Sylas landed beside Sunniva, his fists dripping with blood. But the Scorned Wraps quickly cleaned themselves, and soon it was as though he hadn’t just been in a bloody battle at all.
The girl seemed to be in a bit of a daze, looking off absentmindedly. It seemed that much of Nosphaleen’s suggestion had begun to wear off, but Sylas didn’t believe that was because of how much time had passed. Rather, it should be because she was shocked awake by something.
As for what she had been shocked awake by, he already knew.
Her family’s betrayal. Or, rather, Ragnar’s alliance with the Sylphs.
Sylas had allowed Sunniva to go off and hunt the escaping Sylphs herself not because he actually wanted them all dead. As far as he was concerned, if Sunniva could kill even one of them, it would be a miracle. After all, the Sylphs were no joke.
Though Sunniva was strong, it was unlikely that she could deal with many of them. She would likely struggle with just one.
Sylas was willing to take this risk, one because he simply didn’t care if she lived or died, and two because if she managed to come back, not only would that mean her value was higher than he thought, but she would also be unlikely to need Nosphaleen’s interference to remain loyal.
Sunniva’s head shot up toward Sylas, realizing a few seconds too late that he had appeared.
Her expression was very odd. Her impression of Sylas was that he was a pervert, but her memories of her experience with Nosphaleen were still intact. So, she knew that Sylas had had the opportunity to do something to her and yet had turned it down.
Remembering Nosphaleen, she couldn’t help but frown. That was not something she wanted to experience ever again.
Sylas didn’t speak at first, just silently observing her as though he was looking for something. Eventually, it was Sunniva who spoke first.
“What do you want from me?”
“An odd question to ask when you came back here on your own, no?” Sylas replied coolly.
Sunniva’s expression flickered. That was true. She had snapped out of it already, and yet she had chosen to come back here anyway.
“Where is the blue-skinned woman?”
“She is in my contracted space.”
“She’s your contract?” Sunniva was taken aback, not understanding what that could mean.
“Why did you return?” Sylas changed the subject.
“… I don’t know. I have no intention of following the Grimblades. And even if Ragnar is a traitor, that doesn’t mean my entire Ravenclaw family is. Ragnar was just desperate because he’s never had a chance against Thorne… Even Draven has never had a chance against Thorne…”
Sunniva stopped talking as though she realized she was giving away too much about her family. She didn’t know why she was speaking so much to Sylas, but there was something about his eyes that seemed to pry secrets out of her.
However, her words made Sylas think.
Last he checked the Leaderboard, the Ravenclaws were basically all near the bottom of the top ten at sixth, eighth, and tenth. Although the Darkmanes had someone at ninth, they also had someone at second to balance it out.
The sixth and eighth places were none other than Thorne and Draven, respectively. The difference didn’t seem to be that great… but Sunniva seemed to speak about Thorne as though he was the one ranked first and not Astrid Grimblade.
Of course, it was only a brief feeling. But Sylas had always been good at reading people and picking up context clues, and the vulnerable Sunniva was practically an open book between the oppression of his Will and the lingering effects of Nosphaleen’s suggestion.
“Do you have family?” Sylas asked.
“I—.”
“Real family.” Sylas emphasized.
Sunniva hesitated again before her gaze fell to the ground. She had a lot of people who she shared a last name with, but family…?
The silence was all the answer Sylas needed.
“Following me will do you better than the Ravenclaws ever could. I’m sure you’re smart enough to understand why.”
There were only two options.
Either the Ravenclaws weren’t part of Ragnar’s betrayal or they were.
In the latter case, Sunniva wouldn’t want to be a part of them anyway. In the former case, even if the Ravenclaws didn’t punish her along with Ragnar, her chances of rising up in the family would have now fallen to near nil.
She had gone from a core member of a potential family heir to the core member of a traitorous bastard. What kind of future did she think she could have?
Sunniva’s gaze flickered. She looked up to meet Sylas’ gaze and eventually said something she thought was a bit childish.
“Can I… think about it?”
Sylas’ expression didn’t change when he heard these words. He was just as calm, just as indifferent.
“You have until this Quicktime Event ends.” Sylas replied simply.
“Understood. What do you need me to do?”
Sunniva felt like a weight had come off her back. She knew how cruel this world was and felt that Sylas was giving her a lot of leeway. But in return, she wanted to prove that she was valuable.
Sylas must only be allowing her such a long leash because he didn’t have many people on his side just yet. However, if she didn’t prove herself early, when he did establish himself, she would be easily forgotten.
Although she hadn’t made her decision, she had already become used to playing politics in a complex world.
Sylas opened his mouth to answer when his pupils suddenly constricted.
The air by the side of his neck rippled only the slightest bit, an invisible blade slashing down with sharp precision.
Sunniva was still waiting for an answer and had no idea what was happening. However, for Sylas, it felt like he was being forced to live out the last few seconds of his life at an excruciatingly slow pace.
PUCHI!
Blood spurted.
