Will Believe You Unconditionally

"Until next time."

Even though it had been weeks since the incident, his breezing, low voice was still swirling in my memory. That sentence was able to make Ghenina's brain come up with many wild theories and questions in her head. There was a lot of speculation that Ghenina asked about the relationship between the man's speech and my relationship with him. Ghenina even started accusing me of secretly having relationships with him without telling her anything.

Her behaviour made my head almost explode. In the end, I asked Lynton for help to represent me and answer all of Ghenina's curiosity by sprinkling a little spice of lies. I feel guilty for that, but on the other hand, I don't want to tell anyone else the truth, of course other than Lynton because I can't hide a secret at all from him.

At least, Ghenina began to soften and no longer threw many accusatory questions at me. But because of a new agreement with Lynton that I asked to give Ghenina false news, it was him who turned to me for answers. Of course, the real answer.

Hah ... if only when I had been in the park at that time I had directly asked Ghenina to leave without meeting Edmund and the soldiers, this matter would definitely not have ended up being so complicated.

I exhaled a long breath. Sooner or later, all the ways I have gone will inevitably end up at the same destination, so I just need to prepare myself and strengthen my determination.

"Gosh!" I squealed in surprise as I inched back a step behind the door when I found Lynton who had been inexplicably standing right at my doorstep. "Since when did you stand in front of my room?! And what do you want to do here?"

"Just as your door opened," he said, answering my question with a flat intonation, then brandishing a yellowish-brown enveloped letter. "We got a letter. Just came. From Livhia. Maybe she just arrived at her new home."

I quickly snatched the letter from Lynton's hand, opened it, and then read it quickly. In this letter, Livhia informs us that she has arrived at her new home in the next town. It is not too far from here, but the atmosphere there is much more beautiful because it is in a hilly area. I put Livhia's letter on my desk, then pushed Lynton who was blocking my way out.

"I find it strange to see you wearing a scarf in summer like this." Suddenly, Lynton pulled off the scarf around my neck. I, who was wearing shoes, suddenly looked back and asked him to return my scarf. Instead of returning what's mine, he raised his hands high. "If you still want to wear this, other people will think you are sick. Then people will accuse your boss of forcing you to keep working when you're sick."

"But I feel uncomfortable without it, Lynt!"

Lynton was silent for a while. The scarf in his hand was draped over his shoulder and not returned to me. I looked at him even more confused when this time, he gave me his beloved necklace, wrapping it around my neck. I looked at its pendulum, then gave him a questioning look.

"Let's just say it's me," he said confidently. "Don't lose it! It's really hard to find such good pendulum material."

Before actually stepping towards the exit, I turned around once more while folding my arms in front of my chest. "Then, why did you give me your precious necklace instead of returning my scarf?"

Lynton opened the door wide for me, motioning for me to go outside immediately. He even pushed my back, but I persevered.

"Because I know you need that more than this," Lynton replied, holding up my scarf. He pushed my back again until I kicked out of my house.

I looked at the tightly closed wooden door of my house with an exasperated look, then glanced down and looked at the pendulum of Lynton's necklace. The sparkling green colour contrasted with my white blouse. I thought for a while about whether to hide it under my clothes or let it be visible to many eyes. In the end, I decided to put the pendulum between my collars while walking quickly so as not to be late for work.

When I arrived at the department building, I was surprised when I saw several security guards passing in and out. There were also some of them standing guard outside. Very unusual. I walked slowly, trying to guess what was going on early this morning.

"As I said, my job is only to accompany—"

The familiar face that had just walked out of the department building made my body's reflexes move faster before my brain even had time to think further. His eyes widened the first second I noticed his appearance. He briefly switched to the person he talked to before nailing his gaze back to me while slowly killing the distance between us.

At times like this, my legs couldn't move, as if I deliberately wanted to wait for him to come to me.

"Hey, we're meeting again," he said, feeling carefree as if we were close friends. "Although not in a pleasant situation."

Realizing the sarcasm in his last sentence, my common sense fell back into place. "What's going on here?"

The look on his face that was originally relaxed turned serious. He turned his eyes to the security guards who were still busy in and out of the department building. "There are reports of embezzlement cases."

My eyes widened in shock, but I couldn't help but keep silent. Embezzlement of funds? By whom? I don't know anything ....

"There are reports that funds from the Empire given specifically for victims of the plague have not been delivered until this moment," he said, standing right next to me. "Because of that suspicion and other evidence, they ended up flocking here to investigate. It just so happened that I was patrolling not far from here and knew a handful of people they suspected. The point is, technically, I have no authority in this case."

His hands twitched to point to the security guards who were still busy passing by with papers and documents carried in their arms. I looked at them as I wondered in my heart.

"You work here but you look like you know nothing." My body inched, reflexes adding distance between us when he suddenly leaned his head towards me while speaking calmly. He was silent for a while, then exhaled while standing upright. His expression softened, looking kind but firm. "Relax, I didn't suspect you."

"From what you said, it is obvious that it was you who was suspecting me just now."

His hands replaced the shake of his head. The corners of his lips seemed to be raised a few centimeters. It is the same body language that is used when Lynton struggles to hold back his laughter at something he thinks is so funny but must be held back.

"The demands of the job keep me alert to every possibilities and circumstances. But if you claim to be clean of all this, then I will believe you."

I watched him intently in silence while he was engaged in a serious conversation with one of the security guards in a low voice. This is my third time meeting him, but how can he trust me so easily?

"Why can you trust me so easily?"

He was silent. From what I could observe, he was silent not because he was confused about what to answer but more because he was confused and couldn't believe hearing my question. Let alone him, I myself couldn't believe that my mouth had thrown a question that I intentionly wanted to keep in my heart.

Instead of answering, he just shrugged his shoulders and shifted the topic to another topic casually.

"We've met three times already, but I don't know your name yet," he muttered. "I'm Archéster. Archéster Gillian."

I looked at his outstretched hand for a few moments. There are many scars there. Some are small, and some are deep-looking. I don't know how long he had been immersed in the dangerous world of soldiering, risking his life at the hands of death that could always come without knowing the exact time of its arrival. Despite that, for some reason, I felt like I could trust him and give all my secrets to him.

"Lorein Sylvesta."

A little bit hesitant, I decided to shake his outstretched hand. Above his palm, he raised my wrist until it almost touched the tip of his nose. His rough fingers seemed to be holding back from crushing my wrist, which was in his grip. His head lowered, scanning the back of my hand silently. He stayed in that position for almost a minute, or so, with all the thoughts in his head known only to God and himself.

"In fact, I can't read someone's mind," he said after shutting up for a while. Slowly, he raised his gaze. However, his fingers still held my wrist so as not to run away from his clutches. "But a lot of people think that I can, thinking that I have a basis in magic ability, just because I'm good at reading situations and conditions that I can't escape not to observe for a second."

I said nothing and did not understand where this conversation would go.

"I didn't realise it when we first met at the lake. It was during the second meeting that I realised it." This time he released his grip, positioning my wrist as a separator between our bodies standing side by side. His clear grey irises, gleaming in the morning sun, looked at me intensely. "Do you hate it if I am destined for you?"