Chapter 8 His Gift
Evelyn's POV
The oppressive feeling from Kane instantly disappeared. I lifted my head to see him standing there quietly, a trace of surprise in his deep golden eyes as he looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
Memories from the past, those people and things I'd tried so hard to forget, came flooding back uncontrollably. The blood in my heart surged. Through the half-open door, the starlight patterns on the walls seemed to sense my emotions - the originally soft glow suddenly began flashing wildly, as if responding to my nerves that were on the verge of breaking down.
Kane still didn't speak. He helped me into the room and sat down on the couch beside me.
"I... I used to have a very small social circle. Later I had a boyfriend, and I thought he..." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my emotions, telling myself it was all in the past.
"But behind my back, he made up things that never happened, saying I was easy, saying I was a..." I didn't want to repeat those dirty thoughts and words. "In his eyes, all my kindness became weapons to attack me. People around me started avoiding me, gossiping about me."
Those whispering faces flooded my mind again, those looks full of contempt and disgust.
I looked up at Kane. "Back then I didn't know what to do. I could only run away, and be alone."
Kane was silent, but something seemed to be burning wildly in those deep golden eyes. The pale gold mark on his forehead flickered with light. I called out softly, "Kane?"
"Where is he?" Kane's voice was quiet, his whole body radiating coldness.
"What?" I didn't catch on right away.
"Tell me, who is he?" Kane suddenly moved closer. I could feel something like fire burning around his body.
The violent energy from Kane burst out instantly. I could feel his anger. "I'm going to burn him!"
"No, Kane, it's all in the past." I grabbed his arms, making him look into my eyes, trying to calm him down.
"It's not in the past." Kane said in a low voice.
I held his face, making him look directly into my eyes. "Kane, I'm telling you this not to make you take revenge for me, but because I'm afraid you'll misunderstand me. I don't want to lose you as a friend."
Kane was silent for a long time. I watched as the pale gold mark on his forehead and his deep golden eyes gradually calmed down. "Okay."
I quickly changed the subject. "Let's... watch a movie!"
Kane pulled away from me again. The light and shadows from the movie flickered across our faces, but I couldn't focus on it at all. From the corner of my eye, I could see Kane sitting upright, staring straight ahead.
I tried to focus on the movie, but suddenly heard Kane speak softly, "I... probably shouldn't be a Magpie." The voice was so quiet I thought it might be my imagination. "The flames of the Phoenix Clan can destroy everything. Our form depends on the strongest emotion deep in our hearts."
It was the first time Kane had said so much. I turned to look at him. "Your parents... they..."
"Treasure. They're obsessed with collecting treasure." Kane said without much expression. "They're not bad people, they just don't have time for me."
"No wonder you look so lonely. So that's how you grew up. I'm sorry, I..." I felt a bit embarrassed for asking about his parents, but I was happy he was willing to talk to me. Maybe he considered me a friend too.
"They hoard treasure probably to give you a better life, so they must love you very much." I looked at him as he returned to that expression and said this.
But I saw a hint of a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth. "Then they probably forgot their original purpose."
I felt both happy and sad for Kane. As a friend, I understood why he didn't fight back when bullied, and I understood his surprised expression when I stood in front of him.
The movie ended at that moment. I was happy about this heart-to-heart talk. At least I understood Kane a bit better. Although he now seemed to have a bit more softness that was hard to detect, I really wanted to comfort him, but I felt it might offend him, so I didn't.
Kane stood up. "Thank you." After saying this, he turned and walked toward the door.
"See you tomorrow then."
After I said this, I watched him nod slightly and gently close the door for me. Looking at the empty room, I lay on the couch thinking about everything that happened today.
What made me happy was that our relationship had perhaps taken a big step forward. At least from my perspective, we were now friends to each other, and from now on, neither of us would be alone at school.
That night I lay in my small bed with misty blue bedding and quickly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, sunlight from outside poured into my room. I rubbed my eyes that weren't open yet, wondering what time it was and why the alarm hadn't gone off.
But I found another note added to my schedule: [18:30, Dinner, Location: East cafeteria area, window seat.]
This magic system was really a bit strange. Combined with yesterday's room adjustment, I couldn't figure it out anyway, so I just stopped worrying about it.
When I checked the alarm again, I found it had automatically turned itself off. This level of awareness surprised me once again.
I put down my phone, got out of bed, and went to wash up. Opening the closet, sure enough, today's outfit was already laid out inside.
I put on the misty blue dress and casually tied my hair in a low ponytail. "Hope tomorrow will be a shirt and pants combo," I muttered to myself, perhaps thinking the magic wardrobe would hear my thoughts.
A knock came at the door. It was Kane. Besides him, there probably wouldn't be anyone else knocking on my door.
I opened the door. He stood at the entrance, his silver-white long hair glowing softly in the morning light. He wore a gray hoodie, the collar closed just enough to see the magic stone pendant, and jeans below.
"Morning, Kane." I greeted him happily.
Kane nodded in response. Perhaps noticing my gaze falling on the pendant, he touched the black stone.
I was happy he was wearing the pendant. Smiling, I said, "Let's go, let's get breakfast."
"Wait, this is for you." Kane opened his palm, revealing a bracelet inside.
It was a bracelet made of countless tiny Flamecore Jewels, each bead shining with a warm and gentle light like the sun. The beads were connected by extremely fine gold threads, sparkling brilliantly in the morning light.
Flamecore Jewel was a very rare magic gem. It was said that only the eternal flame of the Phoenix Clan could create it, and it had powerful protective and healing abilities.
I had read about this in a book from the bookshelf in my room, even though everything about the Phoenix Clan had been erased.