RPWS Chapter 088

Ash recalled what happened at the birthday banquet. In the end, unable to contain his overflowing emotions anymore, he revealed everything to her, and she answered with words of rejection.

He knew from the moment he confessed to her that their relationship would change, either in a positive or negative way. He knew they couldn’t go back to the way things were.

That’s why he couldn’t help but feel even more crushed when he was rejected by Elaine. When he noticed she was no longer smiling comfortably at him, he regretted voicing his sincere confession, however fleeting it was.

Should he not have been greedy? Should he have been satisfied with their current relationship? Although he was broken on the inside, he tried to act calm on the outside.

He could see Elaine was having a hard time being around him, and he didn’t want to make things worse for her.

But to see her avoid him like this, to be so jumpy with just a glance, it was almost unbearable.

“I fully understood the answer you gave me that day.”

How could anyone fail to understand such a clear rejection? He thought of her pale face, her head shaking, and once again, something inside his chest ached like it was being pierced.

Ash continued in as calm a voice as he could muster.

“I won’t burden you with any more of this if you don’t want me to. So…”

“…”

“I hope you can treat me a little more comfortably.”

Like before. As Ash spoke, his eyes, shaded by his long lashes, looked at her.

Elaine couldn’t speak for a moment.

She remembered the look on Ash’s face when she’d rejected his confession. How painful it must’ve been to have his sincere words turned down. Nevertheless, Ash did not resent her or act bitter. He didn’t hold anything back and treated her the same as before.

She knew he was being considerate of her feelings.

But what could she do?

She couldn’t overcome her guilt or even muster the courage to look at him properly. As a result, she made Ash feel this way.

She couldn’t imagine how he felt asking her to treat him like before. If he didn’t like someone like her, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

She didn’t want to hurt him. She wanted to say she liked him too. Even now, she was struggling to hide her feelings from him. It would feel so great if she could just ignore her guilt and show him how she really felt.

“… Sorry. I didn’t mean to trouble you…”

But in the end, all she could do was give some lame excuse. Elaine bit the flesh in her mouth.

“You don’t have to apologize. You must be confused and need some time.”

Ash shook his head slowly.

“However, if you can continue to stay by my side as my guard in the future… Well, I hope you don’t find it too difficult.”

“What do you mean? Of course I’ll stay by your side.”

Could it be that he thought she might quit guarding him because she was so uncomfortable being near him? She wouldn’t be the one to leave him first. But, what if Ash found out the truth, hated her and threw her away?

Elaine looked at him with desperation, afraid he might not believe her.

Ash stared at her in silence for a moment as she made eye contact with him. For a moment, a hazy light passed through his eyes, and his lips slowly moved.

He smiled faintly and spoke softly.

“Okay, that’s good.”

 

* * *

 

Elaine left the office and returned to her room. Without a single candle lit, the room was immersed in darkness. In a familiar motion, Elaine lit a candle.

“…”

As she slowly unbuttoned her uniform coat, she remembered what happened a moment ago.

It was certainly a good thing that she and Ash had decided to go back to how things were before. It was better that way if she was going to stay with him as an escort, and she also wanted to go back to their old relationship.

But Elaine couldn’t quite let go.

She knew it was for the best, but why did she still feel like this? The dull pain in her chest persisted.

“Ha…”

Elaine sat up in bed and stared at the dark ceiling.

 

‘Okay, that’s good.’

 

What did the smile she saw before leaving the office mean? His voice and expression kept flashing through her mind.

But there was nothing she could do about it, and that would never change.

Elaine lowered her head and rubbed her face helplessly. It was difficult to keep her thoughts straight, so she just didn’t want to think about anything anymore.

Tap.

It was then that she heard something knocking on the window.

… Was it just the wind? Now that she thought about it, the wind was particularly strong today. Could it be that the window hadn’t been closed all the way? Elaine thought idly and reflexively got up from her bed.

She then sensed someone was tapping on her window. Turning her head, she saw a jet-black shadow cast against the window that led out onto the terrace, and her expression turned sharp.

“Elaine, it’s me.”

A low, soft voice cut through the quiet room. The voice was familiar and she let her guard down as soon as she heard it.

She quickly went to the window and opened it.

“Espel?”

A man with gray hair was sitting on the terrace railing, his back turned to the moonlight. He smiled gracefully, eyes crinkling.

“Elaine, it’s been a while.”

“How did you get here…?”

With a puzzled look on her face, she glanced around, then stepped aside.

“Come inside first.”

Her room was on the second floor, and there were guards patrolling the mansion at night. There was a risk of being noticed by them.

After their reunion, the two met often, but mainly outside the manor. It would be difficult to explain if someone saw her with the demon, and Espel could also be in danger if he was seen.

That’s why she was quite surprised that Espel came all the way here. When he came in through the window, Elaine closed the curtains then turned to look at him. Espel spoke first.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. I didn’t plan on coming so suddenly, but I heard yesterday that your group returned. I came here because I was worried.”

“Ah…”

It’d already been a day since she returned from the birthday banquet. Since he’d expressed concern when he heard she would be leaving for the palace, she should’ve gone straight to him when she returned, as he must’ve been anxious. Her mind was so full of what happened with Ash that she had no time to think about anything else. But now, she felt guilty.

“Sorry. I should’ve gone to see you right when we got back…”

“It’s alright, but for some reason, you seem a bit off. Did something happen while you were away?”

Espel asked, shaking his head as he studied her complexion. She looked depressed since she’d just been thinking about Ash a little bit ago.

“It’s not like that. I just have some stuff on my mind.”

It was something she could never tell Espel. How could she tell him that Ash had confessed to her, that she liked him, and that it bothered her that she couldn’t accept it.

“More importantly, how did you find my room?”

Elaine said, deliberately changing the subject. Espel, who’d been watching her with concern, stared at her for a moment before answering.

“You told me you were staying in the room next to Ash’s, and I know where that is because I come to check on him from time to time.”

The territories security was quite tight, but if it was Espel, it would’ve been easy to get in without being detected. He glanced at the curtained window and asked.

“Ash doesn’t seem to be in his room. Is he still in the office?”

“Yes. He said he’d come back later since he had some more work to do.”

“Then we have some time to talk.”

Ash was so sensitive to the presence of others that he would quickly notice if there was a stranger in the next room. But now that he was far away, it wouldn’t be a problem spending some time there.

Espel smiled, took a step towards her, and snapped his fingers. A faint magical light enveloped the room and then faded, blocking sound from flowing outside.

“Did you have a good time at the palace? Did anything happen while you were there?”

The question brought back memories of her time at the palace.

On the first day of the banquet, she happened to run into the king in the hallway heading to the waiting room. The person most likely to be behind the Seveka incident.

She’d wanted to see his face, at least once, but never thought they’d meet face to face like that.

“You met Chelsea de Philion?”

When she told him about that incident, Espel’s expression immediately hardened. His demeanor turned serious.

“No way, did something happen between you and him?”

“No, nothing worth worrying about, but…”

Elaine quickly shook her head, not wanting to worry him for no reason. Then she explained in detail what happened at that time.

“… So that’s what happened.”

Espel was relieved to hear that the king didn’t recognize her. He sighed and said.

“That’s good. It would’ve been really dangerous if he recognized you.”

He locked eyes with her.

“You must’ve been shocked. Was there anything suspicious about him?”

“I’m not sure, it was only a brief encounter.”

“Well… I suppose so.”

She shook her head, and Espel gave a short nod of understanding. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.

“By the way, Elaine, have you heard the news about the Duke of Diallo?”

If it was the news of the Duke’s death, she’d heard it on the way back to Killiard. She ‘d been thinking of telling him, but it seemed he already knew.

“Yes, I heard about it. I knew he was ill, but… That’s not good news, to be honest.”

One of their two suspects was dead, with the culprit still not fully identified. Suspicion has been further tilted toward King Chelsea, but now only Chelsea was left to hear the truth from.

“But even if the Duke was the real culprit, the most important thing is to find evidence and clear Bella’s name.”

He was right. More than their anger and revenge, the most important thing was to prove Bella’s innocence. To clear her name so that an innocent woman would no longer be mocked with the stigma of a mass murderer, and to make sure that Ash would no longer be blamed. To do that, they needed to…

“Elain, how are things going with the wizard?”

Espel asked.

He was asking about Talos Asgar. A royal wizard who disappeared about a dozen years ago, one of the commanders in charge of collecting the corpse of the dragon.

His mana has been sent to the Tower for examination. The results would determine whether he was alive or dead, and if he was alive, it would increase their chances of finding out the truth about what happened in Seveka.

“I’m waiting for the results.”

“I see.”

“But do you think the wizard is really alive?”

“It’s hard to say, but… Even if he isn’t, there must be another way.”

“…”

“Besides if there’s no other way, I’ll tear the king’s mouth off and make him spit out the truth.”

He smiled coldly.

Indeed, Espel had the ability to do so, for he was a man of great power even among demons. It would not be easy, but it might be possible, if he risked his life.

Moonlight seeped through the curtains and streaked across the darkened room. His ruby eyes glowed even redder in the dim light. Elaine opened her mouth to speak, but footsteps sounded in the distance.

“I should probably get going.”

Espel glanced in the direction of the footsteps and took a few steps back. He took the parchment scroll from his robe and placed it on his desk.

“This is the material we spoke about last time. Read it slowly and we’ll talk about it another time.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Of course it’s something that needed to be done.”

With a final grin, Espel exited through the window. The window creaked slightly and the curtains fluttered in the light breeze. His presence disappeared in an instant. At the same time, the sound of quick footsteps drew closer and then stopped in front of her room.

“Dame Elaine, are you there?”

A polite knock sounded on the door, followed by a voice. She slipped the documents Espel had given her into a drawer and approached the door. Standing in the doorway was one of the manor’s servants.

“What’s the matter?”

“The Lord is looking for you, ma’am. I think you should go to the office right away.”

“His Grace?”

“He didn’t say anything in detail, but a letter arrived from the Magic Tower…”

The Magic Tower. The moment she heard those words, a thought passed through her mind.

Currently, there’s only one thing they had contacted the Magic Tower for. If it was a letter from there…

She hurried out, leaving the servant behind. She then walked down the hallway to his office.

When she entered the room, Hilaire and Lowell had already arrived. Ash, sitting at the desk in the middle of the room, was staring at the letter with the wax seal already removed.

The seal of the Magic Tower was clearly stamped on it.

“Sir, that’s-”

As soon as she opened her mouth, Ash raised his head. The moment their gazes met, she somehow had a premonition of what would come out of his mouth. Then a quiet voice rang out in the room.

“He’s alive.”

“…!”

 

[The results of the requested investigation have been released.

As a result of the crystal ball’s mana analysis, a response has been detected. Tracking the exact location of a target…]

 

Talos Asgar.

The final key to lifting the veil.

Now it was time to go find him.