STAGE THIRTY-THREE: Real Feelings

Kirin panicked, finding both Freyja and Alaric's rooms empty. Fearing that his father had already discovered their whereabouts, Kirin rushed to Kristril and pinned her on the ground, his aura-blade on her neck. "Where is Freyja!?"

"My Lord... but..." Kristril's tears rolled down her cheeks. "Why are you accusing me? I don't know where she went!"

"I am not accusing you. I am ordering you to tell me everything that you know." His cold, murderous glare had always been both scary and appealing to Kristril. She looked away. "If anything happens to her, I'll make sure you'll regret it." Kirin knows they're crocodile tears. Kristril has always been sly as a fox, even trying to seduce his father for power and status. Kirin doesn't doubt her feelings for him, but he's well aware of her methods when it comes to rivals. Knowing he won't get an answer like this, he stood up, turned his back and reached for the door.

"Where are you going my Lord? She might just be walking around, you know!"

Completely ignoring her, he dashed out of the room and headed straight to town.

~ o 0 o ~

Unexpectedly, Freyja found herself held captive by Kirin's younger brother Keon. "Follow me." He ordered, binding her hands with black aura-reinforced chains. Keon started walking, she followed.

"I wonder if Kirin noticed I was gone..." She thought, completely forgetting she's currently captured by the enemy. Freyja sighed.

"HEY!" Keon shouted, snapping her out of deep thoughts. "Are you okay?"

She just felt her hands untied, and she didn't even notice it. "What are you thinking? You have been long untied. You could have escaped." Keon eyed her suspiciously with his arms crossed.

"Um... it's just that... um... I'm thinking about something, that's all." She forced a laugh.

Keon sensed a familiar presence. Quickly, he grabbed Freyja, ran a few hundred meters, and jumped up a tall tree. Since she's here, he's not surprised to find Kirin too. However, he noticed something different. Normally, he should be able to sense his presence, even with him masking his aura. But looking at Kirin, he's unusually out of it. Freyja too, could have struggled and easily revealed their location. But instead, she stayed put, without the slightest effort to resist. When Kirin was finally gone, he carried Freyja back down. "Hey, could it be that, you had a fight with Kirin?" Keon figured it out.

Freyja reacted defensively. "No! Not at all! It's more like, I ran away."

Keon sighed. This is the perfect chance to get his revenge on his most hated brother. He can even surrender her to their father right now. But, he didn't. "You know that this is Hawsdark, don't you? Aren't you being too carefree?"

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked with a straight face, not a single hint of fear in her face. Keon sighed before punching his own face. "Goddammit!"

"What's wrong with you?" Freyja asked, tapping his shoulder. Then, she laughed. She laughed harder and harder that she ended up almost rolling onto the ground while crouching. Freyja saw through Keon's reaction and found him too cute to ignore. Freyja felt so relieved, seeing that he's still the same Keon he met and befriended. "What's with you!?" Keon was blushing.

The sudden sounds of fireworks from the town's plaza caught their attention. "What's that?" Freyja just found herself running back to the plaza, with an excited smile on her face. "Hey! Let's check it out!"

"HEY! Don't forget that you are my hostage!" Keon ran after her.

Keon saw these fireworks a hundred times already, but this is the first time he actually stopped to watch them. "Wow, they're so pretty." He heard Freyja mumble. "Yeah, they are." Subconsciously, he said out loud. Freyja heard him and giggled. "I knew you liked these!"

"I don't! Let's get out of here!"

Keon didn't know how, but he somehow ended up watching the fireworks with her. He ended up answering all her questions about Hawsdark's products, culture, food. He ended up touring his hostage around his favorite spots, shops which would take an experienced local to even locate. She found out that the better tasting sweet shops were actually outside of town, and they're much cheaper too.

Just like when they first met, they never ran out of things to talk about. From fighting styles up to fashion, they kept on talking and laughing like before. Freyja felt so at ease, eating iced sweets so casually in a local shop. However, because she felt comfortable, she couldn't help but remember the reason why she ran away in the first place. Suddenly, tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I wonder..." She said in between sniffs. "...I wonder if I really should... be with Kirin." She quickly wiped her tears and apologized.

"Freyja, I've been meaning to ask you something." Keon began, "Now that you know I'm an Aethelmaer, what do you think of me?"

"I'll be honest, okay?" She said, Keon nodded. "A part of me hates that. If you weren't an Aethelmaer, we could have been normal friends, that's what I thought. But, come to think of it, if you weren't an Aethelmaer, you wouldn't have had that mission and we wouldn't have met in the first place. So I guess I'm fine with that already. How about you? You now know that I'm Lenfiare."

Keon felt a warm feeling envelope his chest. He couldn't help but smile. "I don't really care about that. It's not like I am a filial son anyway. Though of course I hate Kirin to the core."

Freyja knows Keon, in his awkwardness, was trying to cheer her up the best he can. "Thank you Keon."

"Do you trust me?" Keon asked, looking at her seriously. "Of course I do!" She replied, with certainty. "Then, won't you tell me why you're crying?"

Freyja nodded. "Do you know Kristril? I mean, Kirin's wife-to-be?" Now it made perfect sense. Keon had known Kristril for quite a long time and it's not surprising if she did something to keep Freyja away from Kirin. "Yes. She is the daughter of the arch duke of the north."

"I see. Are they close? I mean, do they like each other?" She continued.

Keon sighed, annoyed. "Let me guess, Kristril told you to stay away from Kirin because you're bothering him or something like that. Right?" Freyja nodded, surprised how spot-on his guess was. "And Kirin said it himself. He said he's only using me to foil his father's plans." She continued.

Keon took a deep breath and held both of her shoulders firmly. "Let me tell you this and you better listen well. I hate Kirin. I would kill him if I could. That's how much I hate him. But surely, you know him more than I do, more than our father, more than Kristril. And we both know he's not someone who'll do something he doesn't like."

As Keon spoke, she felt all her worries melt little by little. "I never got to spend time with him, Ahrin, even our father for more than a day. All my life, he's always been locked in his room and he won't even speak to anyone. He never comes out unless he's training or on a mission. And whenever he comes back, he goes straight back to his room without a word to anyone." Freyja could imagine his childhood as Keon began describing their life in the Aethelmaer manor.

"I never saw him smile, or have any other emotion. So I really can't believe that the Kirin I just saw is the same Kirin I know. The Kirin I know is a doll, incapable of feeling anything." Keon paused. "And I was the same." He kept the last sentence to himself.

"Keon," Freyja reached for his hand and squeezed it. She lowered her head on the table and touched her forehead to his hand, not letting go. Tears fell from her eyes, but she won't show it. "Thank you Keon, I'm so glad you're here."

"I hate Kirin, you can't change that. But I don't hate you, so I won't do anything to you." He held both her hands, feeling the same warmth through his entire body. "So tell me honestly, what do you want to do?"

"I want to see Kirin!" She almost shouted. Keon, had a sad smile on his face. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hands tight. "If Kirin pushes you away, you should join me instead, okay?" Freyja nodded, she still won't raise her head. "So, you should go back to him. He's worried." He let go. Freyja wiped her tears, and smiled.

"FREYJA!"

All of a sudden, a hysterical Kirin called her. He rushed to her and pulled her away From Keon. "What did you do!? Why is she crying!?" He growled. "Answer me, Keon!"

Keon glared back, but soon turned his back without a word. "See ya." With that, he dashed away. Freyja couldn't even properly say goodbye. He disappeared.

Keon ran, further and further away from them until his attendants finally saw him.

"Lord Keon, what is the matter?" Keon turned back to his usual cold and quiet self. "I looked around, nothing special. Let's go back."

"He didn't do anything, did he!?" Kirin checked from head to toe. Freyja shook her head. "No, he helped me actually." Kirin sighed. Crossing his arms, he faced her with his usual scolding-look. "Hey, are you two friends? What did you two do?"

"Well, we just went around and had sweet ice. And we talked." She couldn't look at him in the eye. Kirin obviously did not like her report. "Anyway, we have to leave, he might still reveal our location! Where's Alaric?"

Freyja pulled Kirin's sleeve, stopping him. "I..." Freyja looked down, still unable to continue.

"What did Kristril say?" He raised her chin and looked straight into her eyes. "Kiristril must have said something, didn't she?"

"Just answer me honestly, Kirin! Do you really want to be with me? Or am I bothering you? You're not forced to stay with me, are you?" It just started coming out one after another. "You don't hate me, do you, Kirin? You—" Kirin held her cheeks and silenced her with a kiss.

Freyja was too shocked to react. She can't think of anything anymore. Everything just went blank, the warm sensation overtook the very last of her emotions. She closed her eyes, feeling Kirin's warmth, as he took her in his arms without their lips parting. She felt him tremble a little. She could feel his heartbeat pound just as loud as hers. Freyja just found herself holding onto him in.

When they parted, Kirin looked away, his face beet red. Keon's words rang in her mind.

"I never saw him smile, or have any other emotion. So I really can't believe that the Kirin I just saw is the same Kirin I know. The Kirin I know is a doll, incapable of feeling anything. You know him more than I do, Freyja. More than Ahrin, more than father, more than Kristril."

He grab her hand and suddenly started walking back to the mansion, his pace faster than normal. He won't look at her. "Anyway, just forget what she said, okay!?" He sounded angry, but Freyja knows very well he isn't. "Tomorrow, let's eat sweet ice." He said. Finally, a sweet smile back on her face. "Okay!"

"As long as I can stay beside him. That's enough." She said to herself, squeezing his hand. "Kirin, I believe in you."

~ o 0 o ~