Heavens Whisper | K.TH

Sorry

WHITE

"A coup?"

"What coup?"

When I close the door shut behind me, V suddenly gets a panicked look in his eyes. He opens his lips.

And then he closes them again.

"Are you serious?" I ask in disbelief as he purses them right and shakes his head. "You're not going to tell me?"

"It's just a coup." He says, and I blink in annoyance. "Against the Empress."

"Yeah, I already know that." My voice is as convincing as possible, and he gives me a firm look. "What about the specifics?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? V, if you're worried about me not being able to keep a secret, then I can literally just—"

He cuts me off, voice sharp. "Demoiselle. That's not the problem. I don't worry about that."

I swallow.

"Then what?"

But he just ignores my gaze, looks at the door like he wants to be anywhere else than here. "Can you please let me leave?"

I don't say anything.

"White—" Then I suddenly hear the crash of glass as he hits the nightstand. V looks stunned as he looks down at the shattered glass on the floor of my room.

It's that swan I liked.

"I'm sorry." He repeats, eyes even more panicked from before. "I—"

My heart hurts, but I force the frustrated tears back down and stare into his pleading green eyes. He doesn't want to make me angry— he just doesn't know what to do.

Yeah.

Maybe he's not allowed to tell anyone. Whatever it is, I'm the problem— as always, annoying him to do something that he doesn't want to do.

I'm the problem, but I just—

I just can't apologize now.

"Don't worry about it." I say, swallowing for the thirteenth time. Where would I even go when I went out of this room?

"I'll be the one to leave."

_________________________

The garden at Winter is pretty, in its own way.

Instead of flowers on the trees, there's a bunch of frosted leaves and frosted ice flowers. Beads of ice hang off the branches, sparkling in the weak sun.

And it's not as cold as I'd thought it would be— just a regular cold with no wind.

Walking a bit into the garden, I end up in a weird forest-looking place with a lot of snow-covered trees. Flopping onto the white ground, I stretch out my feet.

I'm the problem.

Not him.

My eyes sting, and I blink into the blue skies and squeeze my lips together. I'm about to start wailing inside when something hits something.

Thump.

I sit up, my eyes wide as I listen closer. There's a sound of soft cursing, and I quietly get to my feet with my gaze fixed in the direction of the noise.