“……Why do you think that?”
At Ayla’s question, the look of confusion on Cloud’s face grew stronger. The proof was that his brown eyes were trembling.
“Yeah… These days, he doesn’t even eat with me or meet me often…”
She pretended to be sullen and lowered her head. Meanwhile, she continued to watch Cloud’s reaction out of the corner of her eye.
She could see at a glance that he was very embarrassed. Her strategy seemed to be working.
“That’s…… not your fault.”
Cloud had been silent for a long time, and finally opened his mouth.
“Then why?”
Ayla tilted her head once again with a very pitiful expression. She felt like she was getting goosebumps, but she had no choice but to dig up information.
“….”
Instead of answering her continued embarrassing questions, Cloud just kept his mouth shut.
It wasn’t easy to get information from the cloud just by pretending to be a little pitiful.
“Why aren’t you telling me? “After all, is my father disappointed in me?”
‘Disappointment’.
It was the word she feared most as a child. No, actually, she was afraid of that word until not long ago.
A magic spell that Byron and his minions used whenever they wanted to control her.
But now Ayla would be the one using spells to control Cloud.
“That can’t be possible, right?” How hard you work for your master!”
Cloud had kept his mouth shut and opened his mouth in surprise at those words.
‘Okay. So, hurry up and tell me the reason.’
The poor girl is trembling like this.
Of course, she was just a tool and not the biological daughter of Byron’s. So she was not Cloud’s lady or anything. But he was the one who foolishly developed feelings for the tool in the first place.
So, she has no choice but to use those emotions.
“Sorry. I can’t tell you why you’re like this, but it’s not because of you. That’s the truth. Please believe me.”
Cloud seemed to be thinking for a while before finally opening his mouth. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Ayla’s favorite answer.
‘Sad. It doesn’t work.’
As expected, he was a man with a bold and honest personality. In fact, she tried it, knowing from the beginning that it was unlikely, but she couldn’t help but be disappointed.
Anyway, he asked her to trust him with such sincere eyes. This is truly a funny story.
Of course, there was no doubting the true meaning of what Cloud said. There was little chance that it was her fault, to begin with. She knew that.
‘But how can I trust you? He is the one who raised me to be an assassin to kill my father.’
She stood up from her seat as she felt like she was about to snort.
“Okay. I can’t help it. Then let’s train now.” I got enough rest.”
It wasn’t like Ayla would show tears or act even more pitiful here.
She tried not to weep unless Byron scolded her since she knew he didn’t like it when she did.
In times like these, it was her thing to work harder.
Also, she liked that she showed enthusiasm to stimulate Cloud’s guilt.
“… yes.”
And just as Ayla intended, Cloud made a guilty expression.
It was a truly strange feeling. Cloud moving as she intended felt very interesting, but at the same time, it felt uneasy.
It was because she wondered how different he was from Byron, who held people’s hearts in the palm of his hand.
She felt like she was feeling a little guilty.
But she struggled to let go of those feelings along with the dagger she was swinging.
She was currently busy trying to save her own life, considering the feelings of others, especially enemies who were seeking her life.
* * *
It was that night.
After finishing dinner in the early evening and receiving Laura’s meticulous hair care, Ayla sat on her bed, ready to go to sleep.
Not only does she not meet Byron, who drains her energy every time she meets him, and she doesn’t move around and sleeps less every night, but her physical strength will definitely be better than before.
She was somehow tired today.
‘Eating using people’s emotions also has to suit their constitution.’
She didn’t know if she had gained anything, but it felt like she was wasting her emotions without gaining anything, so it was even more difficult.
How did Byron manage to do this his whole life? Did she feel the slightest bit of guilt?
If that were the case, she wouldn’t have done such a shameless thing in the first place.
She was lying in bed thinking about that.
“What brings you here?”
Just as Laura was about to lock the trapdoor and leave, she heard a surprised voice, as if someone had come to visit.
“I’d like to talk to you for a moment.”
Ayla, who recognized the voice answering Laura’s question, sat up straight away.
Because it was Cloud’s voice.
‘Why on earth at this hour?’
Ayla’s heart was pounding rapidly with anticipation. She was hoping that the trap she had set up during the day might finally catch a fish.
“What are you talking about?”
Laura’s voice was very sharp as if she were worried that my unnecessarily affectionate uncle might ruin things.
“It’s about training. It’ll just take a moment. “I will lock the door; give me the key.”
Still, as if she didn’t have the courage to disobey Cloud’s instructions, she heard the jingling sound of keys and the sound of Laura’s footsteps walking away.
Although she didn’t see Laura’s face, it was obvious that she had an angry expression. She will run straight to Capella and tell her about Cloud’s visit.
“… … cloud? ” What’s going on here?”
Although she already knew about Cloud’s visit from the voice she heard, Ayla opened her eyes and made a surprised expression as if she had not known about it.
Cloud approached Ayla’s bedside and put something in her hand without saying a word.
“what’s this?”
She tried to open her hand, but Cloud hissed and covered her mouth with his finger.
“You can open it after I’m gone. “What I gave you is a secret,”
Cloud said with a serious and solemn expression. As things went on, the number of question marks on Ayla’s face only increased.
That is being conveyed so secretly.
“Well then, good night, lady.”
Cloud returned with a somewhat proud expression as if he had achieved the purpose of coming to this attic just by giving her this unknown something.
Of course, she didn’t forget to lock the trapdoor.
It was only then that Ayla, who was left alone, stretched out her fingers and checked the identity of what Cloud had given her.
And then she couldn’t stop the laughter from coming out.
‘Candy?’
No matter how much she was raised to be an assassin, a child is still a child. There were times when Byron, who always wielded her whip fiercely, gave her his carrot, and this was that carrot.
Bead-shaped candy.
But now, Cloud had given the candy to her without the owner’s knowledge.
‘I didn’t stimulate his sympathy just to get a piece of candy.’
This is such a futile thing.
‘Well, sometimes something like this is okay.’
Ayla put candy in her mouth while looking at the quiet nighttime scenery outside the window. As the candy rolled, the sweetness spread in her mouth.
At that moment, she really felt like she had returned to being a child.
The sound of a wolf howling was heard far away in the forest.
* * *
After that, Ayla continued to pretend to be pitiful whenever she could and tried to get information from Cloud.
But unfortunately, Cloud didn’t seem to have the heart to offer her anything more than sweet candy.
Because of that, she couldn’t help but wonder why Byron was alone in such a depressed state.
A few days passed like that.
As she was training with Cloud outside the ruins as usual, she happened to spot a vaguely familiar bird sitting on the wall.
‘Is it the same species as that bird from before?’
It seemed somehow similar to the bird that Cloud quickly caught not long ago.
At the time, it happened in the blink of an eye, so she couldn’t see the bird in detail, but from what she remember at first glance, it seemed similar in size and feather color to the bird sitting on the wall.
Moreover, when I looked at it, I even saw something that looked like a note tied to my ankle.
‘It seems like the cloud hasn’t noticed yet.’
How can she check that note first without Cloud knowing?
She seemed to be consumed with desperation. This was because before her eyes was the clue to a mystery that she had been unable to solve for a long time.
But it was too greedy.
Cloud looked back with a puzzled expression. Ayla kept snooping over Cloud’s shoulder, and it seemed like she was curious about the reason.
‘… I made a mistake.’
She shouldn’t have made it obvious. Ayla swallowed her regret.
“Please practice alone for a moment, young lady.”
Cloud discovered the bird, left her behind and walked towards the bird. Ayla watched Cloud out of the corner of her eye, pretending to concentrate on swinging her dagger.
Perhaps it was waiting for Cloud to notice his presence, but as he approached the bird, the bird stuck out its leg.
After reading the note, Cloud entered the building without hesitation.
Probably to report the details to Byron.
‘If I go in front of the window now, I might be able to hear the conversation.’
Ayla quickly looked around.
Laura, who had gone to help her mother prepare the meal, was not nearby, and the guards who were far away were not paying attention to her.
As long as she didn’t try to get too far away, the guards wouldn’t notice what she was doing.
‘Good. ‘ Then let’s go.’
