Page 100 of Saints & Sinners

I shot her a glare, but her words stuck. Class ended not long after, and as everyone packed up to leave, I found myself following Veronica into the hallway.

“Veronica, wait,” I called after her. She sighed, rolling her eyes but slowed her pace.

“What is it, Martin?”

I hesitated. “Has anyone else… ever had their Ascendant title stripped before? During your time here?”

She stopped walking, her sharp gaze cutting into mine as if weighing whether to entertain my question. “Yeah, loads of times, a few years back even, two Ascendants were caught in a hidden relationship.”

My stomach twisted. The knot of tension that had been building over the past two weeks tightened further. “What happened to them?”

“What do you think happened?” she said dryly. “They were stripped of their titles and their memories. Everything was wiped clean. They were sent back to live an ordinary life as humans, and Celestia moved on.”

Her words resonated deeply, yet something felt oddly unsettling. “Then… if their memories were gone, couldn’t they have just been together as humans? They wouldn’t even remember what happened. They could start all over again and—”

Veronica scoffed, her expression twisting into something bitter. “You really think it’s that simple, don’t you?” She stepped closer, her voice lowering. “Even if an Ascendant’s powers, memories, and title are stripped, traces of their Celestial essence remain within their soul. That essence creates an invisible tether to the Celestial hierarchy and laws. Falling in love after losing their status would result in catastrophic consequences for both of them.”

“What kind of consequences?” I asked.

Her gaze hardened. “Pain. Illness. Madness. Death, if they’re lucky. The Celestial essence clashes with mortal limitations, creating a ripple effect that tears them apart from the inside out.”

I felt a cold weight settle in my chest. “So… does that mean they can never fall in love again? Not with anyone?”

Veronica sighed, her tone losing some of its sharpness. ‘No. They can fall in love again. But it’ll never be with the right person. Not the person they were meant to be with. They’ll always feel an emptiness that consumes them, no matter what.”

Her words hung heavy in the air between us, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The implications of everything she’d just said were suffocating. Even if Hunter and I were to fall in love… even if we lost everything, even if we gave it all up, there would still be no future for us.

“Why are you asking me this, Grace?” Veronica asked, her voice quieter now as a few Celestials passed by with decorations in hand—no doubt, preparing for the ball.

“I… I just wanted to know,” I said quickly.

She huffed out a breath and ran her fingers through her blonde locks. “Have you... ever heard about the story of Seorin Yun?”

I shook my head slowly. “No. Should I have?”

“A few years ago, Seorin used to go to Celestia. She was a Warrior and by the look of things, she was on the verge of ascending. That was until she met a guy on one of her free weekends. You can imagine what happened next.”

“They fell for each other.”

She nodded, her expression tightening.

“Were they caught?”

“No. A Riftkeeper killed him just for being affiliated with Celestials.”

The words sent a shockwave down my spine. “What?”

She didn’t flinch. “They found out about them before theCouncil ever did. Riftkeeper’s track weaknesses like fucking sharks. Love? That’s as good as bleeding in open water.”

Everything she was saying... it sounded like a warning—like she knew.

“How do you know all of this?”

“Because I used to look up to her,” she admitted softly. “She confided in me, and do you want to know what the worst part of it all is? He didn’t even know she was an Ascendant. He thought she was just... normal, yet he was killed for something so mundane in this world.”

My legs shook and I desperately tried to stay standing. “What happened to her?”

“She left Celestia after it happened, not wanting her memories to be erased once the Council found out. But... no one has ever heard or seen her since.”

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