The 28th Stop [ Yandere x Reader ]

18 - Revelation

With your game face on, you tightened your grip on the pen. Black ink pooled from the nib onto the paper due to the sheer force you imposed on it.

"...You're going to ruin the page if you press any harder." Gael nonchalantly eyed your writing hand and felt a bit sorry for the worn book.

He understood your agitation, though. After all, outside of The 28th Stop, magic was a ludicrous concept that only existed as make-belief. An idea known to be believed primarily by children or the deftly naïve. So, an adult like yourself must have trouble grappling with this new knowledge that conflicted with your ingrained certainty that it did not exist.

"Ah- my bad." You loosened your hold on the utensil, then motioned for him to continue.

"Going back to the example of these roses." He poked the fallen petal which, once again, illuminated in the same otherworldly fashion as before. "These are called 'Rosa Lumen Lunae', roughly meaning 'Rose of the Moonlight'. They're grown in a garden that's on the border of the town, far away from here, where the moonlight that lands on Earth is most concentrated. This garden is enchanted with a spell that allows the roses to absorb the moonbeams. The roses then convert and store the energy from the moonbeams, so they end up emitting the same amount of light that their petal captured while it was growing in the soil. Does that make sense?"

You finished writing down the last sentence he spoke and slowly nodded.

Seeing your hesitant yet affirmatory response, he continued. "Anyway, the Glass Kingdom basically manages the source of this magic. Harvesting magical flowers is nothing compared to what it is truly capable of, considering that its biggest role is to physically run the town. Concurrently, it is also the reason why we have visitors coming here in the first place."

You stopped writing. The abrupt halt of the nib's dance left a small tear in the paper.

"Wait..." Your breath hitched. "Are...are you saying that..."

"Yes. The 'life-changing' experience that is so often talked about; this magic is responsible for it."

His smirk widened at your dumbfound expression. 'Good, I have her full attention. Now it shouldn't take too long to convince her to do it...'

"Long ago, a spell had been cast around this town that allows the negative energy of visitors to be extracted. This energy is then converted to electricity and other forms - the exact mechanism behind this is largely unknown, since the Glass Kingdom is quite secretive about it. But what I do know is that they have a warehouse, laboratory and a panel of experts on magic to regulate this system. Without outsiders, the town cannot thrive."

The pen fell from your hands and dropped onto the table with a dull thud. Your lips parted, yet no sound could escape.

'This...was exactly what I was looking for! Exactly what my article needed! It's...it's what I've spent all this time searching for.'

The giddy sensation in your chest faltered as you continued your rail of thought.

'...Although, a week seems ridiculously soon for a revelation such as this. Not just that, the way in which I attained the information was all too straightforward. I mean, I just had to ask?! A bit too convenient. Too easy. Something's not right...'

Upon observing the smile fall from your face, Gael clicked his tongue. Much to his chagrin, it had seemed that he raised your suspicions rather than increased your trust, as he had hoped. 'Did I make the reveal too early? But, according to the plan I had...Could I have miscalculated? Did I underestimate her?'

"What's wrong, Y/N?" Gael tilted his head to the side, feigning curiosity.

You opened your mouth but stopped yourself before your thoughts transmuted to audible words.