February 5, 2021: Culaccino

Beyond a shadow of doubt, Syn felt as if Arthasia uttered the threat specifically for her to hear.

In all likelihood, Syn was blameworthy for the reason that she brought the situation upon herself by insinuating the topic of a third-party, and also by being on the receiving end of Tristan's affection. It was not surprising for the lady to endure gut-wrenching guilt that was entwined with fear, pulse-pounding and nauseating.

'I probably talked too much.' Syn reflected on her action as she gazed at the garden to her right.

The lady's eyes were immediately attracted to the vibrant bunch of pink viburnum flowers. Somehow or another, the petals of the blossoms guided her nerves to calm down, giving her the caution she needed to heed before addressing Arthasia's possible suspicion.

'If Arthasia is truly oblivious of my involvement with Tristan, yet she insisted on talking with me about her problems, then she will gain my sympathy. Nevertheless, if what she's showing me is all an act, then I have to applaud the woman for her talent. For now, I'll play her game. It's pretty easy to deny allegations if she doesn't have any proofs.'

Syn wanted to gulp down her coffee but refrained from doing so. She had been in circumstances as such, labelled as a mistress by several broken women. As luck would have it, those experiences gave her the comportment to be collected during confrontations of the sort since malingering ignorance was a skill she took pride in.

Latterly of her flower viewing, Syn turned her head to face the woman in front of her and spoke, "Miss Arthasia, if that's what you want to do, go ahead. However, I can't help you further than this. This is your business, not mine."

"Is it really?" Arthasia inquired with a rather ambiguous smile on her face. "You'll never know. You can't take everything at face value, Miss Rosenfeldt."

Nearly succumbing to her urge to knit her brows, Syn sighed, shallowly enough to convey a meagre of the irritation she was feeling.

"Are you done talking about your problem? If so, I'll take my leave." Syn said without waiting for Arthasia's response.

The lady cleaned her part of the table, placing the cup on the tray. She then pushed her chair backwards before standing up, though as she intended to lift the tray, one of her wrists was grabbed by Arthasia.

"Hold up, I told you that Tristan is coming, right? Can you stay for a little more?"

Perplexed of the woman's request, Syn looked Arthasia straight in the eyes, attempting to survey her pretensions. Seeing her urgency, the lady shrugged the woman's hand off of her wrist prior to giving an answer.

"Miss Arthasia, give me one good reason why I should stay. In the first place, why are you involving me in your issues? Your words are giving the impression that you're suspecting me."

"Well..."

"Do you have something to say? Instead of being suspicious on your own, why don't you just pin the fault to someone right now? If that will satisfy your insecurity, do it by all means. You have my support."

"That-" Arthasia lowered her gaze as if regretting that she was found out, continuing her speech with a feeble voice,"That's not what I was trying to say."

At that moment, Syn knew that she was being too self-justifying. Although, upon taking into account that Arthasia had a hidden agenda at the outset, the lady couldn't help defending herself. The lady heaved a sigh and gritted her teeth, discarding the restraint that she had on her tactlessness.

"Then what? Are you here to find someone who will defend your feelings on your behalf? You know what, why don't you just conduct an investigation on Tristan's private life if you want to discover who's trying to take him away from you? Why are you making it so hard for yourself by doing the work personally?"

"I can't do that. He will hate me." Arthasia replied, almost whispering.

At that point, Syn was seriously fed up with the direction the conversation was going. She couldn't bear to listen to Arthasia's statements that were, in a way, used to test her innocence. In spite of everything that had been said, it was a relief for Syn to guarantee that the woman hadn't initiated an inquest on Tristan's activities.

"So, let me ask you a question. Are you suspecting that it's me?"

Arthasia bit her bottom lip, reluctant to say what was on her mind. All the same, she knew that Syn would walk out on her if she doesn't speak in the next second.

"Y-yes, I did. The first time that I saw you with Tristan, he was looking at you with such endearing eyes." Arthasia halted in the middle of her speech as she tried to prevent her voice from trembling. She then cleared her throat and fixed her stare at Syn ahead of resuming in articulating her sentiments, "It might just be me, but I never failed to observe his expressions. He has not looked at me like he did to you, and that hurts me more than it should."

Catching sight of the melancholy in the woman's irises, Syn's insouciance slowly crumbled. Since she was acquainted with the truth, the lady had the leisure of having an option -- to confess or to continue on lying -- yet she couldn't readily decide on one.

Although she had been in several similar situations in the past, somehow, she couldn't fathom the idea of wounding Arthasia's heart. Perhaps it was because the woman didn't display aggression the instant that they met, Syn became hesitant about destroying her aspirations.

To a certain extent, the discourse decreased the worries in her head, so she would prefer to return the favour to Arthasia sans inflicting misery in her pure devotion. Thereafter organizing her thoughts, Syn sat back down, acquiescing to the woman's request.

"To be honest, Tristan and I did have intimacy between us. But, that's a thing of the past. We're no longer partners and not planning to get back together in any way. Tristan ended it himself. You can rest assured that he's going to respect your engagement. It's up to you to make an effort to earn his love."

Concurrent to her ending her talk, the door to the cafe opened. From the entrance, Tristan's suited figure emerged and his eyes promptly landed on Syn. Elated of seeing her, he appeared to have forgotten that it was his fiancee who called for his presence in the establishment. He went on to quickly make his way towards where the young lady was seated.

Once he reached their table, Syn nodded at him to acknowledge his arrival. Following that, the lady stood up and gestured for Tristan to sit. Afterwards, she turned to Arthasia who was watching her movements, unable to look at Tristan in the eye.

"Miss Arthasia, Tristan is here. You can have a talk among yourselves. This time, tell him all your worries. You will be married soon, so don't let anyone intrude in that wonderful future."

Meanwhile, Tristan didn't exhibit his bewilderment. However, Syn's statement was like a storm that invaded his thoughts.

'Is that your answer, Syn?'