Atticus remained in the same position for a few minutes as Aurora held his hand tightly.
Throughout the whole time, Atticus ran his hand through her hair, trying to comfort her and make her more relaxed.
This action seemed to do the trick as Aurora started calming down bit by bit, her once labored breathing regaining its normal rhythm.
Feeling her grip loosen, Atticus gently removed his arm from her hold.
Deciding that it was time to leave, Atticus suddenly channeled his mana into his space ring and from it, a round-shaped amulet materialized on top of his hand.
The amulet emanated intense amounts of mana that even the less sensitive would be able to tell it was undoubtedly an artifact, a strong one at that.
The amulet itself was large and round with multiple small round blue earring pieces fixed perfectly around it.
They each had small black intricate line patterns adorning their forms. Of these pieces, only 3 out of 5 spaces were filled.
Atticus took one of them and channeled mana into it. Then he placed the piece close to Aurora's ear, the earring letting out an intense blue glow as it suddenly fixed itself on her right ear.
Aurora didn't seem to feel a thing as she continued her sleep undisturbed.
With a long look at Aurora, Atticus turned and left the room.
Atticus went downstairs and made his way to the living room where the Ravenstein youths, who were engaged in a conversation, stopped as soon as they saw him walk in.
Atticus stood, gazing at each of them who had stood up as he walked in. The room descended into silence as Atticus looked at them without saying anything.
Although they had each more or less calmed down, there was no denying that they were all still angry.
They each looked at Atticus expectantly, hoping he would give them the go-ahead to turn the academy upside down.
And Atticus didn't disappoint as in the next instance, he spoke calmly, his words brief, "A member of our family has been attacked, and we shall respond in kind."
Each of the Ravenstein youths' lips immediately broke out into intense grins as they heard what Atticus had just said. This was exactly what they were waiting for!
Nate, who had been resting on the wall a bit of a distance away earlier, immediately stood upright and neared the middle. He had no plans of missing any of this!
Lucas also mirrored Nate's movement as Atticus' gaze suddenly focused on him. "Has she briefed you?" Atticus asked.
Since Isla, Luna, and Moon had long since left Aurora, Atticus was sure Lucas would have found out the necessary information about the attack on Aurora from them.
And he had been right as Lucas immediately nodded and started briefing Atticus about what had transpired.
Lucas's explanation had been brief, and from what Lucas had explained, Atticus had been able to find out a lot of things.
As it turned out, Atticus had been spot on about the Nebulon family being involved. They had ambushed Aurora, catching her off guard with an illusion, but because she had been able to regain her composure fast, she had been able to escape with just a few scratches.
The only reason she had been in this state was that she had been reminded about a past she would have loved to forget.
Lucas also mentioned the features she had been able to observe with the attackers. They had been numerous, more than two dozen of them, which made Atticus come to the conclusion that the Nebulon family youths weren't the only ones involved.
Atticus had also inquired about how the assailants had attacked her, the bloodline and abilities they had used and all of that, but after hearing what Aurora had explained, Atticus couldn't help but deeply ponder.
She hadn't been sure which was which because of the Nebulon family's bloodline involvement. A lot of attacks had been thrown, but Aurora hadn't been able to determine which was real and which wasn't. Not everyone had the luxury of perception like Atticus.
But as Lucas had mentioned all the abilities used, Atticus had noted one very important fact. There was no doubt that Atticus's list of suspects only contained the tier one youths.
And it was a great thing the nature of their abilities was the same.
Of all the abilities she had mentioned, Atticus noted that the Resonara family and the Alverian family bloodline hadn't been among them.
Having gotten all the information they had access to, Atticus's intelligence went full throttle as he came up with a plan in a few seconds.
…
The next day came quickly, and Aurora stirred from her sleep, indulging herself in a cute yawn and a long stretch.
After a few seconds, her nose picked up the scent of something delicious not too far away from her.
As she stood up and faced that direction, her eyes widened as she pointed and screamed, "You!"
"Hey, sleeping beauty. Glad to see you finally woke up," Atticus's calm voice resounded across the room as he gazed at Aurora with a smile.
Aurora seemed to want to speak, but the current situation was so baffling that her words got cut off on her tongue.
Atticus chuckled, "Go freshen up and come and eat, the food is getting cold."
"What do you mean food? How did you get in!?"
"Ahem, through the door?" Atticus replied sheepishly.
Aurora stared at Atticus dumbfounded for a few seconds. She had made sure to lock the door yesterday before she slept, and he was telling her he came into the room through the door?
Aurora shook her head; she almost forgot who the boy standing in front of her was.
Aurora suddenly remembered everything that happened yesterday, causing her expression to change suddenly.
As Atticus noticed this change, he quickly decided to change the topic.
"The earring suits you," Atticus complemented.
"Huh, what earring?" It was then Aurora seemed to notice a small weight on her ear, and she insistently felt the shape of a small round earring as she touched it.
Aurora quickly stood up and went to check herself out in the mirror. "Wow," she muttered, "Is this an artifact?" She asked while admiring the beautiful earring.
"Yeah, it is. And it's a gift from me, so make sure you always have it on," Atticus vaguely explained, intentionally leaving out the details of what it does.
Seeing Aurora happily checking out her earring, Atticus decided to give her space.
But as he got to the door, he suddenly turned and called out, "Aurora."
"Yeah?" Aurora answered while still looking at the mirror.
"You know you'll always have me, right?"
Those words surprised Aurora as her form froze. And in the next instant, a genuine smile found its way onto her lips as she softly responded,
"Yeah."
Hearing her answer, Atticus smiled and nodded. Then he turned and left the room.
