Chapter 34: The Ghost in the Game
Cassian let out a slow breath, running a hand through his dark hair as he stared at the diary still lying open on the desk.
'Hmm though i have a doubt.. How did he do it?'
How did Cassian Starfall manage to keep six girls wrapped around his finger without them realizing?
They didn’t know about each other.
That much was obvious.
But how had he kept them separate? Hidden? Balanced them like pieces on a chessboard without slipping up?
Cassian narrowed his eyes at the notes, flipping through the pages with practiced precision.
Each girl had her own role. Her own utility.
Six names. Six masks. Six different stories, each carefully woven into something convincing enough to keep them hooked.
And the real question—
'Were those relationships purely emotional, or was there a physical element too?'
Cassian's stomach twisted at the thought.
There was nothing in the diary that indicated intimacy—no mention of anything beyond carefully crafted mind games.
But that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.
Cassian clenched his jaw.
‘Physical contact is a no for me’
If that had been part of Starfall’s game, then it was something he couldn't do.
A sudden knock on the door pulled him from his spiraling thoughts.
Cassian blinked, shifting his focus
"The main question is..." he started, but the words trailed off as he moved toward the door and pulled it open.
A small figure stood there.
Sky.
The toddler held a small tray of breakfast in his hands, balancing it with determined focus.
His blue eyes lifted, bright and stubborn.
"You were going to eat alone," Sky declared, stepping inside. "That is not good. Mama said eating with family is important, so I brought my own breakfast here. Now come on—don't let your food get cold!"
Cassian hesitated for half a second before sighing.
Of course he did.
Sky didn’t believe in boundaries.
Cassian stepped aside, allowing the toddler to waddle in before shutting the door behind him.
Sky carried his tray over to the table, setting it down with a small huff before turning expectantly toward Cassian.
"Come on!" he urged.
Cassian exhaled through his nose, grabbing his own breakfast tray from the bedside table and walking over.
He sat across from Sky, picking up a fork.
For a while, there was only the quiet clinking of utensils, the occasional sound of Sky happily munching on his food.
Then—
"Well, Sky..." Cassian started, his voice casual. "Why did your brother keep a diary?"
Sky didn’t look up at first, his little fingers still gripping his fork as he chewed.
Finally, he swallowed and tilted his head.
"Brother said it was for amusement."
Cassian’s fingers tensed slightly around the handle of his fork.
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Amusement.
That figured.
Cassian Starfall hadn’t just been playing games.
'He had been enjoying it. '
Cassian forced his expression to remain neutral.
"Amusement, huh?" he murmured, twirling his fork between his fingers.
Sky nodded.
"Yeah. He said it made things more fun."
Cassian pressed his lips into a thin line.
Fun.
For Starfall, this was entertainment.
For Cassian?
He needed to learn the rules.
And more importantly—
He needed to figure out a way out of this game….
His gaze flickered to the diary again. The meticulously recorded entries. The carefully categorized masks, manipulations, and mind games Starfall had played.
And yet—
Something didn’t add up.
Cassian frowned, his mind pulling at a thread of memory.
Sky had told him something before. Something about Cassian Starfall’s habits at the academy.
Cassian turned to Sky, tapping a finger against the table.
"Wait… Sky, do you remember telling me before that your brother didn’t talk to anyone at the academy? That he always sat in the corner seat near the window? But he had one friend—a girl named Liana?"
Sky blinked at him. "Yeah. What about it? Is something wrong?"
Cassian’s frown deepened. "You also said she wore a sparkle dress. And that your brother said she was important to the family, right?"
Sky nodded. "Yeah! And she gave me candy once!"
Cassian’s jaw clenched.
"Then why… in this entire diary… is there no girl named Liana?"
Sky froze.
His small hands curled around his fork, blue eyes widening.
"What??"
Cassian exhaled sharply, flipping through the diary’s pages once again.
One by one, he skimmed over the names.
Not a single mention of Liana.
Not in the masks. Not in the mind games. Not even in the footnotes. Not in classmates, Not in batchmates, Nowhere
It was as if she didn’t exist.
Sky swallowed. "Are you sure? Maybe he wrote about her somewhere else?"
Cassian’s fingers drummed against the table.
"Possible. But unlikely."
Everything Starfall did was calculated. Obsessively thorough.
He didn’t forget pieces of his game.
So why wasn’t Liana in his notes?
Cassian’s stomach twisted. There were only two explanations.
One—She wasn’t part of the game.
Or two—She was something else entirely.
"Alright," Cassian said, keeping his voice even. "Let’s go over it again. You met her at the park, right?"
Sky nodded quickly. "Yeah! Brother took me there because he had to… um… ‘deal’ with someone. He wanted me to watch."
Cassian stiffened.
He knew what Starfall meant by ‘deal with someone.’
But the thought of Sky being dragged along—forced to watch something he should never have seen—
His grip on the diary tightened.
Breathe.
He forced himself to focus.
"And that’s when she showed up?"
Sky nodded again. "She and Brother talked for a bit. I dunno about what. But then she smiled at me and gave me candy before leaving."
Cassian’s gaze darkened.
A girl who wasn’t in the diary.
A girl who had talked to Starfall.
A girl who had given Sky candy.
And then—
She vanished.
"Have you seen her at the academy?" Cassian asked carefully.
Sky hesitated.
His brows furrowed, his small hands gripping the edge of the table.
A long silence.
Then, finally—
"No," Sky admitted. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen her again."
Cassian leaned back in his chair.
Not in the academy.
Not in the diary.
Not anywhere else.
'Who the hell was she?'
