Transmigrated Into a Cannon Fodder Phoenix, Stuck With the Ice Dragon-Chapter 145: The Truth You Prefer To Live With

"Don’t lie..."

I took a step back without realizing it, my thoughts spiraling as everything Severin had said tangled together in my mind.

Severin tilted his head slightly, studying me. "Just because you don’t want to believe it," he said calmly, "doesn’t mean you can deny the truth."

"And just because both my father and mother are gone," I shot back, my voice shaking despite myself, "you think you can twist the truth however you like?"

I clenched my fists.

"I’ll defend them," I continued, my chest tight. "Even if I never met them. Even if all I have are their names and stories." My voice lowered, firm. "Because I know this isn’t the whole truth."

Severin’s smile faded, not into anger but into something colder.

"Oh, I never said it was," he replied quietly. "But denial won’t bring them back. And it won’t erase the choices they made."

The room felt heavier with every word.

"And you," he added, his gaze sharp, "are standing right in the middle of what those choices created."

I swallowed hard. "This doesn’t make sense," I said, shaking my head. "None of it connects." I lifted my hand, pointing straight at the crystal vial. "How did you know all of this? And how did that end up in your hands, if my mother was the one who did it?"

Severin didn’t answer right away.

He studied the vial instead, turning it slowly between his fingers as the faint blue-green shimmer pulsed within.

"Because the fairy couple gave it to me," he said at last. "Before they died."

My breath caught.

"When her mermaid parents handed her over to Aelira," Severin continued calmly, "your mother believed the child was a burden." His gaze flicked toward Vivian. "Not a blessing. A responsibility she never asked for."

My chest tightened.

"She didn’t keep her," Severin went on. "She gave her to the fairies."

"Why fairies?" Lucian demanded.

Severin smiled faintly. "Because they were useful. Fairy magic can hide bloodlines. Suppress marks. Erase traces." He shrugged. "And more importantly... when things went wrong, they were easy to blame."

Vivian went still.

"Aelira didn’t want that responsibility tied to her name," Severin said lightly. "So she shifted it. Let the fairies carry the secret. Let them carry the sin."

His eyes returned to me, sharp and deliberate.

I looked around the room, every gaze suddenly on me.

"No!" I shouted, clapping my hands over my ears as if that could shut his voice out. "You’re lying."

I shook my head hard. "You just want to sever my relationship with Vivian. That’s all this is." My voice trembled as I lowered my hands. "You want us to turn against each other."

Severin didn’t deny it.

Instead, he sighed, almost bored. "I want you to see what’s already there."

"That’s enough," Lucian snapped, stepping closer to me.

But Vivian hadn’t moved.

She was staring at the floor, her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles had gone white.

"Is that really all this is?" she asked quietly.

The question wasn’t directed at Severin.

It was for me.

I swallowed hard. "Vivian, don’t listen to him. Please."

"So..." Vivian said slowly, her voice eerily calm, "if I don’t listen to him... then where am I supposed to get the truth from?"

Her gaze lingered on me for a heartbeat.

"From you?"

Then she turned.

Her eyes landed on Thalor.

"Or from you," she asked quietly, "my supposed husband?"

Thalor blinked, then took a slow step closer to Vivian. "I’ll try my best," he said quietly. "I’ll find out what really happened in the past. I swear it."

"Really?" Vivian let out a soft chuckle.

She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

"So," she said slowly, "if this turns out to be the truth..." Her gaze sharpened, locking onto him. "Will you help me get my revenge?"

The word hit the room like a blade.

"Vivian," I said at once, my voice strained. "That’s not—"

Thalor raised a hand slightly, stopping me.

He looked at Vivian for a long moment. Not as a lord. Not as a husband bound by fate. But as someone finally seeing the depth of her wounds.

"Revenge," he said carefully, "won’t heal what was taken from you."

Vivian tilted her head. "I didn’t ask if it would heal me."

Silence stretched.

"I asked if you would help me."

Thalor’s jaw tightened. He drew a slow breath before speaking. "Let us find the truth first... hmm?" His voice was low, measured.

Slowly, he reached for her hand.

Vivian didn’t pull away.

Her fingers remained stiff beneath his, cold and distant.

Severin let out a loud sigh, straightening as if the matter bored him. "I’m done telling the truth," he said lightly. "Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you."

"What is your motive, Father?" Lucian demanded, his voice tight with restrained anger.

Severin glanced at him, unimpressed. "Do I need one?"

"Yes," Lucian snapped. "You don’t walk into our lives, tear everything apart, and pretend you’re just a messenger." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Severin’s lips curved faintly. "If you insist on an answer," he said, "then call it curiosity."

"Liar," Lucian hissed.

"Perhaps," Severin replied calmly. "Or perhaps I simply dislike lies that pretend to be mercy."

His gaze shifted back to Vivian. "People like to say secrets are kept to protect others," he continued. "But more often than not, they’re kept to protect themselves."

Vivian said nothing.

Her silence felt heavier than any accusation.

"And now," Severin finished, turning slightly toward the door, "you’ll all have to decide which kind of truth you prefer to live with."

He paused.

"Because once it’s seen," he added softly, "it doesn’t unsee itself."

The moment Severin stepped out the door, he stopped.

"You’re really good at twisting the truth, Severin."

The voice cut through the room.

All eyes snapped to the doorway.

Arienne sat on the wheelchair there, her expression cold and unyielding.

"You knew," she continued, her voice steady but edged with fury. "You knew exactly why she sent Vivian to the fairy clan." She took a step forward. "And you used that truth to tear your own son’s marriage apart."

Lucian froze.

"Why?" Arienne demanded. "Why would you go that far?"

Severin met Arriene’s eyes.

For a moment, the silence felt heavier than any answer.