Chapter 51
****
Euris captured the scene before her in a daze. It had been a long time since she'd heard the sound of the river rushing by. She'd been here mostly before the war, and so all the familiar things cluttered her memory like more distant memories.
"Honey, the river is beautiful."
It was the first place Chaint had brought his wife to soothe her melancholy, and she'd grown to love it and come back many times on her own.
"If only I could walk here with you every day like we did today. Maybe we should ask the imperial court to relieve us of our duties?"
Even his playful voice played in her ears as if it were days ago. It was a memory she had forgotten.
And how did she answer him?
She didn't say anything, just smiled weakly. That's all she remembered, and maybe she reacted sharply at times.
'I thought I had given him all my heart in this life, but I haven't, and I'm still far from enough to repay the love he gave me.’
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she felt them slide down her cheeks. She didn't want to cry in front of Kylan, and she was annoyed at herself for shedding so many unnecessary tears at a time like this.
'I should have been nicer. I should have expressed more.’
Kylan saw the tears rolling down Euris' cheeks and pulled her closer. Before she realized it, she was being helplessly embraced in his arms.
‘This is crazy.’
'Crazy' was the only word that came to her mind. She felt Kylan's chest against her cheek as she buried her face in it. She could smell his cologne, a strange mix of cigarette smoke.
She didn't push away from Kylan's embrace; she could sense that he was holding her in a loving hug, but she didn't have the strength to resist. But then his voice crashed into her ear.
"I don't want you to cry when you think of someone else, not since you left Alton."
The words startled Euris, and she instinctively pushed against his chest before turning to look at him. Kylan's expression was as frosty as Euri's.
"What?"
"You're going to Lepallon as my lover."
Euris’ eyes widened at his words.
"Lover?"
"The spies are perceptive. If they know you have someone else in your heart, they will suspect us."
"..."
"We may have to act as more than friends in the future."
Euris looked at him in disbelief. Her eyes fluttered as she heard the words for the first time, but Kylan's expression remained calm.
"You didn't say that before!"
She jumped to her feet, but Kylan grabbed her wrist with a strong grip.
"Euris."
His gravelly voice jerked her back to her feet. The midday sun shone on Kylan's face. A light breeze ruffled his hair, and beneath it, she could see the all-too-familiar red eyes. But stranger than ever...............
"Don't act like a child. You should have expected this. Did you really think I, the last bloodline of the Imperial House of Lepallon, could take you away without making that much of a connection?"
It tingled where her wrist had been grabbed. Euris didn't have to look to know it was red. Twisting away would be futile. She slumped back against the bench.
"If you don't want to be with me now, go back."
Euris looked up at him at Kylan's words. She didn't feel bad, but she didn't feel good either.
'Should I go back to ........... my husband's side now?'
She thought about it for a moment. She was scared and everything felt uncertain. She was worried that she had made a foolish choice.
She didn't want to be separated from him. She had spoken hopefully of returning to him to stop the war, but all she knew was the handful of knowledge she had read beyond the pages of books and the memories of the past she had picked up in Alton. A future with no certainty. It was natural to feel hesitant.
As if reading the hesitation in her eyes, Kylan gently released his grip on her wrist. As if to say, if you're sure you want to go, go. Euris rubbed her free wrist for a moment, aching.
"Go, Euris."
His voice was once again easy.
But she didn't move away. She stood there for a moment, still as ice, and instead of pulling away from him, she steadied her breathing. At this rate, if she ever returned to Glamis Manor again...................
Chaint would be there to greet her. With a smile, with unadulterated joy, and she would prepare to leave for Velontia, one step at a time. Perhaps he would even convince his close family to join them, and together, they’d prepare to emigrate.
And then what?
Then..................
Ruris clenched her fists. She bit her lip in spite of herself. She would never be able to happily accept life in Velontia.
She would regret over and over again what she would have done if she had followed Kylan at this moment of choice. That much was clear. And if Alton burned in a few years, she would be unhappy for the rest of her life.
"Choose."
She heard Kylan's voice again, and it jolted her awake. Kylan must go to Lepallon. There was no choice there. Euris, on the other hand, had a chance, and she reminded herself that it was her own decision to go to Lepallon with him.
Once she had gathered her thoughts, she looked at Kylan. He was looking at her with soft eyes.
There was silence. Only the gentle rush of the water, the occasional voice of a passerby, and the rustle of leaves in the breeze filled the air.
She didn't move away, and after a few moments, Kylan spoke again.
"I gave you a chance."
He gently took the woman's hand, the one he'd gripped so hard just moments before. He kissed her wrist, reddened from the force of his grip. The soft touch of his lips on her pulse.
"Are you, are you the Kylan I know?"
At the question, Kylan leaned down and kissed her wrist, then looked up at her. The dark hair that fell across his forehead partially obscured his eyes, but she could see the frosty, piercing gaze through it.
"Well. Depends on which Kylan you knew."
He laughed as he said it. The low, rumbling laugh was so strange that Euris pulled her hand away, but he laughed like it didn't matter. His laugh rang in her ears over and over again.
***
"Scribe? Are you the scribe?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, what's going on?"
He turned to see a puzzled-looking secretary, Bilzen, clutching a stack of papers in his arms. Outside the windows of the imperial residence, the sun was shining brightly. Chaint's eyes refocused.
'Oh, I've been distracted again..................’
It had been several days since Euris had left. He wasn't obligated to report to the imperial court every day, but he couldn't bear to be alone in the mansion that bore her imprint, so he had deliberately stayed in the capital, living in the imperial household. The secretary, Bilzen, was a man of unassuming personality, and he studied Chaint's expression as he placed a stack of papers on his desk for approval.
"You've been acting a little strange these last few days. Is something wrong?"
"Uh, no. I just got distracted."
Chaint replied, accepting the stack of papers with familiarity. His expression was unchanged. Bilzen eyed his boss warily. Feeling the pressure of the stare, he averted his eyes.
Even the scribe could not hide the anxiety and worry that radiated from beneath his usual expression. His boss had been working overtime for four days now.
No, there was no need to come to the imperial court in the first place. Of course, it was no bad thing for Bilzen that the scribe had to go to work. He wouldn't fall behind on his work, and in many ways, he would have less work to do.
But Chaint looked worse than that. His face was full of lines, and his eyes were dark under the circles from lack of sleep.
Chaint consciously ignored Bilzen's gaze and shuffled the stacks of papers on his desk. After studying his boss for a moment, Bilzen spoke with concern.
"Hmm.................., Mr. Scribe. You look tired, I suggest you go home and rest with your wife, there's nothing urgent and you need to use your vacation days."
***
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Write a comment
asagisora (Sunday, 10 November 2024 06:23)
Poor Chaint