Chapter 351 - 112

Chapter 351: Chapter 112

“You accuse me of caring more for myself?”

Riftan’s tone dripped with utter disbelief.

Tears threatened to spill from Maxi’s burning eyes, which she held back through sheer willpower.

“C-Can you deny it?” she fumed. “You never listen. You never try... to understand what 1 want! Because I refuse to follow your wishes and be tucked away in a castle! I want to do everything with you, be the person standing beside you! But that means... I can h-hurt you again... and th-that’s why you push me away... over and over!”

Her voice was shrill by the time she finished. Riftan’s eyes blazed as he grabbed her arms, bringing his face inches from hers. His throat bobbed in fury. Though he looked positively frightening, Maxi felt no fear. She glared back at him, her gaze venomous, waiting for him to explode.

In the next moment, his primal rage disappeared behind the mask of a cold knight. He released her and slowly stepped back.

“Think as you wish,” he said before striding off.

The anger roiling in her chest crumbled away like sand as Riftan left the room, the door clicking shut behind him. Maxi closed her eyes.

***

He began to ignore her completely from that point on. Hurt by his silence, Maxi moved her belongings to the mages’ quarters. Riftan was not the only one who did not wish to interact.

Just as she had begun to believe they had gotten close, he had slammed the door on her. She no longer knew what to do.

Maxi massaged her throbbing temples, looking up at the gray sky through the window. What was it that he wanted from her? Though it was clear he could not bear the thought of them growing apart, he was always anxious to put distance between them whenever she got too close.

The expedition to the Pamela Plateau and the extreme circumstances of the war had temporarily put a pause on their conflict. Now that both were over, he seemed to be searching for new reasons to keep her at arm’s length.

Maxi bit her lip. Was that what he wanted? To keep at a safe distance so neither could hurt the other? Did he want their marriage to resemble the apathetic arrangements of many in the aristocracy, concerned only with keeping up appearances?

Maxi picked up a piece of parchment from a pile on the desk to dispel her darkening thoughts, but her head was too full to take in any of the ancient scrawls. After furiously scrubbing her forehead, she slumped over the desk.

Anette, who had been flickering glances at her, heaved a sigh. “Why don’t you take a nap instead?”

“I am not tired.”

“So you can stop being such a distraction, I mean. Go bemoan your despair in your room,” Anette said heartlessly, scribbling onto her parchment.

Maxi shot her a glare before getting to her feet. Officially, she was assisting with translating the dark mages’ records whenever she could, but she knew she was not pulling her weight. Feeling defeated, she trudged to the door.

Relieved that the princess had not witnessed her shameful behavior, Maxi focused back on Elliot. The knight was visibly tense and flustered.

Seeing that he did not appear angry, at least, Maxi chose to proceed brazenly. She straightened and said, “It looked like you were discussing a serious matter, so 1 did not wish to disturb you.”

“How much did you hear?” Elliot asked after a while.

His keen eyes searched her face. Maxi considered feigning knowledge to get the knight to reveal something but eventually gave up the idea. She doubted he would fall for it so easily.

“I-I could not hear a thing,” she confessed, “but I did see you hand something to the princess.”

Elliot pressed his lips together. Maxi waited for him to offer an explanation. When he remained silent for a long time, she felt her temper flare.

“The day we arrived...” she began, “Sir Ursuline sought Riftan out urgently. Riftan told me it was due to a trade conflict, but that’s not really the reason, is it? Something much worse must have—”

“My lady. i am not authorized to tell you anything. If you must know, 1 suggest you speak with the commander.”

Maxi stared at the knight’s somber face. Seeing that he was unlikely to be persuaded, she let out a dejected laugh.

“So... he is hiding something from me.”

“And he has strictly instructed you and the others that 1 am to be kept in the dark.”

The knight neither confirmed nor denied it, keeping his mouth resolutely closed. That was answer enough for Maxi. She rubbed her throbbing eyes and huffed in irritation. Her chest felt close to bursting from frustration.

She was thoroughly sick and tired of Riftan hiding the truth, of the way he coldly turned his back on the pretext of protecting her. She was tired of hovering outside his walls, begging to be let in.

Wiping her forehead with a shaking hand, she said, “V-Very well. I shall press you no further.”

“You should ask the commander—”

“No. i know... he will refuse to tell me anything.”

Sensing the resignation in her voice, Elliot looked uncomfortable.

“And if he has no intention of telling me anything...” Maxi continued, no longer bothering to appear unaffected, “I have no intention of asking.”

***

A few days later, the coalition army set out for Osiriya. The conscripted soldiers of each unit had been ordered to return home with their compensation, and their forces were now half of what they used to be. With more men splitting off during the journey, a little over six thousand remained by the time they reached the Osiriyan border..