CH 309

Alexcent slammed the door, letting out a sigh as he did.

“Carol?” Pauline called out tentatively. She was still in shock after everything that had happened.

Amethyst turned to her and rushed over, pulling her friend into a tight embrace. “Pauline!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad we got here on time.”

“You are Carol, right?” Pauline asked, laughing a little at the sudden affection.

“Yes,” Amethyst said, pulling back to look Pauline over, checking to see if she was okay. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

Pauline tightened her grasp on Amethyst. “No, it’s okay.”

Amethyst let a beat pass then she asked, “What’s going on here? Who was that man? It wasn’t your ex-husband, was it?”

“No, no.” Pauline shook her head. She looked around the mess of the room and huffed, letting go of Amethyst. “Why don’t you take a seat first and I’ll bring out some tea.”

Amethyst moved to sit then, remembering that Alexcent was with her, and beckoned him over. “Pauline, this is my husband,” she introduced. “His name is Alexcent.”

“Oh, hello,” Pauline greeted, setting the table with cups and a pot of tea. “You look familiar… like a clumsy version of someone I once knew.”

Amethyst let out a laugh as Alexcent’s face grew red. “Like an upgraded version of Gray?”

At that, Pauline seemed to swoon. “Yes, Gray…” she said dreamily. Then, she stopped, looking between Alexcent and Amethyst. “Why did you leave Gray? Did he cheat on you with that beautiful face of his?”

Alexcent narrowed his eyes as he took a seat beside Amethyst. “You know I can hear you, right?”

“Oh, right!” Pauline exclaimed, embarrassed. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but ask.”

“I get it,” Amethyst smiled. “It might be a little confusing but… I’m still married to Gray. Well, that is, I’m married to Gray who also happens to be Alexcent… my husband.”

Pauline stared at her, obviously confused. “What?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I was cursed,” Alexcent supplied, ignoring Amethyst’s confusion. “I had to work as a slave to break the cure. So, I became a slave and returned to her after I was freed.”

“Oh,” Pauline said, looking a little dazed. “Well, that doesn’t matter now. As long as Carol is happy, I’m happy too.”

“About that…” Amethyst trailed off. When Pauline turned to look at her, she avoided her gaze. “My name isn’t actually Carol. It’s Amethyst.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t want to deceive you,” Amethyst said. “It’s just that I really thought I would have to go by Carol for the rest of my life.”

“Carol—No, Amethyst,I don’t mind,” Pauline told her. “It’s just a name. It doesn’t matter.”

Amethyst let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for understanding,” she said. “I thought you would hate me for deceiving you.”

Pauline laughed. “Well, technically I lied to you too,” she said. “Did you hate me then?”

“No!”

“Exactly.”

Amethyst grinned. “I was just surprised. I didn’t know you had divorced.”

Pauline nodded. “Well, it had been a while already, honestly,” she said. “But I kept up the image of being married so men would stop hitting on me. It’s hard to have so many people on you when you’re just trying to raise your child.”

I suspected that was the case, Amethyst thought to herself.

Pauline sat on her chair, her body tilted slightly askew as she waved everything away. “I just couldn’t seem to fit into the role of the perfect wife and mother.”

“I thought you were a perfect mother,” Amethyst said, scrunching up her nose.

Pauline smiled. “There’s no such thing.”

Amethyst was quiet for a moment. It had never occurred to her that this was what Pauline thought of herself. She couldn’t help but feel bad that she had boxed her friend into this role before.

Then, she sat up stiffly. “That man earlier,” she said. “What was he doing?”

“Well,” Pauline frowned. “Things around here haven’t been so great lately, what with the feudal lord changing and all.”

Alexcent leaned forward upon hearing that. “The feudal lord changed?” He grabbed a cup that Pauline had placed on the table and sipped the tea, pretending not to know anything.

“Yes,” Pauline said. “The new lord… Well, he’s trying to clear this whole area so he can build a resort. He hired a bunch of thugs to threaten the people in the area into selling.”

So that’s why so many shops were boarded up, Amethyst thought. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “Why would he want to build a resort here? It’s already a wonderful place.”

“It gets worse,” Pauline told her gravely. “He’s trying to buy everything for dirt cheap. It’ll be hard to find a place to live—let alone set up another shop—with the kind of money they’re offering.”

“The rich are the worst,” Amethyst groaned. “Well, then… lead the way to the new lord.”

Pauline gaped. “What?”

“I need to speak to him,” Amethyst said, already standing up.

“Ash,” Alexcent said quietly as Amethyst fumed. “He can do whatever he wants with this land. We don’t have a say here.”

Amethyst glared at him. “It should be illegal for him to treat people so poorly,” she said. “Kicking people out of their stores? Paying them next to nothing in exchange for their livelihoods? It’s terrible! We have to stop him.”

“Leave it to me,” Alexcent said, calmly, ushering Amethyst to take a seat.

“What are you going to do? Kill him?”

Alexcent nodded. “That would be the easiest solution.”

“No,” Amethyst told him, scowling. “See, this is why I want to handle it myself.”

“Fine, then,” Alexcent said. “I’ll just restrict development in this area.”

“Can you do that?”

“Of course. It’s the edge of the Empire, so I can lock it for military use. Then, development will be restricted.”

That makes sense, Amethyst though. We won’t even have to use force.

“And I have the perfect person for this job,” Alexcent said.

Amethyst smiled. “Are we thinking of the same person?”

“Probably.”

Sorry, Gen.

Across the table, Pauline looked astounded at their conversation.

“Listen, Pauline…” Amethyst cleared her throat.

Pauline shook her head. “No, I figured you were pretty important people,” she said. “The ID you have has a few noble symbols on it. Did you know?”

Amethyst pondered. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but her ID actually did have more than a few noble symbols on it. All thanks to Alexcent, no doubt.

Alexcent laughed as realization dawned on Amethyst’s face.

“I made a really great friend,” Pauline teased.

“I would have told you everything,” Amethyst said bashfully. “But I couldn’t really write it in a letter. I wanted to tell you in person.”

Pauline waved it off. “I understand,” she said. Then, she perked up, remembering something. “Erina will be home soon. Will you stay for dinner? For old time’s sake?”

Amethyst smiled. “Of course.”

“Great!” Pauline clapped her hands together. “Erina will be so happy to see you.”

***

That night, Erina greeted Amethyst warmly. She kept Alexcent at a distance, but it was mostly because he was a stranger to her.

After dinner, Alexcent turned to Amethyst and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where are you going?” Erina and Pauline asked in unison.

“Oh, we were just thinking of staying somewhere else for the night,” Amethyst smiled. They only had two rooms in the house.

“Erina can stay with me,” Pauline offered.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Amethyst said. “We wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

Pauline sighed. “Well, if that’s what you want,” she shrugged.