After Lucy left, Sam trained for an hour before returning ho, where he felt many hostile eyes on him.
"They purposely placed the first-year residents in the very back, didn't they?" Sam muttered to himself as he walked past the second and third-year residential areas.
It had only been a day, and he was already attracting too much attention.
He sighed, ignoring the hostile gazes, and arrived ho to find Isabelle standing in front of his room.
Her expression was one of irritation, as if she were mad at him for sothing.
"You're here," she said, her tone sharp.
"And you are too," Sam replied, confused.
He wondered why she seed upset and if he had done sothing wrong.
"Where were you?" Isabelle asked, crossing her arms like a wife reprimanding her husband for leaving without a word.
"I was doing a bit of early morning training. Why? What's wrong?" Sam asked, not appreciating the accusatory look she was giving him.
"Why didn't you tell before you went?" she demanded.
"Is that what she's mad about?" Sam thought, baffled by her reaction.
They had only officially t the day before, and after that, she had asked his mother to let her live with him.
She even wanted to spend ti alone with him.
Now she was mad that he didn't tell her where he was going, like a housewife would be.
What should he say to her now? How should he handle this situation?
He had been raised with four sisters, so he figured he could manage it.
Whenever his sisters accused him of sothing he hadn't even done, he learned a way to defuse the situation.
This thod even worked with his mother.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn't have gone without telling you," he said.
No matter how right you are, in front of a woman, you are always wrong.
His father's words, not his.
It was that easy to cool down a brooding girl: just admit you're wrong, even if you're right.
"Mmm," Isabelle's mood improved upon hearing his apology.
"Don't go anywhere without informing . We're living together; we should always know where each other is."
Sam gently patted her shoulder. "Why don't you head to class with Yuki while I go freshen up?"
Isabelle shook her head vigorously. "No, I want to go together with you. I'll wait for you."
Yuki appeared as well, nodding in agreent with Isabelle.
Strangely, they didn't seem to be at each other's throats this morning.
'It seems they are getting along well,' Sam thought to himself. 'I wonder what happened between them to reward with this outco'
"Alright, I'll go freshen up," Sam said, nodding at them.
He was about to head to the bathroom but stopped midway and turned back around.
"I can bathe on my own," Sam said, noticing that both of them were following him.
"Wait outside my room," he instructed clearly before closing the door.
Isabelle and Yuki glanced at each other before each took a seat outside his room.
From ti to ti, they would cast wary glances at each other.
...
So ti ago, a few minutes after Sam had left ho for his early morning training, Isabelle woke up and went straight to his room, only to find it empty.
"I can't believe he didn't tell where he was going, especially when I'm with him," she muttered to herself.
Only then did she realize she wasn't alone—Yuki was also there, for the sa reason, she presud.
Isabelle didn't want to start an argunt with Yuki.
There was sothing about her that she couldn't ignore, similar to what she felt with Sam, but tinged with competitiveness and annoyance.
Turning to go back to her room, she noted that there was still more than three hours until sunrise.
"You have it too, don't you?" Yuki's voice surprised her, causing Isabelle to stop in her tracks.
"What?" Isabelle questioned.
"This," Yuki replied softly, turning her back to reveal her snow-white hair lifted to expose a birthmark on the back of her neck.
It was shaped like the roots of a tree—an ancient tree's roots, starting from the base, devoid of trunk, leaves, or branches.
"You..." Isabelle's expression turned to surprise.
She quickly lifted her long golden hair to reveal a similar birthmark on the back of her neck, shaped like tree roots, just like Yuki's.
"We aren't so different after all," Yuki said, a rare smile forming on her face. "You know what this ans, don't you?"
"Of course I do, or I wouldn't be here... I never expected there would be soone else besides ," Isabelle admitted.
Yuki looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before speaking again. "My father, the hero King... he once ntioned a prophecy to about this.""Long ago, a prophecy was foretold," Isabelle began, reciting from mory.
"He is the all-powerful Emperor, an anomaly unto himself. He holds the key to life and death, infinity and dreams; with him cos both chaos and order"
"Only when the saintesses of the elents unite by his side shall he recognize his true self."
"When he ascends, his faithful may look up, for the gates of nine hells and heavens will open in full glory, and the balance shall tremble as chaos intertwines with order."
"He will cast shadows of both creation and destruction."
"Those who stand with him shall find salvation, while those who oppose him shall face retribution."
For a mont, silence enveloped them as they gazed solemnly at each other.
"How long have you known that you're part of this... prophecy?" Yuki asked, settling onto Sam's bed and supporting her weight on her arms against the cushion.
"For a while... my mother told a few days before the awakening ceremony," Isabelle replied, taking a mont to gather her thoughts. "I believe his family mbers know about this as well."
"Why do you say that?"
"His mother and mine are good friends. When my mother suggested I live with him, his mother didn't question it. I figured she must have known about my destiny with her son, so they arranged it," Isabelle said, smiling slightly.
Suddenly, Yuki also had a realization.
When her father, the Hero King, asked her to live with Sam, he ntioned that he had already spoken with Sam's grandfather about the arrangent.
"Now that you ntion it, I also suspect they knew about this. At least his grandfather knew," Yuki said, sighing.
"Do you... believe he's the one the prophecy talks about?" Yuki asked.
"I don't know. I'm not sure anyone knows who the prophecy refers to, but I want it to be him. There's a feeling I can't ignore that makes believe he's the one," Isabelle glanced at Yuki.
"Everyone seems to think he's the one, but there's been no proof or signs."
"What about you?"
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want him to be my destiny," Yuki replied, her gaze drifting to a photo fra on the bedside table displaying Sam with his four sisters.
"It seems we're on the sa page."
.
.
.
[A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support ans a lot to ! Thank you very much! - Arigato! ??]
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