After Kai exited the room, I turned towards my elder sister and inquired politely, "So, you wanted to discuss something with me?"
Yelena leaned forward on her throne-like chair as she rested her hands on the table in front of her and gently interlocked her fingers.
"You lied to me," she declared.
"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I don't understand."
"Don't! Just drop the act," she blurted out, her anger evident in her tone.
Before I could respond, Yelena added, "When I asked you about our family's weapon art, you lied. You claimed to know nothing."
"So?" I probed, urging her to explain further.
Yelena pointed directly at my chest and added, "So why do you possess the same relic that the spearman who used the Dawnbreaker during the Mock War had?"
A frown creased my face as I glanced down at my chest.
Hidden beneath my buttoned shirt was a red ruby that was embedded in my chest— on the exact spot where Yelena was pointing at.
"The medical team had to sedate you before they could begin healing your injuries. While you were unconscious, a red ruby appeared on your chest," Yelena told me.
"The medical staff alerted me, and I used Athena to identify that relic. To my utter surprise, it was a semi-divine-ranked relic. Athena informed me that she had sensed this relic with someone from Class 1-A-1 who participated in the Mock War. And, again to my surprise, it turned out to be you," she added.
"Yeah, that's all well and good, but it doesn't prove that I was the one who used the Dawnbreaker, does it?" I retorted.
"It does," Yelena sighed, casting me a cold glare. "I asked Athena to track the person who possessed that relic in the VR world. She informed me that it was both you and the spearman I just mentioned. Not to mention, you have also started using a spear again, haven't you?"
...Ahh! Damn.
I didn't know Athena was capable of that.
Well, considering we were in a world created by her, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me that she knew about what relics the Cadets brought in the VR.
However, I am sure that I hacked into Athena's mainframe just before my duel with Quinn.
...Ahh, wait, okay, I see now.
After hacking into Athena's mainframe, I only disrupted her tracking program so that she couldn't broadcast what was happening in the VR world.
But she must have still sensed someone using a relic in that world because, as I said, Athena made that VR world herself.
In simpler terms, Yelena already knew that the spearman in the VR had employed a relic called Phoenix's Embrace since it's a relic that's in the Academy's Records of Relics.
So when she discovered the very same relic in my possession later on, coupled with the fact that I started using a spear as my main weapon, she deduced that I was the spearman from the Mock War, huh?
Mhmm. It's really simple. I just slipped up.
Well, I can't be blamed for that. I don't know what exactly Athena is capable of as an AI.
Back in my real world, AI technology wasn't this developed. In this world, on the other hand, AIs like Athena can maintain a whole city alone.
"What's the matter, my genius little brother?" Yelena asked, a hint of mockery present in her tone. "Is this checkmate for you?"
I matched her gaze before a smirk formed on my face. Letting out a scoff, I replied, "Huh? Checkmate, you say? Nah. I admit it was me. I did lie to you, so? What will you do?"
"I will tell Dad," Yelena seethed in anger.
"Oh, okay! By all means, go ahead!" I sneered. "I mean, how do you think I used that technique? Obviously, our father showed it to me."
Yelena tightly clenched her fists, her nails digging into her flesh as she controlled her anger.
Of course, she knew the only way someone could've used the Dawnbreaker is only if the two people who know that technique– her and her father– would've shown it to them.
And since Yelena never used the Dawnbreaker in front of Lucas, that only means their father did.
But why?! Why did he do that?!
She had to wait for such a long time and put in so much effort to gain her father's acknowledgement, but he showed it to Lucas just like that?!
When he was a child, at that?!
When Yelena and Adel were young, they weren't allowed anywhere near her father when he would train.
Once, they tried to sneak in on him and as a result of that, they had to run laps around the whole city! They were just nine and ten at the time!
Yet, he not only never punished Lucas, but he also showed him the Dawnbreaker?!
"Fuuu!" Letting out a deep breath, Yelena faced Lucas with an icy chill glare.
"You not only lied to me, you also used our family secret weapon art in the open like that! You know it's secret for a reason! No one who ever bore witness to the Dawnbreaker never lived to see the dawn of the next day," she said. "But you– you exposed it in a Mock War?!"
"Calm down, will ya?" I raised my eyebrows at Yelena, glaring back into her deep merlot-red eyes.
"I only performed the first step, not the whole technique," I added. "I don't even know the whole technique. Hell, I don't think I even performed the first step correctly."
"No, you performed it perfectly," Yelena muttered under her breath.
"Huh?" I raised my eyebrows. "What did you say?"
"Nothing!" She snapped before continuing. "Your argument is irrelevant. Even if you only performed the first step, it's not a technique that you can perform just like that!"
"That may be true for you, but not for me," I retorted.
"What?" Yelena narrowed her eyes.
"I mean, it's a technique that the Morningstar family should not use in the open because it's their secret technique right?" I asked a rhetorical question. "But as you said earlier, our kind father already disowned me from our house."
"...So this is your way of getting back at us?" Yelena asked, gritting her teeth.
"That's not it–" I was about to speak up when she cut me off.
"Don't lie!" She shouted. "The rumors about you being Leo Kurogami's disciple are true, aren't they?! Do you know how much Dad hates that guy?! You are clearly trying to get back at Dad by pulling all these stunts!"
"What does that have to do with anything?! And why do I care about who he hates or not?! I didn't even know that he hated Leo because no one ever told me! No one in our family even talks to me!" I snapped back.
"Oh, don't start with your sob story again!" Yelena scoffed.
"Huh? What does that mean?!" I inquired. "Are you seriously calling my past a sob story?! You guys abandoned me! And I'm not even allowed to talk about that?!"
"Oh, shut up! No one abandoned you!" Yelena yelled back. "Mom and Dad still catered to all your needs. You were given a monthly allowance and you attended the best school in the Western Continent! It was not like anyone was torturing you!"
"Haaa!" A mocking gasp of disbelief escaped my mouth as I heard her.
"Are you serious right now?" I asked. "Is that what you remember happened? Let me tell you what I remember, sister! I remember Adel, my own twin brother, bullying me every day until he went to the Ethereal Academy.
"I remember my father turning a blind eye to my existence as if I was nothing but air. I remember the cold glare of my mother as if I had committed a crime by not having a high-ranked potential. I remember coming to your room one night to tell you about my problems and you laughing at me!"
Yelena, who was about to burst out, went quiet when she heard the last part of my sentence.
"My family– The people that I loved and who loved me, changed their behavior overnight! I was just a fucking kid back then! Do you fathom the mental anguish I must've been in?!" I yelled, my tone dripping in venom.
"I remember how you guys celebrated Adel's birthday every year while I was always alone in my room! I remember when I would come back from school, beaten and battered by the bullies, and everyone ignored me!
"I got a monthly allowance, you say?! Well, that money didn't fill the void in my heart that you guys created! So I indulged myself in whatever pleasure I could find, just to stop the wrenching pain in my chest!
"But you know what? I see how wrong I was now. I should've just stopped caring. I should've just stopped caring about you all because look at me now! As soon as I did that, I turned out to be fine!
"I did what I have done to get back at our father, you say? No, Yelena. I don't care about him, or you, or mother, or Adel." I concluded.
A heavy silence hung in the room after I finished speaking. Yelena closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead for a few seconds.
Meanwhile, I couldn't help but wonder why in the world I got so worked up over what she said.
It shouldn't affect me that much, right?
Shaking my head, I cleared my thoughts.
This is not the time for this lackluster drama. I should wrap up the matters here and return to my training.
The vampire attack– Yes! I should be coming up with a plan to deal with the vampire attack.
As soon as I thought that, Yelena spoke up again, in a soft tone this time.
"Get out of here," she said.
Giving her a final look, I turned around and left the room through the door.
