Chapter 262

“Your wife’s wedding ring?” Veolense remembered that Amethyst had referred to it as a wedding ring when she sold it. “She said she no longer wanted it! She said she was divorced!”

“Gen.” Gen stepped forward at Alexcent’s command and promptly snapped the bone in Veolense’s left arm. Veolense screamed loudly. Strangely, no one came to investigate his cries.

“There’s no one left to save you, no matter how loud you scream. I suggest you bring me the ring before your other arm also becomes useless.”

“Wait! Wait, please! I’ll give it to you.” Veolense grimaced in pain as he stood, cradling his broken arm. The pain made him dizzy, and he stumbled a few times before he was able to walk to his safe. He entered the password with a trembling finger and opened the latch. From within, he withdrew a metal box, which he handed to Alexcent. Inside was the ring, glittering in the lamp light.

Throwing the box to the side, Alexcent safely placed the ring in his pocket. “As a show of good faith for returning my ring, I will give you a warning. There will be an audit on all of the noble households very soon. I doubt you will pass.”

“Please spare my life. I gave you back the ring,” Veolense pleaded. He knew that he could be charged with betraying the empire for mining the Empress’ lands without permission, and that betrayal comes with a sentence of death.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Alexcent smiled. “I won’t kill you. But seeing how you treated me, I think I’ll make you a slave. Then your life will remain, but you can suffer as I suffered.”

Alexcent gave a chuckle as Veolense fainted to the floor.

“We’ll leave soon. I have just one more stop. Also, when we return, I want to gather enough manpower to investigate every mountain and valley in the Empire. Anyone found who has taken advantage of the Empress’ lands shall be severely punished.”

“I shall carry out your order,” Gen said.

Alexcent quickly left the Veolense mansion, with Gen following. He had one last place to visit before the sunrise.

***

Amethyst woke up to the faint sound of a horse neighing. She rose drowsily from the bed and looked out the window. It was dark still and she couldn’t make out any details, but she could still hear a horse somewhere close by. For some reason, the sound made her nervous.

Donning a shawl, she left her bedroom and went down the hall to Alexcent’s room. She knocked lightly.

“Gray? Are you up?” she called through the door.

Hearing nothing, Amethyst opened the door. The bed was empty. She closed the door and checked the bathroom, but it was also empty. Wrapping her shawl tighter around her, she headed downstairs.

“Gray? Are you here?” She called to the shadows. The café was silent. Shutting off the defense magic, Amethyst went outside to see if she could find the horse she had heard.

She couldn’t hardly see anything in the night, as there was thick fog drifting up from the river. She jumped as the horse whinnied close by.

“Gray? Is that you?” She called into the murkiness.

“Yes.” His voice made her jump as it erupted from the void of mist.

Amethyst breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me.” Alexcent’s form appeared from the fog. “Did something happen?”

“Yes.” Amethyst became concerned by his vague answers.

“What happened? If it’s something I can help with…” Alexcent put a hand to the side of her face. “Gray?”

“It’s time for me to leave,” Alexcent said, with sadness in his eyes.

“Leave?”

“I have to go back.”

“Go back? Where? Wait! Is your punishment over?”

Alexcent nodded his head.

“That’s good! That’s really good!” Amethyst said, overjoyed and heart broken at the same time.

“You also should go back,” Alexcent said.

“What?”

“How long are you going to hide from your past?”

“That’s not something you should concern yourself about.”

Alexcent stared into her eyes. “Fine. Can I at least kiss you as goodbye?”

“What?! No.”

“It will be my last goodbye. Please give me this memory.”

Amethyst’s heart almost shattered. Since she may never see Gray again, she felt that one kiss would be all right. She nodded. Alexcent took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately, his tongue entering her mouth with surprise. Amethyst at first thought to pull away, but instead she moaned and kissed him back with the same passion. It had been a long time since she had kissed a man like this. For some reason, she could feel tears leaking from her eyes.

All she could see was Alexcent’s face. He used to kiss her like this. She knew she should try and get away, but Gray pressed her closer. She finally gave up resisting and enjoyed the moment. When he was done, Gray quietly whispered into her ear.

“I’ll wait.”

Her body trembled. She opened her eyes to look at him, but he had already turned and disappeared into the surrounding fog. She felt something in her hand. He had slipped the pink diamond wedding ring on to her finger and placed a crumpled piece of paper into her hand, all while distracting her with the kiss.

She opened her hand and checked the piece of paper. There were 15 stamps on it, and ‘grant a small wish’ in her handwriting beside that.

Her body felt weak. He said he would wait for me. Was Gray actually Alec? There was no way. Her mind was turning in circles, remembering events that occurred. He said it wasn’t the first time that he had sujebi. He knew I always avoided confrontation. Everything he did was the same as Alec.

Amethyst realized she was crying uncontrollably as the sun began to rise and burn away the fog. Was he willing to wait for her to come back to him? Amethyst wiped away her tears and went back into the café.

She didn’t open for business that day. Pauline and Erina came by but the café was closed. They knocked but no one answered so they continued home. Amethyst remained in her bed. Everything felt like a dream. Perhaps, if she fell asleep, she would wake up and everything would be back to normal. Right now, nothing was as it seemed. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore. She wasn’t sure who Alexcent was. Was anybody who they actually appeared to be? She wanted to leave this nightmare.

However, after she drifted off to slumber, the more frightening nightmare returned. As the visions played, she moaned in her sleep, her body covered in a clammy sweat. She was back in the living room of her previous life. There was something different than before, though. She could hear the laughter of children. Looking up, the children ran past her into the kitchen.