23 Chapter 23: A loving memory

"Well, I will be heading to my room as well to prepare for the case we'll be presenting to father later. You must be quite tired as well from the journey, you should get some rest." Ethros said as he clasped her shoulder.

"I'm fine. I was riding in a carriage the whole time, the only thing that was tiring for me was sitting for several hours."

"I still think you should rest, cousin. I'll send Thetio in when it is time for dinner." Ervea nodded.

"Alright, see you later Ethros."

And with that, she closed the door. The room provided for her was perfect to her taste. Nothing too grand. It was an average sized room, with a large four poster bed next to a small window, a closet, a small writing desk, and a medium sized vanity mirror. She was right in thinking that Thetio knew exactly what she wanted.

She took a deep sigh as she sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. She thankfully hasn't seen her parents yet and she prayed to the goddess above that she doesn't have to. She hoped that the meeting will be as quick as possible, though for that to happen, she must also be prepared.

Her things have already been delivered to her room and she was quite impressed with Thetio with how quickly he got the servants to bring her things to her room before she could even arrive there.

She remembered that when she was greeted at the palace gates, as she stepped out the carriage, there was already servants surrounding it, taking the bags from the carriage.

They must've got it up to her room while she was walking with Thetio and her cousin. She opened her bag which was placed neatly on top of the writing desk and reread all the evidence and information that her cousin gathered regarding the weakening of the walls to prepare.

Though, whilst reading, she was curious of the dress Thetio prepared. She went to the closet, which was on the left corner of the room beside the writing desk, and opened it.

There were several dresses in the closet though one dress was the grandest of them all. It was a deep, blue sapphire dress lined with pearls and embroidered with real silver threads.

There was a note attached to it saying that this was the dress to be worn later this evening. She sighed once more. It's been quite a while since she has worn such dresses and it wasn't a pleasant memory for her to remember.

She was looking at the other dresses in the closet when she heard a knock on the door.

"Just a moment!" she said as closed the closet and went to the door.

She opened it and the man who stood in front of her made her gasp lightly in shock.

It was Sir Meiron. Her former lover.

"Forgive me my lady, for this sudden visit. It's just that...I...needed to see you when I heard that you would be visiting."

She didn't expect to see him. She expected to see her parents more than him. She heard that he was deployed to fight in a battle for some time but she hasn't heard any other news about him other than that, and she heard that quite a while ago. How foolish she was not to even consider meeting him.

She looked at him and she saw that he had aged well, though now he has a small scar under his lip and he also grew his hair out as well. He still had that fiery red hair and those emerald eyes that captured her so long ago.

And truth be told, she would be lying if those eyes didn't come into her mind every now and then after she had left the palace.

And by that, she meant that there were times she slept and she dreamt of him. And when she waked, she felt herself yearning for the memories they had together. She found herself at a loss of for words now that they had met after so long.

"It's-I-This is truly unexpected, Sir Meiron. What business do you that you...needed to see me like this?"

"I...honestly don't know, my lady. I...just...needed desperately to see you again. I find that I have...missed yo-I mean, that I missed your company. As I haven't been able to keep in touch with you for so long."

He looked as though he was unsure of himself. He looked nervous and this was something she was not used to. The Meiron she remembered would hardly let anyone show that he was nervous, let alone unsure.

"Yes. Well, come in so we can speak privately."

Meiron let himself in and she closed the door behind them. And the moment that she did, he hugged her close.

She felt the breath in her lungs halt the moment he held her tightly. Shocked wasn't even a word she could describe the way she felt when he suddenly held her out of nowhere.

Although, she also didn't quite want to push him back immediately as she felt his warmth and desperation in the way he hugged her.

It had been so long since anyone held her like this. She felt how he practically buried his head on her shoulder as she hugged her tightly, as though letting her go was something that would cost him his life.

She didn't hug him back, though she desperately wanted to, and flailed her arms in regards to this awkward situation.

"Sir Meiron! Release me immediately!" she said as she practically shouted at him. Thankfully he seemed to snap out of his sudden spur of emotion and released her immediately when she requested.

"I-Forgive me, my lady. That was inappropriate for me to do. Please punish me as you see fit."

"Oh, stop it Meiron. I'm fine. It's just...it has been a while so I don't exactly blame you..."she said as she couldn't quite meet his eyes after that sudden embrace.

"Yes. It...has been four years since you left."he said as he stared at her with heartbroken eyes.

She sighed.

"Well we've known each other for a very long time and there's no one here but us. Please call me by name will you, Meiron?"

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