Chapter 69
Maybe…he doesn’t hate and resent her as much as she feared. They might not be able to return to how things were, but perhaps they can be closer than just acquaintances?
Roel had such hopes. She had promised not to expect too much. But she quickly composed herself and took a step back from Kyden.
“Looks like you skipped your meal. Aren’t you hungry?”
“A bit, I guess.”
“I can bring something to your room if you’d prefer.”
“It’s okay to eat here.”
“Alright, please have a seat.”
Kyden wasn’t really hungry but he wanted to have more conversation with Roel. She turned on the inn’s restaurant lamp. The flickering yellow light filled the room. She placed the lamp on the table and hurried into the kitchen.
She warmed up the leftover stew and sliced some bread. There was no more meat available, but she found some leftover meat pie and added a bit of it to the tray.
As she carried the tray out, she noticed Kyden hunched over. His hands clasped over his forehead like he was in deep prayer. He looked serious or worried.
At the same time, Roel’s mood dampened. She felt foolish for the thrill she had felt earlier from their interaction.
“Why did you come to the capital?”
Roel asked as she set down the food. Kyden raised his eyebrows slightly.
“….Had some business to take care of.”
“When are you planning to return? How long will you stay?”
He looked at her, his mouth pressed in a tight line, then after a long pause, he said.
“I’ll go back after I finish my business… Let’s go back together.”
“…”
“Not back to the valley village, somewhere else. If you want to stay in the capital, that’s fine too. I can settle here as well.”
His eyes shimmered under the light. His sincerity was conveyed to Roel. Roel took a deep breath in shock.
“So, I mean…”
She struggled to find the right words. She was overwhelmed by his words. The sounds around them seemed to fade, as if she were underwater.
Seeing Roel flustered, Kyden relaxed his posture and softly added.
“You don’t have to answer right now. We have plenty of time.”
He suggested that it wasn’t such a serious question. She didn’t need to immediately get worried or respond. He spoke lightly to ease Roel’s tension.
His slightly faint smile tightened Roel’s chest.
“Okay…”
Roel averted her gaze and bit her lip. His lingering affection clung to Roel’s heart.
Her head spun with complexity. But she didn’t want to display her inner turmoil, so she quickly turned away.
She went to the kitchen like running away, Roel leaned against the wall and slumped down. She clutched her racing heart.
‘I want to see him again…’
But that wasn’t supposed to be that way. After all her efforts to escape, how could she harbor such thoughts?
‘He reached out again…’
Despite her harsh rejection last time…. Kyden had approached her once more.
She shouldn’t allow it; it was wrong to extend a hand to someone as cowardly as herself. Yet, despite sighing at his foolishness, Roel couldn’t suppress the rising joy.
She missed him terribly. Every memory of him threatened to crumble her resolve, so she fought hard to maintain. Yet, her memories of him frequently overwhelmed her.
The loss she felt when leaving him side, the longing while wandering the roads, the warmth that once comforted her dry, cracking heart.
Perhaps she started to love him more after leaving Kyden.
Kyden’s steadfast, innocent persistence stirred a storm in Roel’s heart.
A cowardly heart, foolish as a moth to flame, and a pure longing to be near him muddled her thoughts.
After catching her breath, Roel returned to the restaurant only to find Kyden’s seat empty.
Delaying her answer felt like she might have missed her chance with him and left her feeling empty and desolate. Before it was too late, before he left, she needed to make a decision.
Roel sighed deeply as she cleared away the untouched food.
* * *
She couldn’t sleep that night, tossing and turning as thoughts of Kyden haunted her until dawn.
Roel, waking up groggy, headed to the inn’s bathroom. One of the perks of working at the inn was having the large bathroom to herself in the early morning and being able to take a bath with warm water.
‘I guess I’m quite suited for the inn work.’
The restaurant always had plenty of food, so Roel could eat without anyone minding, and although the work hours were long, there were enough breaks in between to avoid exhausting herself.
‘But dealing with the guests is tough…’
The hardest part of the job was handling the guests. Cleaning and helping in the kitchen were tasks Roel was very familiar with and found easy.
However, dealing with guests who played mean tricks, were intrusive, or made unreasonable requests was still a chore.
After her bath, Roel, with her hair still damp, combed it as she headed to the storeroom. There were no rooms to clean today, so she planned to prepare the breakfast ingredients early.
“Roel, you’re up early. Good timing. Come here.”
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