Supreme Warlock System : From Zero to Ultimate With My Wives-Chapter 383: Not Paranoid

Warlock Ch 383. Not Paranoid

"I'm not paranoid."

"You have three shadow servants assigned to just the courtyard."

"It's called layered security," Damian muttered.

Cassius shrugged and took another slow sip of his wine. "Sure, and I call it 'living in a paranoid fortress run by a broody warlock who won't let us install a hot spring because 'it might be cursed.'"

Damian didn't even bother with a comeback. He just sighed and pushed the food around on his plate again. His appetite had finally started to return—just a little—when Evelyn spoke up from across the table.

"Have you told her?" she asked suddenly.

Damian blinked. "Told who what?"

"Aria," Evelyn clarified. "About what we heard last time. About what Ralvek's building. That… thing."

Damian shook his head. "No. I didn't tell her. Yet."

Cassius raised a brow. "You sure that's wise? The dragons could've come because they detected it."

"Most likely, yeah," Damian admitted, voice low. "But Lysandra didn't say anything. So I didn't say anything either."

Victoria, still perched comfortably on the table, cocked her head. "And you didn't tell Aria anything either."

Damian didn't answer right away. He just kept his eyes on the table, jaw tight.

"I…" He paused. His voice was rough when it finally came out. "I didn't want to say too much to her. I don't know which side she'll take yet."

Silence settled over the room.

The fireplace crackled quietly in the corner. The scent of roasted spices and faint mana-steam still lingered in the air, but the warmth felt distant now.

The trio just… looked at him.

Not judging. Not accusing.

Just there.

Cassius was the one who broke the silence.

"Guess past betrayal still stings, huh?"

Victoria raised a brow, brushing an invisible speck off her sleeve. "If Aria thinks she did the right thing in the past, it doesn't count as betrayal, you know."

Damian's grip tightened around his fork. "I don't care about that."

He finally lifted his gaze, and the flicker of emotion behind his eyes was sharp. Tangled. Tired.

"My problem is I'm not alone anymore," he said quietly.

The words hung there, heavier than anything he'd said all morning.

"I have you guys," he continued, voice softer now. "And that means you could get dragged into my problems. Again. You could suffer because of me. Because of Kaelan. Because of whatever mess I end up pulling down next."

Evelyn stood.

Her chair scraped against the floor, harsh and sudden.

She walked around the table slowly, her boots making soft thuds against the stone tile until she stood in front of him. Her eyes, sharp and bright like a storm barely held in check, locked on his.

Then she grabbed the edge of his coat and tugged him halfway out of his chair.

"Don't," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "Don't ever think about leaving us again, Damian."

He didn't move.

Didn't pull away.

He just… stared at her.

Evelyn's hands trembled slightly against the fabric. Not out of weakness. Out of restraint. Her breath was tight, like she was holding back something far more painful than anger.

Cassius leaned forward slowly, the wine glass forgotten.

Victoria sat up straighter too, her usual smirk gone, replaced by something colder—like the air had shifted.

Damian didn't say anything. Not at first.

Because he knew why she was saying it like that. Knew exactly where that fire in her voice came from.

She wasn't mad at him.

She was scared.

And it all tied back to her past—the one where people left. Where partners walked out. Where comrades abandoned missions halfway through because the cause got too heavy.

Where someone she trusted disappeared without a goodbye.

He knew. Because she'd told him. Not in words, but in the way she'd clung to him. The way she stayed outside his room at night after the fallout from the Rank S exam. The way she never let her back face the door.

"I'm not leaving," he said, finally.

Evelyn's eyes flickered.

Damian reached up slowly, brushing her wrist with two fingers—not forcefully, just enough to steady the tremble.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said again, softer this time. "I just… I needed you to know what could happen."

Evelyn exhaled through her nose, her grip loosening.

"You idiot," she muttered.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I know." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Cassius finally leaned back again, hands laced behind his head. "I'm just gonna say it—if you did leave, I'd hunt your ass down and drag you back."

Victoria nodded. "Same. Probably with a bit more bats and blood involved, though."

"I'd deserve it," Damian said.

"Damn right you would," Cassius said cheerfully. "You're our problem now. Like a cursed artifact that we don't know how to destroy, so we just keep you in the vault and feed you pastries."

Victoria raised her hand. "I'd keep him for stress relief. Like a magical punching bag. Or one of those cute warlocks who pretend they're fine."

Damian snorted. "Glad to know I'm useful."

Evelyn finally stepped back, arms crossing again, but her posture wasn't defensive anymore. Just… grounded.

"You're not dragging us into anything," she said firmly. "We chose this."

Damian looked around the room.

Cassius, who'd known him longer than anyone.

Victoria, who'd seen the worst of him and still stayed.

Evelyn, who refused to let him run from the past even when it hurt her too.

He nodded slowly. "Okay."

No long speech. No over-the-top vow.

Just a word that held everything he couldn't say out loud.

Okay.

The warmth crept back into the room bit by bit. Cassius reached for the bottle again and started pouring everyone a glass—whether they wanted it or not. Victoria kicked her boots up on the table again, earning a glare from a shadow servant that she pointedly ignored. Evelyn returned to her seat, watching Damian but no longer hovering like he might vanish.

Outside, the wind shifted.

The sky had begun to cloud, thick with mana-charged air. Another storm was coming—literal or metaphorical, Damian couldn't quite tell.

But this time, when it came, he wouldn't be facing it alone.

And deep down?

That made all the difference.