All Alone

In the deathly silence, Tales quietly watched the dazed, helpless guard on the ground, with nowhere to go.

He watched these men, trapped in despair and on the verge of falling apart.

His thoughts churned.

"Why?"

Little Barney knelt on the ground, limp and vacant.

"Father?"

He stared blankly at Naki, as though looking at a stranger:

"Why?"

"Why did he do this to me?"

Aside from Naki, almost everyone turned their faces away. Only Belleti and Nai remained, equally shocked and speechless.

"You really don't know?"

Naki asked back, sneering mockingly:

"So you lived like a child in Revival Palace, knowing nothing and caring about nothing, wanting only to be a loyal, foolish pawn?"

No one spoke.

Only Kuaishang spoke softly beside Tales's ear: "This is bad... I think they've all forgotten about escaping and finding a way out..."

Tales shook his head gravely, deep in thought:

"They haven't forgotten about escaping. They just... don't care anymore."

Kuaishang froze.

"What about us?"

But Tales merely shook his head again, his expression serious, ignoring him.

Kuaishang scratched his head anxiously, looking this way and that.

"Why, Father?"

But Little Barney remained expressionless as a puppet, speaking to the air:

"Why did he do this?"

Naki glared resentfully at Little Barney and snorted.

Semir looked heavily at Little Barney and slowly clenched his fist.

"You really are an oddity, Barney." Naki looked at the broken Little Barney, his face showing the relief of revenge, though his voice remained sorrowful.

"You, Quell Barney, a noble-born paragon who cast family and bloodline aside as worthless."

"But in truth, if not for him—if you hadn't been born into the Barney family, one of the Radiant Star Seven Attendants—you wouldn't even have had the chance to enter the Guard."

Naki said coldly:

"Just like all