CH 242

“Marriage is not that bad of an idea.”

As I widened my eyes, Amor stroked my cheek before he tucked strands of my hair behind my ear. As he took his hand back, I noticed that it was trembling. Unlike his usual touches that felt more natural, this looked more intentional. I tried to retreat but he narrowed the distance again even closer this time. 

“This is not the time for jokes.”

He curled his eyes before smiling. The sharp features on his pale face seemed to have disappeared for a moment. But the rippling effects of his words were by no means small. 

“I… Have I ever joked with you?”

I was about to repeat myself and ask him whether he really thought this was the time for jokes but his gaze looked so serious, it didn’t seem like he was joking. So, I held back.

“Brother.”

I managed to end the silence by speaking.

“Ah.”

I couldn’t resist calling him. As he stroked my cheek, I called you for him again which made him stop. 

“Brother. Why are you so nice to me?”

“Does love need to be explained?”

His cool clear green eyes captured mine. 

“Then, why won’t you let me leave here with you?”

“Because I know I can’t leave.”

I knew I should not have asked him that question. But everyone had encouraged me to escape my unhappiness. I wanted to recommend Amor to do the same too. He would of course have to first deal with his immediate problems but the sudden curiosity made me lift my head. 

“You’ve said this before. We are comrades.”

Amor replied tenderly. He stared at me with a languid gaze that wasn’t like him as he repeated what I had told him a long time ago. 

“I can provide you with anything and I have a plan that can get you out of here to some place far away. But you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

His fingers brushed past my dried tear streaks as he stroked the skin under my eyes. His strokes seemed laced with emotions as I stared at him helplessly. 

“The world you see is the world I see.”

He slowly lowered his head before placing our foreheads together and saying. 

“But it’s strange.”

I could feel his breaths right underneath my nose. Under this air of reverence, there was a strangely soft and sticky feeling prickling my cheek as his piercing gaze captured me. 

“All I could think about while running here was that it would be enough for me if you were alive.”

His warm breath tickled my lips. 

“But when I see you, I get greedy.”

Greed. Those words were drawn towards my lips before they melted into them. His lips parted. He spoke to me as I stood there startled. 

“Did you know?”

I could feel the door against my back. Another gust of wind blew, revealing his face which had been partially covered by his hair. As I continued staring at him, he raised his hand whilst smiling languidly. 

“I’ve never been greedy for anything before.”

His words left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. As the wind blew, my long hair wound around his fingers. He slowly swept my flying hair down with his hand. He looked me in the eye before speaking slowly, one word at a time. 

“I’m just saying, meeting you has made me want to live.”

“Brother.”

“That’s why I won’t die. Ashley.”

He removed his hand from me before taking a step back. He seemed to be trying to capture me entirely in his gaze. Now that he was standing against the night sky, he looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him. Though at the same time, his eyes were shaking with a gentle spark. As soon as his lukewarm yet fiery gaze captured me, it felt like a cool cloth had brushed past the back of my neck. 

“If you’re coming to my palace, I just need to protect you, right?”

Neither our situations had improved but his languid speech alone almost made everything seem alright. Strangely enough, Amor softened the defensive expression I was used to seeing him with before saying softly. 

“Shall we live together?”

Amor’s expression had darkened immensely. 

“I don’t think this was what I was talking about?”

When he spoke, I turned my head away from the balcony to face him. Just as always, his angered expression seemed to slightly soften whenever he saw me. No, it was only for a moment. He looked uncomfortable. And since we knew each other well, he did not bother to hide his displeasure any further.

“You’re the only person I allowed here. I never allowed this many people in here, did I?”

“Five is not that big of a number, is it?”

It seemed like while Soricks and Dane were in the middle of a conversation, Meta was making occasional comments from the side. We were currently at Amor’s palace. But within his palace, in his room to be exact, we were also together with Dane, Lord Ray, Soricks and Meta. Amor expressed his discomfort with a long sigh.

“I’ll only let them in if this is necessary.”

Oh, I never expected this reaction from him. Amor slowly swept his face down with his hand before covering his face. Was he calming himself down? He would have gotten angry at this point but as per my request, he allowed two men–Dane and Lord Ray–and two patrols into his room.

“I look forward to working with you. My Prince!”

“I look forward to working with you.”

As if just finishing their strategy meeting, the two walked our way. While Soricks and Meta lowered their heads deeply, Amor just nodded at him. I was reminded of the conversation I had with Amor last night. 

“Let’s spend the night together. Castor can’t do anything to me.”

Castor wouldn’t touch me. No, to be more exact, he couldn’t kill me. Hernan couldn’t touch me either. Because the oath they made ensured that neither of them could kill me. That was how I was so sure. 

“But I alone am not enough, brother.”

But I couldn’t stop him because I didn’t really have any power. Hernan was also a powerful templar. If Castor and Hernan were to fight together, Amor wouldn’t be able to stop them alone. That was why I asked Amor if we could enlist the help of Dane, Lord Ray and the two strong templars from the patrols. 

“We might just be increasing the number of victims.”

Amor had been sceptical. But I didn’t think we were. Wanting to deal with things at night meant that Castor still wanted to keep this a secret. If Castor really wanted to have one last fight with me, he would have come in person, during the day, when the sunlight was strong and stab Amor proudly. 

“The interrogation on your treason begins now. The Princess, the daughter of the 8th Queen, Auresia. Ashley Rose Kaltanias.”

When he came to stab me, he came with his own justification too. 

“As the young body representing the future of this Empire, I will act as the judge on all forbidden and question you for your sins of conspiring with the Templars of Chaos.”

Regardless of whether his justification was true. Despite the fact he was named the Mad Crown Prince, his actions had more thought behind them than I initially thought. The fact that there was reason behind his madness made him even more terrifying. 

“The emperor poured all his strength into making Castor compliant to his every command”

But from Auresia, I learnt that Castor had restrictions placed on him as well. Castor could not battle the emperor head-on. From that fact alone, it was clear that Castor could only threaten Amor.

But how could anyone know how dangerous that threat would be? Castor could very well make it impossible for Amor to ever get up from his bed again by saying that Amor would die otherwise. Amor knew which was why he could remain calm. I couldn’t say anything but I felt sorry for the man who couldn’t do anything as his body continued to be hurt. I was also upset. I grabbed Amor’s hand. 

“I’ll make sure not even your fingers get hurt.”

Amor looked at me incredulously. 

“Who’s saying what now…”

He looked at me as if he had lots to say before he soon lowered his head and smirked. 

“Well. That’s not such a bad idea.”

With the hand I didn’t manage to grab, Amor grazed my cheek. Wait, we were standing in broad daylight. I didn’t think this atmosphere was the most appropriate right now. His thick gaze tracked my movements. When I recalled what happened last night, I froze until someone strolled towards us.

“Ashley.”

A firm arm wrapped around my waist before a sweet voice sank into my ears. I turned my head slightly to find Dane. The eyes I met seemed to contain things I would never know. 

“I’ve finished organising the patrols.”

When I stared at the arm hugging my waist as if it was only natural, Dane hugged me tighter and curled his eyes as if asking me if there was anything wrong. 

“This palace was built traditionally so there are many ways for people to break in through the courtyard and invade. So it’ll be hard to guard the entire palace but we can concentrate the troops around this room. It’ll be up to the guards standing outside to look out for any signs. If the intruder is a templar as capable as the Templar of Beasts or the Templar of Beasts himself, by the time we sense his presence, he would have already left. The struggle would probably take place here.”

“Hm, Dane, for this, do we really look at the map from here?”

“You read it like this.”

Amor’s face disappeared from my vision as a blueprint took his place. Dane’s explanation continued to sink into my ears. He spoke very formally like a businessman. I looked at the complicated blueprint as much as I could before saying. 

“So, we can’t have big spaces for the battle?”

“Right. If the space is too wide, there would only be more room for the Templar of Beasts. The space would only make his abilities more effective. It’s true that we would be at a disadvantage no matter how many people we have. So, we will have to make sure the fight occurs in a place that favours us most.”

“What about my request?”

“Ah. I brought it.”

Before I came, I had asked for a little something from the Templars of Vulcanus. I had made that request through Fleon so I was pretty sure my intentions were not well-conveyed. 

“I heard Fleon was being really hard on Rex. For this”

Ah. Just as I expected. He might have just nagged at him but I was sure he was treating him like some slave. Thanks to him, my request was completed quickly but still. I felt a little sorry for them.

“This item was created by the God of Textiles and Spiders, Arachne before being fortified by Vulcanus.  Just as you asked for. But how did you come to know of such an item?”

“Ah. I have a maid in my palace who is a Templar of–No, she’s a templar candidate of Arachne…”

As I spoke, I made eye contact with the green eyes that were staring at me, Amor’s eyes. Amor sat on the bed as he crossed his legs and leaned into his hands. He tilted his head before his gaze captured mine again. He then slowly shifted his gaze. He wasn’t looking at me but at something to my side–

“Uhm, uh.”

“Ashley?”