Chapter 18: The Blessing StealerRayI sat there in silence, my mind clouded with doubt. The weight of everything—my choices, my failures, the people relying on me—felt like an unbearable burden pressing down on my chest. I wao run, to escape the responsibility looming over me like a storm, but Leiy wasn’t going to let that happen.

  She stood in front of me, arms crossed, her golden eyes burning with iy. “Get your shit together, Ray.” Her voice was firm, cutting through my hesitation like a bde. “We don’t have time for you to wallow in self-pity. The entire Ravencrust Kingdom is waiting for us. We o leave before the Elthias family finds us. You’re ing with me. All of you.”

  I ched my jaw, my fingers digging into my palms. “And what if I refuse to go?” The words left my lips before I could stop them. I didn’t even know if I meant them or if I was just testing her patience.

  Leiy didn’t flinch. "Then you’re dooming everyone who’s put their faith in you. You want to let your people die because of the same arrogahat nearly got them killed before?"

  I opened my mouth tue, but then—

  Fshes of the past hit me like a dagger to the chest. The screams. The blood. My friends, suffering because of me. My pride, my arrogance, my ego—it had led to all of it. The same ego that made me challehe Elthias family, the same ohat almost got us all killed. And Benjiro… he had died because of the universal curse.

  I exhaled sharply, my hands rexing. “No,” I muttered. “Not again.”

  Leiy gave me a nod of approval, then turo the others. “Listen to me,” she said, addressing everyone in the room. “The universal curse follows two ditions: first, someone must say that a blessing is unfair; sed, they must believe in it. That’s all it takes. This is what happeo Benjiro, and I hope any of you fall into the same trap.”

  She paused, then g Enzo, who immediately stiffened as if knowing what she was about to say. “This isn’t publiowledge yet, but it will be soon.”

  “Leiy, don’t—” Enzo started, but she shook her head.

  “It’s fine,” she reassured him before looking back at us. “The kingdoms are gathering for a meeting to decide on a new universal curse. Ohat will ge everything.”

  A heavy silence followed before Akira spoke. “A new universal curse?”

  Leiy nodded. “Yes. The agreement is simple—only one person in this world have the same blessing.”

  A chill ran down my spihe weight of her words settled over the room like a storm about to break.

  Maki frowned. “What does that mealy?”

  Leiy took a deep breath. “Acc to their st meeting, people who share the same blessing will be able to feel each other—where they are, how many there are. And after a set period, if more than one is alive, they will all die. If only one remains, they live.”

  Silehen Akira spoke, his voice low. “That’s why Elthias wants to keep the Ravencrust with them. And why the Ravencrust are searg for a blessing stealer.”

  Leiy nodded. "Exactly. The Ravencrust Kingdom help all of you survive. They have resources, knowledge, and power—things we need if we're going to make it through this. Ray, you o uand that going with us isn't just about proving yourself; it's about seg your future."

  I inhaled deeply, processing everything. “Alright,” I said. “Let’s do this.”

  “Good. Now get ready.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving me aloh my thoughts.

  LeiyI spshed cold water onto my face, watg as the droplets slid down my pale skin. My refle stared back at me, exhaustion evident in every line of my face.

  “So much responsibility,” I whispered. “I should’ve been an i princess, living a peaceful life. Marrying a handsome prince, safe in a castle. Not... this.”

  My fingers curled into fists against the sink. But that life was never an option for me, was it? I was born into a world where survival came before desires. I took a deep breath, straightening my posture. Now wasn’t the time for weakness.

  “Leiy.”

  I turo see Enzo leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, eyes watg me closely. “You okay?” he asked.

  I hesitated, then forced a small smile. “I’m fine.”

  He didn’t look vinced, but he didn’t push. As I brushed past him, I could feel his gaze lingering on me.

  RayWhile Leiy was goheodore motioned for me to follow him. We moved through the dimly lit hall until he suddenly stopped and turo face me.

  “I saw something,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Maki..."

  My breath hitched. “What?”

  He didn’t eborate, but whatever it was, it hit me hard. A hought sparked in my mind, something that ged everything. A slow grin spread ay face, the first real smile I’d had in a long time.

  Leiy returned moments ter, expeg to find us preparing to leave. Instead, she fouanding tall, fidence ba my stance. “ge of pns,” I said. “My friends are staying here with Theodore.”

  Selia immediately stiffened. “No. I’m going with you.”

  The argument that followed was heated, filled with frustration, protests, aant promises. Taki and Lucky didn’t say much. They just exged gnces before heading upstairs, as if already resigo whatever we decided.

  Finally, after what felt like ay, a decision was made. Only Selia and I would go.

  Leiy let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  We called for Taki and Lucky to say oodbyes. As they made their way downstairs, Leiy began ting, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air. A glowing rune circle formed beh her feet. “Ray, Selia, step onto the rune.” She and Enzo moved into position beside us.

  Then—

  A loud thud echoed through the hall.

  I turned just in time to see Taki slip o step, her momentum sending her crashing into Lucky. He stumbled forward, arms filing—

  And then, in the blink of an eye, he was on the rune.

  A bright fsh engulfed us.

  The moment the light faded, we weren’t in the hideout anymore.

  Lucky groaned from the floor, rubbing his head. When he looked up, his eyes widened with shock.

  He had been teleported with us.

  I ran a hand down my face. "Shit."

  This wasn’t part of the pn.

  TheodoreSilence filled the room after the teleportation. Taki, still on the floor from her fall, stared at the spot where the others had disappeared. Akira let out a breath. “Well... that happened.”

  Taki sat up. “I—I didn’t mean to push him.”

  For a moment, we all stood there, expeg—hoping—that they would send Lucky back. But nothing happened.

  “They should’ve realized by now,” Taki murmured. “They’ll send him back soht?”

  No one answered.

  I cleared my throat, deg it was time to shift the versation. “There’s something I o tell you all,” I said, gng at Maki.

  Her eyes widened slightly. “Theodore…”

  I pressed on. "You might think that Ray left you here because he doesn't trust the Ravencrust yet. That might be the case. But there's another reason." I took a breath before dropping the truth. "The real blessing stealer isn’t Ray. It’s Maki."

  Taki and Akira turo Maki, their faces full of shock. “What?” Taki whispered.

  “She copy blessings,” I expined. “When she was with Ray, she copied his body and senses enha blessing that he stole before. Later, whehias capital was attacked by the meteors, I saw her use something eerily simir to my gravity blessing to shield herself—just like I did. That means she ioo.”

  Maki’s face paled. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  I tinued, “Ray doesn’t trust the Ravencrust Kingdom. He left you here because he doesn’t know if they’ll betray him or maybe trade the ‘blessing stealer’ to get their bastard prince back. He’s pnning to vihem that he isn’t a power stealer, that he only take blessings from the dead through a plicated ceremony and use them once. If they find him useless a him leave, he’ll e back.”

  Sileretched between us as Maki was surrounded by everyone’s stares.

  Finally, she spoke. “It doesn’t work like that,” she admitted. “I ’t just copy anything. There’s a dition… a dition I haven’t figured out yet.”

  Her voice wavered. "That’s my curse… I think."

  The room felt colder as her words sank in. And suddenly, we realized—this was just the beginning of the truth.