An Extra's POV: My Three Fiancees Hate Me-Chapter 193: waking up

Riven’s eyes flickered open, the rays of sunlight pierced through them.

’I’m alive,’ he thought. Looking around, he could see a ceiling he was familiar with. He tried to move, but he couldn’t. He felt a weight on his body, so he looked down and saw Sofia lying beside him, her head resting on his body.

"Talk about déjà vu," he muttered. ’This is the infirmary ceiling. That means I’m back at the academy,’ he thought.

Footsteps began approaching. He shut his eyes as if he would be punished if caught awake.

"Cut it out already, I know you are awake," Miss Ariel said as she stood there. She stared at Riven as he slowly opened his eyes.

She flashed him a smile and then walked to Sofia and tapped her twice, waking her up from her sleep.

Sofia groaned and stretched. Her eyes slowly opened, and the moment they did, she saw he was awake. She leaped from her seat, throwing her arms around him without care.

"Riven!" she called out while burying her face into his body. His body stung with pain all over. He grimaced, but he didn’t say anything. He simply gritted his teeth and took it. She was worried about him, he wasn’t just going to ask her to let go because he was in some pain.

Ariel looked at him. She understood that he was in pain, but she said nothing, simply smiled at him.

"I thought I had lost you," Sofia said while her head was still buried in his arms.

"I’m not that easy to kill, Sofia," he said. He tried to raise his hand to pat her head, but he stopped, not wanting to do too much.

"She has been with you ever since yesterday when you were brought back to the academy. You were in terrible shape, your entire body was burnt up badly. Even with healing magic, I still had to bandage you for you to heal up completely.

What exactly did you do to burn yourself that badly?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"It was my flames. They got too intense for me, and I ended up suffering for it," he replied. Ariel frowned when she heard that.

"The spirit zone is a construct created by our mana to regulate magic. Right now, what you know about the spirit zone is very limited, but there is more to it.

The spirit zone creates a balance, ensuring that magic doesn’t hurt the user. It counterbalances the amount of flames exuded, so you never hurt yourself with your own magic.

For you to injure yourself with magic that belongs to you, you have to be using magic that far exceeds what your spirit zone can carry.

Or you’re using magic that your body deems to be foreign and so can’t counterbalance it. So in your case, do you know what it is?" she asked.

Riven was stunned by the concept. It was the first time that he had heard of it. He looked at her and let out a sigh. "It was both. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the full details of it, but I used magic that was foreign to me and also used it beyond what my spirit zone is built to handle," Riven said.

Ariel frowned. She tapped her finger on her waist and looked at him. "You can’t use it again. Whatever it is that you used, don’t use it again.

Those burns refused to be healed no matter how hard I tried. I was exhausted after healing with everything I had, only for a little bit of it to be healed," Ariel said.

"Your friends also got burned with the flames. Luckily, none of them were severely burnt as you," Ariel added.

"I see. That’s good," Riven responded. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Can you tell me what happened after I passed out? In fact, everything that happened on that island," he said.

"I don’t think I have time for that, but considering you saved the lives of hundreds of students, I think we owe you that little," she said and walked closer. Sofia finally let go of Riven and sat down, but she held his hand.

"From what we gathered, the person that attacked was Luke, a student that failed. Richard was the one that told me that.

He also told me that Luke was the one that fought against you in the entrance exams. I’m sure you already know that," she said.

"Yes, that’s why his anger was directed at me and my brother. We were the ones that ruined his chance to get into the academy," Riven replied.

"Even if you stopped someone from their dreams, becoming a monster that kills recklessly is too far," Ariel said.

"I agree, but the blame isn’t all his," Riven said.

"Stop carrying baggage that doesn’t belong to you," she said.

"Don’t misunderstand, Miss Ariel. I’m not feeling guilty that I took his dream away and so I’m to be blamed. If I had the chance to do what I did, I would do it again.

All I’m saying is that I know my actions played a part in what he became, but I don’t care," Riven said.

"That’s for the better. Also, as of this morning, guards have been sent to his family house. His entire family has been arrested and will be publicly executed," she said.

Riven looked at her. "They didn’t do anything, nor did they know that their son was doing something like that," he said.

"Sadly, that had to be done. They’ll bear the sin of their son. In his attacks, twelve students in total died, brutally murdered, and all that remained of them is an empty husk.

Even if he has been killed, the punishment must be given to someone else," Ariel said.

Riven shook his head. "That doesn’t sit well with me. I agree that Luke should suffer for what he did, but I’ll not stand by and watch as an innocent family is killed," Riven said.

"You can’t stop it," Sofia said. Riven looked at her, opened his mouth about to say something, but she spoke first.

"The execution was ordered by the king, and he might be there himself or send a representative. It doesn’t matter if you are the most talented of our year, Riven. You will be killed the moment you try to intervene.

This might seem too much, but regardless, you can’t do anything to stop it," Sofia said. Riven took a deep breath. He clenched his fist hard.

"Was that all that happened?" he asked, pushing the matter of the execution aside.

"Well, Lance has been put under house arrest, pending what happens in the future. Prince Robert said only you and your brother Noel can confirm the crimes that Lance committed, so everything will wait till you were up on your feet," Ariel said.

’Lance, tsk, I’ll make you pay dearly,’ Riven thought. He looked at Ariel. "Did Lance say anything?" he asked.

"No, Lance has been quiet. His mates were allowed to go see him, but no one wants to. Most are tired from what happened, and as for the top ten, they simply don’t want to, maybe later they will," she replied. "I’ll leave you to rest for now," she said and was about to walk away, but Riven called out to her.

"Lady Ariel, where was Quin while all this was happening?" he asked, and the moment he did, she froze for a moment, and Riven noticed that.

"Uhm, he was busy," she said.

"Something happened, right? Quin would have been there to help if something didn’t pull his attention, right?" he asked, but Ariel didn’t want to answer.

He looked at Sofia; his eyes said it all. She let out a sigh. "Sapphire attacked the kingdom, planting gates at all small towns and villages. Quin, along with other teachers, were called to fight," Sofia said.

His eyes widened when he heard that. Robert was a small town as well, so that meant it was attacked. He looked at Ariel. "What happened to my hometown?" he asked.

"I don’t know. I only know it was attacked as well since yesterday. They might have been locked in battle till now.

I didn’t want to tell you that so you wouldn’t worry. Allow those that are there to fight," she said.

"I’m sorry, Miss Ariel, but that’s not possible. My family is in danger while I’m here on a bed relaxing. I have to go to Ribest," Riven said.

"That’s not possible, Riven. You can barely walk," Sofia said.

"No, I can’t stay here. What if it has gone bad? What if the demonized were too much to handle?" Riven asked.

"And if they were, what are you going to do? Look at your condition, who are you going to help in this state, kid? I believe your parents would be happier if you stayed here and healed. You almost died on that island. Don’t go dying for real," Ariel said.