The silence that followed Carmen's words was thick, almost tangible, broken only by the rustling of leaves dancing to the rhythm of a light, incessant breeze.
Mirac stared at her, eyes wide, breath held.
The hand gripping the back of her neck trembled slightly.
"I'm also, in fact, a Chaotic…"
Those words, spoken with disarming calm, echoed in his mind, leaving him stunned, unable to process them immediately.
When she had faced Klark seven years ago, Carmen had never resorted to strange or mysterious powers.
She had relied solely on her combat skills, using Mana with impeccable, almost surgical precision to enhance her body, unleashing a strength and speed that surpassed human limits.
There had never been an obvious clue, a compelling piece of evidence, that could have betrayed her true nature as a Chaotic.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mirac finally found the words to break the silence:
"I-I see…" he said, his voice uncertain, still shaken.
He cleared his throat, trying to regain composure.
He paused, his heart pounding in his chest.
Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he flinched, and his tone grew more resolute, almost accusatory:
"Wait a second…!" His eyebrows furrowed, his gaze sharpened. "Why didn't you ever tell me before? Why did you choose to hide it from me until now? Did you not trust me? Did you think I'd betray you and report you to the Purifiers?!"
Carmen hesitated.
Her red hair, stirred by the wind, looked like dancing flames in the dim light.
The moonlight, cold and merciless, cast irregular shadows on the grassy ground, but also on her vulnerable face.
She remained silent for a long moment, as if carefully choosing her next words.
Then, with a deep breath, she spoke:
"No. That's not it." Her voice was low but firm. "It's not that I didn't trust you. It's not about that. You see, the truth is that I'm part of a secret organization, whose name I unfortunately cannot reveal to you. But I can tell you that for those who belong to it, sharing information with anyone who isn't an official member is absolutely forbidden. It's a strict rule, a matter of survival—not just for me, but for everyone involved."
Mirac was stunned once again, his heart racing in his chest.
'A secret organization?'
Those words opened a chasm of questions, a whirlwind of thoughts clouding his mind.
He had always suspected Carmen was hiding something, but he had never imagined a truth so intricate.
"I see… Well, honestly, I had already guessed something like that on my own," Mirac said, his voice deep and laced with suppressed tension. "After all, it was the only plausible explanation for how you knew about Klark and his plan even before he set foot in the castle. I'd bet it was them—your organization—who informed you of his arrival in advance, giving you every detail about him so you could plan a potential counterattack."
He paused, letting the weight of his words hang in the air as the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together precisely in his mind.
Then, with an almost imperceptible movement, he squared his shoulders, and his tone grew more resolute, tinged with an inquisitive note that betrayed his growing curiosity:
"So, whoever sent you to secretly protect me is also part of your organization, right? If that's the case, can you tell me who-"
"Mirac…"
The red-haired woman interrupted him.
She tilted her head slightly, a shadow of hesitation passing over her gaze like a veil.
"It's true, my organization sent me here…" Carmen began, her voice uncertain, as if she were testing the ground before leaping into the void. "But… it's not for the reason I've always told you…"
Mirac furrowed his brow, confusion rippling across his features like a sudden wave.
"What?!"
Carmen hesitated for a moment, swallowing as if trying to suppress the fear of regretting what she was about to reveal:
"Actually, the real reason I was sent here is to gather information," she confessed at last, her voice reduced to a tense whisper. "At the Strongold family castle, there are a great number of administrative officials—people who hold secrets, plans, strategies. Working as a servant has allowed me to access their rooms, their documents, everything that would be inaccessible to others. A seemingly simple task, but one of crucial importance and urgency for my organization."
Mirac fell silent for a moment, his face tense as he processed Carmen's words.
Every sentence she uttered felt like a blow, dismantling his certainties and replacing them with a mosaic of doubts and questions.
"No, no, no, wait a minute!" Mirac exclaimed.
A sudden thought struck him like lightning.
His voice cracked slightly, betraying a hint of anger and disappointment.
"So… you're telling me that the story about someone sending you solely to protect me was always a lie? A way to ensure I wouldn't tell anyone about you? All this time, you've been lying to me?! Deceiving me and using me for your own purposes?!"
Carmen lowered her gaze, her hands clenching into tight fists at her sides.
Her silence stretched on for a long moment, heavy as a boulder.
Then, taking a deep breath, she responded with a firmer tone, though still laced with pain:
"You're wrong. I never lied about wanting to protect you. Never! It's true, my primary mission was to gather information, but when I met you… protecting you became personal. Even if you don't believe me, even if you hate me now for everything I've done… what I'm telling you now isn't a lie. It's the plain and simple truth."
Mirac stared at her with narrowed eyes, an expression of skepticism and distrust creasing his face.
"Huh, you make it sound so easy," he muttered, his voice low and bitter. "But it's hard for me to believe you now…"
Carmen lowered her gaze slightly, a shadow of regret crossing her face.
"Yeah, I can understand that…" she admitted sincerely. "And unfortunately, I can't blame you…"
A heavy silence fell between them, denser than any words.
The air between them was thick, charged with unspoken emotions: distrust, disappointment, but also an echo of something deeper, a bond they both felt but neither dared to name.
The wind picked up again, bringing with it a sharp chill that seemed to mirror the coldness creeping into their hearts.
"How can I trust you, Carmen?" Mirac asked suddenly, breaking the silence with a voice thick with tension. "How do I know you're not manipulating me even now to escape my grip and save yourself?"
Carmen didn't move, her body rigid under Mirac's grip.
She let the silence linger for a few seconds, the time needed to gather her thoughts.
"I can't erase your doubts or the pain you feel for what I've hidden from you. Not immediately, at least…" she replied at last, her voice calm but sincere. "But know that I'm telling you all this for a reason, Mirac. Not out of fear of dying. Not out of terror that you could kill me at any moment. I'm doing it to earn a shred of your trust. Not all of it—I don't expect that much—but just enough to convince you to come with me. Because…"
She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing:
"I want you to join my organization, Mirac."
The boy's eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.
His grip on Carmen's neck loosened slightly—not by conscious choice, but from the shock her words had caused.
"J-Join your organization?!" he repeated, his voice cracking with a mix of surprise and disbelief, as he stared at her with an intensity that seemed to want to pierce through her.
Despite the awkward position, with Mirac's hand still holding her by the neck, Carmen managed to nod—a slight but firm movement.
"Exactly," she said, her voice steadier now. "My task wasn't just to gather information. I was also asked to recruit potential members for the organization if I encountered Chaotics like you. Our goal, in fact, is to save as many Chaotics as possible, bring them to our side, and-"
Suddenly, Carmen stopped short, her lips pressing together as if she realized she'd said too much.
Mirac furrowed his brow, his gaze growing sharper.
"And what?" he pressed, his tone cutting.
Carmen looked away, fixing her eyes on an undefined point among the trees.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say more," she murmured, her voice dropping to a whisper.
Mirac clenched his fists, frustration mounting within him.
"Tsz, it's always the same story with you!" he exclaimed, his tone harsh. "You give me half the truth and leave me with the burden of deciding whether to trust you or not. Can't you at least tell me what the ultimate goal of your organization is?"
Carmen didn't respond immediately.
Her silence was a wall, impenetrable and stubborn, that seemed to repel every attempt Mirac made to get closer to the truth.
"No, I'm sorry," she said at last, her voice so faint it nearly faded into the wind. "I can't tell you. Not yet. But I swear, Mirac, I will reveal everything to you when the time is right. I promise!"
Mirac stared at her intensely, his green eyes seeming to want to break through that wall of secrets.
He was torn, torn apart by conflicting emotions that tightened his chest.
One part of him, the more fragile part, wanted to believe her, wanted to cling to that promise of sincerity, to the possibility that Carmen was truly on his side.
But the other part, the more distrustful one, was tired of omissions, half-truths, and feeling like a pawn in a game whose rules he didn't even know.
'Damn it, what do I do now?!' Mirac felt suspended on a thin thread, teetering between two opposing paths. 'If I refuse now, I'll go my own way, and my future survival will depend entirely on myself and my abilities.'
He imagined himself alone, wandering in a hostile world, relying on his mathematical powers and cunning to survive, just as he had in his past life.
It was a familiar image, but also an unsettling one: solitude as both a shield and a curse.
'If I accept her proposal instead, I won't be alone, I won't fight alone, but I'll have to join them for a cause I know absolutely nothing about!'
The idea of having allies, someone he could potentially rely on, appealed to him, but the cost of the unknown frightened him.
'But if I think about it, joining them could give me the chance to access invaluable information, impossible to find in ordinary books. Some of it might even be about my father! Or it could even lead me to discover—or at least get a clue about—how I was reincarnated into this world!'
Those possibilities sparked a flicker of hope in him, a fire burning beneath the ashes of his distrust.
'But in any case, both options boil down to one simple question: after everything she's done, do I really want to try trusting Carmen again? The woman who saved my life multiple times, who raised me like a mother, but who also decided, out of the blue, to turn my destiny upside down?!'
Mirac fell silent, his face tense as he wrestled with that dilemma.
His green eyes were fixed on the back of Carmen's neck, as if searching in her for an answer he couldn't find within himself.
His breath came in short, uneven puffs, a reflection of the storm raging in his chest.
Slowly, almost unconsciously, his hand loosened its grip on her neck.
The fingers that had been gripping tightly moments before relaxed, slipping away from her warm skin.
He lowered his arm, a gesture that seemed to seal a decision still fragile but irrevocable.
"My powers don't work on human organic matter," Mirac said, breaking the silence with a calm but meaningful voice. "Also, most of my abilities require a variable amount of time during which I need to meditate to manifest the desired effects. This is especially true for my cancellation ability."
Carmen flinched slightly, a barely perceptible shiver running through her body as she felt Mirac's fingers release her neck.
She turned towards him, her face partially shrouded in the shadows, illuminated only by the pale moonlight filtering through the branches.
"I don't understand…" she murmured.
A confused expression creased her brows as her eyes tried to decipher Mirac's intentions.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked at last, her voice uncertain.
Mirac raised his gaze to the sky, towards the full moon shining high—a silent beacon in the night.
"It's very simple: to let you know that I want to try trusting you again," he replied, his voice growing steadier. "I don't know exactly why—maybe out of stupidity, or maybe out of nostalgia for when I was little—but I've decided that I want to give you a second chance, Carmen. Just one more, though!" he added, suddenly raising his voice to emphasize the importance of that detail. "There won't be a third…"
Carmen's eyes widened for a moment, then softened.
"So…" she murmured, almost afraid she had misunderstood.
Mirac brought his gaze back to her, meeting her eyes with a newfound determination.
"Exactly," he said, his voice filled with a resolve that masked the turmoil still alive within him. "I agree to come with you."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved Carmen's lips—an expression she hadn't worn in a long time.
For a moment, she seemed on the verge of saying something, but then she held back, settling for a deep breath.
She nodded slowly, as if savoring the moment.
"I'm glad to hear that, Mirac," she said at last, her voice soft. "And don't worry: over time, I'll show you that you can truly trust me!"
With a decisive movement, Carmen set her backpack on the ground and knelt down.
She rummaged through its contents for a few seconds until she pulled out a black cloak, identical to her own.
"Here, take it. Put it on," she said, a faint smile still visible in her eyes as she handed it to him.
Mirac took it, and with the one hand he had, he managed to drape it over his shoulders, pulling the hood up with a fluid motion.
Carmen, however, wasn't done yet.
Before closing the backpack, she pulled out another object, smaller, wrapped in an intricately carved leather sheath.
"Take this too," she said, handing it to him.
Mirac grasped it, weighing it in his hand for a moment before removing the sheath.
The moonlight reflected off the polished blade, a gleam that struck him with almost blinding intensity.
"A dagger, huh?" he commented, observing the weapon with a mix of curiosity and appreciation.
"It's the only thing I could get," Carmen explained, standing up and adjusting a single strap of the backpack over her left shoulder. "The weapons in the royal armory are constantly guarded by two guards at the entrance, so it was impossible for me to take anything from there without being caught. Also, the regenerative potion I used to counter the poison that almost killed you cost me a fortune. After that expense, I didn't have enough money left to buy decent swords. So, I went for two daggers, one for you and one for me. Until we have a chance to buy better weapons, preferably swords, we'll use these if we need to fight. I hope that's not a problem for you…"
Mirac carefully re-sheathed the dagger, tucking it into his belt.
"Don't worry," he reassured her. "Over the years, I've trained with many weapons, including daggers. I'll be okay."
"Good," Carmen replied, a satisfied smile lighting up her face. She turned, pulling her cloak's hood back up with a quick motion. "Let's go, then!"
With a confident stride, Carmen walked into the trees, her cloak swaying slightly with her movements.
Mirac followed, his steps crunching on the soft ground covered with dry leaves.
As he moved forward, one final thought crossed his mind, a shadow of doubt he couldn't fully shake:
'I hope I don't regret my choice…'