Chapter 63

𝕾𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖔: 𝕴𝖓𝖛𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖇𝖞 𝕿𝖆𝖞𝖑𝖔𝖗 𝕾𝖜𝖎𝖋𝖙

***

When the mystic silver rays descended their way to my figure, they engulfed mine with this penetrating dust of iciness a kind of scenario where I could see myself covered in glacier's view.

Yet, the mighty silhouette of this young man who followed my grayish hue was enough to keep me reminded of the path toward someone prominent to set eyes on.

With every colliding step and the echo of shoes screaming through the silence, the unforgiving movement through time halted only to find my gazes narrowed within a wooden plain door, in the very edge of the hallways.

Unlike the others where the doors were painted exactly like the colors of the white walls, with edges of the golden seal like the orb attached to a day sky, this door signifies a big plank of a tree.

It was only wooden and had no design or art but was plain. My hands almost touched the door if it weren't for a warmth that I never expected enveloped mine. I looked at who covered mine only to see a face with narrowed glances.

It was never placed on me, but the young man's sight was gazing on the door who happened to be like a servant's quarter.

"Let me, Vestia..." With his deep voice, he managed to pull me closer with his leathery hand and I've been bathed by his warmest and yet cool woodland musk scent.

Silence became my deafening words, but I nodded with my eyes set on the door. I saw how his hands knocked on it and slowly, slightly yet like the door's scream, darkness loomed over when it decided to have an opening.

A few seconds passed and it stayed only an inch open, and it was Lexus who stepped forward and had my feet move backward so that his shadow would overrule my current figure.

I never hesitated to do so, but I would tiptoe or bend my body to see what would be in front when he held my hand, and eventually, like a magical thing to do, I didn't even feel the heaviness of his grip when we came within the said place.

Around felt like golden mists were dancing and different from the way the door was constructed, within was enveloped with the vastness of yellow floors ironically from how small the door's size was, the place was indeed vast.

Palatial objects were displayed and there were some columns with small benches within the veins of the plants as if it were an indoor greenhouse, where plants were displayed.

"Oh, finally, the one who almost threatened to kill me if I wouldn't be able to tell any information about the lady he claimed would be the savior of the empire, how cliché would it be..." a voice so playful that I could determine how wavy it was echoed within the place.

Still, my eyes weren't able to get off from the golden glitters that served as the enthusiastic play within the room. My mouth made a gap, but it only made it like that so far, since the one with the darkest shadow held me before his back and my vision got overruled by his looming figure again.

"If I think it correctly, you must be the lady's assigned knight, is that it? How hurtful was it to be only a knight to her when you're prepared to sacrifice yourself with her still oblivious of your own emotions..."

"Shut it, Neil, or I will slit your throat"

"Oh, I'm so scared... now that you know my name, what else do you want to know as you've come to threaten such a man like me, right? But don't you think that by doing so, you would get away from such punishment from the emperor?"

I could see the intensity of their eyes fighting against each other and I didn't hesitate to move forward and put two hands in the air, and I could see that their thunderous stare down led to my figure to melt instead.

"Please you two, before you said some harsh words, wouldn't you consider first what I wanted?"

"Oho, so you finally spoke, my dearest lady," I gasped when I felt that such coldness lingered within my side, and in a few seconds, I heard my own hair being kissed by the man's whispery and yet deep voice.

"Hands off her, you former scholar..." I heard Lexus's thunderous voice as if captivated by the lightning's touch and burnt from Lexus' grip, the young man who was new to my eyes immediately swayed over as he danced towards the nearest bookshelves within the place.

As if he got burned by Lexus' hands.

"Oho, now you also knew my current status and yet, I was the one you sought instead of the finest scholar now within the place, or whoever he or she's already talking to..."

I could hear the young man's voice and it soothed the way his long hair tied in a black ribbon swayed by the current playfulness of his voice.

Nevertheless, I could see some similarities this man has with Hellier, but their appearance was different.

When the young man had silvery hair like Claudius, he had grayish eyes that I had never seen and when I heard it correctly from what Lexus said earlier, his name might have been Neil.

But in the past, I couldn't recall any scholar that was named Neil, or was it because it's also his alias considering that we're in this dark nobles' night?

When my sight focused on the young man, he was currently massaging his white-gloved hands, and he was wearing a loosened white coat as if there were some seals within that he was compelled to wear.

I could see some resemblance of him being a scholar, but why did Lexus say that he's a former scholar? Why did he know or rather how did he know that?

I tried to grasp Lexus' coat but before that happened his gaze already came to mine.

"I'll explain it later, for now, he was the one whom I saw following the high priest earlier, and instead of taking you to the real scholar, I took you to the former one. I do apologize for my actions again."

"Why? Why did you suddenly know he's a former scholar?"

I could hear the way his teeth grit with the veins coming undone on either side of his forehead, and eventually, his tongue clicked.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you this but..."

"But?"

I saw how the warmth from my hand loosened its grip on the coldness and eventually, I saw his clenching on either side.

"I saw the real scholar and he was within the high priest in the room that they went in. Before I could even find you, I found this young man's suspicious movements and there I saw the mark on the side of his neck, and I knew it there that he's a former scholar..."

The things he would say earlier came to my ears as soon as I wanted to hear them and right now, when I turned to look at the young man, he was gazing at us with his plastered sinister smile.

But that was only for a moment when his hair was tied, had been broken, and as if the place was engulfed with a mighty breeze of air, his hair floated like a sharp object within the air.

That's when I knew that magic did exist in ancient times and the empire was only covering such facts. Or was this some kind of illusion created by the golden mists within the place?

There's only one thing to know the truth and that is to hear those words exactly from his mouth.

"Oho, now that you two know I'm here, I suggest you keep your mouth shut, or else I won't be able to control myself in doing something that would harm you two."

"Wait," I asked him, and I was about to walk near where he was when Lexus immediately held my hand.

"Just stay in there, Lexus, you don't need to meddle in my plans now"

"But you could---"

"I know just trust me, all right?" When I gazed right into his eyes, I already knew that his were wavering but he managed to shut his eyes enough to clench his hands and the warmth I felt from before became the coldness' grip instead.

"You said before that we would be punished by the emperor if we ever do something bad to you, then why is that, when you're already a former scholar?"

I heard the young man chuckle before the wind from his side slightly loosened like calm water.

"Then you must also be aware of where the former scholars would go beyond, right?" when he said those words, I knew that hairs within my body started to rise and without any intentions to return from their previous places, the young man, in a blink of an eye, was already whispering something to my ears.

"It's just that we're branded to stay forever locked away in that terrifying darkness, a height that one couldn't get without any brand like mine," then he tilted his neck and I saw the mark that Lexus was saying.

Some air loosened its way from my body and I indeed touched the young man's clothing only to feel a rippling effect from my body until he touched my hands and I calmed down.

"But I guess you were very different from the rest that sought us, considering that I saw no discrimination within your soul," I heard how his voice became calm and that's when I couldn't help but blink a few times before settling my gazes back to him.

"So can you do us a favor then?" It took him a few whiles to look where Lexus was and narrowed his gaze until I heard him chuckle.

"Why not? As long as you're willing to do the same thing to me..."

I never thought that what Anna informed me a few days ago as we met in the narrowest alley within the market, would be one of the crucial information that I would hear from this mysterious young man.

"Besides, if you wanted to come in my place, then just say my name"

"Was it Neil?"

"No silly, it was just my alias, just say Oratio..." and there, I felt like the air within my body went away. Oratio, the one who...