The morning sun stretched lazily over the Cradle, painting the stone pathways in a soft golden glow as Raven and his group made their way to the training grounds.
Today was the practical class—the second and most important test of Cradle held in the training grounds.
It was important because every group in Cradle was tested and ranked in this class. As for how these groups were decided, they weren't.
Groups weren't allowed.
The groups participating in the class would be the ones allocated in the past three years.
How were the groups allocated? It was a standard procedure of the Vaise family where the strongest gets to choose first, but as always, some people don't like following the rules.
So, the grouping was done based on who had the strongest backing. And of course, Raven came last in that line, only to find himself together with the three idiots—Alex, Clara, and Jake—known for being useless.
Raven, however, didn't interfere with the procedure even though he could've, because these three idiots were the OP subordinates sent to him on a platter called plot.
They were the ones who were supposed to be with him in every situation, from worst to best, and they were loyal. What else could one want?
Well, he would've preferred if they were a bit more intelligent and bearable and if they were even a sliver of their future selves, but what could he do?
He couldn't just wish for it to happen and it would. He didn't get Alladin's lamp.
He had to survive with these three one way or another.
And right now, these three idiots surrounding him were being suspiciously... careful.
Too careful—which Raven hated.
Jake, usually content to brood in silence, kept awkwardly clearing his throat like he was about to say something but then changed his mind.
Clara, the usual queen of sarcastic remarks, was suspiciously nice—she hadn't insulted Alex once in the last ten minutes, which was a personal record. And Alex... Well.
Alex was being the weirdest of all.
The loud-mouthed moron was walking with his arms crossed, nodding thoughtfully to himself.
After a while, he finally broke the silence. "You know... I think the concept of mothers is overrated."
Jake visibly winced while Clara smacked her forehead.
'This idiotic bastard!'
Raven, on the other hand, blinked. "The hell are you on about?"
"I'm just saying," Alex continued, waving a hand, "mothers are nice and all, sure, but—uh, theoretically—if someone didn't have a mother, it's not a big deal, right? They'd be totally fine. Maybe even better off. Like, who needs all that motherly affection nonsense, am I right?"
Jake inhaled deeply, rubbing his temples. 'Can someone shut him up?'
Clara groaned. "You absolute buffoon."
Raven exhaled through his nose. "Are you guys seriously doing this?"
He wasn't dumb enough to not understand what was going on no—not after hearing what Alex said.
Clara, however, tried to play dumb. "Doing what?"
Jake, and even the traitor Alex, side-eyed her.
Raven crossed his arms at that. "If you three think I'm fragile enough to have a meltdown because I didn't get a mommy hug yesterday, I am deeply, deeply disappointed in you."
Alex, hearing that, had the audacity to look relieved. "Oh, thank god. I was really struggling to make it sound casual."
"Yeah, no kidding," Clara muttered, shaking her head.
Jake, at least, had the decency to look a little ashamed, but Raven rolled his eyes.
"I'm not that weak," he said dryly. "Now, can we move on? Or do you guys want to hold hands and cry about my nonexistent trauma?"
Clara smirked. "Would you like that?"
"I would rather throw myself off a cliff," he replied.
"Noted," Jake said, nodding lightly.
They continued walking toward the training grounds, falling into their usual rhythm of mindless bickering, Raven suffering through the sheer absurdity of their conversations.
But as they stepped onto the grounds, the moment of ease shattered.
The shift was subtle at first—a few heads turning, eyes trailing after them. Then came the whispers.
"Bastards sticking together, how touching."
"Like a pack of stray dogs."
"Guess that's the only place they belong."
Raven felt Clara tense beside him.
Alex, for once, wasn't loud—his hands curled into fists instead—and Jake had his jaw tightening, though his face remained impassive.
But the comments didn't stop.
"Loyal, aren't they? Sticking by their own kind."
"Well, they're bastards, they don't have anyone else."
Then, a particularly loud voice rang out, dripping with sarcasm.
"Ah, but we're being unfair! Raven isn't a bastard, right? He's from the main branch, after all."
Mock gasps followed.
"Ohhh, true! My mistake."
Another voice joined in, this one sharper, crueler. "I guess I just assumed, since, you know, having a dead mother is pretty close, isn't it?"
As soon as those words settled, laughter followed.
It was the kind of laughter that dug under your skin—the kind that was meant to cut deep.
Raven expected the anger from his group, but even he was surprised at how fast they reacted.
Alex moved first, his entire body tensing as he whirled around.
Clara was right behind him, her hands already halfway to rolling up her sleeves.
Even Jake, usually the most composed, shifted forward, his expression thunderous.
Raven didn't even let them take a full step.
In one smooth motion, he reached out and grabbed Alex's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The other two faltered when they saw him move, instinctively looking back at him.
His grip wasn't aggressive, but it was firm.
Alex, still shaking with anger, turned his head, ready to protest.
And then he saw Raven's face.
Clara did too.
Jake followed suit.
And just like that, they stopped.
One look was all it took.
Because Raven wasn't reacting the way they expected him to.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't hurt.
He was smiling.
Not a pleasant smile, not a friendly one—no, this was something else entirely.
Cold. Sharp. Amused, even.
Like he was looking at a puzzle piece that had just fallen perfectly into place.
"Not now," he said smoothly, voice light, almost lazy. "Did you forget what I had told you before?"
He had told them to avoid getting into a fight before the match. It was something he had told them not to do no matter what.
Alex hesitated. "But—"
"Not. Now." Raven repeated, his expression unreadable.
Clara, already knowing that tone all too well, let out a slow breath. Jake lowered his hands, shaking his head.
Alex swallowed, visibly frustrated, but after a few seconds, he stepped back.
The other students, still grinning at their own cruelty, failed to notice the shift in the air.
They thought they had won.
They thought Raven had let it slide.
They didn't realize that he was simply waiting.
Because Raven knew very well what was happening. He knew that showing anger would be what their enemies would want.
The test had already started after all.
The test had started from the moment they had stepped onto the ground.
From here on, he and his group had to give their best. Wasting energy on words was a waste and it wouldn't get one point, so he let it off... for now, that is.
In this life, there were very few things that could make Raven angry since he didn't really care about many things, and talking about his mother unfortunately came into that category.
Though, lucky for him…
Today was the perfect day for payback.