Chapter 73: Missing piece

Artorius' words echoed in my mind as they left his lips.

"He will die the day after tomorrow,"

His expression does not change. He keeps a stoic face while staring into my eyes. My jaws dropped as my eyes widened.

"I-is that so?" I smirked awkwardly. "Where did you hear it from…?"

"Mori," He said while keeping eye contact. "He had Alaric dangling from a thread, limp body with no soul inside it,"

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Haha… I see…" I muttered. "So Alaric knew he would die…"

"I shouldn't reveal any more information but, you are correct." Artorius leans back while looking up.

"W-what do you mean?" I panicked. "How does he know?"

"As I said," He turned to me. "I shouldn't reveal any more information,"

So many questions… yet such few answers. He's running me around like a headless chicken.

"I see," I fell back as well and smiled. "I won't pester you about it anymore,"

His lips twitched as he turned his gaze to Felix. He was sitting idly with his back straight as if he was in formation.

"There's something you want to tell me?" Artorius asked Felix.

He flinched and widened his eyes. "How do you know?" He asked in shock.

"Figured,"

Felix scratched his head and cleared his throat. "Amadeus wants to speak to you about the cave. He's interested in what you want to do with it,"

"When does he want to speak?" Artorius asked with a curious stare.

"Tomorrow," Felix answered while fidgeting with his hands.

Artorius' face turned sour. "No,"

"Figured," Felix replied to Artorius

"Well, when do you want to speak to him?" I asked Artorius to break the tension.

Artorius leaned forward and scratched his chin. "The day after tomorrow,"

"H-how!? Isn't that during-" I exclaimed before being interrupted.

"Shh!" Artorius hissed. "Quiet down, would you!?" He whispered.

I held my mouth shut and nodded. Seems like it's secret knowledge that only we are supposed to know.

"I have to meet Zenith tomorrow," Artorius began explaining. "I don't want to go to the capital again tomorrow for such a low-priority meeting,"

Low priority? What is up with his standards!?

"Quite the ambitious man?" I scoffed. "Talking with the emperor is a low priority?"

Artorius cracked a smile and laughed softly. "When you talk to a deity ever so often, even emperors are lowly to you,"

The three of us break into smiles at his arrogant statement. The atmosphere in the room seemed to have lightened up, letting me breathe for once.

"Anyways," Artorius clapped his hands. "Today was a good day. A lot of action and stress, but also exciting. We all are tired and desperately want sleep,"

Felix and I nodded in agreement, smiles going from ear to ear as he finished off his small speech.

"Let's get some sleep and get ready for a better tomorrow,"

Artorius stood up first, taking Amelia in his arms and keeping her near his body. She slept like a baby in her father's arms as Artorius walked away from the living room.

Felix and I don't spend too long either. We followed behind him with some space between us. Felix walked behind me before quickly sneaking away on his own.

All while, Artorius and I walked upstairs and walked through the hallway in complete silence. Though we both were tired, he still seemed full of energy. A shock to me as he spent most of the time at the party dealing with stress and anxiety.

He never broke a sweat during the party, even when faced with an impossible time limit. He saved Vincent in time and rushed back to the party. No one suspected a thing. Only the ones that were involved in this scandal knew of what happened.

While being lost in my thoughts, I nearly walked past my room. I quickly came back to my senses and turned around to walk inside my room.

"Goodnight, Artorius," I bid him before opening the door.

"Goodnight," He said softly while walking away, not batting an eye at me.

I walked inside the room and closed the door behind me. The room was maintained while we were gone and looked like its original state again. I inhale deeply, taking in all the air I could suck into my lungs and exhaling it all out in one exasperated breath.

It was time for my slumber.

ARTORIUS' POV

While walking past Kathlyn's room, I noticed she had the lights turned on. Though it was difficult to spot it with the hallways lit up, I could see that her room was still lit up as light peeked through from underneath her door.

I reached my room soon after, entering swiftly while making no noise. Amelia was unconscious and was in deep sleep, perhaps dreaming about a memory from her ancestors.

I gently put her down on the pillow. She slowly curls up and sleeps soundly, without making a sound.

My clothes were stained from the excuse I had to make up. Even though I wasn't lying when I said I spilt my drink, I didn't get time to clean it.

There were already spare clothes placed on my table. Thankfully I asked the servants to bring me some.

I quickly change my clothes into something more comfortable to wear at home. Beige slacks and a shirt were perfect, especially with the sleeves curled up.

It was already past midnight and no one would be awake. I wished to sleep too, but I could use this time to continue my work with the ships.

Tragically I had fallen asleep while drawing the first sketches of them, but this time with my mind cleared up, I can finally finish everything.

I quietly opened the doors and peeked out, seeing if anyone was around. Not a soul in sight.

Without another second wasted, I quickly closed the door behind me and started to walk down the hallway to my office. I made sure to walk with light steps while concealing my mana core to make sure no one senses me inside the hallway.

Walking down the same hallway, I walked past Kathlyn's room again. This time, I checked whether the lights in her room were on or not.

They were on. Does she sleep with her lights on? Or was she so tired she forgot to turn them off?

I walked up to the door without thinking twice and stared at it. Light crept through the crack in the middle of the double door. I heard no noise come through.

I turned the two handles and crept the door open. I peeked inside, expecting her to be inside and either on her bed or somewhere in the room.

"W-who is it?" Kathlyn's voice came through noticing the door open.

There's no turning back now.

I flung the doors open and saw Kathlyn staring back at me. She was standing near the window, wearing a white nightgown that covered her slender figure. Her hair was curly and covered her face from the side. Not only that but her left eye was covered, as always.

"O-oh, sorry!" I exclaimed softly. "I saw your light was on and I wasn't sure if you were okay,"

Kathlyn looked at me with a puzzled expression before I explained myself. After I did, however, her face calmed down as her lips broke into a sweet smile.

"Oh, is that so?" She chuckled. "I was looking at the stars. They are difficult to spot back at home,"

She turned back around and looked up at the sky. I naturally became curious and walked into the room, closing the door behind me and coming up behind her.

Countless stars lit the sky in a twinkling glow. The moon was a full circle, illuminating its surroundings with a soft glow, turning a small portion of the sky a dark hue of blue. The sky was beautiful, really beautiful.

Even though a starlit sky was not new to me, this time, blew me away. The beauty of the night sky was unmatched. It was like no other. It was clear with not a cloud in sight. Only the constellation of stars and a bright full moon, shining down with a soft light.

"It's… beautiful," I muttered while admiring the view. "I never noticed it till today,"

Kathlyn turned around and faced me while I stared off at the deep sky. She walked past me and slowly dimmed the lights.

"Are you going to sleep?" I turned around and asked.

"Mm, not yet," She shook her head. "It would be nicer to look at with just the moonlight,"

At first, I doubted her. But when I turned around, all my doubts were gone.

The lights in the yard were nothing compared to the dazzling light of the moon. Stars that created a constellation, now created a complete universe.

The beauty multiplied by two folds. The beauty of the cosmos and my heartbeat all doubled. But one thing I didn't expect would double was Kathlyn's beauty.

When I turned around to face her, the moonlight beamed through the window and dimly lit the room, just enough for me to see her standing before me. Her lush green eyes looked like emeralds as they locked with my own eyes.

Kathlyn began walking towards me. Taking slow steps as she grew closer and closer. Our eyes were locked on one another and my body was frozen. Only after she walked past me, I could move again.

"You were right!" I exclaimed with a joyful smile. "The sky becomes more visible with the lights off,"

Her smile copied mine as she walked past me and looked at the sky as well.

"Always was!" She muttered with a cheeky smirk.

The two of us looked out of the window together. She stood in front of me but due to her height, she didn't obstruct my view.

My eyes slowly began feeling weary. Sooner or later, I might fall asleep. A yawn escaped my mouth as I began to feel more exhausted as time passed.

I hunched over and propped my chin on her head without thinking twice. I let out a deep sigh while the sweet scent of her hair lingered its way into my nose.

"You should be the one going to sleep," Kathlyn told me in a hushed voice. "You drank too much, didn't you?"

"I feel fine~" I groaned. "I just needed a headrest,"

She giggled softly as I continued resting my head on hers. My eyes closed on their own and would refuse to open.

My body kept moving on its own as if I was losing control of it. All my movements came from instinct rather than logical thinking.

Slowly, my arms wrapped around her waist as my body fell onto her back. I didn't mean to, but it was too late to go back.

I was wrong when I thought she would push me off.

Her hands wrapped around mine. Both of our breathing patterns matched. My heart raced as the time slowed down. For a minute, I hoped time would stop.

"Are you worried about something?" Kathlyn spoke softly.

My body began to feel weaker as if all the energy had disappeared. I began swaying left and right while holding onto her.

"Are you getting sleep?" She continued to question me. "How long have you been exhausted?"

Her voice… was soothing. It was soft and oddly enough, nostalgic. Even without the knowledge of our past, her voice made my body feel a certain way. A way I had never felt before.

Is this what peace feels like?

"No…" I muttered. A lump blocked my throat.

"I thought so," She whispered.

"I want to live peacefully,"

"We all do,"

She began taking steps backwards. Slowly moving away from the window and turning to the left, away from the luminescent light of the moon. Without a warning, she turned around and wrapped her arms around my torso.

"It's been so long since I could hold onto somebody," She said while her voice was muffled.

"Somebody that I can trust,"

"How long has it been?"

She didn't answer back. Rather, her arms tightened around my body as she took slow breaths that I felt on my chest.

A burning feeling started to grow inside my chest. For once, I felt sympathy for a person. Even though I've only met her less than a month ago, I feel sympathy towards her.

I took a deep breath and held onto her tightly, keeping her close to me as I felt her tears on my shirt. She gets overwhelmed by emotions very frequently, something I never understood.

Before I knew it, my mouth began to speak on its own.

"My memories with you are hazy. All I can remember are hints from the memories you told me about us. Yet, I'm willing to remember those memories again, if not, I will make new ones with you,"

I bent lower to hug her closer. Her tears came down with no way to stop them. Seeing how much my words impacted her, I felt as though it was better for her to cry out her emotions.

Though I have no memory of the old Artorius, I'm willing to treat her like Artorius would have. With all the uncertainty in this world, if I get the chance to meet Artorius, I would ask him about Kathlyn first.

"I'm sorry I can't help you," Kathlyn began to speak through her tears. "But, if I can do anything… for you, I will do it within a heartbeat,"

Her voice cracked and broke as she tried to speak. Unable to conjure together coherent words. I could barely make up what she said, but I got the message.

My lips cracked into a gentle smile. "You don't have to do anything," I told her with an uplifting tone. "Just stay healthy for me, your childhood friend,"

Even though she was crying profusely, I managed to make her chuckle. She coughed as strained laughter came through the tears.

"Don't say such silly things!" She cried out. "You're the reason why I'm such a mess right now,"

The two of us continued to comfort each other. She gained control of her emotions as time went on, smiling and cleaning up her tears. The longer I held onto her, the more I felt relieved of stress.

Was this… the missing piece in my life that I sought after?