Chapter 74: A cup of poison for Earhart. (7)

Chapter 74: A cup of poison for Earhart. (7)

Alice was splayed out in the bath, leaning against the edge as she splashed the water on her face. Cold. Each drop felt like ice as they slid down her face, some of them desperately clinging to her hair. She could see her breath every time she exhaled, the chill slowly seeping to her core.

"So, can I now ask about what went down?"

Teresa spoke up from behind Alice, tending to her hair. Doing so with cold water was a new experience but water was water so the job remained unchanged. Wanting an ice bath was strange enough, but the Alice in front of her also had a small wound on her lips, a few drops of blood occasionally sneaking out when she pursed her lips too tightly.

"It was Gabriel."

Alice cupped more water in her hands as she spoke, wincing for a second as she splashed it against her face, gazing at the rippling water through the cracks between her fingers.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

"That much is obvious with you."

Teresa rolled her eyes, Alice could practically hear the wry smile forming on her lips. Yes, it really was obvious, wasn’t it? Who else but that knight could elicit such reactions from her?

"He found out about the upcoming engagement proposals that we’ll be handed during the investitures."

Alice tapped the water as she would a table, as if she was pondering some conundrum. But she was just trying to keep herself in check, she was working with the icy water to suppress that which rose whenever she thought back to what happened barely a few minutes ago.

"I see. I’m guessing he’ll cause a great big ruckus?"

Teresa could somewhat guess Gabriel’s reaction after finding out. And if it was the Gabriel that was showing signs of change... Yeah, he may just cause a ruckus large enough to make Alice react like this. But the truth that Alice revealed...

"He said that it was unacceptable. He’ll propose to me during the investiture to shut down all future talks about marriage."

Yeah, that was a bit beyond what Teresa had expected. That was a... Big step for Gabriel. It was... Illogical, if you thought about what they were trying to achieve. But oh well, people were supposed to be illogical beings, it was about time that Gabriel got that memo.

"Yes, that does seem like something that would push that button. I would ask if I should congratulate you on your future heir, but I’m guessing this bath is taking place to prevent exactly that."

Teresa knew Alice, and some parts she knew better than Gabriel. Alice was already struggling to hold herself back at normal times, with Gabriel springing something like that on her it was easy to imagine her control slipping. But evidently, the last step wasn’t taken. Alice responded simply, raising a hand.

"I was this close, Teresa. Really, this close. I had him beneath me. I can still taste him, a mixture of blood and apples. His shoulders are quite hard, did you know that? I felt like my fingers were trying to dig through stone."

She held her index and thumb against each other as she spoke, barely leaving any room between them. She could still feel the sensation of skin and flesh beneath her fingers, if she had dug just a bit harder she would have drawn blood there as well. She wanted to draw blood there as well.

"I marked him. Shoulders and lips. And he marked me back..."

Her hand fell. The fingers, still warm to her thanks to the sensation, tracing her lips. A soft sting of pain shot through her when she reached the small wound on her lips. Where she drew blood, so too did he. He wasn’t just an observer, he was a participant. But...

"But it’s not enough, Teresa."

No. Not yet. Her hands clenched, quivering softly as she held them in front of her face. So close, so easy... It wouldn’t even have taken a push to go on. But no... No, it wasn’t enough.

"Years ago, before you were employed here, Marion and the others actually helped me understand something. Teresa, I am greedy."

Alice recalled that conversation with perfect clarity. When Gabriel was struck by Leonardo and Marion only scolded him for making a scene, drawing a clear line to represent Gabriel’s status. Oh how Alice remembered that conversation, oh how she remembered the feelings she felt for the first time.

"I want him. Gabriel. I want my knight. I want him to be recognized, not just by me but by the family and the entire empire."

Desire. The first desire that she felt, the first fire he lit in her. He was beaten for her, but the one who did it wouldn’t even be punished because Gabriel was a nobody. The candle that banished her night, the knight that showed her light... Oh how she wanted him to be recognized.

But then they grew. People always grew, time always passed. And as time passed and people grew, so too did desires. Time and time again, the knight moved for her. Time and time again he banished the night. So it just grew, and grew, and grew, and grew. The greedy became greedier, and in the end her desire reached its current state.

"I want him to want me. To need me the way I need him. I want that stoic face to crumble when he looks at me, I want that cold rationality to burn when he thinks of me. I want him to lose his constant control when faced with me. I pushed him down today, but in the future I want him to push me down in equal measure."

It was no longer enough to just have him. She wanted him to crumble, she wanted him to show her a face that he would show only her. She wanted him to wake up and think of her before he even blinked, she wanted him to close his eyes and think of her the second before he fell asleep. She wanted him to become like her.

She was close. She could feel it in his gaze, his voice, his very being. But it wasn’t quite there yet, at least not in the way she wanted.

He remembered. His chest started to heat up, starting in his lungs and spreading to his ribs, like fire eating him from the inside. Right, she gave him fire. She plugged him up and then poured in nothing but fire, until the flames were all that remained within him. His tongue slipped back to his lips. Vanilla and lemon... soft and delicate.

"Alright... So, what are you planning for Lady Alice?"

Trisha gave a slow nod of her head, her initial response a bit drawn out because Gabriel was reacting strangely. But he returned somewhat to normal after she drew his attention by speaking.

"Astute."

He nodded his head, but Trisha shook hers just as quickly as he had responded.

"No, it just so happens that you really only ask for advice about things like that."

You didn’t have to be astute when it came to Gabriel, you just had to be good at picking up patterns. And when it came to advice, especially when he came to her for advice, it was generally only about this. And indeed, Gabriel’s response proved her right.

"I intend to propose to Alice during the upcoming investiture, its the best way to stop the unwanted engagement proposals they intend to send our way."

Trisha couldn’t help but stop momentarily. She tapped her ears a few times and blinked as she looked at him, but he looked as serious as always so he clearly wasn’t joking.

"You... You’re planning on proposing? How?"

Gabriel was going to propose? She’d heard some rumours about the investiture, and Gabriel, as one of the main actors, wouldn’t be able to escape getting a title. But using that opportunity to propose to Alice?

"I haven’t thought about that yet. I have a ring in mind, but I’m unsure about how to hand it over."

It was... about the answer Trisha expected from him. He was generally like that when it came to other people, assuming he wasn’t looking to kill them, have half a plan and then improvise.

"..."

She stood there quietly for a moment, leaning on the dull sword that she had stabbed into the ground. She looked at Gabriel, observed his eyes. He didn’t seem to notice it, but his tongue kept occasionally tracing his lips. It would appear that things had... changed in her absence.

"You are sure that Lady Alice will accept the proposal, yeah?"

Naturally, Trisha knew the answer to this question. Anyone who spent the slightest bit of time with them would know the answer to this question. But Gabriel... previously he would be among those who didn’t know the answer.

"Yes, I have already spoken about it with her."

Yes, things really had changed after she was forced to return to the Vritara estate. Well would you look at that, this man was finally starting to change. In that case, Trisha knew exactly what she had to do.

"Right. Do you know what that means?"

She phrased it as a question, but she didn’t give Gabriel any time to answer it, there was another question far more important for him to answer.

"Gabe, most women only ever want to get proposed to a single time in their life. I am sure that Lady Alice is like that, and I don’t imagine you plan on letting someone else propose to her in the future, right?"

Ha, Lady Alice was more than just like that. Trisha feared for the safety of anyone who tried to propose to her, assuming they weren’t Gabriel.

"Unacceptable. None of the possible candidates are worthy."

Luckily, the answer Gabriel provided was satisfactory. Well, in a way it was, the reason he gave was just a bit... Arrogant? Insane? Whatever you wanted to call it. Bottom line was that it was good enough for now.

"Alright, whatever you say. Do you know what this means, Gabe? It means that this will be Lady Alice’s first and last proposal, her one and only. It needs to be perfect, you need to be perfect."

Right. Her Lady would finally get the proposal she desired, the thing she had sought for quite a few years already. It had to be perfect, it had to be everything she dreamt of. If Trisha managed to make that happen... perhaps her guilt would be lessened a bit.

"I don’t know how long we have, but you never come for advice at a proper time so it can’t be that long. We’ll have to rush through it, but there’s no way around it, we’ll have to work with the time we have. I’ll help you make it perfect, Gabe. But to do so, you’ll have to do what you hate the most, you have to stand out."

Yes, the main proponent required for Lady Alice’s perfect proposal, Gabriel. The man who kept on trying to hide in the back, an unassuming knight you could easily ignore. She would have to pull him away from that image.

"A Lady wants her man to be the best in the world, someone everyone is envious of. By the time the investiture rolls around, I’ll have you become a man who commands everyones gaze even by just walking."