Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Roxana had indeed kept her face completely devoid of emotion as she walked away from Nix. Even with her back turned, she could sense the stupefied confusion in his brief stunned silence. He was having a genuine dilemma over whether to believe her or not.

She was an expert when it came to testing the faiths of others and knew they became especially shaky when facing danger. Plus, the tension she had purposefully sewn into the air heightened the effect even further. And since they intended to leave for Yggdrasil soon, her promise to take him to Noel Vertium hadn’t been a complete lie.

After all, she never said she would return him to the Gold Master upon meeting him. In fact, both she and Cassis expected some sort of attempt to steal the puppet back once they set out for the neutral territory since the Gold clan was unlikely to risk having their own master exposed to the other clans for using human flesh in their sacred puppetism. Nix was indisputable proof of that.

From what little time she had spent in the Gold lands, Roxana had quickly put together that Dante was the brains behind what took place in Vertium. Thus, it was likely the crafty steward would physically destroy the blond puppet if worse came to worst in order to avoid his young master’s sins coming to light.

An attempt to retrieve the captive from behind the Pedelian fortress walls was a guaranteed impossibility, so their rescue plot would likely be a slightly more risky yet probable alternative. And once that happened, Nix’s world was certain to get thrown into even wilder chaos.

Roxana cast a quick glance back before proceeding above ground. Although she couldn’t see him, there was a solemn resolve in her scarlet eyes. She opened the heavy, metal door and stepped out.

* * *

“Roxana.”

Cassis had been waiting for her just outside of the entrance to the dungeons. She approached him before they both set out for the annex together.

“How’s Sylvia doing?”

He had been with his sister while she was down in the prison cell. There was an unbothered air to him as he answered.

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“That’s a relief.”

Roxana really was relieved. Unlike him, she had been worried ever since she saw the Blue Princess meeting with Nix in the dungeon. It wasn’t that she had seen anything terribly concerning through her butterfly, but the fact that her honorary little sister had appeared so taken with the puppet was troubling in and of itself. Then there was the innocent act he had put on for his naïve visitor. It was the same façade he had tried with her back in Vertium, which made her expression wrinkle from displeasure.

However, after Cassis had met with her, she readily accepted her brother’s advice and abandoned her curiosity about their solitary prisoner. Since they would be setting out for Yggdrasil soon, it was especially important that they remained vigilant. At the very least, Roxana was just thankful to have one less thing to worry about.

“To tell the truth, I’d like to know if you truly intend to go there on your own.”

Cassis seemed to have been waiting with the question on the tip of his tongue. There was a different sort of worry in his eyes. It was wholly different from the way he had looked when she informed him of his sister’s actions. The mere sight of the contrast caused Roxana to chuckle to herself.

“Didn’t we already agree that it would be more efficient?” she asked.

He wasn’t happy about being reminded of the decision he had been a part of, but he also couldn’t refute the truth in her words either. Before long, a small party left for Yggdrasil from the Blue castle.

Roxana, however, was not among them. She had left a bit earlier, but not for the same destination in the neutral zone. There was another place she was compelled to visit first. From there, she would travel to Yggdrasil on her own rather than join the Pedelians en route to the castle.

Although Cassis still felt unfavorably about their idea, that did not detract from the fact that it was the most sensible course of action. On top of that, there was still a high probability that his group would be ambushed. He was confident he and his band of knights would be able to snuff out any trouble with great ease, so freeing up his beloved to do whatever it was that she needed to do was an added perk. And while he knew she was unlikely to encounter any sort of danger, he still thought it prudent to have Olin or another guard remain at Roxana’s disposal on the off chance that she did.

However, she predictably refused. She had done her best to follow suit with his desires, but on this particular occasion, she had insisted it would be easier to move on her traveling alone. Of course, she was grateful for how willing he always was to respect her decisions as well. Thus, the young lovers traveled to the clan gathering on separate paths.

Once she headed in the direction of the neutral zone, her feet would not rest until she had arrived at a certain location that was some distance from central Yggdrasil. The cities of the neutral territory were always booming with people. The large and suffocating crowds actually served in her favor since she had been veiled from head to toe in a light, gauzy garment and had hoped to continue traveling unnoticed.

She passed the town center in silence, then kept walking until she arrived at a door.

* * *

Upon noticing how dark it had become, Sierra looked up toward the sky. Before long, dusk would cloak the landscape in darkness. She stared out of the window at the orange and purple sections, before calling Beth over.

“Suppose it’s time we light the room.”

“Yes, my lady.” The maid acted without further explanation.

Beth had normally seen to lighting the rooms without prompting, but her lady had been in such deep contemplation that evening, so she had thought it best to not disturb her. Ever since Deon had left them, Sierra had made a habit of looking off into the distance for long stretches of time.

Could she be regretting her decision to send him away? Like every other person who resided in the Agrece compound, Beth knew that Deon was the one who killed Achille. She looked over at her mistress with slight trepidation. To her relief, the stunning woman’s features did not appear sullied by anguish or regret due to her deep reverie. Beth proceeded to silently light one of the candles on the table.

Meanwhile, Emily moved toward the window to draw the curtains. However, just as she took hold of the fabric, she froze and didn’t say a word. All of her focus appeared to be on something outside. Before long, a crimson butterfly alighted on the window pane she had just approached.

“Emily? What’s the matter?”

Beth and Sierra had both noticed her sudden rigidity. She released the curtain, but instead of returning to her seat, she walked toward the door. Right at that moment, a knock sounded from the other side. They all fell silent and watched as the steward began to unbolt the lock without so much as an inquiry as to who the visitor was.

Sensing who might be on the other side, Sierra held her breath.

Click.

Creeeak.

The last rays of the sunset came through the open door at an angle and dyed everything in their path in a warm, red glow. Emily was the first to address the person who was silhouetted by the waning rays.

“We’ve been waiting for you, my lady.”

Roxana Agrece slowly removed her hood to allow her golden hair to cascade down past her shoulders. Although her mother had dreamed both night and day of this moment, the sound of her only daughter’s voice meeting her ears gave her pause.

“Long time no see, Emily.”

Sierra rose from her seat with such haste that her chair collided with the wall behind her. The loyal aide offered a quick bow to her master before stepping aside to let her in. At last, mother and daughter were standing eye to eye. Before Sierra realized what she was doing, she spoke her daughter’s name.

“X... Xana.”

The younger woman gazed at her mother silently as she beheld the soft face she hadn’t seen since that fateful day in their former home. Since they had always maintained a certain distance while living at the compound, being so near to one another was rather unfamiliar for both of them. But even so, they were no longer in Agrece territory. On top of that, Roxana no longer saw her mother in the same light anymore.

Thus, she decided to finally speak honestly to the person standing across from her and express a sentiment she had been wishing to share for a number of years.

“I’ve missed you deeply, Mother.”