke.

Something light to break the tension in the air, but no one laughed.

Once more, Sophia was of the opinion that Ronan might be wrong. What if her mother was linked to black magic? Victoria used black magic, and Sophia was almost certain of the fact that she was also from the west. What if Victoria was not the only one who dabbled in black magic?

And there was the feeling that she knew who Victoria was, so maybe Victoria and her mother were friends or something, and they worked together? She shook her head again. Victoria didn’t even sound like someone who would willingly work with another person.

But then Sophia thought of her vision. And the fact that, in the memories she remembered, her mother had asked her to do a task that she always failed to do.

But even as she had the thought, there was also something else.

The fact that Victoria and her mother could be the same person.

She didn’t want to dwell on it. She didn’t want to think about it, but it was also a probability. It was also something that could turn out to be true.

Ronan took a look at each of them, but his gaze lingered on Sophia and Orion. He didn’t think whatever they discovered could be that serious to cause tension, right?

He sighed.

That was false.

It was enough to cause tension.

The tonic Sophia drank when she was little could have links to black magic.

He had no idea what to say in this situation to ease the tension. It seemed like anything he said would just increase the tension instead.

Sophia folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes were not as bright as they usually were. Orion noticed.

He wondered what was going through her head right now. Sophia was smart, and he didn’t doubt that she would start having suspicions...

He almost smiled at that.

She was already having suspicions.

She didn’t believe she did not know Victoria, the fake Luna, and that was true. She knew who the fake Luna was.

"I have to go," Sophia said softly.

Orion’s gaze snapped to her immediately. He had not been expecting her to say something like that.

"What? Where?" he asked her.

"To the shrine," she told him.

There was no hesitation in her voice.

"You were right after all," she added.

Orion’s brows furrowed slightly.

Sophia continued.

"If I can’t get my memories back, then at least I should see if I can speak with the goddess."

Orion took a step forward.

"I’ll come with you."

But she shook her head.

"I honestly don’t want a companion, Orion," she told him.

He paused, giving her a look.

"I also want to clear my head," she told him.

Her voice softened slightly, but it didn’t lose its firmness.

"I need time to sort out my thoughts, just some quiet. I’ll be right back once I’m done."

She didn’t give Orion a chance to reply to her.

She didn’t even wait.

She immediately headed towards the gates. The guards stationed there opened them immediately, and she stepped outside the compound.

Orion didn’t move immediately.

For a moment, he just stood there, watching the direction she left in—even when she was no longer visible.

Then he ran a hand through his hair slowly.

Ronan glanced at him.

"Is there something wrong, brother? You look more unsettled than usual," he said quietly.

Orion didn’t respond.

He didn’t even look at him.

He just stood there for a moment longer before finally speaking.

"I’m going to the library."

Ronan blinked slightly. "That wasn’t an answer to my question, but since we are moving on and pretending like I didn’t speak... why?"

"I need to find out something," Orion said.

That was the only explanation he gave Ronan before turning and heading in the direction of the library.

Ronan watched him for a second longer than necessary.

Then exhaled under his breath.

"I don’t know why..." he muttered.

His gaze shifted slightly, unfocused.

"...but I have a bad feeling about all this."

Brynhild sighed softly beside him.

"I do too."