Fourth Month, the 2nd day, 1386. 03:56.
"—THER!" I hear a tiny voice.
Who…? Where am I? I can't see anything. All is black, but then, some sort of tiny light was floating towards me.
"—other! Don't leave us again!" I could finally hear her.
Me?
This light then dashed to my face, and I saw her. She had a small cute face. She had wings, bigger than her own body. She was illuminated with a blue hue. And she looked… desperate.
"MOTHER! WAKE UP!"
At that moment, it felt as if the ground below me crumbled and I fell.
I simply closed my eyes, it wasn't the first time I had all kinds of disturbing dreams.
That's when I woke up. My eyes opened wide, I could feel my chest tighten, and I became more aware of the pain in my body, specifically at my back.
I'm lying on my front, neck twisted and my head lying sideways. I couldn't push myself up, my arms were incredibly weak, and my body felt glued to the bed.
"Don't move, Rosalie."
I froze at that low voice, but at the same time, I felt a sudden wave of relief and my whole body immediately relaxed. He's sitting in the opposite direction of where I was facing, patching up my back with some sort of herbal leaves. And yes, I'm naked, not that I care.
I simply surrendered and decided to roam my eyes around the dim room.
We're inside some sort of hut, an old one. It had windows as well, and a door by the side. There are no other rooms, aside from what seem to be the a comfort room. I can see some old furniture as well, but all of them seem well-cared for. It's not too small and not too wide, just enough for two people.
"Where are we?" I asked, my voice was hoarse and rough. I felt the pain from the dryness down on my throat. I wanted to ask how in the world he's still alive after getting stabbed straight in the gut. I'm pretty sure my sword went through his body.
"I don't know either. I regained consciousness and I saw you bleeding," he responded calmly. I couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"I literally stabbed you with the intention to kill you, yet you're doing all this for me?" I made a sarcastic remark.
"I don't see a reason to act petty and attack a severely wounded woman. You only did as you were ordered to, and you failed to do it. You're even in a vulnerable state now with your conscious male target," he stated, snaking his arm on my waist.
He pulled me up gently, as if I weighed nothing, helping me sit up properly. I folded my legs to sit on. My long hair covered my front, and he seemed unfazed.
Of course, he's a flirtatious man, but he's more of a workaholic. There are no rumors of him being a kind of bastard who sleeps around for fun. He's not thirsty for women, from what I observed.
"Can you support yourself? I'll wrap a band around you," he calmly said and I simply nodded. I sat still and he was behind me. He quietly and carefully wrapped the band around my upper body. I helped him by holding my long hair up with my currently frail arms.
I barely have the strength, why would I care about this man seeing my scarred body? It's a waste of energy.
Now that I think about it, this emptiness I feel on my chest…
Ah…
The oath… has been broken.
How? Is it that moment? What was it? And how am I still alive? I thought I'd have died the moment it was broken, yet here I am.
"Done."
I felt a blanket cover me. His weight behind me fades as he stands up. I heard his heavy footsteps on the wooden floor, and slowly, I turned to look at him. He was walking towards the stove. It seems he was cooking soup.
Like me, Caius is currently topless and has bandages wrapped around his stomach. His long black hair was tied up in a ponytail, hence I can see visible and thick scars in his body, which he probably attained during his days as a knight apprentice.
The silence is so comfortable, it was as if I didn't attempt to kill him hours ago. Is this how light one feels when they're free of restraints?
Of that oath?
"How many hours have passed?" I asked with a low and weak voice as I shifted my body to face him, letting my legs relax by the side. He poured his dish in a soup bowl.
"About four hours, I think," he responded as he then poured water in a glass. He then put them both in the tray and walked back to me.
Caius placed them down next to me, on the bed itself. He sat and faced me with the tray between us. He then took the spoon, scooped in the warm soup, and even blew it for me, then gestured it towards me.
I had no room for hesitation. I leaned in and drank it. It was warm and milky. Very mild in flavor and easy on the stomach. I glanced up to Caius and saw his reaction. He looked taken aback, I almost laughed at him.
"What?"
He blinked.
"Oh, I thought you'd slap the food to my face since you hate me as much as that little bitch—I mean, that master of yours," he responded without filtering his words.
Unable to hold back, I actually laughed at that.
By how I see things, Caius does not give a single crap about Hael himself. Maybe he doesn't like him, but he doesn't care about him either.
The same goes with me towards him. I don't like him, but I don't hate him as much as Hael does.
"I don't have a reason to," I stated with honesty, my voice dry and low. "Hael already abandoned me. He ordered his men to silence me."
Caius's gaze changed when he heard my words.
"So you knew," he says, pertaining to the fact that the men who attacked us were Hael's men, and I nodded.
It's not that I knew it would happen, I simply confirmed it only after the oath. The oath binds not only our cores, but our desires as well. I hold no strong or deep emotions for anyone, even that betrayal I felt was just a faint, passing feeling.
Hael's desires, on the other hand… are so strong that I nearly mistook it as my own. His resentment towards Caius is almost as similar to his hatred towards me.
He wanted me dead, six-feet under the ground, or to rot in some hell.
I'm not one to remain blind to such hostility, but I did my job as I was supposed to. I simply couldn't care less as long as I'm not involved in some sort of drama or draining happenings caused by humanity's stupidity. During that time, I knew he wouldn't be able to kill me as long as I proved myself useful in his ascension to the crown.
That's why I didn't mind being his knight, or to be more specific, his damned slave.
Who knew he'd abandon me now? I thought he'd at least keep me around for a few more years, and yet, the moment he sat on the throne, he finally asked his shadows to kill me while I went for someone who he couldn't even touch for the past years.
Killing two birds with one stone. Why didn't I think of that?
I look at Caius and I can see how much he pities me through his eyes. Now that I think about it… maybe the reason he was furious about the fact that I made an oath with Hael was because he knew it would turn out like this someday. Since when? Was it when we were at the academy?
If so, how…?
"Are you going to feed me or not?" I reminded him, and he raised a brow.
"How are you so calm about this?" He hit me with a question, ignoring my complaint.
"I'm not calm about it, it's simply…"
I realized for the past few years of being his knight.
I want peace. I want freedom. I want to live.
All will be beyond reach if I think of revenge, or look for the reasons why he harbors such feelings towards me. At a certain point on a random day, I simply thought being abandoned and left alone… is the only way I can achieve that.
I smiled, for the first time in years, in front of my supposed enemy.
"I hold no deep feelings for him, not love, not even hate."
He didn't say anything after that and fed me patiently. For someone who takes pleasure in bullying me, he sure is careful and calm while feeding me. I can tell that he wants to voice out the thoughts inside his head, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.
Right after feeding me, he helped me drink some water. As he placed down the empty cup, he turned to me and asked.
"Let's have a deal," he began. I glanced up to him to focus on what he wanted to say. "No killing or any physical fights for the duration of recovery. We'll work together to recover at a stable pace."
I stared at him for a moment. Well, I don't have a reason to kill him now, I've already failed, and the oath has been broken. I don't think he has any reason to take my life either. He did give an effort to treat my wounds and feed me.
Nevertheless, I nodded in agreement. It works both ways.
Caius smiled.
Ah... how I hate it when he does that.