Xol remained there, silently watching Morgan. Staring. Without blinking.
And Morgan kept looking at the girls with that smile plastered across his face—a smile that didn't belong to anyone.
The atmosphere shifted when Luzbel clapped her hands loudly and raised her voice as if she had suddenly remembered that she had authority over everyone in the room.
"Alright, that's enough. I'll definitely deal with you later, but right now it's time to get back to the academy. These past few days have been an absolute disaster, and Morgan hasn't even had a chance to enjoy a normal day of classes. So I think it's only fair that, for once in his life, Morgan gets to study like any ordinary student. No problems. No dangerous situations. Nothing weird. Let's stop playing around and get moving. This is also that woman's office, and I don't want her showing up and finding us all here."
Luzbel pulled Satana up from where she was sitting and, together with Galahad, started pushing everyone toward the door with the energy of someone who had been putting up with far too much for far too long.
"But Miss Luzbel, don't run away. We know what we heard. You will never be able to silence the truth."
(Satana said with a level of solemnity completely unnecessary for the situation.)
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Let's go."
Just as she was about to shove both girls out the door, Luzbel turned around to look at Morgan.
"Come on, Morgan. You too."
Morgan reacted as though he had just returned from someplace very far away. He nodded.
"Yeah, of course."
But just as he was about to take his first step, he felt something tugging on his leg. He looked down.
There was Xol, biting onto his pant leg with absurd determination, holding on with absolutely no intention of letting go.
Morgan tried pulling his foot away. Xol didn't budge. If anything, he bit down harder.
"Hey. Enough. Let go."
(Morgan said, sounding more annoyed than he intended.)
Xol ignored him.
Morgan crouched down and tried to pry him off with his hands, as though that would somehow work better.
It didn't.
Xol started pulling even harder, as if the very idea of Morgan leaving was something he simply refused to allow.
"Stop it! Let go of me!"
(Morgan shouted, now thoroughly irritated.)
The outburst reached Luzbel, who peeked back into the room with a raised eyebrow.
"Everything okay, Morgan?"
Morgan looked up, smiled in a way that convinced absolutely nobody, and let out a small awkward laugh.
"Everything's fine, hahaha. Looks like he's feeling a little playful."
(Morgan said with the kind of nervous laugh he used whenever he wanted people to stop looking at him.)
"Are you sure everything's okay?"
(Luzbel asked, clearly unconvinced.)
"Yeah... Everything's fine. Go ahead. I'll catch up."
(Morgan replied, laughing in a way that didn't feel natural even to himself.)
Luzbel watched the scene for a moment. She looked at Morgan, then at Xol.
Something about Xol bothered her, though she couldn't quite explain what.
But she chose not to say anything. She didn't want to worry Morgan any more than he already was.
So she simply smiled and said what she had to say.
"Alright. But don't take too long. I don't want you ending up alone with that woman again."
(Luzbel said, her tone serious despite the softness of her voice.)
"You will never silence the truth!"
(Satana shouted from somewhere down the hallway with the conviction of someone who had just uncovered an international conspiracy.)
"Yes, yes, we heard you, Miss Conspiracy Theorist. Let's go."
Luzbel ushered Satana and Galahad out of the office.
The door closed.
Morgan and Xol were alone again.
Morgan yanked hard on his clothing.
Xol finally let go.
Then Morgan, irritated, stressed, and carrying everything that had built up throughout the entire day, let it all spill out at once.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you keep doing that? What's your problem?"
Xol didn't answer.
He simply stared at him.
"Everything went wrong today, and now you're deciding to annoy me too. I've had a horrible day already without having to deal with this."
Morgan began pacing back and forth, unable to stop. His hands didn't know where to go. His chest felt too tight.
It was the kind of anxiety that gives no warning. It simply appears and takes hold of you completely.
"Why does this keep happening to me? Why are you doing this to me?"
(Morgan asked, sounding more desperate than he would have liked.)
That was when Xol finally spoke.
No hesitation.
No softening the blow.
"Maybe you can fool those women with that shitty little smile of yours and tell them everything's fine. But not me. I know perfectly well that you're anything but fine. And that attitude of yours—that habit of pretending nothing's wrong—I find it disgusting."
After that, Morgan snapped.
"You think you have the right to talk to me like that? You're a horrible person who can't even make peace with his own mother. You think you're so smart. You think you have all the answers. You think everything you do is right and that the way you do it is right too. And yet... I don't know why. After seeing how awful you are, after seeing how you somehow managed to lift Miss Luzbel's spirits despite all of that... I can't help wondering if what you did was actually the right thing."
Morgan was shaking.
That wasn't an exaggeration.
His heart was beating far too fast to be normal, and his words came out tangled and disordered, the way things do when someone has been holding them inside for far too long.
Xol listened to all of it.
And when Morgan finally finished, he simply laughed.
"Hahaha. You really are an idiot."
End of Chapter.
Next Chapter: Right and Wrong. :::