Chapter 43
***
Muttering a short, quick apology, Kylan squeezed his eyes shut and clamped one hand over Euris’s nose, then took a deep breath and breathed into Euris’s mouth.
He breathed so hard that his chest heaved. His face flushed, he blew in a breath so strong it made his own breathing difficult, and waited to breathe again.
"Kollok!"
Again and again, clear valley water spewed from Euris's mouth, running down her cheeks, chin, and neck, soaking into the cobblestones. (*past incident)
He cried then, thanking his lucky stars she wasn't dead.
And that first kiss was his own little secret. Kylan had never forgotten the secret, not even for a moment.
It was all he could do to keep Euris alive. But Kylan could never erase the feel of those lips. For the young boy, the event stuck in the back of his mind as an intense memory that would never be forgotten.
He broke the gaze that had lingered at the edge of his memory and brushed his lips dry.
The growing sunlight broke over his dark hair. Kylan rose to his feet again. Smoke trailed behind him in a wisp.
He stroked his chin, feeling the smooth flesh against his skin for the first time in a long time. He'd groomed his hair and beard this morning.
It had been a bit impulsive, not wanting to give her a scruffy look, which was ridiculous.
He remembered those green eyes, tinged with remorse for what he'd done. He remembered her beautiful face as if it were a dream from the past, the way her nose had turned so red from the sharp scent of tobacco and she didn’t even frown.
‘Everything was supposed to go according to plan.’
His hand tightened on the cigar, and the tip snapped and bent.
‘And yet, you came and shook me.’
He knew it was a ridiculous rationalization, but that's what he thought.
Baang. The loud roar of the train's engine drew his gaze in that direction. The train Euris was on was pulling away from the platform in a puff of black smoke.
He stared back at the train's rear end, the sunlight blinding him.
He could play the villain for all he cared right now.
He dropped the butt of his cigar to the ground.
***
Returning safely to the mansion, Euris told Chaint that she was tired and laid down in her bedroom. Chaint had been working in his office and noticed his wife's expression, which was a bit complicated, so he didn't ask further. The pattern on the ceiling of his bedroom looked unusually intricate today. Her conversation with Kylan had given her plenty to think about.
"It's dangerous up there."
She deliberately reminded herself of the last time she saw Kylan in this life. The last time had been a bad one, and she'd been consciously avoiding him.
"Euris, are you crazy? Are you going to die? Where are your shoes again................"
"Come down with me. I'll take you to safety."
Now that she thought about it, he was trying to take care of her. Why?
Euris found herself dangling precariously from the railing of a dimly lit high rise, only a couple of fingers holding on. The cliffs were spreading out beneath her feet.
In that situation, she had no fear. She was so tired that she would have chosen death without hesitation.
She hadn't noticed. His eyes begged her to stay alive. What was Kylan really thinking when he looked into her eyes, and why was he looking out for herself now?
"Are you sure............... you're not from the future too?"
"No."
She thought he was lying.
‘But why the hell....................’
Kylan had been overly calm, listening to all the stories of how she and Chaint had died and come back. He even suggested that they travel to Lepallon together.
"Come with me to the Lepallon Empire.”
The Kylan she knew, at least, was the kind of man who wouldn't put her in danger. In her last life, he had deliberately lied so that he could travel to Lepallon alone.
He left everyone he cared about here and traveled there all by himself because he knew it would endanger everyone whom he loved.
But now Kylan was asking her to go with him to that potentially dangerous empire, even though he would never, ever, intentionally put her in harm's way.
A thought flashed through her mind at that.
'There was a gap of a few weeks between the time that Chaint and I returned to the past, and it was exactly the same time interval that I died in my last life. In my last life, Kylan was alive until I died, and if he died after that, then…’
So if he returned at some point after the Count of Hebron's funeral.
Euris jerked up from her bed. The soft comforter fluttered with the movement.
It had no basis. Nothing was clear. But her instincts were screaming at her.
Kylan had lived once and returned, and there had to be a reason he was asking her to go with him to the country.
If it wasn't that, it didn't explain his behavior now.
She couldn't immediately answer the many questions that popped into her head.
But she'd known Kylan long enough to be certain that he was hiding something from her.
And when she pressed him further, Kylan would only repeat the same answer, that he was asking her to come with him for some reason.
'Is it necessary for me to go with him to that country, is there a reason he must hide his return from me?’
Kylan said goodbye in a tone that made it sound like he expected her to come back in two weeks. Was this all part of his plan, all these thoughts she'd just realized?
It was already dark outside the window, and Euris pushed herself to her feet. She staggered out of bed and out the door.
She made her way to the office in silent steps.
Through the crack in the doorway, she could see Chaint, engrossed in his work, and she watched him from where she stood.
His lovely light-brown hair cascaded down his bowed head, and the warmth of his embrace felt like it was just out of reach.
'A good man, who vaguely knows why she's in the capital, but doesn't ask any questions.’
Euris watched him for a moment, then turned and walked away. She could have watched him like that for hours. But the feeling of sadness was too strong for her.
Her steps led her to a small room at the end of the second floor hallway, where in her last life she had retreated whenever she wanted to be alone. It was a place Euris had come to often in the early days of their marriage, when she was still struggling with her unrequited love for Kylan.
Considering this was her first time in this life, she's had a pretty good life so far.
She could watch him like that for hours, Euris thought, smiling weakly.
She poured herself a glass of the liquor the servant had brought. The muddy liquors of her last life were rarely sought after her rebirth.
But today she opened a strong drink. She was exhausted from her trip to the south, and from traveling to the capital with little rest, but she felt like she couldn't survive without alcohol.
The anguish that had been growing deeper as the night drew on, turned to sadness as the alcohol took hold and came in waves.
"......"
A sobbing voice echoed through the room. Euris clutched her head. She was in pain. She thought the alcohol would make it better, but it only made it worse.
‘I have to go to Lepallon.’
The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't deny the reality. She had a hunch that she was needed for a reason, and it wasn't just because of the war.
***
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Write a comment
asagisora (Saturday, 09 November 2024 04:13)
My wildest guess is, Kylan must have something to do too with the regression.