Chapter 570: Confession
(Planet Vorthas, Unknown Location, Mu Fan’s POV)
The room was silent, save for the faint hum of the single light bulb present overhead, as Leo and Mu Fan locked eyes with one another.
Her pulse pounded in her ears, the air between them thick enough to choke on, as her thoughts spun wildly.
She began to search for an explanation that could match the cold fury in his gaze.
An explanation that could help her understand as to why he was doing this?
But after thinking through it all, the only conclusion that made sense to her made her blood run cold.
This could not be about her work.
It could not be about some petty disagreements
No, this was deeper, heavier, and far more dangerous.
One by one, she sifted through every possibility, until only one truth remained in her mind — the only thing in the whole wide universe that she knew could tick Leo Skyshard off the wrong way.
’He must have found out what happened to his brother....’ Mu Fan thought, as a tear formed in the corner of her eye.
"So you found out, huh?" she said in a bitter voice, as a nervous smile tugged at her lips.
Leo said nothing.
He only leaned forward, the dim light catching the hard lines of his face, his eyes never leaving hers, as if the very act of speaking to her was beneath him and only his presence was enough to strip her bare.
"I promise to you I did not want this. I told the Twelfth Elder again and again and again to not do it.
And then again and again and again to not lie to you.
But he wouldn’t listen to me....." Mu Fan came clean, as Leo closely observed her aura for any signs of falsehood, however, her aura remained steady, with no black spikes that would indicate she was lying.
"I’m sorry for what happened to Luke, Leo..... and I’m sorry I was involved in it.
I was dumb, stupid, and conflicted between my duty to the Cult and doing what’s right.
But in the end, I followed orders.
I never meant harm for you or your family.
I never meant to hurt Luke.
I was— I was just following orders," She admitted before breaking down into tears, as a steady stream went down her cheeks.
*Drip*
*Drip*
Leo looked at the tears, then her face, and then towards the damp ceiling of the room, as he eventually let out a deep sigh.
"You shouldn’t have fucked with my family, Fan, you just shouldn’t have.
I can forgive you if you cut my own arm off before my very eyes.
I can.
But I can’t forgive ANYONE who put my brother in a coma.....
Do you even understand the kind of emotions I felt when I first saw him unconscious? Covered in all those wounds? Looking sickly pale with his ribs sticking out of his chest?
Do you even understand the kind of pain my sister in law and mother felt to see Luke in that condition every single day?
Do you understand the pain of the mental breakdowns they felt when they could not be sure if Luke would wake-up someday or not at all?
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT PAIN?" Leo snapped, as he walked up to Mu Fan’s chair and gave it a violent jerk.
"You never go after a MAN’S family. NEVER!
I played your game! I was an obedient soldier.
I went to a fucking Time Stilled world for you guys!
So why did you still fuck with me, huh?
Why did the Cult still put Luke in a Coma?
What really happened there, Fan? Tell me the truth.... And tell me now...." Leo demanded, his expression turning increasingly unstable, as Mu Fan sobbed.
"I... the Twelfth Elder was the first and only one to know about the Skyshard family’s link to the Timeless Assassin, so he had you, Jacob, and Luke separately evaluated, testing each of you to see how much talent you possessed and whether one of you could become the next Dragon.
Your father failed his test, losing his eye in the process, but you and Luke passed, and from there the Elder began drawing up bold plans to train you both.
For you, he erased your memories and sent you to the righteous faction, placing me at your side as a hidden mentor to keep you alive, though none of us truly believed you would make it this far.
At first, we only wanted to see if you could pass the Rodova Military Academy Psychological evaluation and get within their ranks... and later we just wanted to know what your limits were.
But when it was discovered that your talent exceeded even the Monarch Tier, that was when you became something far more important to us, and became someone that the Cult needed to treasure.
Luke, on the other hand, was thrown into a far harsher path. His training was a constant dance with death because the Elder believed that only in such conditions could a warrior grow at the fastest possible rate.
So every day, he was hunted by the Elder’s own men and driven to his limits before they pulled back at night to let him recover.
His life was never truly in danger, or so I was told, as the wounds they gave him were designed to look lethal but never were.
That training continued for Luke until the Elder grew impatient with his progress and decided to force him into a Grandmaster breakthrough.
With that final brutal push being what put him in a coma."
Mu Fan’s voice faltered at the end, but Leo absorbed every word without so much as a blink, his expression still as cold as when this conversation first started.
"I was assigned to you, so I wasn’t privy to what was happening to Luke until we left Rodova. But by then it was already too late.
I told the Twelfth Elder again and again about how important your family was to you, and that if the Cult wanted to build a good relationship with you, they should absolutely not trouble your family.
But he thought I was just a low level worker who talked too much.
So in the end, my warnings were never taken seriously by him...."
"I’m sorry...." Mu Fan confessed, as Leo moved away from her face and began to pace around the room, his initial fury calming down just a tad bit after hearing her apologize sincerely.
*Step*
*Step*
Mu Fan’s breath quickened as she followed him with her eyes, but he didn’t look at her and instead ran a hand slowly through his hair before letting it drop to his side, his fingers flexing as though testing the patience of his own self-control.
When he finally turned back toward her, his gaze was unreadable, the earlier fire buried beneath a cold, calculating stillness that was somehow far more terrifying.
"I believe you, Fan," he said at last, his tone flat and even, as though belief did not equate to forgiveness. "But belief doesn’t erase what happened... and it sure as hell doesn’t erase the blood on your hands."
Her throat tightened, a lump forming that she couldn’t swallow down, as she instinctively pulled at the restraints binding her wrists, though she knew they wouldn’t budge.
Leo stepped closer again, his shadow stretching across her like a shroud, his next words slow and deliberate.
"Tell me who else was involved in this saga besides the Twelfth Elder.... And what was the motivation behind them being involved?
You have chosen to support the Cult until today out of loyalty and duty.
Now, I give you the choice to support me, so I can cleanse the Cult of the scum that don’t deserve to be here." Leo offered, as he patiently waited for Mu Fan to make her decision.
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