Alex was surprised at the sudden question, though he had been moments away from bringing up a related topic himself. Still, something about the way she asked—nervous, tense, almost trembling—made the air around them feel heavy. A faint uneasiness prickled the back of his mind.
But he answered the same way he had answered Scarlett when she asked the same question before the exams started.
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live with myself," he said, already knowing this wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.
On the other side, Tessa felt her expectations crumble.
She had hoped Alex would choose healing first—vengeance later—at least until he was strong enough to seek justice and protect himself. But he was hell bent on going on a path she viewed as a suicide mission, and she wasn't willing to follow him into it.
"Then, I'm sorry to say, but our friendship has to end here, Alex," Tessa said, voice shaking as she tried her very best to hold back tears.
"What?" Alex froze, chest tightening as her words struck him like a real blow.
"Why?"
"With how intelligent you are, I'm astonished that you didn't realize. Alex, your actions affect the people around you, and I don't want nobles chasing or questioning me or my family, no matter how much I like you," she said—and for the first time, she confessed her feelings openly.
She liked Alex. And she would be dumb if she didn't notice that he felt something for her, too. But choices had to be made, and this was hers.
"But it doesn't need to be that way," Alex said, stepping forward—but she cut him off before he could continue.
"And what way would that be? Living on the run all our life?" Tessa snapped, frustration edging her tone.
"But there is," Alex insisted. "You can leave with me. I know a way out of the continent that is without supervision." He pleaded, voice softer now. "That's why I came—to ask if you'd come with me."
The wind rustled the garden leaves around them, soft but indifferent to their world falling apart.
"I can flee, Alex, but my family can't. They're not all mages or martial artists. Most are ordinary people—families, children. How would they survive the journey to another continent?"
Her words shattered all his arguments. He hadn't considered all the variables. His own situation was different—his connection to his mother wasn't widely known, so she remained safe unless either he or Susan revealed it.
Tessa softened, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Is there really no way for you to let go of revenge? Do you truly need to go this far?"
"Tessa…" Alex exhaled slowly. "I know I rarely talk about my past, but Alex wasn't just my best friend."
He paused, not to dramatize, but because the memories lodged painfully in his throat. After Marc's death, he had turned silence into armor, and he evaded sharing about himself to protect the last people he cared about, Susan and Eve.
"We grew up in the same orphanage. I was alone until he arrived when I was six. We were the oldest—so we spent most of our time together since we had to care for the younger ones. We weren't just friends. We were siblings in all but blood."
His eyes lowered. "So tell me—if your sibling was murdered in cold blood, would you let it go? Would you pretend life is fine and move on?"
Tessa's breath hitched; the question cut deeper than expected.
Now that he shared this, Tessa understood him much better.
'No wonder he took it so hard,' she thought. And she had to admit—if it were her sibling, she wouldn't forgive it either.
She shook her head silently.
"Then how do you expect me to?" Alex asked. "I like you, Tessa. I really do. But just like you there are things I have to do."
To him, moving entire families across continents seemed easier than abandoning Marc's memory.
"You could wait," Tessa said, voice trembling. "We could get stronger first—seek justice when we're prepared. I could help you heal."
"You know how powerful noble families in the capital are. Grandmasters, exalted beings… saying 'wait' is like asking me to forget for thousands of years—if I even reach that level. I can't do that. It would be easier to move all your family to Aurethia."
Alex knew they had reached an impasse. The quiet between them stretched, filled only by muffled sobs.
Tessa understood him—and she would have done the same in his place. But understanding didn't change her circumstances. She couldn't uproot countless lives and flee to a foreign continent for a relationship with no guarantees of holding forever.
Alex stepped forward and pulled her into a gentle embrace.
"I know," he whispered. "I wouldn't ask you to destroy the lives of everyone you love for someone you only met this year. But that means this is goodbye."
Tessa returned the hug and finally broke, sobbing into his shoulder.
"If protecting you means letting you go… then so be it."
"I wish you all the best life can bring you, Tessa," Alex said softly. "And I'm really sorry things turned this way. I wish that we were in another situation, so we could keep getting to know each other and perhaps develop into something more, but reality is cold."
He pulled away before his resolve crumbled.
He turned his back quickly; he didn't want to see her tears. If he did, he might stay. He walked away step by step, each one heavier than the last. Inside him, a soul that had only begun to mend broke again—this time differently.
Life seemed determined to strip away everything he cared about. Was this the curse of the blessing he received?
He didn't know. He shoved those thoughts aside. There would be time to grieve losing his first love—but not now.
Now, only revenge remained.
And he would make sure to savor the downfall of the one who took everything from him.
On the other side, Tessa watched Alex walk away while wiping the remaining tears off her face.
In the long future, she would remember this day as the one she made her biggest blunder in her life.