Episodes 122. The Mastermind

Bound to a pole, Xander sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, silently staring at what was in front of him. Behind him, I was doing the same, back to back.

The coolness of the night in the mountains, accompanied by tall torches, made the atmosphere slightly tense.

In such a situation, Xander recounted all his past problems, starting from his father's behavior to the end where he was forced to part with his lover.

Note: The story is almost the same as the one Steven told in Chapter Prince in Cage Part 8. I don't want to repeat the same story, so if you forget, you can go back to that chapter.

However, there is a slight difference in Xander's version of the story.

I felt a strong manipulative force from him.

He said in his story earlier:

"The moment I knew my lover was threatened by my father, I became very angry..."

"Of course, my little brother didn't know about it, so I couldn't go berserk."

"I immediately acted according to my father's wishes with my feelings of anger..." When he said that, his mouth curved into a smile. "And when he no longer suspected me and thought of me as his loyal pet, I began my plan."

"I had my father plan a letter from the legendary assassin, Cike Nuwang."

"With a little respect and praise for him, he foolishly did it."

"The moment after that incident, I immediately created a scenario where I left home to search for my former lover. And as you already know, my real goal was not to find her but to escape Cike Nuwang's attack."

"My brother was still young, so the assassin wouldn't mess with him, while my mother... She already knew the dangers of my father's plan, so she pretended to be on a business trip."

"My mother was very resigned at that time, even if she was told, my father wouldn't listen and would consider what she said as just bullshit"

Heavy, joyful, happy, satisfied, and a bit pitiful feelings were formed from his words.

But despite all the emotions accompanying his sentences, only the feeling of satisfaction dominated all those words.

Seeing Xander's facial expression, I thought a bit ahead. Is that the expression I will make when I finish him off?

Speaking of women, he said he had a lover, and she was clearly not the princess.

From how his father strongly rejected their relationship, it seemed she was a commoner.

...

From beginning to end, I didn't get the name of his ex-girlfriend. Was it just a fictional story?

No, his sneering mouth indicated it was all real.

"What happened..." I tried to ask him, but my voice felt too heavy to continue. "...To your ex?"

When I asked that, Xander showed no signs that his lips would move. He just remained silent, staring blankly at the wilderness.

"Hmm..." I gave up, being in such a situation was not good.

"What does this have to do with what is happening now?" I threw my question and replaced it with a new one.

He bowed his head and stared at the dull wooden floor below that pole.

"She..." His voice stopped, but there were signs he wanted to continue. "...She came back, right in front of me." He repeated his initial words.

From his sentence structure, I could conclude that the person was...

"Your ex?" I confirmed in a cold, confused tone.

A silent nod up and down was his answer. He seemed like a puppet moved by a machine.

"Can you clarify-" Instinctively, I almost asked who she was.

I shouldn't exceed my limits too much; right now, I was just an ear for someone who was depressed.

"What do you want to ask?"

"No, never mind..."

"Then, I can only say a few things to you."

"Huh?"

I was slightly startled by his statement.

What did he want to say? Moreover, this was specifically for me.

"I'm sorry." The words were filled with a sense of guilt. "Because of me, she became like this, and because of me, all this happened."

"..."

I could only remain silent because I still didn't understand the situation.

"If only I had really searched for her back then, maybe all this wouldn't have happened, maybe she wouldn't have fallen into that abyss."

He mentioned his ex-girlfriend, maybe... But from his words, it was clearly about his ex-girlfriend.

Fallen into the abyss? What does that mean? Did she become evil or something?

"..." I still didn't understand at all, it didn't connect at all.

"From your silence with that kind of expression, it seems you still don't get it." He was disappointed with my observation. "Let me explain directly. Widya, my ex, is the mastermind behind all the incidents just before and after the last test."

Hearing that, my body tensed up, feeling a chilling cold that pierced my entire skin, and the goosebumps that had previously only stood up due to the cold now stood even more due to that statement.

"Huh? Her? How could it be?"

Still, I couldn't show this shocked expression. I had to stay calm.

Moreover, this information was a bit shocking to me. If I could collect all of it, I might get something valuable.

"Do you know the SANGKUNI company?" Without further ado, Xander directly explained who Widya really was.

Hearing that name, I was immediately wide-eyed and a bit relieved. Not because the problem was solved, but because everything was becoming clearer.

"She is the leader..."

When he said that, all my awareness seemed to be snatched away by something. The hot and cold aura merged as if it wanted to explode from within me.

"She... is the leader?" I answered, stuttering.

This was beyond madness, beyond my comprehension. I didn't even expect that the Sangkuni leader was a woman. Moreover, she was someone Xander once loved.

Then, who was the mysterious person when I worked with Salwa in that earthen building at that time?

Without any new words from Xander, we both could only remain silent, staring at the beautiful and quiet night stars.

A few moments later, Steven and Dahlia appeared, worried about our condition.

Nothing new happened afterward; I took Dahlia, along with both Xanders, home by guiding them. After all, Big Xander couldn't walk normally, and we had to do that.

We can't use the hover shoes either because it is still a prototype and don't know how long it will last. So, the night ended with exhaustion as we had to descend a hill filled with mystical power and height.

At the lower ground, our legs felt a sensation of soreness we had never felt before.

***

... A new day...

I was supposed to go to school this morning, but...

A bet is a bet, so I will honor it, even if it's a bet with myself.

Now in front of me was a wide wooden table, typical of a company's top executives, a tempered glass wall adorned the side of the room, and the entire city of Ningru was visible just from that glass wall.

An old lady sat behind the desk and looked at me with a suspicious gaze. The wrinkles on her old face were clearly visible from my sight.

"Rasyid Londerik, what do you want? How dare you face me directly with such a gaze." She was ready to finish me off at any moment.

She didn't look scary, but the assumption that she was the goddess of Anitya couldn't be denied. One wrong word from me, and I would end up as dust.

"I hope you have something worthy to exchange for your improper attitude at this moment."