Her solemn figure swooshed through the corridor, a waft following her all the way towards the stairs and below. Running along the path towards her slave’s room, the already sour face festered further, slowly turning dismal as her eyebrows churned eerily.
Finally, as her harsh breaths lingered soundly through the space, she stood right in front of his door, waiting. “Lutiel,” she called out suddenly, lowering her face somewhat. However, hearing no response after tens of breaths had passed, she parted her lips once again, grinding the emotions on her face. “Lutiel, are you there?” She asked, only to linger in the vacant air.
“Come out, please, before I use the brand,” her voice turned lighter as she softened up around the brows, alas, no voice came forth from beyond the closed doors.
Quickly, a mellow light came from her hand, growing silently before bouncing off the wood. Yet, her eyes could only widen away whilst the brows creased vehemently. Glancing at the handle that didn’t work, Zyponia suddenly parted her mouth, staying that way for a while.
“N-no, there is no way. No, no, please, don’t do this,” she kept muttering out, briskly taking her hand towards the keyhole. Appearing out of nowhere, a ball of water hovered over her palm, floating about whilst changing swiftly.
Forming a small key, before long, it ventured inside the hole. Turning right away, the doors clicked before she pushed them inside, instantly stepping into his room.
-
On the other side of the ground floor, a certain door opened up, quickly revealing a figure. Unlike usual, her hair was somewhat unkempt, a few strands falling out. Similarly, she rubbed her fingers along the eyes, easing up the dark wrinkles underneath.
“What was that noise?” Raeyine asked herself dazedly, only to abruptly settle her vision through the space, as if a bucket of cold water washed over her. The girl quickly moved through the space, arriving towards the area in less than a minute, her hastened breath falling out as she walked through the left open door of Lutiel.
She witnessed the room quickly, covered in snow all around the opened window, some flakes still flowing inside. “What happened here?” She suddenly asked whilst turning to the left. However, seeing the demonic lady sitting in the chair, leaning over the note in her right hand, she couldn’t help but shut her lips silently.
Watching as the tears fell down and tainted the note’s page, her eyebrows flowed, together with her widening eyes. Quickly, she glanced at the reddened edges of the lord’s eyes, parting her lips at the same time. “Zyponia, what’s wrong?”
Hearing the question, the lady’s straight face slowly turned towards the source of the voice, promptly staring ahead as the droplets continued to teem down her face. Shifting into a broken smile, her voice split unsteadily.
“He betrayed me as well, Raeyi, ” she whispered out, breathing roughly at the end before smearing her eyes away. “I want to go home already, I can’t stand it here anymore,” the girl added, only flinching as her head maid promptly walked towards her.
Her hair swaying about as she was suddenly apprehended by her hug, the widened eyes slowly fell down, closing lightly before she drowned in the embrace. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine,” Raeyine spoke softly, caressing the back of her head.
“We can arrange a ship any time you want,” she added, only for the girl to fidget around in her arms. “What is it?”
“Please, read it. I was only able to finish the first sentence,” with a sobbing voice, she battled through her runny nose, rubbing out the fluids running across the face with her sleeved hand.
“...Sure,” albeit hesitantly, Raeyine voiced out, slowly approaching the page dotted with wet stains. Her eyes traced the lines nippily, the eyebrows creasing deeper whilst gradually approaching the bottom of the page.
“Ahh,” she staggered in response, however, Zyponia’s eager eyes hammered down at her. Not closing her mouth, she continued on. “Eh? I don’t think that’s actually the case,” Raeyine said, unassured, making the girl furrow her eyes deeply, rubbing the eyes one last time before falling into a faint anger.
“What do you mean?” She let out, slightly harsher than usual.
“Well, he did run away on his own, but he promised to come back as soon as he can,” Raeyine revealed to the lady, whose eyes suddenly shook between the page and her face.
Drenched in deeper confusion than before, her eyes glimmered out before stopping at Raeyine once again. “He did? Are you sure?” She asked twice, freezing around the amber eyes with pinching fingers.
“Yes,” the maid confirmed, nodding lightly before seeing the lady below lower her head slightly. Yet, not a few moments later, she already sprung back at her.
“B-but, he still ran away without a single word beforehand. Why couldn’t he say anything?” She spoke out noisier than a breath prior, the tears around her eyes forming anew, albeit not flowing as briskly.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Quickly rubbing them away with her thumbs, Raeyine smiled with a sighing face, glancing at her poor lady for a moment. “Because it’s a personal matter. He couldn’t reveal it, even though he wanted to numerous times from what he wrote.”
“Hmm?” Humming out with glaring eyes, she raised herself at Raeyine once again. “What bullshit. I would have easily allowed him to go if he just asked-,” Zyponia said, only to stop out of nowhere and fall silent. A somber expression fitted itself again whilst looking at her maid.
“No, I don’t know anymore. Maybe I wasn’t able to get to know him enough. Maybe he actually remembers his past and simply lied to us? What if he actually hates us?” She asked the girl, defeat sprawling all across her face, only for the tall maid to bring her head closer to her body.
“Be hopeful. That’s all you can do. Then, ask when he comes back and gets comfortable enough to speak about. He apologized three times in the note, and a lot of times that he would get back soon. Don’t worry, alright? Who cares if you don’t know about his past? Even if you think otherwise, you still know a lot about him, no?” The girl spoke away, making Zyponia’s face dig through her uniform as she listened silently.
Yet, as soon as she finished, the demon lord pulled away, glancing at the girl with a blank face before speaking up. “You’re right. I was already scared he secretly hated me for making him my slave, but this only fueled the feeling. He got his hands on an item that blocks our connection, you know?” She said, making Raeyine fall back to the paper.
“It’s a cloak he got from a demon in the city,” she said suddenly, to which Zyponia kept her mouth open. Glancing at the paper, the maid smiled swiftly, promptly handing it over to her. “Just read it properly already, he’s not like them,” adding, she saw her lady hesitate, simply pushing it into her hands.
Albeit uncertain at a first glance, Zyponia’s eyes slowly fell down to the page, reading through the words one after another before a smile started to blossom around her face. “You… really,” she muttered in the middle of the page, only to crease her eyebrows.
“What?” The lord said aloud suddenly, looking up at Raeyine. She only shrugged her shoulders however. “The revolutionaries will attack the fortress and try to take over the mines on the day of the tournament, under the distraction of explosions around the city, as well as the fake attack on the docks, which I was meant to misguide you on,” she started reciting the last words, falling silent for a while.
“He must have gotten close to the army,” Raeyine suddenly spoke out, her lord nodding a breath later before rummaging through the note with her eyes once again.
“That’s what concerns me the most,” she said with solemn eyes. “They probably made him undergo an oath, whoever the demon is. They wouldn’t risk any chances of exposing themselves to me, and they most likely won’t appear on the battlefield.”
“If there even will be a fight,” on the side, Raeyine added before Zyponia turned to her, finally standing up. “We can’t just increase the guards near the place or they would back off. We should make them hide deep in the mines-,” she started speaking again, the demon lord stopping her abruptly.
“He didn’t want us to know about it for that,” she said, furrowing the maid’s face.
“What? Why?” She asked, somewhat confused before seeing the girl shake her head slightly.
“Folvana said Lutiel can’t stand death. He knew that this was nothing more than an execution for the human side, so he wanted us to stop it beforehand. We will increase the visible guards all around the fortress and the mines,” Zyponia judged whilst it was Raeyine to fall into silence this time.
However, wondering for a while, she sighed weakly before nodding. “Alright, that’s fine as well, even though I hate those brutes.”
Smiling at her lightly, the girl shook her head before placing the note back on Lutiel’s desk. Then, she turned to watch the opened window. Turning somewhat somber again, she didn’t linger on the emotion for long, however.
Closing it swiftly, she promptly swept her hands, gathering all of the snow before compacting it into a cluster.
Immediately, it started to melt away, turning into a clear sphere Zyponia moved around the air. Yet, suddenly disappearing, she moved towards his bed, adjusting the bedding and pillows to make them neat and tidy.
Still, putting the last pillow on top, she suddenly raised her head frantically. A breath later, her eyebrows soured harshly.
Watching from the side, Raeyine’s face fidgeted as well. “What’s wrong?” she asked promptly, only for the girl to turn towards the doors.
“Genor arrived,” said Zyponia, making the maid part her mouth and linger there for a moment. “Follow me,” she added whilst leaving the room, to which the staggered girl briskly broke away from her thoughts.
“Ah, wait a second-” she nudged the lady, but Zyponia didn’t turn around, moving hastily through the unlit corridor whilst a maid chased after her. Yet, finally getting close to the demon lord, they promptly walked out of the mansion.
A sprawling sight invited itself to their eyes, reverberating across the field of white. Beyond the dark gates with rounded, white spikes atop, a large carriage pulled by four horses waited steadily, together with a duo of armored guards driving the front two.
Set in random places on top of their helmets, single dark horns protruded. Changing briskly as their heads angled themselves towards the demon lord, the eyes within the slits focused on the lady, who walked out through the snow with bare feet.
Albeit, as soon as she placed a step, the snow around her melted immediately, not a single droplet of water getting anywhere close to her flesh. Walking towards the gates with Raeyine strictly following behind her, she promptly raised her right arm, followed by a screeching tumult as the gates allowed the bluish carriage inside.
The wheels turned swiftly as the horses breathed white steam out. Going through before the entrance could open fully, as the black metal settled, the carriage was already halfway through inside. And, finally arriving before the small fountain, the guards pulled back on their reins, forcefully stopping the horses.
Crossing her arms whilst standing there with a stern face, Zyponia watched the blue doors open up slowly, a figure finally revealing itself.
Blending in the shades below, the glint his armor released made her eyes twitch slightly before adjusting. The man steadily approached the ground steadily, quickly stopping in his tracks before heading for the metallic feathers on each side of his helmet.
Light-blue hairs slowly fell down on top of his palish face, together with the light smile that settled across his mouth as he tossed the helmet to one of the guards after walking ahead.
