329: [Bonus chapter]I haven't missed you at all (part 3)

[Bonus chapter]I haven't missed you at all (part 3)

"You shouldn't have." 1

Egon's icy comment came a moment later than it should have, and she couldn't help but acknowledge how right he was. Her intentions had been good, but she truly shouldn't have ventured into Bastian's room; it had only complicated matters for everyone involved.

"I shouldn't have," she murmured. "But what about you? Should you have gone and left me alone, just as you did on the night our home burned?"

Egon appeared surprised before his expression darkened. It felt somewhat childish to cast blame when it was all Aldric's fault, but her words seemed to spill out against her better judgment.

"...My house burned before my eyes while I was inside it. I thought I would die there, never to see you again..."

She suppressed her complaints about being abducted and exposed to dark magic, recognizing it as a taboo topic. Yet, it only intensified her anger.

"Yes, I shouldn't have gone to his room, but if you hadn't left, I could have avoided all of it!"

"I had to leave!" He shouted then tried to quell his anger with a few breaths. "...Knowing that he would make the wrong decisions, I went there and gave him the opportunity to do just that." He lowered his head. "He doesn't want to stand in my shadow, but when he messes up everything now, it will be me who has to rescue him again from all of it… Just like the day he was born."

Seeing him struggle like this deeply saddened her.

"...Egon, siblings fight and reconcile. One falls, and the other helps them up. It's not abnormal; it's how it's supposed to be."

"Abnormal," he scoffed. "When were we ever normal?... When it comes to Bastian, I feel like I'm still tied to that tree in the forest, holding a precious life in my lap. A life I had to save, to fight for... I'm still afraid of losing him, just as I am afraid of losing you."

"...Me?"

"Yes." He reached a gloved hand to her face and brushed the back of his forefinger against her jaw. "I am terrified of losing you."

She leaned her cheek into his touch. "You will never lose me."

"I have already lost... I lost that day our house burned." His eyes glistened, and a solitary tear clung to the edge of his lower eyelid, refusing to fall. "I'm losing my brother now."

"...My love." She leaned in, tiptoeing to reach his face, and reciprocated the gesture, her hand on his stubbled jaw. "He's an adult now. He has to spread his wings and fly alone... I likely would have made the same decision if I were in your place."

Bending down, Egon placed his tired head on Adela's shoulder, and she hugged him, gently stroking his soft hair with her hand.

He abruptly tensed up, becoming as rigid as a stone. "Something is approaching the window." In an instant, Egon had moved from her side, retrieving the arrow and bow he had left on the ground. He stood like a sculpted warrior, taking aim at the window.

"Stop!" She panicked. "I asked for a falcon to send word to Kolhis."

"This is not a God's creature!" He exclaimed.

At first, the shape descending from the sky appeared to Adela like a bird, but as it drew nearer, it became clear that it was not. It resembled a bird, yet it lacked a face. Such a creature should not have been capable of soaring through the sky.

"W-What is this..." She stuttered.

The creature behaved exactly like a messenger bird, patiently waiting by the windowpane for someone to remove the letter from its leg.

In Adela's mind, the advanced technology and foreboding aura surrounding it pointed to one source: Varinthia. As much as she wanted to avoid touching it, she felt that it would be far worse for Egon to read whatever message it carried.

"Read it out loud," Egon spoke in a low tone, as if he were inside her mind, reading her thoughts.

She approached the window and gingerly unwrapped the parchment from the creature's leg, trying not to dwell on its face. Her stomach churned when her fingers touched its metallic surface. It proved challenging to decipher the message as her trembling hand struggled to hold the parchment. 

I heard about what happened today, disasters will continue falling upon you until I bring you back to me, My Queen, it won't be long.

She let out a startled cry when an arrow hissed past her ear and struck the bizarre messenger creature right where a bird's heart should be. In any ordinary circumstance, such a projectile would have sent the creature tumbling from the window. Instead, it clung tenaciously to the windowpane, its claws gripping tightly as its neck bent backward unnaturally.

"Give me that," Egon demanded, snatching the letter from her quivering hand, his forehead vein pulsating. His eyes reddened once more before he crumpled the letter in his fist and sent it hurtling across the room.

"Where does he find the audacity to send you letters? Tell me!" he demanded.

She looked up at him with a wounded expression, this was perilous territory. An accusation concerning her and Aldric was something she wouldn't forgive if uttered by her own husband.

"Speak! What the hell is he talking about? What happened here in my absence, Adelaide!"

Egon's eyes finally fell on her attire, and the realization washed over him. It was only now that he registered she was dressed in mourning attire. 

"I will tell you what happened." She said calmly, "The place where you proposed to me became a graveyard. That's what happened."

Upon reflection, she couldn't help but harbor some resentment toward her husband for his absence during those crucial moments when she needed him the most.

"You always prioritize the von Conradies over me. You always will. It's not them who don't consider me part of their family."

It's you...

"...You asked why I came here? It's because I felt like a stranger in your estate, I felt abandoned by my husband." She lifted her chin proudly and fixed him with a defiant glare. "Do you still blame me for coming here, Egon?"

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