“It is in your best interest not to refuse me. Who knows, I may have a slip of the tongue and reveal Rvydom’s infamous Mad Dog Selena Beautante has infiltrated the capital.”
Yuki nervously watched them argue with perfect smiles on their faces until Selena raised her hands in defeat.
“Okay, okay. I’ll throw in the towel. Sheesh, you’re such a weasel.” Selena hopped out of her chair and smiled at Yuki. “I’ll be waiting right outside, Yuki. Come out once you finish here. Yell at the top of your lungs if he tries anything funny. I’ll take care of him for you.”
“Selena!”
Selena strut out of the tavern laughing. Left in her wake were piles of empty dishes and the tense air between Yuki and Rhad. Uneasy, Yuki’s eyes darted toward every shadow in the tavern, a sense of unease creeping within her while Rhad calmly took Selena’s empty seat opposite of her.
“Don’t be so uneasy with me. You’re making me uneasy just looking at you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry…”
“Apologizing makes me uneasy too. I’m the one who wanted to apologize here too.”
“You did?” Yuki stopped looking around the room and looked at him. There was pensiveness to his smile.
“Sorry about the other day. You caught me in a foul mood. I said some terrible things to you.”
Yuki shook her head and folded her hands on her lap. “I think what you said was the typical conclusion most people would come to.”
The memory of the day stabbed at her, but she offered a cordial smile.
“No, I truly am sorry. I had a breakdown because my fiancée passed away. I said things I didn’t really mean.”
My fiancée passed away. The young man who said those words was smiling in front of her. Did the Ten Day Fever take her? Or had she been a victim of the war? Yuki’s heart broke for the stouthearted Rhad who didn’t even have the time to lose himself in mourning for his deceased love.
“Umm…”
What was the correct thing to say to someone at a time like this? Having never lost anyone close to her before, Yuki could only think of clichéd words of comfort. Was it not ruder to act funny because of knowing? Yuki mulled and pondered over how to speak to him, when her thoughts were broken by a burst of laughter across from her. Surprised, she looked up to find Rhad laughing.
“I never thought you’d actually believe me.”
“Did you just trick me?! I can’t believe you would joke about someone dying!” she exploded. The daunted look on her face only got him to casually wave his hand.
“It’s an effective method in getting someone to feel for you emotionally. Especially when it comes to men and women,” he added.
“…I can’t believe you’d stoop so low.”
“That’s right, doll. You’d do best not to trust me,” he said in a sweet tenor that cut through the buzzing chatter of other patrons.
“What are you getting at?”
Rhad only ever joked around, making his thoughts and what he said hard to follow. Not understanding him frustrated her.
“You can’t trust me, sweetheart. I can’t trust you. We’re of equal status in this regard, no?”
She opened her mouth to tell him that’s not what she meant, but the lack of smile reaching his eyes had her obediently keep her mouth shut.
“Let me be frank. I want to know the relationship between you and Prince Lucat,” he said in a harsh tone. She flinched.
“Excuse me?”
“You ran into Revent, didn’t you?”
Revent. Yuki frowned at the unfamiliar name.
“Ain Revent,” Rhad supplied.
“If you are talking about the same Ain then…yes, I saw him.”
Although Ain refused to acknowledge Yuki as Yuki.
“Revent was all shaken up because you mentioned the Liberat siblings. And by the fact you knew Prince Lucat’s Master’s name when it’s classified information.”
Rhad was trying to learn what Yuki knew. Once he learned it, she wasn’t sure how he would react.
I want him to believe me. Believe what I say…and who I am.
Was her knowledge something she should share with Rhad? Yuki didn’t have the appropriate information to make that judgment. Rhad claimed he was Luca’s subordinate. But she couldn’t shake the idea he might be a spy. The thought crossed her mind he might be someone set in place by Orga.
But Ain opened up to him. If Ain tells him things, then it’s a safe bet I can tell him.
Yuki took a deep breath and looked straight at Rhad. “You probably won’t believe me, but I am Luca’s Master.”
Rhad didn’t move an inch. His expression didn’t falter. He carefully studied Yuki’s face as if to ascertain he didn’t miss a single tell from her.
“We contracted and immediately headed for Fol. We subjugated Fol Castle and captured Isis. Next, we went to Cele and rescued Dante,” Yuki summarized.
She debated whether she should tell him the rest. What was going through Rhad’s head as he watched her? Without realizing it, she was gripping her right hand to her chest.
“…On our way back to Adolunde…I was captured by Orga.” Rhad’s eyebrow twitched. “They decided to execute me as the Legendary Witch. Ain was captured and brought to the execution site to watch me burn,” she spoke the facts, her tongue feeling like lead.
The sheer memory of those days brought the searing pain back. The mob’s hate-filled eyes and the cloying scent of flowers were burned into her brain and wouldn’t go away.
“It was there Ain and I were saved by a Witch. And the Witch changed my appearance. She said it’s a game. She’ll turn me back to normal if I find Luca. After that I just wandered around until I found my way to Adolunde,” she explained. Rhad snorted.
“…That’s a tasteless work of fiction. But if it’s true, you’ve got quite the absurd story.”
“It’s not fiction! Although I truly wish it were…”
All of it was true. How wonderful would it have been if it could all be chalked up to a fictional imagining? Irritation over him not believing her and depression over being laughed at, dropped like a weight to the pit of her stomach.
“All of it’s the truth…”
“…I was present during Luca’s contract bonding. I don’t mind believing your story if you can tell me what happened then.”
“What?”
“There were no servants present or a chance for anyone else to come onto the scene. If you can still explain the events of that day to me, I’ll believe what you said is true.”
Yuki stared at Rhad. What was his game? What he said changed by the minute, leaving her in the dust over what he wanted to say. Was he really going to believe her? Wouldn’t he just snort at her again? She had little choice but to explain the events of that day if she wanted a chance of him believing her.
“I had the appearance of a ten-year-old with violet eyes…and I was wearing red heelless shoes. I had on a pinkish gown and Ain led me into a ginormous hall.”
She knew even less back then than she did now. Knowing neither her left from her right, she was dazzled by the glamour of the royal castle. To better remember the details she closed her eyes. The day nostalgically unfolded in her memories.
“When I arrived on the stairs, Orga sat on the landing behind me and Luca was several stairs below… Luca came up and knelt before me. From there I did as he instructed and took his sword—”
“I’ve heard enough.” Yuki’s eyes snapped open—Rhad’s expression held the same gentleness it had the first time they met. “Revent should have heard you out… Well, I guess we can’t blame him too much when you brought up Liberat.”
Yuki sighed with relief. Joy, reassurance, and hope filled her when she realized he believed her.
“Anyway, you found yourself in a living hell, huh?”
Yuki’s heart throbbed at his soft, gorgeous smile. “Ah, yeah…”
“Please allow me to confirm one final thing with you,” he said with a new formality.
“What is it?”
Rhad continued with a smile, “What do you think about Prince Orga?”
The abruptness of his question took her by surprise, but she answered him with a soured expression and bitterness on her tongue, “Orga is a psychopath.”
Rhad laughed.