Chapter 142: Nightmare and Exhaustion

Eva fell silent for a brief moment.

Her fingers absently toyed with a fold in the blanket.

"And the strangest part..."

Eva immediately turned her head toward her.

"What?"

Blanche frowned slightly, searching for the right words.

"With him... I didn't have to think about everything. I stopped overanalyzing. It was as if... my body just knew what to do. As if, for a few moments, everything became simple."

She let out a soft breath.

"It's completely ridiculous."

"No."

"Yes."

A faint, embarrassed smile tugged at her lips.

"I don't understand that feeling. I can't tell if it's because he's a Drakion, because he's an incredible dancer... or simply because he's... him."

Silence settled between them for a few seconds.

Eva, who had been listening with unwavering attention, finally threw herself backward with a dramatic sigh.

She sprawled across the bed, arms spread wide, her curls fanning out around her head like a dark halo. Her gaze remained fixed on the ceiling, as though it held answers no one else could provide.

She was pouting.

Quietly.

Very quietly.

Blanche raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Eva continued staring upward with almost theatrical solemnity.

"I'm contemplating the injustice of the universe."

"Nothing less?"

The petite brunette nodded gravely.

"You keep accidentally collecting the most gorgeous supernatural beings in existence..."

Blanche opened her mouth to protest.

"...while me," Eva continued before she could speak, "the pizza delivery guy still calls me 'miss' even though I've been ordering from him for three years."

Blanche burst out laughing.

"You have to admit, it's a cruel comparison."

Eva released another sigh worthy of a tragic heroine.

"Extremely cruel. I'd like to file an official complaint. Ever since the accident... it feels like nothing has been the same anymore."

"Yeah," Blanche admitted quietly. "You're right."

Eva turned toward her. Her dark eyes seemed to blur for an instant, as if shadowy flames swirled within them.

"We'll always be best friends, right?"

For the first time, Blanche lied while looking her straight in the eyes. Discreetly, she cast her spell as a precaution.

"Forever."

Eva's aura mended itself almost instantly, as though nothing had happened.

She smiled.

"Oh, by the way... I asked them to fix the toilet."

Blanche laughed.

A genuine laugh that echoed throughout the room.

Eva soon joined in, and they both had to catch their breath before either could continue speaking. The pillows had already changed owners several times during the conversation, the blankets were in complete disarray, and their bursts of laughter would probably have woken the entire dormitory if the walls hadn't been enchanted long ago.

"All right," Eva finally admitted, wiping at the corner of her eye. "I give up. You win."

"Obviously."

"You're hanging out with kings, princes, dragons..."

"Drakions."

"My apologies, Madam Expert on Extremely Attractive Reptiles."

Blanche rolled her eyes.

"They're not reptiles."

"No, they're just supermodels who breathe fire."

"Not that either."

"You're splitting hairs."

Blanche threw a pillow at her.

This time, Eva caught it without any trouble.

"I stand by what I said!" she protested. "At this rate, you're going to tell me you have tea with unicorns next."

"That's not true."

"Yeah..."

She sighed dramatically.

"I'd mostly be insanely jealous if it were."

The two young women burst into laughter once more.

The conversation naturally drifted toward lighter subjects.

Classes.

The upcoming ball.

Their professors.

Then Eva suddenly sat upright with exaggerated seriousness.

"Speaking of terrifying things..."

Blanche eyed her suspiciously.

"I had a nightmare."

"Oh?"

"The worst one of my entire life."

Blanche arched an eyebrow.

"I had a mother-in-law," the brunette declared.

The redhead blinked.

"That's it?"

Eva stared at her in disbelief.

"A platinum blonde."

Blanche burst out laughing.

"You may be laughing, but it was horrifying!"

"I'm sure it was."

"She looked at me like I was dirtying her carpets."

"What a tragedy."

"And she kept saying, 'Evanescence, darling...'"

Eva adopted an absurdly syrupy voice.

"'...A proper young lady does not eat chocolate spread straight out of the jar.'"

Blanche laughed even harder.

"What a monster."

"Exactly!"

Eva hugged her pillow tightly.

"Then she tried to replace my entire wardrobe with beige dresses."

"The ultimate horror."

"And she kept calling Dad my treasure!"

Blanche wiped away a tear of laughter.

"Okay... now I understand your trauma."

"Thank you! Finally, someone who takes me seriously!"

She caught her breath before muttering,

"If Dad ever marries a platinum blonde... I'm running away."

At those words, Blanche felt her smile falter.

Almost instinctively, her gaze drifted toward Eva's aura.

It wavered.

A faint ripple of green intertwined with a darker shade.

Jealousy.

Tiny.

Instinctive.

But undeniably real.

Blanche remained silent.

Eva's powers...

They would awaken soon.

And when they finally did, they would inevitably reveal the truth she still didn't know.

The truth about her real father.

Watching her friend joke so carefreely, Blanche felt her heart tighten.

She couldn't help wondering how much longer Evanescence would be able to laugh about imaginary mothers-in-law... before her entire world was turned upside down.

Blanche fell asleep quickly, exhausted and troubled.

Her anxiety lingered with her all the way into the Otherworld.

The barracks were strangely silent.

At this hour of the day, they normally buzzed with conversations, laughter, the clash of weapons against training dummies, and the constant comings and goings of their occupants.

But this time...

Nothing.

Everyone had left on missions.

Without their voices, the corridors felt immense. Only a few shafts of sunlight filtered through the tall windows, casting long golden bands across the concrete floor. Every now and then, the howling northern wind rattled the windows, deepening the unsettling sense of emptiness.

Blanche slowly climbed the stairs.

Each step felt heavier than the last.

Her whole body protested.

So did her mind.

Knowing the reason for her exhaustion didn't make it any easier to bear.

The fatigue showed even in the way she breathed.

When she reached her room, she gently pushed the door open before collapsing onto the bed without even bothering to remove her boots.

The sheets still carried Aaron's musky scent.

A warm, woody fragrance that had become so familiar it now soothed part of the tension she'd been carrying. She inhaled deeply, almost burying her face in the pillow.

It felt as though he had only just left the room.

The thought alone drew a weary smile from her lips.

She closed her eyes.

Sleep claimed her almost instantly.

Without dreams.

Without resistance.

As though her body were simply demanding the rest it had been denied for far too long.

When she awoke several hours later, the sun had already shifted across the sky.

Or perhaps it was the other one.

She remained motionless for a long moment, her eyes fixed on the ceiling above her.

She had been right.

Fatigue truly did pass between worlds.

What she expended here, her other self felt there.

And vice versa.

The two lives had become so intimately intertwined that it was now impossible to tell which one was truly resting so the other could keep going.

The thought was both fascinating...

and deeply unsettling.