Chapter 138
She did not seem angry, nor irritated.
Her expression was nothing more than an empty acknowledgment that she had known of Theo's presence from the beginning, and that the time had come to settle unfinished matters.
Theo fell silent, his mind spinning in restrained panic.
All his calculations, all his anticipation of narrative deviations, had failed to consider one thing.
That Aldraya was not merely an object of observation, but an actor fully aware of the uninvited eyes watching her from behind the stage.
And now, the actor had stepped down from the stage, approaching the observer, for a confrontation that was never written in the original script.
'She just said goodbye, and not even a minute later she's already here?
Don't tell me she was actually waiting for me?
But for what?'
Fhhhh?
'There's no other way but to confirm it—'
"Then why? Is that your reason for not answering Ilux earlier?
When he criticized your books as monotonous, seeing issues of faith, devotion, and betrayal only through a narrow lens, ignoring impact or alternative perspectives?"
With a voice that trembled slightly yet tried to remain controlled, Theo met Aldraya's cold gaze.
He voiced his question, asking whether that was the true reason behind her silence—why she chose not to respond or refute Ilux's piercing words.
Theo repeated the core of Ilux's critique clearly: that all the books on faith, devotion, and betrayal that shaped Aldraya's thinking were deemed too monotone, trapped in a single perspective, shackled by blind dogma without ever considering other viewpoints or the consequences they had on those around her.
The question hung between them, sharper than the night's chill.
Theo realized he was no longer a safe observer, but had stepped into a battlefield of ideology.
By asking it, he was challenging Aldraya to peel back her intellectual defenses, demanding an explanation for an unexpected silence from a teacher known to be unshaken.
Aldraya remained silent for a moment, her icy eyes seemingly weighing Theo, analyzing every detail of the stranger who dared confront her.
Her silence was an answer in itself—an admission that perhaps, for the first time, she did not immediately reject the criticism, but accepted it as bitter yet necessary contemplation.
Moonlight illuminated the perfect lines of her face, emphasizing the impression that behind her calm exterior, a storm of thought was raging.
Theo held his breath, waiting.
He understood that Aldraya's next response—or even the absence of one—would be the key to understanding how far she had diverged from her predetermined path.
Was her silence earlier a subtle refusal, or a quiet agreement with her student's truth?
The answer would determine everything that followed.
"Must fear always cling to the way we view faith, devotion, and betrayal?
Especially when all of it is told through the eyes of Ilux, my own student?"
A deeper silence enveloped them after Aldraya's question drifted into the air.
The question itself was a clever diversion, a mirror turned back toward Theo.
Aldraya did not defend herself, nor did she justify Ilux's critique.
Instead, she questioned the foundation of the question itself—why those three consequences—faith, devotion, and betrayal—must be viewed through such a frightening lens, even by her own student.
Her voice remained flat, yet there was a philosophical depth that suddenly opened a far more complex layer of discussion.
'Aldraya's process of change has begun.
She no longer accepts faith, devotion, and betrayal as absolute truths.
Instead, she begins to examine, criticize, and evaluate—whether the principles she believed in all this time were actually an unbearable burden, both for herself and for Ilux.'
In the silence that cloaked them, Theo realized a fundamental transformation taking place within Aldraya.
The change was subtle as twilight shifting colors, yet deep in its implications.
He watched how the teacher, once steadfast as stone in her convictions, now questioned the very foundation of what she believed.
Not as a devout follower of doctrine, but as an observer beginning to doubt the weight carried by faith, devotion, and even the wounds of betrayal.
The question was no longer about absolute truth, but about sustenance and psychological impact—whether the burden was too heavy to bear, for herself or for the student trying to follow her path.
Theo understood that this was a turning point far more significant than merely deviating from the storyline.
It was the evolution of a character's consciousness.
Aldraya no longer viewed herself as the center of her beliefs, but began to see the ripples she created around her, especially on Ilux.
The student's criticism was no longer seen as an insult, but as a mirror reflecting the possibility that the path she had walked all along might have been too lonely and jagged—not only for herself, but also for those attempting to follow her.
'Something feels hollow in her chest.
Especially as Aldraya's stubbornness keeps clashing with instinct—the instinct that keeps questioning how deeply faith, devotion, and betrayal have shaped her life.'
Behind her faint murmur, Theo saw clearly the inner battle carving wounds within Aldraya.
A gaping hollow between her old convictions and her new questions, a chasm between the doctrines that shaped her and the emotional reality now confronting her.
Aldraya's rigidity, forged by years of strict discipline and unyielding doctrine, clashed repeatedly with the quiet whispers of her heart that had begun questioning everything.
Every clash left cracks.Every friction birthed pain only she could feel in silence.
Theo realized what he was witnessing was not a smooth transformation, but an agonizing struggle.
Aldraya seemed trapped between two poles.
The desire to preserve the fortress of belief that gave her identity and stability, and the inner impulse urging her to question the cost of it all.
How far had faith, devotion, and betrayal changed her?
Did these changes bring enlightenment—or imprison her in a cage of prejudice and solitude?
She hurled these questions endlessly against the walls of her own mind, like a prisoner trying to break the cell from within.
In her dignified silence, Theo could feel the tremors of each inner collision.
He saw how her gaze occasionally turned empty yet meaningful, as though she was listening to a fierce debate inside her head.
Her stiffness was her shield, a barrier against the fragility that might shatter her if left exposed.
Yet her awakening heart was a force that could not be silenced—a personal truth demanding to be heard.
And Theo knew, this was the true core of Aldraya's suffering.
Not her departure, not Ilux's critique, but the civil war raging endlessly within her.
A conflict between what she had always believed to be true, and the voice in her heart now doubting whether that truth was worth upholding at the cost of her humanity.
A void she must face, and bridge, on her own.
'I'm relieved seeing Aldraya now—she's no longer as extreme as before.'
"You've stayed lost in your thoughts for too long."
"Ahem…"
Fhhh!
To be continued…