MTLNOVEL Chapter 14: To Make Amends
Returning to the wedding hall, Rain stepped beside Nephis, her sharp gaze sweeping across the grand chamber. The celebration had not faltered—laughter rang through the air, glasses clinked, silk and velvet rustled as couples still danced elegantly across the floor. The atmosphere remained dazzling, warm, alive.
Yet her eyes searched for someone who should have been there. Someone who, by all logic, should have been right by Nephis's side.
But he wasn't.
Her frown deepened. "Where's Sunny?"
Nephis turned to her, silver eyes catching the glow of the chandelier. She was composed, as always, though a faint trace of fatigue clung to her after the dance. "He'll be here soon," she said lightly.
But Rain wasn't convinced.
"How can you be so calm?" she pressed. "This is your wedding, Neph. Doesn't it bother you that your groom isn't here? Or..." Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. "Is there something I don't know?"
Nephis chuckled softly, placing a reassuring hand on Rain's shoulder. "You're overthinking things." A pause. Then, with the faintest flicker of something unreadable in her gaze, she added, "An important guest is arriving soon. Sunny went to meet him personally, that's all."
Rain's frown did not ease. "What kind of guest is so important that he has to fetch him himself? Why couldn't he just come like everyone else?"
This time, Nephis hesitated. It was only for a fraction of a second—so slight that most would miss it. But Rain saw.
"An old friend," Nephis finally said, her voice carefully even. "One who has never set foot in this city before. Sunny just wants to make sure he arrives without trouble."
She studied Rain for a moment, then tilted her head slightly. "You look tense. What's really bothering you?"
Rain hesitated. Then, slowly, she exhaled.
"The ripple."
Nephis blinked. "Ripple?"
Rain narrowed her eyes. "You feel it, don't you? That faint disturbance in the air? It is subtle, but wrong. Like the pull of a Nightmare Gate... yet different."
She watched Nephis closely, expecting recognition—an affirmation, however subtle. After all, if she, a mere Saint, had sensed it so acutely, Nephis—one of the Sovereigns wielding a divine Aspect and a True Name—should have felt it even more profoundly.
But instead, Nephis only watched her silently. Then, her expression softened into something almost apologetic.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Rain stiffened. "You don't feel it?"
Nephis shook her head. "Can you explain in more detail?"
A strange unease curled in Rain's chest.
Of course. Nephis had been dancing with Sunny when the ripple passed through. She must have been too caught in the moment, too focused on him to notice. And then, subconsciously, discarded the sensation before it could take root in her mind.
In that case...
"You know, the strangeness that washed over the hall not long ago? Like the pull of a Nightmare Gate—but different." Rain's voice lowered slightly. "Something eerie. More threatening than a Category 4 gate, yet not quite strong enough to be a Category 2." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "It doesn't even feel like a Category 1, if those things could exist on their own."
She met Nephis's gaze, waiting—expecting her words to stir recognition.
Surely, now that it was being pointed out directly, Nephis would feel it. Even if she had overlooked it in the moment, something of that magnitude couldn't just be ignored once acknowledged.
But Nephis only blinked.
"That's... the first time I'm hearing of something like that," she admitted, bewilderment lacing her voice. "Does it force you into the Dream Realm? Can you locate its seed?"
Rain didn't answer those questions. Instead, she asked the only one that mattered.
"You still don't feel it?"
Nephis hesitated for a fraction of a second. Then, almost ashamed, she shook her head.
"I'm afraid not."
Rain clicked her tongue. "But you're a Sovereign..." she mumbled under her breath.
Then, her heart skipped a beat. A thought struck her—sharp, unexpected.
'If Nephis really can't feel it despite being a Sovereign... does that mean Mordret couldn't either? Is he really not planning anything behind the mirrors?'
The idea lingered, unwelcome. But there was still something off.
'No. The timing doesn't add up.'
Mordret leaving the wedding hall right after the ripple struck—it wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't be.
"Rain, are you alright?"
Nephis's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Uh, yeah," Rain replied automatically. The words felt hollow, unconvincing, even to herself.
Nephis studied her with quiet scrutiny, then smiled. A reassuring smile, warm yet knowing. "I spoke to Cassie about the strange 'pull' you felt."
Rain blinked, attention snapping back to her. Cassie. Of course. If there was anyone who would have noticed something like this—even before a Sovereign—it was Cassie. Her affinity for fate and revelation was unmatched.
Nephis continued, her voice even. "She told me she's already working to resolve the issue, along with Effie and Jet. She didn't mention it to me earlier because, apparently, it doesn't require a Sovereign's interference."
Rain nodded slowly, digesting the words. It should have put her at ease. But something still gnawed at her, a whisper of unease slithering beneath her skin.
"Alright," she said finally. "Then I'll go see my brother."
She turned—
"Stop."
A gentle hand caught her wrist.
Nephis's grip was light, but firm, her silver eyes filled with quiet concern. "You still haven't told me the real reason you're so tense."
Rain hesitated.
Nephis had grown adept at reading her, too adept. Avoiding the question wasn't an option.
With a small sigh, Rain finally admitted, "I think Mordret is planning something again." Her voice was steady, but her expression gave her away—resigned, wary. "I saw him leaving the hall just after the ripple struck, so I followed."
Nephis regarded her for a moment before shaking her head. "I take it my word alone won't be enough to convince you to trust him?"
Rain exhaled. "Even if he isn't planning to ruin the wedding, the things he said to me..." Her gaze drifted away, guilt threading through her chest. She didn't want to keep things from Nephis. But this... this was something she had to talk to Sunny directly. "I need to talk to my brother. I want to change his mind about trusting Mordret." A pause. "And yours too."
She braced herself for an argument—expected Nephis to insist, once again, that she was overthinking things. That Mordret had changed. That he was no longer an enemy.
But the argument never came.
Instead, Nephis sighed, a quiet understanding flickering in her gaze. "Doesn't seem like I can talk you out of it." A small, knowing smile tugged at her lips. "Just... make sure you don't get lost, okay?"
Rain pouted. "I am not a child, you know?"
Nepihs chuckled softly. "Of course. You are not."
Somehow, Nephis's reply only made Rain wince instead of reassuring her.
She had known Nephis for a long time. The great Changing Star—a hero of humanity. Her fame and prestige made her seem almost mythical, like a celestial being too distant to ever truly reach. A personality that a mundane girl like Rain could have only admired from afar.
And yet, by some twist of fate, she had become acquainted with her. More than that—she had become close to her.
It was all because of her brother.
The thought made her chest tighten.
Sunny had drawn her into his world, a world filled with extraordinary people. And among them, he was the most extraordinary of all.
At first, her relationship with Nephis had been that of a distant admirer to a star burning too brightly to touch. But somewhere along the way, the ice between them had melted. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, they had become something more.
Until, at last, Nephis was no longer just a legend. She was family. A sister. That was both a blessing and a source of endless suffering.
Nephis took her role as an older sister far too seriously.
Despite Rain standing among the strongest Saints in existence, Nephis still treated her like a child. Like a little girl who needed to be looked after and protected. It was infuriating. It was embarrassing.
And yet...
It would always draw a smile on her face.
In that regard, she considered herself one of the luckiest people alive.
It was nice, having a sister like Nephis.
And a brother like Sunny.
Since the moment she had come to know him, Sunny had been there, watching over her. Looking after her like she was more precious to him than life itself. He was the best older brother she could have ever wished for.
A sharp pang twisted in her chest.
The fact that she had even entertained the doubts Mordret had planted—that she had let his words make her question Sunny, even for a second—felt like a knife buried deep in her heart.
She had to find Sunny. Not to tell him about Mordret. Not to ask him to ease her uncertainty.
But to apologize.
Rain turned toward the exit, hesitating only briefly before making her decision.
"When I find him," she muttered. "I'm going to give him a hard time for leaving you alone."
And with that, she slipped through the door and into the night.
White sparks crackled to life in her palm, coalescing into a crimson-hued band that she tied around her wrist. The sacred memory pulsed faintly, its anti-divination enchantments strong enough to thwart even the Sovereigns. It was the same memory she had used to track Mordret without him realizing—until she was already too close.
But hiding her presence wasn't its only purpose.
For an instant, something dark flickered on her back, slithering like a phantom snake. The [Mark of Shadows], a gift left by Sunny long ago. It had bound them in a way few could comprehend, making her a part of his domain. Now, she pulled on that connection, drawing it to the surface.
A dark weave unfolded in her mind—an ethereal lattice of threads, shifting and twisting like the currents of an unseen tide. Shadows slithered through the web, countless and formless, but one presence stood out. Larger. Deeper. A weight that made the others seem insubstantial by comparison.
Sunny.
Fixating on his presence, Rain traced a single thread as it unraveled from the vast tangle. Then, she activated the enchantment of her Memory. The thread solidified, stretching forward like an invisible path. A road that only she could walk.
Rain exhaled slowly.
Mordret was lying.
He had to be.
That bastard had been playing mind games, trying to plant doubt where there should have been none. But the doubt had taken root, and that was what infuriated her the most.
With a determined expression, she gripped the thread and took her first step. The path had been laid before her. And she was ready to make amends, to confront what lay at its end.