I started off the day as I usually do. I got up early to meet Cassie in the library. From there, we spent the entirety of our time together coming up with different magics. Cassie had made some excellent suggestions, so I countered with a number of my own ideas. She took extensive notes on what I had suggested. I, on the other hand, had no need to write anything down thanks to my perfect memory.

After that, we went to our rooms to get prepared for class. We went to class and we tutored Casey together for a change. Casey has been making fantastic progress in his studies lately. Perhaps he could be some sort of genius? If so, he made a massive waste of his talent in the novel. Class flew by in an instant.

And that leads us to now. Liara and Everett had been acting incredibly lovey dubby ever since they got together. It was nice seeing two characters that were usually miserable feel happiness for once. Cassie and Casey were diligently increasing their mana, which had both reached one thousand a bit ago, and I was channeling mana into my gloves steadily. Everything was peaceful, except for the inside of my head.

I had been feeling increased anxiety this day. Tomorrow was the day of Stella's assassination. The day I had been preparing for four years for was finally arriving, and I had everything set up accordingly. I simply had to make a suggestion to Everett, and everything would sort itself out. So why was I so anxious?

My hands were trembling as I began channeling more and more magic power into my gloves. I was sweating profusely while I continuously poured everything I had into my palms. I was growing increasingly more worried about the outcome and my mind began to spew degrading thoughts at me. 'You'll fail' and 'You're a failure' were common amongst the insults. I tried my hardest to ignore them, but over time, I slowly started to agree with them. Maybe I'm not good enough to protect her. Yeah fucking right, I'm not relapsing today! Forget it brain.

My hands continuously trembled as I trained. I noticed my skin becoming paler as I kept pouring out mana. Everett took notice and rushed over and crouched down beside me, "Raine! What's going on, why are you using this much mana?"

He casted his restoration on me and I felt my mana revert to full power.

"It's okay, Everett. As you can see, I am at no risk of overloading."

"Hmm, I see. Just be careful, I don't want to see you getting hurt." He got up and began walking back to Liara.

He just said he didn't want to see me hurt. That was out of character. He's only ever said that to Aaron and Aaron alone. Did I have something to do with that? I shook my head and continued using my mana. My hands were still trembling as I struggled to hold back my anxiety for tomorrow.

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Just then, I felt a soft hand grab my own. I looked to my hand, then the arm attached to the hand, until finally my gaze met Cassie's. She looked back at me with an angered expression. Her eyes, one a fiery crimson and the other a deep blue, gazed deep into my very soul. Her and Casey were born with complete heterochromia, having one of their eyes a different color than the other. For her case, she has mother's red eye on her right and father's blue eye on the left; it was the opposite for Casey, who was right beside her.

"Calm down Raine! You're overworking yourself!"

"Yeah, you're working too hard!" Casey chimed in behind Cassie.

"Casey, I just said that!"

"No you didn't." Casey raised a single hand and stated, "You said he was overworking himself, which is implying he is already at his limit, which he is not."

When did Casey get so analytical? Could this have been due to his constant studying these past weeks? Cassie rolled her eyes and looked back at me with a serious expression and began speaking, "You don't need to push yourself so hard. Whatever you're dealing with, we can help."

What is this overwhelming presence of good irradiating from Cassie? It's blinding! However, I can't exactly let them know about Stella's assassination, so I guess I'll just brush them off for now.

"I-"

"And don't even think of brushing us off, Raine!" Cassie exclaimed as she gripped my hand tighter.

"Ah, okay! I get it!"

I had to stop Cassie before she crushed my toddler hands. I swiftly agreed to let them in on my problem, just not the entirety of it.

"I-I had planned this event carefully. I planned it carefully and meticulously in order to not fail." I paused for a moment, "But I'm afraid that after all that work, I'll still fail."

The twins both looked at each other, and then back at me. Both had puzzled expressions on their faces, and I was convinced that they would not be able to understand.

"As I tho-"

"You won't fail." Cassie was the one who had interrupted me, "I know you, Raine. You are too smart to fail."

Her words of encouragement caught me off guard, especially coming from the usually stoic Cassie. She had an aura of seriousness radiating from her, which made it nigh impossible to ignore.

"Yeah, she's right! Raine is the one who helped me be as smart as I am now, you can't possibly fail!"

Casey too? It seems that I had tricked both the twins into thinking I was some genius. I wasn't a genius, I was just some university student that read a book.

"You're our genius little brother! If you can't do it, then we'll never be able to!" Cassie broke my chain of negative thoughts.

She got closer to my face and looked deep into my eyes, "Don't give up on yourself, Raine."

Ahh, what is this? Why do the two of them think of me so highly? I'm so confused! I tried to look away from Cassie, but she grabbed my head with her off hand and faced me toward her again.

"Please, Raine! Don't belittle yourself! You're my brother! That means that you can't belittle yourself, otherwise you're just insulting me."

What the hell? How can she say these things so casually? Casey was just behind her nodding. I was so baffled by the two's actions. I… I…

"I understand, sorry for worrying you two."

Both twins smiled and Cassie let go of my hand. The two went back to their training. Before she left, Cassie spoke one last time, "Please, never think that you're not smart again. It'll hurt my feelings."

She said that and walked off. These siblings of mine. They think so highly of me! I can't just let them down. I was filled with a burst of confidence once more.

Training had ended and Everett came to me for advice as usual. However, this time was different.

"Hey Raine, this will be the last time I come to you for advice. Thank you for all of your help up until now, I just need a good spot for a date tomorrow." Everett was grinning and scratching the back of his head.

What luck! He said the exact words I was hoping for.

I smiled widely and spoke, "I have the perfect place."