<h4>Chapter 426: 426-Finding My Brother</h4>


    <strong>Clementine:</strong>


    "So now what? Are we going back to the academy?" Ian started to ask.


    "We cannot go back there—" he continued, but when I turned around to face him, he went silent.


    "We have to go to the academy, Ian," I said. "That’s where Rue and Oriana are. That’s where Yorick must have been taken." My voice softened. "I want to believe he hasn’t been punished yet. I want to believe they didn’t kill him."


    I didn’t use a harsh tone this time.


    After a moment, we both started heading back toward the academy.


    But the minute we reached near the border, we noticed something far ahead on the road.


    Both of us froze, then quickly moved behind therge trees nearby.


    It was Yorick.


    He wasing out of the academy, carrying his bags, with his parents walking beside him.


    "I don’t know, they’re discharging him?" he questioned, almost as if asking himself.


    Then I saw the headmaster step out. I turned my head to look at Ian, whose eyes were fixed on his father as his jaw clenched.


    "Fucking find my son alive," The headmaster was screaming into the phone.


    This was the first time I had heard him lose his temperament, and it was clearly for his son’s sake.


    Yorick’s parents did not get into the car. Only Yorick did, and he mmed the door shut.


    He seemed fine, to be honest, but there was something else I could not help but notice.


    A fresh mark. I turned to look at Ian, who looked as confused as I was, then looked back at the headmaster.


    He had already ended the call while facing Yorick’s parents.


    "Thank you for upholding the deal," Yorick’s mother began.


    "Well, it’s all about you scratch my back and I scratch yours," Yorick’s father remarked, and the headmaster rolled his eyes.


    Even though they were working together, I could tell that Ian’s father did not get along well with them.


    "I hope you will find your son soon, and if not, let us know. We can do something about it," Yorick’s mother stated.


    "Don’t worry. I’ll find him. I’m pretty sure he is alive. He is very powerful. More powerful than you all know," the headmaster replied, quickly defending his son, and Ian tensed up beside me.


    "Anyway, when your daughter-inw Orianaes back, it will be up to her to decide if she wants to return to the North for any more missions, or if she ns to be discharged, which I’m assuming is what she will choose," the headmaster added.


    Those words felt as if the world had been pulled out from under my feet. I turned to look at Ian, and he frowned as well.


    "Yeah, thank you so much for it," Yorick’s mothermented.


    Then they got into the car and left, while the headmaster strolled back into the academy.


    "Yorick is married to Oriana?" I asked him, and he shrugged again. Of course he was clueless too. He had been in the North with me.


    "Ian, you didn’t know anything?" I asked, and he looked at me. This time, I did not know why, but he looked upset.


    "You think I’m evil enough to not tell you on purpose?" Ian replied. "Clementine, at that moment, I honestly wasn’t thinking about anything but you. You were gone, and I was scared. There were moments when Miss Rue raised rm bells in my head, but I couldn’t focus on them, because I needed that key. I needed to be in the North to find you."


    This time, Ian spoke firmly, emotion stirring in his eyes, and I realized that my constant scolding had left him deeply unsettled.


    "Now, where should we go next?" Ian asked me, but his tone had changed.


    He sounded bitter, and I understood why, but I was still upset at the thought that Yorick might have been forced into marrying Oriana.


    It made sense. That was his punishment.


    "I want to visit somewhere first," I replied as I realized that walking back into the academy would mean we would be stuck there again.


    "Okay, let’s go then," Ian stated dryly.


    "Before that, don’t you think we should change? These clothes will get more attention on us," he suggested, already taking off his coat and the other ornaments hanging from his coat and pants.


    I also took off the skirt of the dress, leaving me in a corset and the tight pants underneath.


    I thought Ian was still upset with me, but I noticed him nce at me briefly before his eyes met mine and he quickly looked away.


    "You can look, you know," Imented, rolling my eyes.


    "No. When your wife is angry, you should wait for consent," he replied, earning a smile from me.


    Still, I knew that the ce I was going to visit would leave me having another meltdown.


    It was hard to walk onto the maind roads without a ringleader or someone constantly on our backs, or without a lurker following us.


    We were halfway through our journey when Ian began to guess where I might be heading.


    "Is it the pink tree?" he questioned, and I nodded.


    "I want to visit my brother’s grave first, and after that, I want to take you to the cave."


    The moment I said that, I saw his eyes shine with hope.


    It took us some time to get there. Along the way, we had to find food and hide from prying eyes.


    Our clothes already made us look like two warriors who had stepped out of a fantasy world, so we stayed in the woods, hiding behind the trees.


    Finally, we reached my pack. It was not hard for us to sneak in. We had snuck into the North before.


    The pack borders were nothing, and I knew the ins and outs of the area.


    Once I reached the yground, I could see the big pink tree.


    He instantly held my hand tofort me. Walking toward the tree, I felt mixed emotions.


    Then I finally reached it. There was a big rock underneath the pink tree, and I knew this was it. I hade to the right ce.