Thiendavis – For The Perfect Salvation

Chapter 41: I Even Thought About Marriage

"Is the astrologer perhaps a Count Laurel?"

Evie Ariate's soft voice tore through Zion Laurel's heart.

A powerful emotion, felt only as pain, relentlessly clawed and ripped at his heart.

Caught in the vivid agony, Zion attempted to speak to Evie, almost involuntarily.

However, a familiar sensation suppressed him.

'Why?'

His mouth wouldn't open.

His voice wouldn't come out.

He couldn't change his expression even slightly.

The curse of concealment placed upon Zion bound him once more.

'Why can't I speak?'

Zion was confused. Yet, even that confusion couldn't be shown.

Thus, to Evie's black eyes, he appeared as cold as ever.

"Ah, is it not that then...?"

Evie muttered in a creeping voice, observing Zion's reaction.

Zion wanted to tell Evie, to convey even a sliver of truth.

But the vicious curse steadfastly blocked everything.

In the end, all Zion could do was dryly question Evie, unable to reveal any truth or emotion.

"Why did you think that?"

"Well, because the astrologer met the Count. He has access to the eastern borders and the Tardes Sanctuary, knows the secrets of the Grand Duke's house, and there aren't many people in this world who would side with the Count over the Grand Duke's house."

With Evie's answer, Zion realized something was amiss.

Yet, he couldn't show it, and Evie thought she had completely missed the mark, hastily adding an explanation.

"And I vaguely remember something from when I was young. When the man came looking for me, there was the sound of thunder crashing around. The sound was almost identical to the thunder that Count makes fall. So, I thought perhaps the man was the former Count Laurel..."

The former Count Laurel.

Zion felt a sense of defeat at this subtle misunderstanding.

But again, he couldn't reveal it, and Evie eventually thought she was wrong.

"Looks like it's not the case after all."

Evie glanced at Zion, feeling dejected.

He wished he could tell her yes, no, close enough, almost, or any other response.

But the curse dominating Zion cleverly hid his secrets like a demon, controlling him to let no hint slip and isolating him entirely.

Zion was familiar with this tiresome feeling and would have usually felt disillusioned by it, but today was different.

His heart, which usually kept a monotonous rhythm, was racing fiercely after the earlier shock.

It had been so long since something startled him this much, Zion almost mistook someone else's heart for residing in his chest.

Zion wanted to place Evie's hand over this racing heart of his.

He felt that it would make her understand everything.

But even that was impossible.

The curse never let Zion go.

Thus, the unwanted silence ironically led Evie to overlook the truth.

"The fact you're not saying anything must mean it isn't correct. Hmm, is he my father then? The age is a bit off, but there's still a possibility."

Evie began babbling words out of embarrassment.

"Father, or maybe an older brother? Uncle? Cousin? Or surprisingly, mom? He’s a noble, right? When we lived together, he pretended not to care yet had this cleanliness. Oh, that's a stereotype. If it's not that, a watcher, or maybe someone divining at the hall?"

"Do you think twenty questions will help figure it out?"

"No, of course not. Sorry."

Rambling on, Evie clamped her mouth shut, covering both cheeks with her hands.

Evie's cheeks were unusually flushed, appearing quite embarrassed.

She usually acted brazenly, so it was amusing it took so little for her to be embarrassed.

Zion could not help but let out a dry chuckle at the sight.

But due to his previously cold demeanor, Evie took the chuckle as a disappointed sigh.

"I kept thinking about what the Count's secret could be. I came up with a few ideas, but listing them without certainty is useless."

Evie said, trying to justify her doubts.

"So, I decided to guess the man's identity first, since he's the only person both the Count and I know reasonably well."

"That is a good approach."

Zion replied composedly to Evie's words.

He genuinely meant it, but Evie seemed to be gauging him, speaking in an even softer voice.

"May I see your hand for a moment?"

At Evie's request, Zion put his hand on the table.

Evie stared at the large hand with palms up before hesitantly turning it over.

Then appeared the scars covering the back of the hand, ones seemingly too intentionally placed to have accumulated over time.

"These scars came from blocking Amanecer at the border, right?"

"Yes."

Evie could not bring herself to touch Zion's scars, staring at them for a long while.

And Zion watched as Evie bit her lip, focusing intently on his hand.

Evie seemed confused about why her conjecture was wrong when the Count and the astrologer even shared similar scars.

"You're not pretending not to be him, are you?"

Evie muttered petulantly, stealing glances at Zion.

Surprised by how serious Evie seemed, Zion wiped his smile away.

Zion thought Evie stumbled slightly while walking a straight path.

It was a close call, but nothing significant, he thought.

But Evie's mind was much more complicated than that.

Evie had built a tower of stories upon her theory that the astrologer was the former Count Laurel.

However, as it all collapsed, she felt completely lost.

In the midst of it all, Evie desperately searched for something to replace her failed guesses out of fear that the Count might see her as useless.

Thus, Zion recalled how Evie had wandered beneath the Wisteria.

Among the clusters of purple flowers, she had smiled sweetly like a sugar doll, secretly on the alert, all the while.

Having observed Evie throughout the morning, Zion noticed she was still in such a state.

"I never expected you to find out all at once."

Zion spoke softly.

"So take your time. Don't stray too far."

He added the best hint he could afford to offer.

Would she truly understand what he meant?

But unsurprisingly, Evie blinked her eyes once and asked again.

"Does that mean I should find out more about the man?"

Truly perceptive Evie Ariate.

Zion couldn't answer, but Evie looked assured, having gained certainty from his ambiguous words.

Evie began thinking again, then suddenly asked Zion.

"Did the Count ever see the man's face by chance?"

Zion nodded his head.

"What does he look like?"

Uncomfortably...

Such was his honest thought, but he refrained from saying it.

Thinking about describing him in detail only to have the curse in his mind silence him, Zion hesitantly mumbled.

"Uh... Handsome, maybe?"

"Handsome, huh. I never knew."

Evie seized the rare chance to tease the Count, who was acting foolish, and did so without missing a beat.

Despite any glare he might have thrown her way, she grinned, taking pleasure in justly teasing him.

"I genuinely didn't know since he refused to show me his face despite my pleading. Why did he never show me that handsome face?"

Evie lamented in a voice mixed with laughter.

It was a passing remark, but Zion again sensed Evie's feelings.

"Do you feel upset by it?"

"Miserable."

"Is it that miserable?"

"Yes. I even thought about marriage."

Evie realized too late what she had said and quickly looked at Zion.

Bizarrely, Zion looked more shocked than Evie did.

And as Evie gradually began to panic, Zion murmured in a cautious voice.

"So that's why you were so determined about the blood relation..."

"No!"

Evie reflexively shouted, cutting off Zion's words.

"It was just a childhood thing, you know! Everyone's like that when they're kids because they're young!"

Evie fervently justified how, like any child's first love, her experience was utterly common and universal.

Zion merely watched with an expression that said he hadn't said anything of the sort, causing Evie to become unbearably embarrassed and bite her lips as her face turned bright red.

Once more witnessing this, Zion found it hard to hold back his laughter and covered his mouth with his hand.

Half of that suppressed laughter was directed at the irresistibly cute Evie, while the other half was a sour scoff towards the despicable astrologer.

She had thought about marriage alone, indeed.

While it was a tender, fleeting thought likely to vanish with the next wind, Zion nevertheless found it amusing that Evie Ariate, at one point, dreamt so naively and aimlessly.

On the other hand, the thought of how this astrologer must have pretended to be such a great person to evoke such feelings amused Zion scornfully.

He watched Evie shyly and awkwardly lift her head after a while.

Then, with her face still tinged with roses, she tried to speak calmly.

"Anyway, I think I got it wrong, so I'll rethink everything. By tonight, I'll sort out what I didn't get right."

"By tonight? You'll be pressed for time with the evening schedule."

"Even if it's tight, I have to get the work done."

Evie replied with determination.

This made Zion momentarily reconsider.

Unlike Evie, whose time was consumed by the Saintess selection, Zion had plenty of it.

He truly wouldn't have minded taking a few months.

However, Evie saw this as urgent, misreading Zion's curiosity for pressure, and thus nodded more vigorously.

"As much as the Count has helped me, I will certainly do my part, so don't worry!"

Evie assured Zion, seemingly aiming to instill confidence in him.

This left Zion surprised as he gazed at Evie.

While she asserted trust, what Zion actually sensed from her words was complete mistrust.

For some reason, Evie was absolutely convinced that should she fail to fulfill her role, Zion would cast her aside.

Evie's trust in Zion was paper-thin, virtually touching the ground, and so, just like at the luncheon earlier, she strained to avoid making any mistakes.

Certainly, considering Zion's prior presumptions, arrogance, and self-righteousness, Evie's aggrieved reaction was justifiable.

However, throughout, Evie had worn a bright smile with hardly any indication otherwise, which had momentarily led Zion to forget his place.

Now, though, Zion's trivial awakening hit him with a harsh reality check.

Despite coming to the verge of fury over Evie, she kept her heart firmly closed, treating Zion with even lesser regard than a stranger, deeply distrustful and keeping her distance.

Realizing the significant imbalance between them suddenly washed over him with an inexplicable dread.

So when Zion looked at Evie with a serious face, she appeared briefly uneasy before trying to hide it with a bright smile.

Even the Count, who disliked lingering emotions, recognized the magnitude of the situation had gone awry.