Handon's expression darkened, looking down at the ground as Millie and Lilah yelled at him incomprehensibly.

  "In the end, I'm alone. I was a fool to think I could trust him.", he murmured.

  Cael's smile that lurked in his mind no longer looked confident; it became colored in all shades of deception, filled with slippery words weaving a web of lies. He thought too highly of Cael, when in reality, he was just a two-faced person only interested in achieving his own goals.

  But, his mind didn't just stop at Cael, it ran through each one of his images of Millie, Lilah, Lully, Verna, and they all darkened with splotches of black ink, seeping into their characters as people.

  All his life as a noble, his friends only had hidden agendas, flattering and giving him things to make him feel indebted, only focusing on his use as a noble's child. Handon had grown tired of it all. Yet, when he thought he'd finally found equals in this maze, this academy, he almost came to a despairing laugh realizing how wrong he was.

  His tensed up body relaxed, losing all strength.

  "How wrong I was...", he iterated quietly.

  He's humiliated himself.

  Verna came back to dead silence. She frowned, scanning the faces of everyone there. They all averted their gazes from each other. Handon sat against the wall, looking at the ground, Cael stood looking off to the distance, irritated, and Lully gripped his clothing with his head held low.

  Only Millie and Lilah had any semblance of closeness here, still standing close together and talking to each other, albeit seriously.

  "@#$*($%&#)-"

  "@#&(%&(.))"

  Verna approached Millie and Lilah, making sure her footsteps could be heard.

  She turned to Lilah, "Lilah."

  "Hm?"

  "What happened here?"

  Lilah held her chin, seeming deep in thought, and brushed her off, "Uhh... Well, nothing? Everyone just got in a bit of a fight. That's all."

  Verna raised an eyebrow. From what she could tell, that was obviously not the truth.

  How could she say it? Everyone seemed almost...fragmented.

  However, how much could happen in the span of a few minutes? She wasn't gone for too long of a time, and the blonde twins following Esteine would have reported everything to him if anything happened. Having not heard anything from Esteine, it likely was just a minor squabble that everyone got petty over.

  Although she was a trained assassin, she wasn't trained in the intricacies of communication and social behavior. Though, she felt her hypothesis had a high chance of being true--to a degree.

  She bit her lip. Regardless, any fight makes can make things unpredictable. It's best to bring everything back to baseline to make sure there are minimal unknown variables interfering with her plan first. Afterward, she can finish things covertly, survive, then join Luliak's sister in the academy and do what she was actually here for.

  "Hello, Verna. You're back."

  At that moment, Cael spoke from next to her.

  "!", Verna rapidly turned her head to Cael, who was smiling calmly.

  "..Yes? Do you have any other explanation to give me?"

  Verna noticed Cael briefly glancing to Lilah for a bit before returning his gaze to her, "Oh! No. I just wanted to ask if I could go to the bathroom first. The number 2, I've been holding it in for some time.."

  "...", Verna didn't know what to say, "..Sure. Go. We'll continue moving, but we'll only stick to the leftest paths. How does that sound?"

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Cael nodded, and turned around, walking into the hall behind him.

  With Cael gone, Verna skimmed everyone's faces and did a mental rolecall. Afterward, she shouted firmly.

  "Everyone! Let's go. We will follow the left path so Cael can find us again."

  "M'kay!"

  "Mm."

  "Yeah..!"

  Even if it would be more convenient if Cael left this group altogether, Verna knew that no one here is dumb enough to not notice herself attempting to lead the group through a path Cael couldn't follow.

  With that, everyone picked up their weapons and set off.

  In another part of the maze not too far away, Cael walked in the middle of the hallway calmly. He fixed his clothing, dusted parts of it that could have been dirty, and tucked in his shirt.

  He continued walking for several minutes, until in front of him, 3 vague silhouettes could be seen, loitering around a monster corpse.

  Despite still being far away, Esteine noticed him. He looked up from the monster corpse, said a word to the twins, and left to approach Cael while the twins stayed looting the corpse.

  In a short time, Cael and Esteine found themselves a few meters apart, face to face.

  "Cael. It's you.", Esteine smiled and laughed, "You and your friends are quite heated now, huh? Did you come to join us?"

  "Hahaha. That's funny.", Cael laughed with him, "Unfortunately, no. I'm quite self-sufficient. I just came to tell you something that might interest you."

  Esteine raised an eyebrow, but kept silent to hear what Cael had to say.

  "In just a moment, from far away, you'll hear someone scream.", he opened his palm, "At that moment,you'll see Verna, prancing her way over to find you. And if she leaves without you, she'll be dead."

  Suddenly, Esteine frowned intensely, "Verna?"

  Cael simply widened his smile mysteriously, "Make sure to lurk around then. All of us would certainly huddle around to comfort each other. We wouldn't be expecting any threats in the chaos."

  Shing! The next second, Esteine drew his sword, gritting his teeth, "Impossible. You know that I'm planning to take all of Verna's credit..?"

  "You...You know too much. If that's the case, then I'll ki-"

  "Pardon?", Cael tilted his head, interrupting him, "Verna- Verna's credi..? Sorry, you trailed off there. Could you repeat that?"

  "...", Esteine paused, holding his sword as he observed Cael's oblivious expression. Falling into deep thought momentarily...he decided to sheathe his sword once more.

  He shook his head cautiously, his previous frown returning to his face, "No... I didn't say anything. You must have misheard. Continue."

  This time, it was Cael's turn to raise his eyebrow, but he didn't question it.

  "Ah, I see. That's all that I came to relay though.", he shrugged, "Your choice if you want to take the opportunity though."

  Esteine nodded, "Kay."

  Without lingering for a second longer, Cael turned around and made his way back to rejoin Verna and the rest of the group.

  "..."

  However, even after Cael left, Esteine stood there in thought for some time. Only after rummaging through his memories did he turn back and ask the twins.

  "Hey. Any of you recognize him? Know what noble family he's from?"

  The twins looked at each other.

  "No?"

  "I don't recognize him."

  "Maybe he's from the Morgenstern family? They have a lot of descendants."

  "Hm...", Esteine stroked his chin, "I'll have to visit him after the exam then."

  "But sir! You can't be thinking of letting him go so smoothly! He's surely planning somethi-"

  "Are you trying to tell me what to do?", he glared at the male twin.

  "...No, no. I apologize."

  Esteine scoffed at the twin's pathetic behavior, but didn't dismiss him entirely, "Indeed, he's quite arrogant to think I'll do what he says so easily..."

  "However, at the same time, I wonder where it'll go?", Esteine smiled, recalling Cael's crippling injuries, "There's no harm in playing with that rat."

  I walked along the hallways, turning left and going straight at every turn, hugging the left wall incessantly.

  My smile was so wide to the point that my face hurt, and my breathing so exhausted and ragged that I had trouble keeping myself awake. However, internally, I only felt pure, indescribable joy.

  I felt like crying. Everything is set up. One by one. I'm so close.

  I'm so close..!

  All this time, these past few interactions, hours, and moments of intensity, I've been slowly nudging the others and flow of conversation to be just an inch closer to completing my goal.

  Despite all the odds, the variables that sealed my fate tighter and tighter, a tiny spark of anticipation and immense relief prepared to overwhelm me.

  And with everything that has happened until now, there's likely only a few hours left until the maze ends.

  I can do it!

  Looking ahead, I could see several people huddling by a bright orange fire, keeping to themselves.

  Fixing my expression and exhaling steadily, I approached them, and was met with Verna.

  "You're back.", Verna seemed to be holding a few words in, "Sit, eat."

  She went back to sit by the fire. Her tone was monotonous, bland, but I didn't pay it any mind. I stood still for a while, feeling the controlled warmth of the fire, listening to the silence that lost its boisterousness from before.

  I clenched my fists, then unfurled them. I just need to do a few more things now.

  Then, I noticed Millie and Lilah from the other side of the fire. Millie's expression reeked of uncertainty. Her gaze couldn't stay still, darting around to find someone to whisper to.

  I untucked my shirt and patted a few parts of my clothes in a way to make them seem more messy. I sneaked a glance at Lully, and he looked at me strangely.

  I gestured. Later.

  Then I sat down next to Millie, pushing back any rising guilt to the back of my mind.