The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 199

Happy-2

“When I put it like that?!” Lori barked. “Iva, your life sounds like one of those forbidden fantasy dramas old shewolves secretly read under blankets.”

Despite herself, Iva burst into another fit of laughter.

And Goddess…

It felt good.

After weeks of heartbreak, fear, confusion and emotional exhaustion, sitting here with Lori felt grounding.

Safe.

Normal.

Even if nothing about her life was normal anymore.

Lori eventually calmed enough to inspect the mark again, though her expression softened noticeably this time.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered honestly.

Iva’s fingers instinctively brushed against the marking.

The skin there still tingled faintly.

Like Caleb’s presence lingered permanently against her body.

“He…” she started softly before stopping herself.

Lori noticed immediately.

“You love him.”

It was not a question.

Iva looked down toward her hands.

す

And after everything that happened… after all the fear, misunderstandings and chaos…

She could no longer deny it.

“Yes, I believe I do,” she admitted quietly.

Avalon stirred warmly inside her chest.

Lori smiled sadly but fondly.

“Well,” she said while bumping her shoulder lightly against Iva’s, “from the way that man looks at you, I think the poor prince is equally doomed.”

Iva’s heartbeat immediately accelerated.

1/5

Happy ?

Because she remembered that look.

The intensity in Caleb’s eyes whenever they landed on her.

Like she was the only thing existing around him.

Like he wanted to devour her whole.

Her cheeks burned instantly.

Lori noticed.

And then the evil grin appeared.

“Oh no,” Lori said slowly. “That blush means there is more.”

“There is not,” Iva lied terribly.

“There absolutely is.”

“Lori…”

Lori crossed her arms.

“I am your best friend. I can literally see your soul leaving your body from embarrassment right now.”

Iva groaned dramatically before hiding her face again.

“We kissed,” she mumbled.

Lori blinked.

Iva squeaked in humiliation while Lori started laughing hysterically.

“I KNEW IT! I knew it from your face!”

“Please stop talking.”

“No chance.”

Iva threw a pillow at her.

Lori dodged it while laughing harder.

But eventually her expression softened again as she looked carefully toward her friend.

“Are you happy, though?”

The question settled quietly between them.

Iva’s smile slowly faded into something gentler.

More vulnerable.

“I think…” she whispered softly, “for the first time in my life… someone actually wants me.”

Claim

2/5

Happy?

Lori’s eyes instantly became emotional.

“You deserve that, idiot,” she whispered back fiercely. “You always did.

Claim

Lori was still hovering around her like an overprotective mother hen, her fingers carefully brushing over the fading bruises on Iva’s shoulder while her expression shifted between outrage, fascination, and dramatic disbelief every few seconds.

But then Lori’s eyes narrowed again with sharp medical focus as she pointed toward the healing cut near Iva’s collarbone.

“Now seriously. What happened?”

Iva let out a long breath before leaning back slightly against the wall.

“It was Marik’s class.”

Lori blinked.

“…What?”

“The combat assessment class,” Iva clarified carefully.

Lori stared at her for three full seconds before exploding.

“ARE THEY INSANE?!”

Several muffled noises echoed from the corridor outside as if students passing nearby had heard the

outburst.

Iva quickly waved her hands.

“Keep your voice down!”

“No, I will not keep my voice down!” Lori whisper-shouted aggressively. “You are injured! What kind of barbaric academy puts students through that kind of madness?!”

Iva bit her lip, remembering the brutal training field, the smell of dirt and blood, the merciless intensity radiating from Instructor Marik while students were pushed beyond their limits until some collapsed.

“It was… intense,” she admitted quietly.

“Intense?” Lori repeated in disbelief. “You look like you fought in a border war.”

Iva looked away sheepishly.

“That might be because Marik believes pain builds discipline and hates people skipping his classes.”

Lori looked personally offended by that statement.

“Well Marik can respectfully go throw himself off a cliff.”

That earned another laugh from Iva.

365

< Happy 2

Claim

But Lori’s expression slowly shifted again when she noticed the complicated emotions flickering across Tva’s face beneath the amusement.

“You are hiding details,” Lori accused immediately.

Iva sighed.

Of course she noticed.

“It was not only the class,” she admitted quietly “The atmosphere there… it was different. Brutal. Competitive. Some students looked at me like they wanted me gone from the first second.”

Lori’s face darkened instantly.

“Elites?”

Iva nodded.

“Mostly.”

A bitter silence settled briefly between them.

Both of them knew how the hierarchy worked among their kind, especially inside prestigious institutions like the Lycan Academy where bloodlines, status, strength and family names carried enormous weight.

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