Sorry 37

 Chapter 37

    ***

    Inside the orange-lit bar, there were already a lot of people. Thompson was the first to spot Kylan, and he shouted through the crowd, drawing all eyes to him.

    "Sh*t.”

    He cursed under his breath.

    "Haha, you're late. You have no idea how much we've all been dying for you to show up."

    Thompson said in a friendly tone as he saw Kylan standing in the doorway of the bar with a distant look on his face. He patted Kylan on the shoulder and guided him to a seat.

    The bar was more crowded than usual. A quick glance showed that the percentage of female patrons was much higher than usual. Almost all of what Thompson called "the people who were dying for you    to come in" were women.

    ‘Annoying.’

    Kylan plopped down at a bar-style table, a favorite among the regulars because it was a place to eat and listen to Thompson talk. A part of him wanted to disappear into a corner and eat quietly, but he held back, remembering the kindness he'd shown him.

    Kylan was a commoner here, and because of his unceremonious military service with Thompson, the tavern's patrons had no idea of his noble status. They seemed to think he was just a casual acquaintance of Thompson's. A rather handsome one, though.

    The women in the tavern were all swooning over his good looks. Most of the regulars were merchants who had risen to the ranks of the emerging bourgeoisie.

    In a world driven by money, most of their desires could be met with money. Having already amassed enough wealth to outbid the lesser nobles, they were eager to throw money at Kylan and get what they wanted.

    "Kylan, it's been a while."

    Grace, the most eager of them all, a woman well past marriageable age, greeted him.

    A lady who had made a fortune running a woolen mill, she had a reputation for being unable to resist a handsome man.

    It was one of the reasons Kylan rarely came to the bar. Thompson was good to him, but he was self-employed. Sometimes, like today, he used him for profit.

    Kylan gave Grace a blank stare and pulled out a cigar. Other women occupied the remaining seats around him.

    But the aura around Kylan was so heavy that no one dared to speak to him in a friendly way.

    Part of her wanted to tell them to get lost, but he couldn't do that with Thompson. He was sure Thompson knew that, which was why he was so comfortable using him to gain profit.

    Smoke billowed out of his cigar, which he lit more heavily, hoping to make the women around him disappear.

    Even after his plate was set in front of him, Kylan didn't pick up his utensils until he'd finished his cigar.

    He wasn't a big fan of beans, but everything cooked in Thompson's hands tasted good. He picked up his fork, ignoring the uncomfortable stares around him.

    He would be leaving soon anyway. He said he would go in the winter, but with the schedule wrapping up so quickly, he would be leaving a little sooner than that.

    That would put an end to this tedium, he thought, just as he was about to shove a haphazardly cut chunk of meat into his mouth when a distant commotion erupted. He put down his fork and turned toward it.

    It was too far away to see or hear, but a woman and a man were arguing in the deeper part of the bar. 

    It was the sort of commotion that was common in a place where the poor mixed with those who had enough money to live on. Men trying to get at the women, and women trying to squeeze every last cent out of the men. Or vice versa.

    Kylan turned his head back to his food, uninterested. The others were no longer paying attention to the fuss.

    "Kylan, are you free tonight?"

    Grace asked, not missing a beat. Kylan chewed slowly on the meat in his mouth and stared at her with cold eyes.

    Grace felt her breath catch in her throat. The man she hadn't even looked at before was shooting her a cold glare that made her want to strangle him right then and there.

    "No."

    Kylan, who had swallowed all the food in his mouth and wiped his mouth once with a napkin, replied slowly. Grace's face flushed easily.

    It wasn't often she got to hear this man's answer. She was about to say something more when a loud noise interrupted her.

    The sound of something being sharply smashed came from the spot where the man and woman had been huddled. A man's shouting followed. All eyes in the bar turned toward them.

    Kylan looked in that direction, too, unable to concentrate on his meal. Grace glanced at him for a moment, unable to continue the conversation, before shifting her gaze to the source of the noise.

    "Hey!"

    Thompson snapped angrily, stomping over to the source of the disturbance.

    "You broke my glass, are you going to reimburse me?"

    "I didn't break it, this woman hit it while she was moving!"

    The man shouted in an indignant voice.

    The woman's face was obscured in the crowd of big, burly men, but a glimpse of her body appeared. Kylan could see her fine clothing and her hair flowing down her back.

    The white, almost golden hair that fell to her shoulders was a rare sight among these back alleys, especially one so well cared for and soft.

    ‘Euris has hair like that.’

    Kylan wrinkled his brow and tried to shake the thought away as her name inexorably came to mind. She shouldn't be here.

    She shouldn't be in a place like this, but he couldn't help but stare.

    The woman in the commotion was wearing a light yellow dress of good quality, the sort of thing you don't often see in an alley like this. Kylan clicked his tongue.

    'A young lady who doesn't know much about the world must be walking in the wrong place. Or a commoner pretending to be a noble lady.’

    It was unlikely that a noblewoman would come to a backstreet tavern in a ramshackle capital like this. It seemed like a pretty strange situation, but Kylan wasn't inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

    If she was indeed a noble lady, she might recognize him by his face.

    That would spoil his surroundings, where he'd been pretending to be a commoner. That was a no-no.

    Thompson would clean up the mess and send them away anyway. With that thought, he finished his meal.

    His bowl was nearly empty. Kylan moved his fork diligently, thinking to himself to finish this quickly and then head back up to his room.

    "Kyle......."

    Grace seized the opportunity and opened her mouth to say something to Kylan again, but her attempt was again spectacularly cut short by the voice that followed.

    "I'm looking for someone!"

    The voice was eerily familiar, and Kylan dropped the fork he'd been gripping. The dull thud of metal against wood cut through the bar's commotion.

    Kylan turned his head again, a look of disbelief on his face.

    There was a young woman there, glaring at the men surrounding her with a look of exasperation.

    Her pale yellow dress glowed as if she were under a spotlight on a stage. At least, that's how it seemed to Kylan.

    He rose slowly from his seat, looking as if he'd forgotten he'd even been eating.

    ‘That can't be possible.'

    ***

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