Ms. Pellion kept her gaze steady and unwavering as she continued to study Arthur, who was now actively attempting to avoid any form of eye contact. His eyes darted around the room, focusing on anything and everything except the piercing golden stare that seed to see straight through to his very soul. The weight of her attention felt almost physical, pressing down on him like a heavy blanket made of lead.
"What was their na?" Ms. Pelligon asked, her voice completely lacking any trace of sympathy or compassion.
Arthur bit down hard on his lower lip, the sharp pain serving as an anchor to keep himself grounded in the present mont. He took a shuddering breath before attempting to force himself to answer, the words feeling like broken glass in his throat.
"L-Luke... Luke Thomas. He was my only friend," he managed to whisper, each syllable carrying the weight of unbearable loss and regret.
The admission hung in the air like a death sentence, and silence settled over the room like a shroud. Even the sound of breathing seed muffled, as if the very atmosphere had grown thick and oppressive in response to Arthur’s pain.
"How did he die?" Ms. Pellion asked, her gaze growing even more stern and serious, if such a thing were possible. Her golden eyes seed to glow with an inner light that was both beautiful and terrifying.
Arthur began to shake with raw emotion, his entire body trembling as mories he had tried so desperately to bury ca rushing back to the surface. He clenched his hands into tight fists, his knuckles turning white from the pressure, and spat his response through gritted teeth, finally eting her gaze with eyes that burned with pain and self-loathing.
"I killed him."
The words that ca out of his mouth froze the room solid, as if ti itself had stopped in response to his confession. The temperature seed to drop several degrees, and everyone’s faces beca frozen masks of shock and disbelief. The silence that followed was so complete it was almost deafening, filled with the weight of a truth that nobody had been prepared to hear.
Aziel gulped audibly, his throat working as he tried to process what his friend had just admitted. His mouth opened and closed several tis, but no words ca out. He looked like a fish gasping for air, completely at a loss for how to respond to such a devastating revelation.
But there was one person in the room who seed utterly unfazed by the announcent—Ms. Pellion, whose face and deanor remained completely unchanged as she continued her relentless interrogation.
"Why?" she asked simply, the single word carrying more weight than an entire speech.
Arthur thought for a long mont, his mind racing through mories of that terrible day, before finally pushing out his words with visible effort.
"He was corrupted... and I was weak," he said, each word carrying the full weight of his guilt and self-recrimination.
Silence was once again draped over the room like a funeral shroud as all eyes remained fixed on the ashad Arthur. Nobody dared to speak, to breathe, to move. The atmosphere was so tense it felt like the slightest sound might shatter sothing irreplaceable.
Many monts passed in this suspended state until suddenly, inexplicably, the energy of the room began to change once again. It was as if sothing heavy and oppressive had been lifted off of Arthur’s chest, allowing him to breathe freely for the first ti since this interrogation had begun. Ms. Pellion’s entire aura beca noticeably softer, her intimidating presence lting away like ice in the spring sun.
"I’m sorry to hear that... thank you for sharing. I know it was tough, but I had to know what kind of Chosen such a promising boy will beco," she said, her voice now carrying genuine warmth and understanding.
Arthur’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, his mind struggling to process the sudden shift in her deanor. "What if you didn’t like my answer?" he asked, his voice hoarse from the emotional strain.
Ms. Pellion kept her gaze steady, her elegant smile still wrapped around her beautiful face as she delivered her response with casual, terrifying honesty.
"I would have killed you."
The words hit Arthur, it felt like all the breath left his lungs at once. The casual way she delivered such a horrifying statent made it sohow even more chilling than if she had scread it.
"W-what?" The word fell out of his mouth quietly, barely audible, a whispered expression of complete shock and disbelief.
His quiet response was imdiately overshadowed by Aziel’s explosive reaction.
"You would have WHAT!?" Aziel stood up so quickly that his chair scraped loudly against the floor, his face contorted in a mixture of confusion and righteous anger. "Are you completely insane!?"
Ms. Pelligon’s expression remained serene, as if she were discussing the weather rather than casual murder. "I apologize, but you boys must understand—with potential and abilities such as yours, it’s only inevitable that your strength will one day grow beyond belief. I couldn’t in good conscience allow that to happen if you were to beco a threat in the future." Her smile never wavered as she continued. "If I deed it necessary, I simply would have picked the weeds before they sprouted."
Arthur’s chest tightened painfully as sweat began to drip more rapidly down his nervous and shaky body. ’This lady is absolutely insane,’ he thought, the realization hitting him like a sledgehamr. The angelic facade had been nothing more than a mask hiding sothing far more dangerous and calculating than he had ever imagined.
He took a deep, steadying breath, trying his best to calm down and not let his terror show on his face. When he spoke, his voice was carefully controlled, though it still carried an edge of barely suppressed fear and anger.
"So... did we pass your sick test?" he asked, each word carefully asured and deliberate.
Her smile brightened considerably, as if his question had genuinely pleased her. "With flying colors!" she exclaid cheerfully, as if they were discussing exam results rather than a test that could have ended in their deaths. She leaned closer across the table, adopting a seductive pose that would have been devastatingly effective under different circumstances. "Are you sure there’s no way I can convince you two to join my guild?"
Arthur’s posture straightened as his resolve returned, the imdiate danger having passed allowing him to regain so of his composure. He responded swiftly and firmly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.
"No. I apologize, but that’s absolutely not happening."
Arthur waited expectantly for Aziel to speak up and deny her proposal as well, but after several monts of silence, he turned to his left with growing concern. What he saw made him want to grab his friend and shake him until his teeth rattled.
Aziel was practically drooling again, completely lost in Ms. Pellion’s hypnotic golden eyes, his earlier anger apparently forgotten in the face of her supernatural beauty. The idiot looked like he was ready to sign his life away without reading the contract.
Without hesitation, Arthur delivered a sharp kick to Aziel’s shin under the table, the impact prompting his friend to yelp in pain and grab his injured leg.
"Ow! U-uh, oh yeah, no, I’m good, sorry," Aziel said hastily, scratching the back of his head with awkwardly squinted eyes as he tried to play off his montary lapse in judgnt.
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