SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant Chapter 496: A Truth for Aubrelle [II]

Aubrelle sat up a touch straighter in her chair.

Though she lacked sight through her own eyes, the shift in the room hit her clearly now. Trafalgar had fallen into a silence unfit for normal chatter. Mayla's fingers remained tangled in his hair, yet the earlier playfulness had vanished. Rhosyn hadn't budged much, but her watchful gaze squeezed the air in the space.

Aubrelle placed one hand gently by her cane. "I’m listening, Trafalgar. It feels crucial."

Trafalgar breathed out via his nostrils. He stayed silent for a beat. Then, "It is."

His tone dropped lower than earlier.

"This is info I must share with you. If I want you staying at my side, if you'll keep journeying with me through everything ahead, you deserve to know." His stare fixed on her. "I can't keep it hidden from you anymore."

Aubrelle's grip tightened a fraction on the cloth by her thigh. "Then speak it."

Trafalgar nodded faintly, but no relief showed.

"You recall the postwar whispers," he stated. "About a Primordial showing up. About that aura folks sensed."

Aubrelle's brow creased lightly. "Yes."

He locked eyes with her via Pipin's crimson gaze. "That occurred in part due to me."

Her eyebrows knitted instantly. The explanation didn't slot neatly into place, worsening the confusion. "What do you mean 'in part due to you'? Trafalgar, I'm lost."

Trafalgar held her look a moment more, then laid it out straight.

"My lineage mixes human and Primordial." His words held steady, but their gravity rang clear. "I carry the Primordial bloodline, Aubrelle. Mother was one of them. Father, human."

The statement drained all sound from the room.

Aubrelle froze utterly.

Instinctively, she lifted both hands to her blindfold and loosened it. The fabric fell away, and with Pipin nearby, she viewed them truly via the bird's vision for the first since Trafalgar started.

Trafalgar observed her with unusual intensity. Strain showed openly in him, something akin to fear beneath the control.

Mayla looked grave.

Rhosyn more intensely so.

Aubrelle's mouth opened, yet no sound emerged.

For now she grasped another truth.

This secret wasn't fresh to them.

Mayla was aware.

Rhosyn knew too.

And only now was she entering a bond already linking the trio for a while.

Aubrelle turned her scarlet eyes—unseeing yet aimed at him through Pipin's view—back to Trafalgar, and briefly she wavered on whether to talk, inhale, or just gaze on.

Aubrelle broke first.

She inhaled deeply, then once more, as though reminding her form of such basics before daring words.

"When you revealed your SSS Talent," she finally uttered, voice softer now, "that alone seemed massive. I thought scarce anything could top it." Her fingers clutched the blindfold in her grasp. "But this..." She paused, peering again via Pipin. "This towers far beyond, Trafalgar."

Quiet settled in.

Not fractured. Merely the hush demanded after such revelations.

Then Aubrelle queried, "Mayla and Rhosyn knew already, right?"

Mayla spoke up promptly. "Yes. I’ve known awhile."

Aubrelle faced her direction.

Mayla met the look steadily. "He shared because I’ve stuck by him forever. He knew my response, or trusted enough that I wouldn’t make this a threat to him."

Aubrelle absorbed it, then eyed Trafalgar anew. No fury marked her features, but a subtler ache lingered.

"So you didn’t trust me?"

The query startled him.

Trafalgar's forehead furrowed mildly. "No. Not that." He faced her squarely, replying direct. "I trust you, Aubrelle. That's why I'm telling you now. It just wasn't simple."

Aubrelle dropped her gaze momentarily, then raised it. "I get that." Her tone held steady, but pain wove in, gentle and true. "Even so... I wished you'd told me sooner. Stings to learn I lingered outside something vital while others were in."

Trafalgar held silent briefly, that pause speaking volumes.

Next, Aubrelle inquired, "Who else knows?"

"Mayla. Rhosyn. You, now." He hesitated. "And Vivienne."

Aubrelle blinked at that. "Vivienne?" Surprise sharpened quicker. "Why her too?"

"Long tale," Trafalgar replied. "But nothing romantic between us. You saw Xavier and Vivienne's glances at dinner."

A soft chuckle escaped Aubrelle, short yet genuine, easing the room faintly.

"That was plain enough," she conceded.

Tension thawed some, letting Mayla add more.

"As women beside Trafalgar, we grasp the stakes," she declared, eyeing Aubrelle firm. "This stays sealed among us, and onward we guard him, ensuring it never becomes a foe's weapon."

Aubrelle matched her stare boldly. "I understand." Her reply rang clear. "No need to fret. I'd never endanger Trafalgar."

Mayla studied her another instant, then offered a slim smile. "Good to know."

Trafalgar regarded Aubrelle longer, then noted, "More to it."

Aubrelle's face grew taut faintly, but she let him continue.

"Vivienne knows 'cause her master is that war Primordial," Trafalgar explained. "He's who sought me out. And Rhosyn..." His glance flicked to her, then back. "Rhosyn shares the bloodline."

Another hush fell, briefer yet denser differently.

Aubrelle pinned him via Pipin's sight. "Why seek you out?"

Trafalgar sighed lightly. "Short take: Mother ranked high among them. I'm seen as her heir, per reports." He halted, adding, "Worse might loom. Void Creatures link. Big calamity could strike."

Aubrelle remained motionless.

That hit harder to process.

For this transcended buried heritage or personal mystery. Vast now, touching world forces beyond him.

"That's..." Aubrelle faltered, retrying. "That's way beyond what I figured tonight."

"No kidding," Rhosyn grumbled softly.

Mayla shot her a glance. Rhosyn shrugged one shoulder and averted eyes.

Trafalgar fixed on Aubrelle. He'd shared all key pieces he could at once. The ensuing quiet stretched.

Then, softer, he asked, "You resent me for concealing it?"

Aubrelle's look shifted sharply.

"Resent you?" she echoed, the term jarring.

Trafalgar stayed mute.

Aubrelle glanced down briefly, then up. "I could gripe about learning late. Admit it stung being sidelined so long from something huge." Her voice gentled, firm still. "But resent you? No, Trafalgar. Can't for trusting me with truth, even delayed."

His shoulders loosened visibly, if subtly.

Aubrelle's mouth tipped up slightly. "Plus, it'd be odd hating my husband."

Trafalgar tsked quietly. "Still weird hearing it."

"It'll normalize soon," Aubrelle countered.

Mayla's lips twitched faintly, Rhosyn softening too.

Soon after, Aubrelle stood. She rebound her blindfold, approached Mayla for a warm, earnest hug.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Mayla hugged back readily. "Naturally."

Then Aubrelle faced Trafalgar, bending to plant a tender kiss.

"Late hour," she said. "See you in class tomorrow."

Rhosyn rose too. "I’ll escort you."

Aubrelle nodded once, and shortly they moved to the door as one.

Then it swung open.

Then shut.

Thus the home hushed once more, leaving just Trafalgar and Mayla.