Chapter 71
For once, the curtains that usually draped over the window had been pulled back, and in the dim moonlight, she could make out the figure of someone reclining half-upright on the bed.
“A-Ael…?”
Only when she saw how the moonlight glinted off his deep, dark hair did she exhale a quiet breath of relief.
“…What are you doing here?”
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
Ael, still half-armed but having shed most of his gear, sat up from where he’d been lying in the dark. The tension in his voice made Kiara flinch. Without thinking, she rushed toward the fireplace.
“D-Did you get hurt somewhere? J-Just wait a second. I-I’ll light a candle…”
Her hands trembled as she dug through the ashes, searching for a spark. Lighting a single candle should have been simple, just strike the flint a few times, but Kiara was clumsy with such things. In her haste, she fumbled and blew into the embers in vain, unable to coax even a flicker of flame. A helpless expression crossed her face, frustration mingled with dread.
“I-Is it serious? Are you badly—”
“…That too, is something I should be asking.”
Tap. Tap. The sound of flint being struck came a few times from behind her, and suddenly the room brightened with warm candlelight. Kiara blinked rapidly, eyes adjusting, and turned to him in confusion.
“W-What do you mean?”
“Your injury.”
Ael stepped beside her and calmly placed the lit candle into the holder atop the mantle.
“If I was wounded, then you must be too.”
“Oh…”
Her breath caught.
There was no accusation in his tone — just certainty, as if stating the obvious. Yet those few words pierced her like a blade sharper than any she’d ever seen.
Now that her eyes had adjusted to the bright light, Kiara blinked in a daze and looked at him. His expression was no different than usual, but perhaps because of the candlelight, Ael’s eyes looked unusually red. He took the fire starter from her weakly drooping hand and began to sift through the ashes instead, muttering indifferently.
“Seems like this room’s been empty for a while. The ashes are completely cold.”
“Ah… I was just, um, in the—library…”
Finally coming back to her senses, Kiara nodded. Maybe it was because the eclipse had ended, but even the faint moonlight made the night noticeably brighter than before, and she had lost track of time.
No, it wasn’t just the moonlight.
Compared to her own room, cold and empty with no one in it, anywhere else would have been better. But the library, built of white marble, had been especially beautiful. And the scent of old books filling that pristine, dust-free space had been almost overwhelming.
On her way back to the North Tower, she’d found herself already counting the days until she could return.
“The library?”
Ael, having hung the fire starter next to the fireplace, turned to face her.
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t read?”
“R–Raelin… no…”
As she answered his question, Kiara faltered. Raelin’s name had slipped out unintentionally, and though she quickly tried to cover it up, her flustered expression was unmistakable.
His eyes looked even redder now, and with one eyebrow subtly raised, Ael seemed… angry. So much so that it scared her.
“There are scholars in the library, so I thought maybe I could learn to read…”
“That explains why you kept asking if I was hurt. I should’ve known you weren’t thinking at all.”
“What do you mean, not thinking…?”
Ael brushed past her and headed back toward the bed. As Kiara stared blankly at his shoulder, which had nearly grazed her in passing, he sat down heavily on the mattress and answered.
“If you get hurt, I’m in danger too. No matter how many times I say it, you forget and run around outside like it’s nothing. At that point, I have to ask whether I’m okay or not, don’t I?”
His tone was cold, to say the least, but the content was pure rebuke. As if he thought she was pathetic. Stung by his words, Kiara shot back angrily:
“You wouldn’t have answered even if I had asked!”
Maybe she had been careless, going outside even after all his warnings to be cautious.
But still, she didn’t want to admit it was a mistake. Hadn’t she waited so long, so desperately, for the day she could finally go outside again?
Now that the curse had lifted, she’d thought she could finally take a breath of open air… only to find herself suddenly bound to someone as his so-called soulmate.
Would he ever understand how suffocating that was?
‘Or maybe he does and just doesn’t care.’
Kiara pouted slightly. Of course, there was no way Ael would go out of his way to consider her feelings.
And it wasn’t like she’d gone far — she’d been careful, watching his moods the whole time.
If she’d known it would end like this, maybe she should have made a run out of the palace entirely. Like Ael had.
As her frustration mounted, Kiara’s voice rose in pitch.
“Honestly, if we’re being fair, you’re the real problem here! You’ve been wandering all over the place, even ran into a bear! I only went to the library!”
Ael stared at her quietly as she raised her voice, something she rarely did.
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