Chapter 311:Silver’s fiancée.

Chapter 311: 311:Silver’s fiancée.

Ravenna didn’t stop until the noise from the academy entrance had faded considerably behind them. The place she had noticed earlier wasn’t completely isolated, but it was private enough for what she needed.

A narrow pedestrian path ran alongside one of the academy’s outer walls, separated from the main road by several rows of trees and landscaped vegetation, and most of the students leaving for their two-hour break had no reason to come this way.

There were a few benches farther down the path and the occasional student passing through, but compared to the chaos around the gates, it was quiet.

Ravenna finally stopped. Shawn stopped several steps behind her.

Mallory and Antony remained farther away without needing to be asked. Mallory understood immediately that Ravenna should be the one to explain what had happened, while Antony leaned against one of the trees and kept his attention on the surroundings.

Shawn looked between them before focusing on Ravenna.

"Alright. We’re away from everyone now. You said this is about Silver, so I’d appreciate it if you started by telling me who you are and why you know my cousin."

Ravenna had spent most of the journey toward Alpha Three imagining this conversation. She had thought about how she would explain Death Row Valley, how she would explain Larry, and how she would explain the queen.

Somehow, she hadn’t spent nearly enough time thinking about the first sentence.

She looked at Shawn.

"My name is Ravenna Arkland."

Partial recognition immediately appeared in his eyes. Shawn stared at her face for another moment before his eyebrows rose.

"Arkland..."

Ravenna nodded.

"That’s probably why I looked familiar."

Shawn remembered. He had heard of the sir name from his grandfather and that Silver had a nominal fiance from the family.

"You’re from Delta One."

"I was."

Shawn’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"And you’re the woman Silver was supposed to..."

He stopped.

Ravenna waited.

Shawn’s expression became increasingly strange, then his eyes moved toward her left hand. Ravenna almost laughed despite everything.

"Yes. I’m that Ravenna."

Shawn stared at her longer than necessary. Ravenna took a breath.

"I’m Silver’s fiancée."

Complete silence.

Even Antony, standing several meters away, turned his face slightly because he wanted to see Shawn’s reaction.

Shawn simply stared at Ravenna. For several seconds, his expression remained completely blank, then he blinked.

"You’re Silver’s what?"

Ravenna almost smiled.

"His fiancée."

Shawn looked at her hand again, then at her face, then briefly toward Mallory as though expecting someone to tell him this was some elaborate joke.

Nobody did.

Shawn looked back at Ravenna.

"Silver Ruddington?"

Ravenna raised an eyebrow.

"How many Silvers do you have in your family?"

"One."

"Then that one."

Shawn rubbed his forehead.

"Wait. Silver really got a fiancee?"

Ravenna nodded.

"When?"

"A while ago."

"And he didn’t tell me?"

Ravenna hesitated. Then she remembered something Silver had said during their journey.

"He was avoiding you."

Shawn slowly lowered his hand.

"He was what?"

"He said if he contacted you, you’d probably start asking questions about Cruella and whether he was taking care of her properly."

Shawn stared blankly at her.

Ravenna continued.

"He didn’t want to answer those questions."

For another moment, Shawn said nothing, then something clicked. His expression changed from confusion to realization.

"That’s stupid."

Ravenna almost laughed.

"That’s roughly what I thought."

Shawn shook his head.

"I’ve been wondering why he barely contacted me." He looked at Ravenna again. "So instead of telling me whatever happened with Cruella, he decided the better solution was to disappear and somehow get a girlfriend when I thought he wouldn’t move on?"

"When you put it like that, it does sound ridiculous."

"It ’is’ ridiculous."

Despite herself, Ravenna smiled faintly. For just a moment, Shawn’s reaction reminded her so much of how Silver had described him that the conversation almost felt normal.

Then Shawn’s expression changed and the smile disappeared. He remembered why Ravenna had approached him, why she had sounded desperate, and why Silver wasn’t standing beside her.

His eyes moved toward Mallory and Antony again, then back to Ravenna.

"Where is he?"

Ravenna’s faint smile disappeared. Shawn noticed immediately. His stomach tightened.

"Ravenna."

She looked down. For several seconds, she couldn’t answer.

Shawn took a step closer.

"Where is Silver?"

Ravenna’s hand moved into her pocket. Her fingers closed around the tracker.

"Death Row Valley."

Shawn went still.

"What?"

"He’s in Death Row Valley."

Shawn stared at her.

"Why?"

Ravenna slowly removed the tracker. The screen remained blank.

"We took a mission."

Shawn looked at the device. Ravenna continued before she could lose her nerve.

"We were travelling toward Alpha Three when Silver found an expedition looking for additional Contractors. Their official mission was in Death Row Valley, and they needed enough people to meet the Association’s requirements. There were eight Rank Four Contractors in the main group. Their captain was a man named Larry."

Shawn’s expression became more serious with every sentence.

"You entered Death Row Valley with eight Rank Fours?"

"Yes."

"What rank was Silver?"

"Rank Two."

Shawn’s jaw tightened.

"And you?"

"Rank Two."

Shawn looked toward Antony and Mallory. Antony raised a hand slightly.

"Same."

Shawn stared at all three of them.

"And you thought going into Death Row Valley with that group was a good idea?"

Ravenna’s expression hardened.

"We knew there were risks. We didn’t know they were going to betray us."

That stopped him.

"Betray you?"

Ravenna nodded.

"The mission was supposed to be an extermination."

She explained.

She told Shawn about the parasitic worms and the enormous underground tunnel network beneath the mountain. She explained how rapidly the worms reproduced, how the queen continuously produced eggs, and why the Association wanted the infestation destroyed before the creatures could spread farther through the valley.

She told him how they had gone deeper. How the worms became stronger. How the tunnels became narrower and increasingly unstable.

Then she reached the queen.

"The information we had was wrong."

Shawn frowned.

"How wrong?"

"The queen wasn’t Rank Five." Ravenna looked directly at him. "She had advanced to Rank Six."

Shawn’s face changed immediately.

"A Rank Six burrowing queen?"

"Yes."

"And eight Rank Fours entered its nest?"

"Yes."