Chapter 41
***
In the silence, the conversation went on for a while. Euris suddenly glanced at her watch. It was already past ten o'clock at night. The last train had probably left.
She felt tired. Any more conversation would be a meaningless exchange. She looked out the window at the darkness and let out a small breath.
"I'm going to go now. We'll talk again tomorrow."
With that, she rose from the couch, and Kylan grabbed her wrist.
"Where are you going?"
".................. to check out a nearby inn."
"You're going out knowing how dangerous it is at this hour?"
"...."
"There are plenty of empty rooms here. Let's go to Thompson."
***
"I see you have more work today.”
Thompson was harassed by bar patrons all evening, and it wasn't until midnight that he was able to relax.
"It's nice to make a lot of money, but sometimes it's hard and you just want to punch them.”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he headed toward the relatively quiet checkout counter.
The padded stool behind the counter was a sanctuary he often sought during his shift. Thompson draped his thick forearms haphazardly over the armrests and leaned his head back, feeling a little tired.
"I could use a smoke.”
But the tired man closed his eyes for a moment to think. The sounds of the bustling bar were in the background. It was a familiar sound to the man who worked here every day.
"Thompson."
And he thought he might have fallen asleep. He jerked awake, startled by the familiar voice calling his name.
In front of him stood a woman as white as snow and Kylan, side by side. It was the same woman he'd seen in the commotion earlier. She was familiar.
He remembered her because of her unassuming appearance. Startled by the sudden appearance of the strange noblewoman and Kylan at such an odd hour, Thompson nearly stumbled to his feet.
Kylan shrugged it off as if he was used to seeing Thompson like that.
"Give me a room. Somewhere nice and clean for this young lady to stay, please."
Thompson stared for a moment, dumbfounded by Kylan's words, and then scrambled to comprehend them.
He fumbled hastily in a drawer and pulled out a key with a jingling sound.
"Ah, that's it. Let me see. I'll give her the west room on the third floor."
In response, Kylan held out a handful of bills from his pocket.
"Geez, you don't have to give me this much money."
"For the glass she broke earlier."
With that short answer, Kylan took the key to the room Thompson held out to him and walked ahead like the wind again. Euris, who stood like a shadow beside him, gave a curt nod and followed him out.
"..................I knew you'd be the one with the history."
Thompson muttered softly as he watched the two disappear.
For the first time in her life, Euris would be staying alone in a strange place. Kylan personally walked her to the door of her room and opened it for her.
"Breakfast tomorrow, eight o'clock, in the tavern on the first floor."
With that, he closed the door and left. Euris stood in the doorway, clutching the rusted key still, and as soon as he left, her legs gave out and she collapsed.
From that position, she looked around the dimly lit room. It was supposed to be the nicest room in the building, but it was full of signs of wear and tear.
The furniture and fabrics were missing teeth and faded.
However, the bed was certainly large and the bedding was clean. It was a decent enough room.
With a grunt, she rose from her seat and walked over to the bed. As she lay down, she felt the fatigue of the day wash over her. The tension that had been building up eased.
"My heart can just be trampled on, and because I've already lived one life, my heart in this life can just be used to stop a war, and then thrown away? Isn't that what you came to me for?"
She closed her eyes, and the voice echoed in her head, the one that cut to the heart of the matter, and she couldn't deny a single word of it.
At dawn this morning, Euris left for the capital, leaving a note on her sleeping husband's bedside.
He probably knew she was going to try to talk to Kylan. And he probably hoped more than anyone that it would go well.
'And I'm sure he knows that it's unlikely to happen.’
She lay still on the bed and covered her face with her hands. After a few moments, she buried her face in the comforter, which, despite what it looked like, had been washed and smelled good. The texture wasn't bad either. A wave of exhaustion washed over her and she drifted off to sleep.
It was the early morning sunlight streaming through the transparent window that woke Euris again. She jumped out of bed in a panic as soon as she realized she'd fallen asleep in the same outfit she'd worn yesterday.
"What time is it? Breakfast was supposed to be at 8:00, did I oversleep?”
She looked in the mirror, gave herself a cursory glance, and hurried downstairs. She needed to talk to Kylan again, because she couldn't let yesterday's conversation decide everything.
But Kylan wasn't there, and not only that, the place was empty. The bar was empty this morning, except for Thompson, who greeted her with a pleased expression.
"I see you're awake, noble lady."
He didn't find Euris difficult and made her feel at ease. But she preferred his sneer to the patronizing treatment of her nobility.
"Did I oversleep?"
"Barely. It's still breakfast time, so why don't you sit down?"
Thompson smoothed his apron, wondering what was so amusing. She looked at him quizzically, then spoke.
"What about Kylan?"
"He usually disappears in the morning, and then he comes in late at night. You'll have to wait until tonight to see him."
Thompson answered vaguely, drizzling sauce on the prepared food.
"Tonight, he can't be gone any longer.”
She cursed herself for oversleeping.
"Here, it's ready. Eat it."
Thompson set the bowl in front of her. It was prettily plated, though it didn't look like a finished dish from the rough-looking man's hands.
The meat was covered in a rich, brownish-hot sauce. There was also a fistful of chickpeas on one side.
‘Kylan doesn't like beans.’
Euris realized that beans were a common ingredient in the dishes here, as she saw several bags stacked on top of each other in the corner of the store.
She picked up her fork, thinking inexorably of Kylan.
She popped a chunk of meat covered in sauce into her mouth and it tasted good. Suddenly realizing that she hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch, Euris began to eagerly clear her plate.
"So, what's your relationship with him?"
Thompson asked while she was still engrossed in her food. Euris looked up, wondering what he was talking about. Their eyes locked, and Thompson didn't wait for an answer.
"That Kylan," Thompson said, "he looks like a rich man, and he eats porridge every day."
'I see...................'
Euris didn't answer as she chewed her food. Instead, she gave him a look that said she was listening.
"He acted like he was about to leave, so I thought there was no point in staying here..................his treatment of the young lady was certainly different."
At the mention of treating her differently, Euris's expression hardened involuntarily. It was the same kind of emotion she'd been feeling, sorry, guilty.
She could feel that Kylan still wanted and liked her, even if it was in a different way.
The sudden darkness in Euris's expression caught Thompson off guard a bit, so he changed the subject and began to babble. They chatted about the weather, the best places to see in the capital, and other useless things. Then the door to the bar opened on a quiet morning. It was Kylan.
"Kylan?"
***
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Write a comment
Luliibunny (Sunday, 17 March 2024 19:11)
Euris dear,I beg you to break his heart again and put this guy on his place...
Eve (Sunday, 17 March 2024 19:39)
I'm gonna say it, I miss Chaint �