Helio's eyes widened at her words as she continued sobbing histericaly. He understood for one thing... That Aefia never cried openly like this if something bad hasn't happened to her.
"Aefia... Did something happen? Are you alright?" He asked while placing his right hand on the back of her head.
He was at a lose of words, unaware of anything that might have happened. It was only this morning that she was smiling at him before leaving the Countess manor. They were supposed to leave the capital today, but they missed the ship that departed at three. Instead, the three tickets were given to the Imperial family for their escape, with only a note that he should meet her here.
He was confused at first. She had told him she was in a bit of a problem but when he asked if she needed help, she said she was completely fine and that she would meet him soon. However, time pass by without a single word from her. It was about four hours since their last conversation through a ghost, he had been waiting for three hours—only to find her in a state that speaking was incredibly hard.
She turned silent almost instantly, looking up at him in disbelieve. "Do you really think nothing happened?" Her voice trembled as she clenched his collar into her fist. "Does my face tell you I am alright?"
He let out a sigh, leaning up to pull her forehead against his shoulder while patting her back. "I am sorry. I was just worried and frustrated." He whispered while staring up at the bridge she had jumped from.
"If you are just frustrated... Then imagine how I feel! Lewis stabbed me and then planned on imprisoning me inside the palace to secure his throne!" She shouted while clenching her jaw tighter, throwing a fist into his chest while looking down at the grass.
He flinched slightly, but he just squinted his right eye to keep the pain from causing his expression to change. Without a word, he hugged her back while using his claw to comb through her head, kissing the corwm of her head to try and calm her down.
"Forget the throne. I thought we were going to leave the capital today with your brother? That just proves we don't need to think about the Imperial family anymore." He whispered while his ears perked towards the grand gate. The guards were shouting to catch the culprit; Aefia happened to be the one who came to the otherside of the door. So that must mean they were after her.
He lightly let out a sigh while glaring at the bridge before shifting his gaze back down at her head.
"Aefia, look at me." He asked while staring down as she slowly and tiresomely lifted head. He took her chin in his fingers before leaning down to press his lips against her cheek. Then moved to her ear to whisper. "I am putting you to sleep. So don't fight it."
She co-operated as he said, her eyes snapped shut as soon as his fingers started glowing a brilliant lime green. Her own fingers slipped from his collar, her forehead shifted down to his collarbone. In that moment, he slipped a hand under her knee and one at her back, hoisting her up while keeping her against him.
Elemental magic had a way to densen a person's bones and muscles, to allow for a stronger body to handle it in case of a time when the user accidentally uses more than the body can handle in a very short time. That was what caused Aefia to have her silver edges of her black hair.
As he carried her away, his senses only surrounded the fact that she was sleeping cozily against his chest. Her cheek rested directly over his heart as he moved—and if she woke up and asked him about it, he had a chance of melting into the ground in pure embarrassment. He was already flushing that he was carrying someone who just so happened to be his crush and who he hasn't confessed to about his feelings just yet.
Even if he had managed to get her to entrust her entire life to him, it was still different from telling her he liked him. But apparently, he also happened to realize that if she were in a relationship with him, she might not understand what it meant at all. She would treat him as a trustworthy partner who doubled as a servant too. Making him already want to tear up and tear his hair out.
However, on second thought, he could change her perspective of the world and life. He was determined and if he put attention to it, he can achieve his goals.
He glanced down at the comfortable Aefia sleeping against him only once, and he immediately smiled as a beautiful flush coated his cheeks.
***
"So... You are saying..." She blinked three times—four times—at his face with shock at what he just said.
"Then what do you call whatever you did these past few days?!" She slammed her hands at either sides of the mattress she was on. "You literally leaned down to kiss my forehead then my cheek! What was that?! Well I thought that was a relationship!"
"Sorry! I underestimated you!"
"I am not dumb you know." She folded her arms while looking away from his face. "I will call it off."
"Wait! What?! I didn't know for god's sake!"
"Then don't know!"
He immediately dropped to his knees at her knees while leaning his forehead against them. "I am sorry! I am sorry!"
"Gee—get up your clothes are getting dirty!" She reached down to grab his shoulder and pull him up to his feet, standing up along with him. She was ear-height to him, and it quite always annoyed him. She softly glanced up at his face.
Without a single hesitation, she reached up to cup his jaw, causing him to immediately shudder against her cold palm.
"On second thought... I won't have been alive if it weren't for you." She whispered softly while stepping closer. Her fingers moved upwards to lift his hair off his forehead and send it backwards.
He stared at her, completely bewildered. What is she doing?
His eyes moved to look at where he has just healed the dog bites and at her side where the stab wound was shut. A thought crossed his mind, which made his gaze travel back to her beautiful but pale face. Hesitantly, his hand hovered over hers where it rested at the side of his head, until he placed it flat against hers.
The contrast between his warm palm and hers was stark. Not only that, both of them were almost polar opposite to each other. If he represented daytime, she could represented the night. That much of a difference.
He noticed the slight twitch of her eyes while staring down at them. Stress... Well it is not like I don't know. But... His fingers reached out to widen the eye, making her jolt back once.
"What are you doing?" She asked while staring into his green gaze. Her hand shifted from his head to block the one he held midair.
"Aren't you feeling discomfort because something went into your eye?" He asked while waiting for her answer. Slowly enough, she moved her hand away while leaning into his in approval.
I underestimated too much. He thought to himself while moving to hold her lower lid under her upper lid, then giving it a little horizontal shake. It caused involuntary tears to clean out the whatever went into her eyes. Then, he open the eye and blew on it, using his thumb to wipe away the tear that fell and wipe it on his trousers.
"Is it better now?" He asked while seeing her rub her eye.
"Much better." She answered while keeping her gaze away from a while. "I don't know how exactly you do it but it is quite fascinating since it works like an opioid, I would say."
"So did it hurt?"
"Yes. And it was slightly blurry." She answered with a smile before looking back up at his face. For exactly three seconds, he was fascinated by one of the rare moments offered by her smile. So he took his time admiring it with a faint blush taking over his own face until he offered a smile.
"I am glad to know that you are relieved of that pain," he said, turning his gaze away to the window before he suddenly started stuttering in front of her, making her suspicious about his actions.
So he turned back to her, let out a sigh and broke his dam of words.
"Can I confess to you about something Aefia?" He asked with a low voice that was cracking from his hesitation. It wasn't an easy thing to speak about someone's feelings whether it was positive or negative. It was just a difficult task, speaking about something that has been kept inside of you for a very long time.
But he did wanted to speak about something he happened to realize at the bridge, when she just sobbed into his arms and clung to him as if letting go would make him dissappear.
"Uh... Go on?" Her brows furrowed into a straight line at his sudden words. There were multiple things someone could confess about, but no one knows exactly the other person wants to confess about.
"I don't want to just be the person who waits at the borders for you to finish a fight," he slowly begun while lowering his gaze to the floor. "I don't want to be just a 'trustworthy partner' or someone who handles just your injuries or illnesses. I want the right to protect you when you are suffering physically and mentally. I want to be the one you run to when the world turns into a hellhole."
He paused, letting out a breathe he didn't know he was holding. Helio slowly lifted his gaze—afraid that of he did it at a normal pace, he would be met with a reaction that breaks his confidence immediately.
"Aefia... I don't just want a relationship because of some rules I created that makes you depend on me to take care of you, or because I just enjoy being around someone like you. I want it because I am completely, utterly in love with you."
Aefia stared at his face with a shock that lasted only a second. Slowly, she let out a laugh that made him confused whether it was to make fun of him or because a part of it was funny. She stepped towards him while using her index finger to lift his chin. She lifted it enough to move his gaze from the floor to her face, after which she patted his golden head and hooked her arms around his neck.
"Oh reeally? Did you happen to rehearse this exact limes just to say it one time to me? Because your face and your pulse says you were waiting for the audience's marks to tell you how you did." She smirked while being mere inches from his face. He turned flustered, but didn't move.
"Was it that bad?" He asked with a smile.
She observed his gaze for a few seconds before pulling back to rest her elbow on his shoulder and lean on it. "Apparently, I really like that effort. Especially since it sounds like it is directed to one person only, it shows you are quite dedicated. And if I see through your request carefully... You are just describing what I had done today under the bridge, right?" She looked at him in question, waiting for a reply.
He let out a frustrated sigh while covering his face with his hands. "I meant... You will always run to me like that. Like how you jumped down just because you trusted me."
"Why?" She asked, using her finger to flick a lock of his hair from his eye. "Because your heart did a flitter flatter when I did? Does the adrenaline taste good?"
"Aefia! Oh my god... I want to dissolve right now." He whispered from behind his hands.
"Because you are an idiot Helio." She laughed while watching the tips of his ears turn crimson as he shifted his gaze to look at her. Her smile faltered as she pulled down his hands from his face.
"You fell for someone who gets herself tied to many curses, almost always walks at the edge of the cliff, is a killer, needs help mentally and is a drug addict who loves a blood bath like a psycho." She whispered while shifting her position to lean directly into his space, her hands moving up to wrap around his neck again—causing him to grab onto her waist to keep her from tripping off balance.
"You always think like you deserve nothing. Is it because your parents—"
"I love your hair."
"What?"
"It is the type of colour that represents summer but isn't as a tortorous as the heat. Not only that, it is also incredible soft. I wish I had a pillow with this much softness so I can easily fall asleep."
"I was saying—"
"By the way, the Countess manor—"
"Stop talking." He held out a hand in front of her mouth to shut it. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I was speaking—ah! Aefia!"
She bit at his palm and moved her mouth away from his hand. Then immediately reached out to kiss where she bit. Her fingers immediately travelled to nape of his neck, weaving them into his hair to keep his gaze from moving to his hand.
"Don't interrupt me when I am speaking. I hate it when people keep asking about something I want to talk about, Lio." She whispered while letting go of his wrist to slide her finger into his. "But about that, they did alter the way I think."
She let out a deep breathe, that hit the side of his face with a slight warmth. Her entire body twitching at the thought of what she grew up with.
He realized her reluctance, and pulled her a fraction closer. His fingers tightened against hers, distracting her until her eyes shot towards his hand.
"I am sorry for reminding you about that." He whispered while leaning down to the side of her mouth to kiss the corner of her lips. Making her twitch involuntarily, a flush creeping up her cheeks to her ears.