Chapter 25
Were you expecting that everything would stand still and wait for you? If you had slightly thought as such, then you are nothing more but an arrogant imbecile.
Riftan rubbed his throbbing forehead and walked a little faster. All he yearned for right now was to return to his room and rest. He wanted to sleep and not open his eyes for at least two days.
However, upon arriving at Croix Castle, the urge to rest suddenly disappeared. He also felt that it would only trouble him more if he ran into his colleagues and the commander. Although he trusted them, he had no intentions of showing them his weak side.
He circled the garden and started walking along the deserted forest path. The throbbing pain in his head gradually subsided as he passed along the shortcuts he used to take when he carried charcoal or firewood on his back when he was a child.
He rested against a tree, leaning his back against its marvelous trunk, taking a moment to catch his breath. Suddenly, he realized where he actually was, his face hardening. Riftan sighed in despondency, gazing at the grayish-white outbuilding that peeped through the dense forest. He couldn't believe he wandered all the way to that place. He trudged out of the forest, his shoulders drooping like a man weary from a long journey. The garden that he had seen countless of times in his illusions drew closer and closer.
However, it appeared completely different from how he remembered it. He frowned seeing the lonesome scenery: the flower bed that was lush with various kinds of flowers was now nothing but barren ground with growing weeds, surrounded by a strange silence.
...you don't visit here anymore?
He bent down to pick up a dead flower, crumbling its dry petals with his fingertips. Perhaps she eventually came to neglect this place ever since she stopped staying in the outbuilding. Riftan laughed at the fact that even the place where his illusions took place was all bare. He stood blankly for a moment, rubbing the back of his head, then slowly turned away.
At that moment, he heard a shrill laughter coming from somewhere. Riftan turned his head, but he didn't see anyone else in the garden. He stood blankly amidst the bleak wind, sensing a presence from a distance, and quickly moved to its direction.
As he circled the annex, his eyes found Maximillian Croix, crouching on the ground and playing with a big cat. He stood hidden, watching her. The girl was wearing a modest reddish-brown dress that was far from the dress she donned at the banquet. Her hair, which had been tightly braided and rolled up to secure every strand, was now naturally disheveled and flowed gently over her shoulder. Her ivory pale face had a young reddish blush.
A sharp pang made its way on his chest. The scene before his eyes was similar to his illusions, but he didn't want to fall for her again like a complete fool. Riftan hurriedly turned around, anxious to be caught. Suddenly, an almost incomprehensible voice stopped him from his tracks.
"Y-you... Do you like me...?"
As if he was held back by a powerful force, Riftan couldn't refrain from looking back again. She was speaking to the cat, which was lying by her feet, and she wore a solemn face. It was a funny sight, but strangely, he didn't feel like laughing.
A smile crept to Maximillian's lips as the cat stretched and rubbed its face against the hem of her skirt, like he understood her question. She carefully cradled the cat carefully in her arms and whispered to it like a playful child with a doll.
"T-then... a-always... will you stay by my side?"
She asked, with a startlingly unstable and pitiful voice. Riftan held his chest, feeling a numbness in the corner of his heart. The loneliness that she emitted was so clear that it felt like he could touch it with his hands. At that moment, he felt like she was someone closer than anyone else. He looked helplessly at her vulnerable face, then fled.
