Chapter 76 I Will Prove

Chapter 76 I Will Prove
Skylar
Gils walked over and sat on the floor right in front of my bed, looking up at me. His warm amber eyes gave me an instant sense of safety.
Seeing the sheer sincerity in Gils’ eyes, paired with the sight of Irlan’s broad back as he busied himself making tea, completely broke my defenses. The burden I’d been carrying just felt too heavy to keep bottled up anymore.
"I'm so tired..." I whispered into the quiet room, my voice barely audible over the hiss of the water boiling in Irlan’s electric kettle.
Gils didn’t interrupt. He just stayed quiet, leaning forward a fraction, completely ready to listen.
"I never asked for any of this, Gils," I went on, fresh tears already pooling in my eyes. "I never wanted to be some freaky supernatural creature. I didn't want to be a Tribrid. Why couldn't I just be a normal witch? Or a normal werewolf? Why did fate have to force three different bloodlines into my veins, making me feel like some weird monster that's going to explode at any second because my magic and my wolf are so unstable?"
I gripped the fabric of my school uniform skirt, letting out all the bitterness and frustration that had been rotting away in my chest for so long.
Gils gently wiped a tear from my cheek. His silence was enough to let me know he truly got it. He was honestly more sensitive than a girl dealing with bad PMS, but in the best possible way—no erratic mood swings.
"I just wanted to be a normal teenager at this academy. To run under the full moon without being terrified, or cast a spell without worrying my magic might hurt the people I love. Being a Tribrid makes it feel like I've got everything, when the truth is, I don't actually have an identity at all."
Gils still didn’t say a word. He didn’t offer any of those cliché motivational phrases I always heard from the pack elders. His silence was the exact kind of genuine support I needed right then.
Just as I wiped away another stray tear, Irlan walked over holding a warm cup of jasmine tea, steam swirling from it with a fragrant scent.
He handed the cup to me and said, "Like a superhero character I once read about in a magazine... with great power comes great responsibility."
"Irlan, I think you're just making her anxiety worse instead of calming her down," Gils interjected immediately.
"It's the truth, though, isn't it? But you've also got to remember that any problem in this world feels a lot lighter once you actually make peace with it."
Irlan didn't head back to the corner of the room right away. He stood tall beside the bed, looking down at me with those dark eyes of his that were always so impossible to read.
He then chimed in with an incredibly casual tone, as if he were simply commenting on the day's weather.
"You know, Skylar? I'm actually really glad you're a Tribrid."
Irlan’s unexpected words completely threw me. I looked up, frowning in sheer disbelief. Gils turned to look at him too, eyeing the vampire with a suspicious gaze.
"What do you mean? You are still Irlan, right?" I asked, my voice raspy. "It's a bit weird hearing you talk like that."
Irlan shoved both hands into his trouser pockets, staring right back at me without a single hint of doubt in his eyes. "If you were just an ordinary witch, or solely a true werewolf, our paths probably would've never crossed at this academy."
I turned his words over in my mind, dabbing my wet cheeks with Gils’ handkerchief.
We lived in completely different factions, separated by a massive wall of prejudice.
But for Irlan, because of my identity as a Tribrid—and because of that quarter of vampire blood flowing and dormant in my veins—we shared a real, tangible connection.
"You share a world with me, Skylar. And selfishly, I'm grateful for that, because it means I can be by your side without any faction boundaries getting in the way."
My heart did a violent flutter at his incredibly honest, intimate confession. I sat there frozen, completely speechless.
Irlan took a step closer to the fireplace, watching the dancing flames cast a warm, reddish glow across his handsome face.
"In this brutal world, we don't always get what we want. We can't choose how we're born, or what kind of fate life throws at us. But there is one thing we can control."
He turned back to face me, his gaze softening dramatically—a very rare sight for someone as notoriously cold-hearted as Irlan.
"The most important thing in life isn't about satisfying our own ego or desires. It's about how we can always live up to the wishes and hopes of the people we love most. That's where real strength comes from."
Irlan paused for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink into my messy, chaotic thoughts.
"Your mother, Luna Edith, sacrificed so much to keep you alive when you were still in her womb," Irlan continued, his tone deeply respectful. "So you don't need to give a toss about the world's cruel judgements or your fear of being a monster. You just need to be a teenager who fulfills your mother's wishes—to survive, grow up well, and thoroughly enjoy your life as a full vampire when the time comes. Do it for her, if you can't manage to do it for yourself just yet."
Irlan’s words hit me like a bolt out of the blue, completely shattering the walls of despair I’d been building up all day.
I looked down, staring at the surface of the jasmine tea in my cup, which reflected a blurry image of my messy face.
The room that had felt so cold and alien just moments ago suddenly felt incredibly warm and comforting.
Deep down in my soul, the guilt and terror that had been haunting me for so long began to melt away, replaced by a clear, new understanding.
All this time, I’d looked at this Tribrid blood as some cruel curse from fate. I hated myself because I felt like I was the sole reason behind my mother's suffering.
But Irlan had just completely flipped my narrow perspective. If I truly loved my mother, then the best way to repay her sacrifices wasn't by wallowing in self-pity or loathing my own existence.
The best way forward was to accept this destiny with open arms.
I needed to fulfill my mother's hopes, the ones where she wanted me to grow up strong and happy. I had to learn to master this power, embracing my werewolf, witch, and eventually, my vampire side, so that the life she gave up wouldn't be for nothing.
I'll prove that I can make the most of this life—if only to keep a smile on the face of the woman I love most.