Chapter 157: Chapter 80.1

finally, she found cassian but the joy was brief. cassian’s face was cold as he approached her. unlike the hallucinations she saw a while ago, he was as hardened as a person who seemed to have had nothing to do with emotions except contempt.

“cassian?”

was this also her hallucination? yernia is starting to get confused.

“yernia.” cassian’s voice trembled as he spoke. “why are you… alive?”

“what?”

“that can’t be true.”

what was he talking about? was the person in front of her really cassian? if it was a hallucination, yernia had to break it. if it was real, cassian must be out of his senses. cassian must have had a hallucination as she did.

‘if you’re really cassian, you must not have turned into a rogue yet.’

a rogue esper couldn’t stay sane once his brain was ruined. no matter how good his ability was, he would no longer be human once he ran out of control. a rogue esper would also lose his ability to communicate with humans. he would no longer understand language before they eventually died.

she was nervous that she wouldn’t be able to communicate with cassian, but he still seemed to understand her so it might not be too late. no, it wouldn’t be too late. it had to be.

“cassian, what are you talking about? why would i die?”

“because i killed you.”

“what?”

“i killed you.”

cassian, who seemed unable to escape from the hallucination, looked distressed. his jaw was tense as he clenched his teeth. yernia was flustered at his statement. she couldn’t even guess what kind of hallucination he saw. why the hell would he kill her?

“i’m not dead. it’s a hallucination.”

“you don’t hate me. there’s no way you hate me.” he mumbled, narrowing the gap between them as if he could not hear her voice.

he didn’t look like he was out of his mind even though he didn’t go on a rampage. on the other hand, yernia also approached cassian but then he stopped walking toward her so she did the same. somehow, she had a strong feeling that she shouldn’t get closer.

“why are you doing this to me?” he asked huskily.

“i don’t know what you saw, but i’m alive and well. i’m the real yernia, cassian.”

“why do you keep bothering me by dying and coming back to life? why did you die right before my eyes?”

“cassian.”

“what am i supposed to do if i saw you die like that and told me that it didn’t happen?”

cassian must have hallucinated about yernia’s death. it appeared like he had witnessed her death over and over again to be able to say something like this. how many times had cassian believed that he was hallucinating when she was right there in front of him? it broke  yernia’s heart.

“cassian, that’s….”

“why did you make me attack you?”

before she could answer, a black figure threw yernia far away in the blink of an eye.

“ah!”

yernia’s body rolled on the snow-covered ground her scream echoing through the silent forest. because of that hard fall, rough stones had scratched her back and a burning pain had spread through her skin. cassian’s countenance, which was devoid of emotion until a while ago, cracked. his eyes widened in shock.

“it hurts, cassian. get a grip.”

cassian looked down at her, frozen. if he was a little closer, she would have held his hand, but he was standing too far. even if he didn’t run wild, cassian was still dangerous. he didn’t recognize her and he even used his power on her. if cassian wasn’t stabilized here, the palace might take him away. she couldn’t leave an esper, on the brink of becoming rogue, in the royal palace.

this incident might become his weakness as well.

“no, you can’t.”

that alone must be prevented.

“listen to me, cassian! everything you’ve seen so far is just hallucinations. i’m the real yernia standing in front of you right now. i’m not dead!”

yernia chose to break through this head-on as she quickly got up. even if her body got torn and bloody, she was determined to take cassian with her. she couldn’t leave him alone in this cold and dangerous place. no matter what, she had to guide him somehow. yernia dashed towards cassian and hugged him with all her might. unlike a while ago when he threw her out, cassian did nothing. both of them fell to the ground. perhaps, she had embraced him too hard.

“look at me.”

cassian didn’t lift a finger even though he would normally support yernia. even if his back hit the floor quite painfully, he didn’t frown. cassian was as dazed as an emotionless man, his dark blue eyes staring at yernia. situated on top of cassian, yernia grabbed him by the cheek.

“look at me, cassian.”

yernia felt desperate as she prevented him from looking away. he stared at her with trembling pupils, letting go of his strength. as the madness in his gaze slowly vanished, she said,  “i am real.”

yernia was supposed to be dead. she died in front of him but he had no idea why or how it happened. obviously, he just followed the captured scout, but at some point, yernia appeared in front of him and literally died.

“cassian. i hate you.”