Aquila's Secret

Atri brought Sorath to one of the personal training spaces. She knew that if they were to talk in public, Sorath would make the situation worsen. She was also afraid it might harm his reputation — even though it had already happened — and both houses, Shedever and Aquila.

For the victim, Atri had arranged for the Aquila House's medic to attend to the injured boy. Fortunately, the wound inflicted by the bullet wasn't as severe as it looked. Sorath had missed, coincidentally or not, shooting the vital area.

The personal training room, which was initially an empty interior without furniture, had changed into a garden. Sorath and Atri sat under the pavilion nestled at the heart of the emerald sanctuary, its arches entwined with fragrant jasmine vines.

Looking around, Sorath noticed the similarity of the garden pavilion with one in his family mansion garden.

"This is the same setting where we met a month ago, right? When you're together with that girl from Pandora House. Who is her name again?"

Atri nodded.

"Indeed, it is the same as that time. Also, her name is Michelle. Even though she's not the heir, you should at least remember her name. Hers sounded similar to her twins, so it won't be that hard to memorize."

"I will try. Anyway, talking about twins, where is she? Your twins, I mean."

Atri sighed and leaned back.

Resting her hands on her lap, she scrutinized Sorath.

"I still have no idea where you know about that. But you didn't reveal it to anyone as we promised, right?"

Sorath lifted his chin proudly.

"Of course. I'm the best secret keeper in Havenlock."

A month ago, after Sorath stopped living in a loop, he finally met Atri and Michelle among the group of girls. With his charm, he persuaded the group to let him bring Atri for a small private talk.

They did a small talk at first. But as the conversation prolonged, Sorath caught Atri off guard by asking an unexpected question about her twin sister. After that, Atri asked Sorath to keep that information to himself, which Sorath accepted as a promise.

No one other than the Aquila House main family member should have known about the fact they had twins. What was the reason? Sorath didn't know, as the novel never mentioned anything about it or the previous lives. He didn't care.

All he cared about was the fact that Atri's twin sister was the one who ended up as his fiancee, replacing Atri.

Why could that happen?

The novel never mentioned this, but Atri died on the tutorial floor protecting her twins.

'It's a well-known fact that it's impossible to die on the tutorial floor.'

If they were to "die" there, they would return to the real world. Depending on which floor they died on, they might get evaluated or disqualified and wait for the next year's phase.

'That is the rule set by the tower system itself. But that doesn't mean people cannot defy it. The villains proved this by successfully bringing in items from the outside to the tutorial floors and causing the death of several candidates who were under the protection of the tower's immortality.'

Before she died, she had made a wish that she wanted her twin sister to look for Sorath.

"I love him so much despite his character." That was what she said before her soul left her body.

And so her twins did it. She fulfilled Atri's wish by living as her. Then years passed, and before Sorath's fate swallowed him up, the twin confessed that she wasn't Atri.

'I couldn't believe I didn't notice that. I mean, she impersonated Atri so perfectly. I really thought she was the same person, but who would have thought it was her twins all along…'

Since learning that information, Sorath had always thought about Atri's twin. After all, he never met her true self, not the one who impersonated Atri.

'Well, it's not like I can count Atri out of this problem. After all, she's the reason why her twins lived as her.'

Atri sat still, poised. But after receiving too many stares from Sorath, her nervousness kicked in. She cleared her throat to push that feeling aside.

"So, Sorath. How do you know about my twins?"

Sorath leaned in. A smug smile formed on his face.

"What if I tell you I'm a pre-awakened and have a Trace that allows regression upon death? You won't believe it, won't you?"

Atri shook her head.

Noticing her doing that, Sorath expressed an all-knowing face that voiced, "Just as I thought."

But as he thought so, Atri threw a statement that refuted his thoughts.

"No. I believe it."

That threw Sorath off his chair with a satisfying, chaotic thud.

"What?"

Sorath's bewilderment was a muse for Atri's eyes. She almost chuckled but she managed to hold both her smile and laugh with an unbroken mask of poker.

"I will always believe you, no matter how unreasonable you are."

Sorath blinked a few times before regaining his composure and getting up to his feet. After the unbelievable statement from Atri, he had second thoughts about how credible the information he got from novels and past lives was.

'I mean, hers and her twin's story is not even mentioned in the novel because that trash has never interacted with the Aquila House. All I know is that one of them was my fiancee and a loyal one at that.'

He sighed. "Will you still believe me if I tell you you will die on the tutorial floors?"

"Is that even possible?"

Sorath smirked.

"A group of villains managed to bring in items from the outside and bypassed the rule of immortality given to the candidates. And you," he pointed at Atri. "You will die in their hands. Do you believe that?"

Atri rubbed her chin, thinking about the possibility of how that event could occur in the first place. After some time, she smiled and nodded.

"I see. If that's what happened then I will believe it."

Sorath turned around. "Good."

The scenery of the garden gradually faded as he walked toward the exit door. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Atri walking behind him, her eyes closed, and a little smile formed on her face, a look of satisfaction.

'Hmph. At least she takes the chance to think and doesn't blindly trust me, just like her twin.'

They just left like that. Forgetting their initial reason to have a talk in a private space. Maybe, it was not that important?