Chapter 98
He wanted to see how this world touched Aldraya, how those readings might open a small point within her.
He wanted to see the girl comforted.
Not with laughter or smiles, but in her own way, a quiet way, a way that required no emotion to still be called comfort.
"She has faith in God.
She believes in the power of His miracles.
She embraces every word of His revelations."
'And anyone who opposes Him, will you consider them an enemy?
A gentle warning—or perhaps a veiled threat—hinting that I should no longer touch this kind of topic.
Unless I'm prepared to face the consequences, whether from her or from the God Aldraya believes in.'
Amid the swirl of papers drifting like thin birds deprived of wind, Aldraya's voice arrived softly—without pause, without tremor—yet it felt like a line carved straight across stone.
He did not need to sharpen his eyes.
What was sharp was the meaning behind each of her words.
She delivered her beliefs without a single heated note, yet Theo could feel that every sentence carried the weight of stones washed by a hundred seasons of rain.
Cold, heavy, and immovable.
She believed in God—spoken as though stating the direction of the wind, not as a defense.
She believed in miracles—not as hope, but as a fact written long before the world knew either of their names.
She believed in revelation—and in the thin line separating the faithful from the lost.
And when she looked at Theo for a brief moment before lowering her gaze back to the article in her hand, there was something unspoken that felt like the shadow of a blade.
That anyone who mocked the foundation of her faith, in any way, would stand on the opposite side of that line.
Theo heard it clearly.
Not because Aldraya raised her voice, but because not a single word was allowed to fall uselessly.
Every emphasis, every implicit threat, every subtle reproach was not merely a moral message.
It was a kind of celestial warning delivered with her usual expressionless face—suggesting that consequences did not come only from her, but from an entity far greater, one she believed in with a firmness Theo had rarely seen in anyone.
"You're too serious, too rigid, and too monotonous, Aldraya.You see everything from only one angle."
Fwaaaah!
"Here. Try reading this first."
Theo chuckled again.
Not a full laugh, not an openly mocking one, but a laugh that sounded like someone deliberately choosing not to take the subtle threat just thrown at him too seriously.A laugh that echoed lightly among the sheets still drifting in the air.
'Too serious, too rigid, too monotonous.'
That was roughly the impression he voiced toward Aldraya in a casual mutter, as though he weren't speaking to someone who had just uttered heavy lines about faith and divine consequences.
Then, without breaking eye contact for too long, Theo picked up one of the articles he had been holding—papers he hadn't even glanced at because he was too focused on how Aldraya reacted to every word and teasing he offered.
The article lifted slightly, its surface brushing against the air as Theo extended it toward Aldraya.
But he did not hand it over immediately.
Instead, he tapped the title at the top of the article several times, his movement quick and casual, as though pointing at something incredibly simple.
'Interpreting the Meaning of Freedom.'
A title Theo chose not to instruct Aldraya, not to lecture her, and certainly not to argue against her faith—but to provoke her in a way only he understood.
His fingertip stopped at the distance people normally use when looking at a phone screen.
Close, clear, leaving Aldraya no room to pretend she did not see it.
"What do you mean by showing this to me?"
Aldraya stared at the paper for a few seconds, though to Theo she seemed not to truly read it.
When in truth, she had already processed the entire content of the article before Theo even blinked.
Understanding it that quickly only made the title Theo presented feel strange to her.There was a mismatch between the article's simplicity and Theo's deliberate decision to show it to her.
The confusion did not disturb her expression, but it appeared as a faint pause in a gaze that was normally straight and undisturbed.
She looked at Theo as if evaluating whether there was a hidden intent her logic had overlooked.
When silence offered no answer, Aldraya eventually tilted her head slightly, just enough to show that she was asking.
Her lips moved briefly, flatly, with no emotional weight whatsoever as she questioned Theo's intention in giving her the article.
There was no suspicion, no irritation, but also no full acceptance.
Her words appeared like a process of deduction requiring more data.
'I know she needs an answer, but explaining everything now would only become a spoiler.Especially since the concept of "freedom" is the most sensitive point for Aldraya, right after her transformation into a mid-arc boss in the first arc.'
Hhhh!
'So instead of explaining, I should ask a question.'
Buuuk!
"How do you interpret the meaning of freedom?"
Huuuuuh!
"Is it something philosophical, a sense of imprisonment, a life without meaning, or a step taken above suffering? Or do you perhaps have another perspective that fits better?"
From the corner of the room illuminated by cold white light, the man made a decision he had not planned from the start.
He realized Aldraya needed something she could consider an answer, though he had no intention of revealing even a sliver of the future that defined her fate.
The word freedom was not just a light term for him, but a trigger that one day would change Aldraya into something far removed from who she was now.
Thus Theo chose a step both safer and more dangerous, a step that offered an answer without truly saying anything about what was to come.
He controlled his breath, walked forward four steps with a pace almost lazy, then stopped exactly where the light cast his silhouette across the coldest glass floor.
Once he reached the front, he turned with a measured movement, a light rotation that showed he had time and control over the entire situation.
In that turn, his gaze met Aldraya's once more—eyes that reflected nothing but the mechanical clarity that had been her hallmark from the beginning.
Among the gentle drift of articles floating like luminous dust, Theo weighed the words he had yet to speak.
He knew Aldraya's question was born not from emotion, but from a logical process demanding additional data.
So he chose to respond with something more abstract, something that might fracture the stillness enveloping Aldraya's nature.
In that calmness, Theo released a string of probing questions, though not in a harsh or forceful manner.
He centered his explanation on the word freedom, a word light to many, yet for Aldraya would one day become a double-edged sword.
He asked about the nature of freedom in the realm of philosophy, wondering whether freedom was something that arrived after imprisonment or if it was an empty space without meaning.
He also directed her thoughts toward darker possibilities, such as a life forced to walk upon suffering.
To be continued…