The room fell into stunned silence. Mathias, who had already seen this sight before, only looked away, shutting his eyes as he did so.
The butterfly fell gracefully on Evan’s open palm like a feather, clearly lifeless. However, there was a faint glow coming from it, a sickly green color that looked like it was slowly distorting.
The wings also appeared unusual, both having two different colors. One wing was completely black with blue skeletal designs that made it look almost eerie, while the other was a blue so pale that it was almost transparent.
Even with this unusual appearance, everyone in the room recognized what it was.
“That’s…” Ansel spoke, finally breaking the silence.
“…a Linger,” Gideon said slowly.
“Exactly,” Evan said solemnly, reaching out to gently caress the dead butterfly’s wings. “I found this lying beside Ardyn on the beach earlier today. He was unconscious at that time. I saw this Linger and kept it with me. You know what this means, correct?”
“Wait a minute,” Clay piped in, looking confused. “From what I know, Lingers never die since they’re remnants of people’s souls who have moved on into the Meadow. This doesn’t make any sense.”
Gideon shook his head, strands of hair falling across his eyes. “You never read the books, Clay, so you don’t know this, but…”
“A dead Linger is usually found near the spot where the Otherworlders first appear,” Evan explained quietly. “Yes, Lingers never die, but on the very rare occurrence that they’re found lifeless, it typically means that an Otherworlder has arrived.”
A shell-shocked expression mirrored each of the Guardians’ faces.
Mathias gazed at the scene in front of him, aware of the rising tension in the atmosphere.
Of course nobody would immediately believe that an Otherworlder had actually trespassed into this world after 200 long years. Heck, if Mathias hadn’t seen the dead Linger in Evan’s possession, he wouldn’t have believed it, either.
But it was there, right in front of them. An undeniable piece of evidence.
Otherworlders were like a dark stain on this world’s history. They were loathed and crucified in the history books. They were regarded as the cause of this world’s destruction.
So, in order to ensure that none of them would enter this realm again, Summoner Xanthe sacrificed her own life 200 years ago and closed the boundary between the two worlds.
But it would seem that that boundary was torn apart once again. Perhaps the spell wore out through time, because that was the only explanation that made sense at the moment.
In their circle, Evan, Ansel, and Gideon were the only ones who studiously read books about the Otherworlders, finding the topic both morbid and fascinating at the same time.
Mathias, on the other hand, had never read more than a few pages of the books because he refused to give the dangerous intruders an ounce of sympathy from his heart. He was afraid that if he read more about their lives, he would get attached to them and their endless quest for justice, just like Evan.
Mathias refused to do that. He was a man who loved his kingdom more than anything else, and he found that the less he cared, the less he would make mistakes that would tip over the balance between mindless empathy and logical thinking. For him, it went without saying that the lives of his people held much more importance than the life of a trespasser who had already died back in their own world.
Evan often seemed sad when he revealed his thoughts about this, so Mathias kept his mouth shut whenever the subject of Otherworlders came up. Even though their opinions differed most of the time, Mathias still held an immense amount of respect for Evan, and his loyalty to the man would never waver even against the test of time.
Although the reason weighed more on the fact that he was Evan’s Guardian, he also deeply admired the Prince’s consistency and kindness towards his people, the outsiders included.
But he had to admit, after meeting Ardyn himself, he felt something inside him waver, even just the slightest bit. The man was a genuinely good person, he could tell.
It was just unfortunate that he had to be an Otherworlder.
“Like I just mentioned to you all, I had my suspicions, but I could not fully believe in them yet until I confirmed it in the books,” Evan continued on. “However, somewhere along the way, I just knew, from Ardyn’s words and actions, that he does not belong here. I know that I’m probably crossing the line here, but I want to help him.”
His Guardians stared at him in disbelief.
“First of all, how do we even know if we can trust him?” Clay demanded.
“I don’t think he’ll have any allies in this kingdom, for starters,” Evan responded calmly. “He’s all alone, and he just got here.”
“…Right. Because of his identity,” Clay muttered.
“Well, what about his magic? What if he hurts you? Or us?” Ansel asked.
Evan shook his head. “He doesn’t know how to use it. I suspect that he hasn’t activated it yet. All the Otherworlders before him did have difficulty in harnessing their powers at first. It takes time.”
“Do you think that he trusts you?” Clay asked quietly.
Evan smiled. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it’s highly likely. He’s even willing to cooperate. I really do feel that he’s a good person.”
“Your Highness…” Gideon swallowed. “I don’t know…”
“But of course, our utmost priority is to evacuate the townspeople to all of the safehouses on the map,” Evan clarified with a solemn expression. “I’m not saying to expend all our energy and resources into helping Ardyn. But I have made my decision, and I want to save my people, my family, my friends, and him as well.”
“Look, Evan,” Clay began, his eyes narrowing. “I understand how you feel. I know that putting all the blame on one person is stupid. I don’t like it, either. But even if we disregard our own feelings, there’s still the matter of everyone else around us. You don’t really think that they’ll embrace this Otherworlder with open arms, right?”
“Maybe we should put that aside for now and focus on getting everyone out of here,” Gideon interjected cautiously. “If we don’t act soon, thousands of people will die.”
“The plan is to commence the evacuation a few hours later,” Mathias spoke up. “In order to keep the suspicion off the Otherworlder, we need to formulate a plan first and then figure out how to tell His Majesty. That way, we won’t draw unnecessary attention to him.”
Clay’s eyes went wide. “We’re delaying the evacuation because of this trespasser?!”
“Not delaying, exactly,” Evan said gently. “Let’s look at this another way. We only have about 18 hours left before the Calamity makes its presence known. This may be the last time.”
Everyone fell silent at once. They knew the implication all too well.
The atmosphere in the room slowly grew tense. No one wanted to speak for a while, their minds filled with conflicting thoughts. Things had happened too unexpectedly and too quickly for them to process everything.
There was also the matter of taking the safety of the entire city into their own hands. They had to prevent panic among the citizens as well as devise strategies and discuss contingency plans.
Since they, as Guardians, were in charge of sealing the monster and Evan was presumably the only Summoner at the moment who was capable of doing the ritual, it was a no-brainer. They couldn’t let the soldiers and the royal family stay here if they were to conduct the sealing process. It was basic protocol.
“So,” Ansel began in a small voice, loud enough to break the stiff silence, “what do we tell the King and Queen later?”