Chapter 125: Innocent Lies
Seraphina froze completely, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. What was he saying? He was the masked man she had been searching for? Could that even be possible? No, it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be.
Her thoughts tangled and twisted inside her mind like waves colliding in the dark, refusing to settle into something clear.
Before she could speak, however, she saw his expression change slightly. His eyes, which were calm a moment ago, turned colder as he spoke with a strangely quick tone, "But… do you have any kind of evidence to prove that?" He paused briefly, the corner of his lips curling before he added, "Judging by your silent expression, you don't have any. You can suspect me all you want, but without proof, I'm just a weak adventurer and an innocent boy in the end."
Seraphina exhaled slowly. She was truly glad that she had chosen to speak inside this dimly lit house, the faint light keeping her actual expression hidden from him. Back in the MIMR facility, she had decided she would ask him everything once the right time came, but now that he was asking her for a favor, she wanted several answers immediately from him before she took another step forward. Maybe that choice, even if a little of her pride had to be sacrificed, would be worth it.
After a long moment of silence, she finally asked evenly, her eyes lowering to the floor, "So, you already knew I was going to suspect you. How ironic."
Kael lazily moved his hand behind his head as if making it into a pillow, then leaned back on the wall behind him, his eyes drifting toward the ceiling. "I'm not sure I'll call it ironic, though. It was obvious enough. You don't know exactly how that man looked, and I was the only man standing there. It'd be foolish of them if no one suspected me. I just figured it would come to this. Am I wrong?"
Seraphina glanced at him quietly. It was hard to tell whether he was joking or if he was genuinely hurt by her suspicion of him. She didn't truly want to suspect him, but she had to. She wasn't someone who would ignore something like that out of blind emotion. Still, she felt a sting of guilt inside her chest. Was she still unable to trust him? But it wasn't like she hadn't tried. She had been trying all this time, even before she consciously realized it.
Trust had always been something complicated for her. There were only a few people she could believe without question, such as her best friend Arwyn, her mother, and her little sister. She trusted her soldiers as well, but that was a completely different kind of trust. When it came to Kael, she didn't even know what kind of trust she was supposed to place in him. She couldn't tell what she wanted to believe or why she wanted to believe it. Even now, she still doubted him, and she hated herself for that. She had been trying, truly trying, but she still couldn't give herself to that trust entirely. What exactly was wrong with her?
Eventually, she pushed the thought away and looked at him again, her voice calm but her heart uncertain. "You're not wrong entirely. I did suspect you at first for that reason, but I shook the thought away quickly. However, I'm asking you for another reason altogether. It's about how you appeared so suddenly between me and the arrow. In fact, you were faster than the arrow itself. And even then, the arrow didn't pierce through you. Can you explain that to me?"
Kael grinned lightly, his tone almost teasing, "Sure, I can." Then suddenly his expression softened, his eyes glimmering slightly as he leaned closer, his voice lowering into something that almost sounded sorrowful. "But… do you really want your poor innocent husband to be pierced through by that long arrow completely? If that had happened, I might've died on the spot, and then you'd have become a husbandless wife, crying for me day and night. How tragic would that be?"
Seraphina didn't move away from him. Instead, a small, cold chuckle escaped her lips. "What are you talking about exactly? If that had happened, I would have celebrated it sincerely. In fact, I might have handed sweets to people around for that matter. What a pity you didn't die."
Kael's expression twisted into a wounded look, his tone suddenly soft and pitiful. "I'm genuinely hurt by your words, you know. I'm going to cry."
She sighed quietly, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Do it."
For a moment, he stayed silent, then shook his head and smiled again, his mood shifting as quickly as a wave. "That reminds me… your cheeks are much softer than I expected. Tell me, can I have the privilege to touch them now and then? Or better yet, I wouldn't mind if I get to touch them every day either."
Her expression faltered slightly as she fell into silence. Absentmindedly, she raised her fingers and touched the place where he had touched her last night. His hand had been warm then, not too soft nor too rough, but something that lingered in between. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now that he mentioned it, her cheeks turned a little shred of pink before she could even control it.
Kael noticed the change in her expression and leaned closer, closing the little distance between them until she had to tilt her head back slightly. His grin widened as he spoke in a teasing whisper, "Oh? Don't tell me you actually enjoyed my touch, did you? Did your heart skip a bit while I did it? Was it soft or rude? Do you want some more? Because my hand is itching to touch your cheeks again."
Seraphina looked away quickly, then back at him, and replied coldly, "Shut up, you idiot. I would never enjoy your touch... I mean, on my cheeks. And as for my heart, it would never, ever skip for you. Your hand was so rude I wanted to break it apart. After all of that, do you really think I would want it again? Lastly, if your hand is so itchy, then let me cut them cleanly with my sword so they won't disturb you ever again."
Hearing those harsh words from her mouth, instead of getting even a little sad or offended, Kael somehow felt happy and relieved to see her true self once again, as he chuckled, "What a miraculous liar you are, my dear."
Seraphina extended her hand forward with a closed fist, which made Kael instinctively close his eyes, preparing himself for a punch or perhaps a light tap on his cheek, but instead, he felt something entirely different. Her hand did not strike him nor push him away; rather, it came to rest gently on his head.
Slowly, her fingers began to move within his hair, brushing through it carefully, and although her gloves prevented her from feeling its full texture, she could still tell that his hair was soft, softer than it looked, despite appearing as though it had been through a storm. She liked that feeling, the sensation of her hand resting there, petting him softly. If she ever got the chance to do that again, she knew she wouldn't let it go so easily.
Kael, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded. He had expected her to hit him at least once since he might have pushed her too far earlier, but what she did now was something so far out of his expectations that he couldn't even process it for a moment. He thought about pushing her mind away from her usual walls, the ones she built around her emotions and trust, and teasing her had always been his way of easing her heart, of giving her something lighter to hold onto. But this time, even he wasn't expecting her to pet his head so suddenly. Still, he couldn't deny that it felt surprisingly good.
"But does it really matter? It actually feels nice," he thought to himself and decided to lean into her touch like a cat that enjoyed being petted by its master. After all, Seraphina was his wife, and she had every right to him.
Kael grinned, "So, you do like petting my hair, huh? Oh, don't tell me you're doing it to remove some kind of lingering trauma again, huh? What'll be your excuse this time?"
Seraphina lingered for a moment, then chuckled softly. "Excuses? Huh? Have you ever heard me give excuses before? I've always told you the truth. And this time won't be any different either. I'm doing it because I felt like you got hurt by my harsh words, nothing else."
Kael leaned forward, inching closer until only a few breaths of distance remained between them. For a moment, he thought about closing that gap, but decided to keep some distance for now. "I got hurt, that's why?" His grin widened, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Which means… you're worried about me. And if you're worried, that means you care for me. And if you care for me, that means..."
Before Kael could finish, Seraphina's hand moved swiftly, jerking his head upward. A low groan escaped him as she pressed her soft pink lips together, looking down at him with that cold, sharp glare of hers. But there was something smug in her expression, as if she was quietly pleased by the way he squirmed.
Did she perhaps enjoy hurting him?
He stared at her, half annoyed and half amused, but neither of them said a word. The silence between them carried more than enough meaning on its own. It felt so comfortable to both of them.
Eventually, after a few seconds that felt strangely longer than they were, she withdrew her hand slowly, and Kael lifted his head again. His face had turned a shade of pink and his heart was skipping wildly, though that was nothing new to him by now. He had grown so used to this kind of moment that he simply ignored it outwardly, though somewhere inside he still wondered what she truly felt about it. He knew well enough that if he asked her directly, she would probably just kick him instead of answering.
After a stretch of silence between them, Seraphina finally spoke, her tone as flat as ever, "Don't you think we're completely out of topic here?"
Kael chuckled quietly, "But when did we ever stay on topic? Whether we're home or outside, the conversation somehow always ends up somewhere else."
She replied instantly, "And it's all your fault."
He blinked and pointed at himself, "How is it my fault?"
"Because I said so, that's why," she replied coldly.
"That's not how it works, darling."
"Yes, it does."
"It doesn't."
"It does."
"Alright, I give up," he said and leaned back quickly, pretending to surrender.
The silence returned for a brief moment, but this time it felt heavier. Eventually, Seraphina's voice came again, colder and more serious, "Now, would you explain yourself? How did you manage to do that impossible stunt?"
Kael looked at her quietly for a few seconds, then without saying a word, he started unbuttoning his shirt one by one.
Seraphina frowned slightly, "What are you doing exactly?"
After undoing the third button, Kael replied in a calm tone, "Unbuttoning my shirt, of course. Don't you want an answer?"
Her eyes narrowed, and she looked away slightly, "And what kind of answer are you planning to give me by getting half-naked?"
"Everything," he answered immediately without hesitation.
She raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself, "Just what is he thinking now? He better not try anything stupid."
Kael continued unbuttoning until his shirt hung loosely from his shoulders, his chest partly visible in the dim light. Seraphina tried not to look directly at him, though her curiosity betrayed her when her eyes caught glimpses of him through the shadows. The light in the room was faint, barely allowing her to see him, but she wouldn't have minded if there was a source of light here. Of course, just to see his expression and definitely nothing else.
He moved closer, crawling toward her slowly, reaching for her hand, but she didn't offer it to him. Instead, she spoke again in her usual cold tone, "You wouldn't dare to do that, right?"
Kael raised an eyebrow, slightly amused, "What are you even talking about? Of course, I would dare. Just give me your hand and flicker your lightning a bit, you can't see anything in the dark."
She took a small breath and muttered, "Oh, that's what you meant?"
Kael nodded quickly, "Of course. What else could I possibly mean? Wait... what exactly did you think I was going to do?"
Her face turned pink instantly, though she quickly masked it with a twitch of her brows and a dangerous smile, "Nothing, really... just forget it already."
She raised her hand as sparks of lightning began to form around her fingers, at first small and thin like threads, then growing brighter and thicker until the entire room was illuminated in soft blue light.
Under that glow, Kael pointed at a spot on his abdomen, and she followed his gesture with her eyes before blinking in surprise.
Her lips parted slightly, "You've got a tattoo?"
Kael nodded quickly, "I do. What do you think about it?"
She was quiet for a moment, studying the markings closely, and then she replied, "You're asking for my opinion? I'd say the tattoo looks rather unusual and strange. Who even gave you the idea to make something like that? If you really wanted one, you could've chosen something that at least looked more elegant or something that actually suited you."
Kael's face went completely blank after hearing that. He had known she might react bluntly, but he hadn't prepared himself for that kind of comment. Still, deep down he decided that if he ever got another tattoo in the future, he would make sure it was something that looked far more appealing... something that would make her speechless instead of mocking him.
Finally, her expression changed. It seemed she had finally noticed it and then she pointed her finger directly at him, her voice sounding colder than before, "Why exactly is the clip you gave me in your tattoo, Kael?"
He leaned back slightly, clearly not surprised by her question, "I have no idea exactly. Let me explain things more clearly... first of all, this tattoo... I didn't make it myself, instead, it came out on its own and without my permission."
Seraphina tilted her head a little, her eyes narrowing, "What exactly do you mean?"
Kael gave a small chuckle, one that sounded both awkward and helpless, "You wouldn't understand it easily, then let me tell you what exactly I'm hiding from you. Actually, truth be told, I don't have my childhood memories anymore because of a strange headache that ate them all, and I only learned that a few days ago while fighting the Hollow-Tongue. During that fight, I happened to encounter the Silent River inside the Forest of Death. After that, I fell into the river and saw something that I can't even call a dream because it was way too realistic. It was like watching a vision of someone else's life, someone who wasn't me."
He paused for a moment, letting her digest the information, then continued, "Then, you remember that night when I wanted you to say good night to me because I couldn't fall asleep... before that, I found this tattoo on my abdomen while I was bathing. After thinking about it again and again, I realized it came from the Silent River. And if you don't believe me, you can recall that you checked my body once before when there was no tattoo at all. As for why the hair clip is there, I honestly have no idea. Oh, and that hot water bath was because I can't stand cold water anymore, my tattoo refuses it completely."
Seraphina listened to him very carefully, but each word made her doubt more than before. Even though she had heard about the Silent River in the past, she never thought she would hear its name come from him. The river was one of the most mysterious things in the entire kingdom, a wandering river that never stayed in one place at a time and carried strange power within it. But falling into such a river and seeing a vision of someone else, and then ending up with a tattoo from it, that was far too much for her to believe. Still, something about his tone made her hesitate to call it a lie. She had no way to prove his words, but somehow, deep inside her, she felt that he was speaking the truth.
After a long pause, she finally asked again, "Then, what does this tattoo have to do with you pulling that sudden jump on the roof?"
Kael crossed his arms and leaned back again as if thinking how to explain it in a way she could understand, "It's rather complicated to explain. You can say that the tattoo is constantly fighting against the gluttonous headache inside me and is allowing my body to remember how it was trained in the past or something like that. Which means whenever I'm in danger, my body moves on its own with reflexes that even I can't control. That's what happened yesterday. As for how that arrow slowed down, I have no idea. Now, I think that's everything."
Seraphina leaned back and pressed her fingertips against her temple with a low sigh. Just what in the world was happening to this man? Her husband, who looked so normal and weak from the outside, was now saying things that sounded like something from another world. He didn't tell anyone about this, not even her, but now that she asked him directly, he revealed everything without holding back. How much had he been hiding all this time?
She didn't know whether to be angry, worried, or simply confused.
She quietly repeated in her mind the names he mentioned, trying to piece them together like fragments of a puzzle that refused to fit. "Gluttonous headache, Forest of Death, Hollow-Tongue, Silent River, vision, and a tattoo..."
Before she could pull herself together, Kael suddenly spoke again, his tone turning a little serious, "Oh, now that I think about it... in that vision, there was a person. The knights had put a notice about him, I think. He had black hair and crimson eyes... do you know anyone like that?"
Seraphina's body stiffened slightly. For a brief moment, her expression changed, and Kael noticed how her eyes seemed to soften as if she remembered something she had tried to bury long ago. After a moment of silence, she finally replied, "Yes, I know about him, but I've never met him in person. He was the one who saved your party in the dungeon that day, not me."
Kael stared at her, completely stunned. His mind froze as he tried to process what she said. Wait... what did it mean? It meant the black-haired, crimson-eyed man from his vision had actually been there in the dungeon? That didn't make sense. He didn't see him at all back then. Could it be that the man arrived later, after he was already gone? No, that couldn't be right because Seraphina entered the dungeon only after he had left, and she had said the man saved his party. Which meant the man had been there the whole time without him ever noticing.
Then suddenly, like an echo from his memory, a voice came to his mind. "If you're interested in yourself, you'll find it in your diary."
He remembered that clearly. The voice belonged to someone who seemed to know him, someone who spoke as if they had shared a past together inside the dungeon before he left. The man had been wearing a coat or something similar, but Kael couldn't recall his face properly because of that same headache again. Which could only mean that Mr. Handsome and the man from the dungeon were one and the same. He was the one who knew everything about him and had tried to lead him toward the truth.
"Why didn't I realize it before today?" Kael thought to himself, frustration building in his chest. "It makes perfect sense now. If I met him inside that dungeon, then he must have been there to save my party... damn it, he was so close to me all along and I didn't even know who he was."
But before he could think any further, Seraphina's calm voice shattered his thoughts, "Unfortunately, that man was killed by that monster. I couldn't get there in time to save him."
Kael froze completely. His eyes widened, and his voice trembled slightly, "W-what did you just say... he's... already dead?"
Seraphina gave a nod, her tone calm but heavy, "Yes, he is. We couldn't find his body either. It seemed the monster might have devoured him completely."
Kael lowered his gaze as his mind started to spin again. "That doesn't make sense... if he's dead," he muttered quietly to himself, "then was my theory about that vision being the future wrong? Was it showing me his past instead? I should've asked that blue-haired woman if she knew anything about him, maybe then I would have had my answer. But I didn't. I was just... too slow to think."
Then he took a deep breath and turned toward Seraphina again, his eyes steady despite the confusion still swirling inside him, "Darling, are you sure that man was actually dead?"
She replied instantly, "I am. With the sheer amount of blood I saw on the ground he wouldn't have been able to be alive. Even if we thought the monster didn't devour him, if he still somehow managed to escape, he had to travel back from the dungeon and leave some clues, but there were none. That's why I assumed that."
Kael thought for a moment then found himself confused, "I... see." Then he thought, "... just what the hell was that vision actually? And what kind of relationship did I have with Mr. Handsome, anyway? Was he a friend, a companion maybe, or an old acquaintance... there's no way to know. Ugh, I'm confused once again... damn it."
Eventually, they stepped out of the old house, and Seraphina walked away to the path that led to her office while Kael held Celeste in his arms, of course, after making sure Seraphina was nowhere to be seen.
He had no idea what she might think again. Regardless, he shook his head from the confusing thoughts and walked his own way to deliver this woman... Celeste.
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(Chapter Ended)