Chapter 675: The Weight of What Remains Unspoken

Chapter 674: The Weight of What Remains Unspoken

Orion was already dressed when Noctis spoke.

His home was quiet, and he wasn’t certain he liked it. Sophia was not with him, and that was exactly why it felt wrong. Her scent was everywhere; this was practically her home now. She had clothes here too, but she had insisted on going to her own place to bathe.

He did not like it. They could have bathed together, but he also knew she needed space after everything—and with what was coming. So he let her be. Still, he knew he would have to convince her soon to simply move in with him. There was no use in her staying apart anymore.

He stood near the table where he had just finished adjusting his tunic, hands briefly still as he straightened the fabric over his chest.

As he did so, he tried to calm himself over what might happen during the meeting.

That was when Noctis spoke.

*Are you not going to ask me anything?* 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Orion paused in place.

His fingers remained on the edge of his sleeve for a moment longer than necessary before he exhaled quietly and continued adjusting it.

"I planned to," he said after a moment, voice calm but slightly distracted. "But I’m more focused on Sophia right now."

Noctis did not respond immediately, and Orion could feel that familiar stillness within him—the kind that meant the wolf was not finished speaking, only deciding how to say what came next.

And, like he suspected, after a while Noctis spoke again.

*I understand that.*

Orion finally finished adjusting his tunic and let his hands fall to his sides. He didn’t sit. He didn’t move toward the door either. He simply stood there for a moment longer, as though waiting for whatever came next to reveal itself.

Noctis stayed quiet for a while.

Long enough that Orion might have mistaken the conversation for finished if not for the faint pressure of awareness inside him.

Then the wolf finally spoke.

*You were careless.*

Orion exhaled at that.

"Do tell, how exactly was I careless?" he asked.

*When you challenged the goddess like that... it was careless,* Noctis told him.

Orion’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"And what exactly was I supposed to do?" he asked. "Stand there and agree with her?"

Noctis continued as if he had not been interrupted.

*She is the most powerful being in existence.*

That was when Orion finally stopped completely.

"So what?" he asked quietly.

A pause followed.

Then his voice hardened just slightly.

"Does that mean I am not allowed to say when she is wrong?"

Noctis did not answer immediately.

Orion leaned against the table, arms folding across his chest.

"She was wrong," he continued. "That is not something I am debating."

*But she is the most powerful being,* Noctis argued. *If we had offended her, we would no longer be existing.*

Orion’s jaw tightened faintly at that.

"And yet I have not offended her. I am still here. You are still here," he said. "And also, whatever decision she made... whatever twisted reasoning led to it... it does not suddenly make her right."

*I am not saying she is right,* Noctis replied. *Only that you should have been more careful before attacking her with your words.*

Orion let out a short chuckle.

"That’s one way to put it."

He sighed softly, then asked more quietly, "Why aren’t you angry with her?"

Noctis did not answer immediately.

When he did, the strength in his voice had dimmed slightly, as if the words had been carried for too long before being released.

*Because I believed I deserved the punishment.*

Orion’s expression changed, but he did not speak.

Noctis continued.

*I know we are supposed to be focused on Sophia now,* he said. *But like you said to the goddess... I tried to stop Dolion.*

A pause.

*But in the end,* Noctis continued, *one cannot force someone who refuses to listen to listen.*

Orion remained silent this time, letting him continue.

Noctis’ voice softened further, becoming something closer to reflection than explanation.

*For a long time, I was not bound to anyone. Not until you came along.*

The words carried a weight that did not need emphasis to be understood.

*The goddess may have given me to you,* Noctis continued, *because of your connection to Dolion’s bloodline.*

A faint pause followed.

*But I will admit... perhaps it was not a bad decision after all.*

*I was ready to die,* he said quietly. *For what I failed to stop. For what I could not prevent. But then I saw what you and your people were doing—and are still doing.*

Orion’s expression shifted slightly at that.

*You continue to fight even when everything is against you. You don’t give up even when failure creeps in close. And perhaps that gave me something I had lost.*

"What?" Orion asked him.

*The will to continue.*

Orion exhaled slowly through his nose.

"...I see."

There was silence for a while.

Then Orion spoke again.

"How was Dolion when he was alive, before everything happened?" he asked.

Noctis did not answer immediately.

When he did, his voice shifted slightly—further away, as though reaching into memory rather than speaking in the present.

*He was like you.*

Orion blinked faintly at that.

"Like me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

Noctis hummed.

*He wasn’t the Alpha, but he had everything required to become one. People followed him easily. And this was before he changed—they followed him because they believed in him.*

*He was kind,* Noctis said. *He was trusted by everyone. He had a circle of friends like you do too. Everyone loved him.*

A pause.

*But perhaps that was also what made him dangerous.*

Orion’s gaze lowered slightly.

Noctis continued.

*That kind of trust... that ease... it can make someone believe they deserve more than what they already have. Add to the fact that the goddess became his partner... perhaps he became intoxicated with it all. And that was what changed him.*

Silence settled again.

Orion stood there for a long moment, letting the words settle somewhere deeper than thought.

He was about to speak when Noctis spoke up again.

*We may have to continue this conversation at another time, he said. Ronan and Sophia are approaching.*