#slowly going insane seeing ppl give caleb 20 years to life in prison for this lol

[edgarbright]

tl;dr Caleb is innocent until proven guilty + the game already told us who is responsible for the house explosion and it's not him

There's been a surge of popularity over the theory that Caleb himself staged the house explosion and it reminds me of how, for months and months, people kept accusing Rafayel of leaving MC to drown in chapter 7--despite MC immediately stating afterwards that it was Rafayel who was in danger, not her. And she also explicitly thanked him for saving her so that she didn't drown! But people still kept accusing him.

MC: "You're the idiot. The whirlpool was obviously a death trap, but you just swam right into it..."

MC, a few lines later: "Anyway, thanks... You were the one who pulled me out of the water, right? Thought I heard your voice before I blacked out..."

I'm excited to learn Caleb's POV of the house explosion incident, because it was his idea to return home and not to keep Grandma waiting! And it was MC who stated he should go inside, alone. They literally parted ways in the worst way: after an argument. Like what was going on in his head at that moment when he first felt the heat on his skin and knew MC was, blessedly, still outside?

Plus what would Caleb have to gain by killing Grandma except MC's hatred? Grandma was already dying!

And I point all of this out because the game already showed us who was responsible for the house explosion in the World Underneath, chapter 6 part 6 of Sealed in Dust: it was the rogue agents from Xavier's Backtrackers working for Ever Group!

Raincoat: "You silenced Josephine and retrieved the research material from back then. Good work."

The "You" here is to the Backtracker, the "hat-wearing man." And we know it is a Backtracker because Raincoat further says: "Your Prince Xavier has been glued to her side watching over her, right?"

And the Backtracker confirms his own association by saying: "Hmph, Xavier can only guard her for so long. He's too busy dealing with his own issues. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's not just Ever who wants her."

Plus the item exchange in this transaction is the research information taken from Grandma's house before the explosion and a drug to help the Backtracker survive longer on Earth. Ever Group, as we know, has a strong hand in the medical science.

Remember the Backtrackers are turning into Wanderers--Xavier already killed one of his men, Isaiah, and later straight-up murders another Backtracker who is in the process of turning (see below). Remember that MC on Philos was used as the fuel in the planetary machine that kept everyone and everything alive. Many of the Backtrackers want to sacrifice her again to save their lives! And Xavier tells them to back off. He's using his sword to make sure they back off. He knows his own people are a danger to her. (How tragic that he brought a danger with him on his expedition to save her...)

So in conclusion, Caleb is innocent until proven guilty, the game already told us the main people responsible for the explosion are Ever Group and the Backtracker rogue agents, and with all the trailers reminding us again and again, we really shouldn't be questioning that Caleb has only ever wanted to look after MC. Caleb wants to be with her! So you honestly can't have your LIs doing unforgivable things like murdering beloved Grandmas, like let's be real here.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! We're less than 3 days until Caleb's homecoming!