Her hesitant glance made it feel as though the entire room was judging me, though in truth, I bore no fault.
“How could I be upset?” I said softly, my voice steady, edged with cool precision. “Please, enjoy your dinner. I have matters to attend to at my apartment. I shall take my leave.”
With a calm, measured smile, I gathered my satchel and prepared to exit the estate.
Alfred’s voice, sharp with provocation, rang out deliberately from across the table. “Still stewing over the fireworks I set up for Via?”
The mention of it prompted Via to speak quickly, her tone polite but calculated, like a strategist weighing every word. “Betty, I—my mood was poor that night. Kael only meant to lighten it with the display. Kael, perhaps you should offer her an apology.”
Kael’s amber eyes darkened, his brows knitting in irritation. “I merely set off the fireworks. Why should I apologize?”
The words landed like cold steel across the room. Silence pressed down on the table, tense as tightened wires.
Via’s gaze flicked toward me, her smile quiet but possessive, a claim made without words. It was laughable. The one who had caused the sting remained blind to his own fault, believing a gesture alone could soothe the wound, as if life would simply move forward without consequence.
I allowed a precise, cold smile to curve my lips. “Yes, you are correct. The display was impressive. Perhaps you should make such exhibitions a habit in the future.”
With that, I left, not sparing a backward glance.
As soon as the door of my apartment closed behind me, I caught Via’s voice floating faintly from the estate. “Kael, go. Apologize at once. Betty is clearly upset.”
“Do not concern yourself with her,” Kael replied, calm as ever. “She will recover in a few days.”
His words cut like blades to my chest. What had I done to earn such certainty from him?
I walked slowly through the quiet city streets under the early autumn sky. The cool breeze carried the scents of distant kitchens, wet asphalt, and the faint remnants of human warmth. Couples passed by, leaning close, laughing—an intimate display that tightened something inside me. Before Via entered his life, Kael and I had been like them—hands intertwined, hearts tethered by a bond I had thought unbreakable. So why had it unraveled so completely?
The night pressed against me, weighty and unyielding. My breaths came shallow, catching in my throat. Passing a small street vendor, I paused. Habit drew me there. I chose a simple iced treat, a small attempt to cool the fire burning in my chest.
The first bite was strange—salty, bitter, hollow. Then I remembered his voice, echoing in my thoughts: “You know it will chill your stomach, yet you cannot resist it.”
I looked down at the dessert, noticing tears glistening on its surface. No wonder it tasted off. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my coat and turned toward my apartment.
The small device on the corner of my desk blinked faintly—Kael reaching out, as always, through our line of contact. “Have you returned?”
I ignored it. Another followed, soft but insistent: “The dinner went poorly tonight. Perhaps we should invite them again another evening.”
I remained silent, letting his words fade. Finally, his patience thinned, and I sensed the pull of his presence, a mental reach for me across the city. I set the device aside, letting the connection dissipate.
After washing up, I settled into the quiet of my apartment, hands brushing over the soft folds of blankets. My eyes caught a fleeting image on the line—a glimpse of Via, leaning against him, shy yet claiming him fully.
A single thought pulsed through the feed, clear and cutting: “It seems I remain your first choice, even after all these seasons.”
I let a small, self-mocking smile curl at my lips and sent back a final thought, sharp and unyielding: “Congratulations.”
