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PHYSIENTS WILL ALWAYS OFFER BEST STORIES AND LIVE STREAMING ALL TIME
Chapter 838 Homing device
Zeres somehow found himself back at Little Flower library, staring at its front door in silence.
His throat hurts. His chest hurts. But it was the kind of pain that hurts so good. Damn it! What does that even mean?!
He kicked the air and leaned his back against the library's door, raking his silver hair as he fixed his gaze up into the night sky. The sky was totally clear from any clouds. All he could see was the dark sky and little twinkling of the stars that dotted the night sky.
After a long stretch of silence, a long sigh escaped his mouth. Then suddenly, his thoughts just drifted to when this door had been closed in his face as he was being asked to leave.
Before he went to the cabin and saw Alicia and Kiel together, his thoughts had been already pretty distracted – chaotic even. All because of Iryz's unexpected confession before she shut him off. He did not know how to react to it. It was all too sudden that it caught him by surprise. He had not expected to be confessed to by Iryz.
This afternoon, he just stood there for a long time, staring at the door before he eventually turned around and left.
Now here he was, back here as though he was a homing device that would aim itself here. As if this was a place that he could return to. Even though she had told him he was not welcomed here anymore and reminded him not to come back here in the future.
"Boss." A voice echoed and Zeres shut his eyes after hearing that voice.
"What."
"The girl is actually still not home." The information came quickly.
Zeres' eyes flew wide opened at the news, pushing himself off from the door and the lazy posture he had on earlier totally gone as he faced the bodyguard. "What?!" that single word came out with a hint of panic.
"She left an hour ago. At that time, she was with a friend, and I believe they were headed to maybe a party based on her clothing that she had on."
"Where?!" his voice was a little loud as he demanded for the location.
"Err…
"You, idiot." Zeres cut him off. "Why didn't you follow after her? Or send someone else to follow after her at least?"
The man blinked and then he scratched the back of his head. "But boss, you only ordered me to watch over if some suspicious person came here to cause trouble for the young lady. You didn't order me to follow her everywhere. And I don't think you have anything to worry about boss. It's normal for a lady her age to go out like that. She's been stuck with you inside her house for many days, don't you know that? Let her –"
"She's still injured for goodness' sake!" Zeres almost roared out. He could already feel a massive headache coming on at the thought of Iryz getting hurt again even before she was properly healed from the previous incident. He pressed at the space between his brows and drew in a deep breath.
"I think she's doing really alright now, boss. She's wearing something like a cosplay getup. I heard her friend said 'wow, that looked so realistic! I never thought you're such a good make-up artist!' and when the friend tried to touch it, the young lady had said 'no touching, you don't want to ruin my work of art'. I also heard her mentioning that she'll only be staying at the party for a couple of hours at the most. So I don't think there is anything to worry about. Her friend seems nice too. Why don't you go inside and wait? There should be only another thirty minutes before she would be home." The man spoke so fast and nonstop that Zeres had no chance to interject what he wanted to say.
Zeres could only sigh a little in exasperation. His expression was dim. He did not understand why she would leave the house now when she was supposed to be recuperating obediently at home right now.
"Go find her whereabouts and report to me immediately. If she's not back here in thirty minutes… I'll be personally going to pick her up." He ordered grumpily and the man nodded quickly, not daring to protest.
Once the man rushed off and could no longer be seen, Zeres impatiently paced up and down in front of the door. Five minutes passed and Zeres found himself unable to take it any longer. Just waiting there without doing anything was killing him! He disappeared and materialized back into her room. He thought that he had to grab a jacket for her or something to warm her up just in case she needed it. She was still not fully recovered. What was she thinking going out like that and gallivanting on the outside when the air is so cold? He could not help but be worried for her health.
To his surprise, he saw a jacket draped over the back of her chair. That girl… she must have forgotten to bring that along, right? The fact that it was nicely folded over and placed in such an obvious position, she must have intended to bring it along as she left the house.
He tsked and grabbed the jacket. Shaking his head, he thought of how forgetful she was. However, something else that was sitting on the desk caught his attention as he turned to leave.
Shock and disbelief quickly colored his face as he stared at it with widening eyes at the painting on the table. The painting… it was an image of a person dressed all in black. Everything was covered except the eyes.
Those clothes… those eyes…
His heartbeat raced as he moved closer to the table involuntarily. His fingers trembled as he reached out to pick that painting up.
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Chapter 839 Her
For a long while, Zeres was unable to make any movement at all. No matter how he reasoned to himself that this was something impossible, he could not even make himself believe that this image was nothing but coincidence. How could it be so coincidental? No way… there was no way!
Every detail… and those… forest green eyes… He would never be able to mistake these pair of eyes for anyone else!
His throat worked and his fingers shook so hard that the paper slipped away and floated to the floor. What… what was the meaning of this?
His fingers clenched and unclenched before he slowly walked over to where the drawing fell and looked down at it. He took a deep breath before picking it up again with slightly trembling fingers.
There was no mistaking it. This was… Eris! And Iryz had drawn him to the most perfect of details. Her drawing was so on point that it was as if Iryz had gone back into the past and drawn Eris when he was still there!
A sound of the doorknob turning, and the door being opened disrupted the deafening silence inside the room.
Iryz emerged, looking a little disoriented as she walked in. She looked as though she had a little too much to drink.
"Ze… Zeres?" her voice echoed out in a slur and Zeres slowly turned to face her.
She frowned at him, throwing her handbag to the floor in anger. "What are you doing here? Wait… I'm not actually hallucinating, right?" she shook her head and rubbed her eyes, thinking that she might be seeing things. Was she missing him so much already that she was seeing him back in her room?
She strode towards him and slapped both her palms on his sturdy chest. "Oh… you're real!!" and she blinked at him owlishly for a few seconds.
Suddenly, the fog seemed to clear from her eyes, and she gave him a smile. "What. Why do you look like that? Wait… did you just trespass in my home again, you screwball!?" she grabbed at his collar this time and tiptoed, hissing into his face. "Do you think I was joking when I said you're no longer welcomed here anymore, huh? Zeres? I'm telling you again, I am serious! No matter how much I like you, I don't want you here anymore. You got it?!" she was giving her all as she ranted her displeasure at him.
Zeres did not speak. He just remained still, staring at her forest green eyes as there was a faint frown on his forehead. It was as though he was trying to recall something that was just right out of his reach.
"What! Why are not talking? Did I hurt you? Don't you come here looking like this… as if you're the one who's hurt! I am… I am still thinking about you even if I'm dead drunk like this, damn it! I tried to distract myself but it's not working at all!!" Iryz wailed as she complained at him. "Now you're here again and looking so lost at that... what do you want me to do? Hug you? Comfort you? And then have you just waltz off whenever you want and leave me alone again?" she punched his chest lightly. "No! I'm not gonna love you one sidedly forever. I refuse to keep waiting for you to look at me. I refuse to continue getting hurt because I like a man who doesn't like me at all! So you, little witch must leave now!" as she came to the end, her voice got louder and was almost a shout.
She began to push him towards her room door. "You leave and go to your beloved! I'm going to get over you very soon, Zeres. Just you wait! Go! Or I'll call the… police." She threatened, though she knew it was a weak one. What witch worth their salt would be afraid of the police?
He held her wrists firmly but gently. And when Iryz struggled to break free, they ended up falling back on the bed.
Zeres pinned her down, causing Iryz to widen her eyes. "W-what are you doing you…"
"Shhh… please, Iryz. Can you stay still for a moment?" he whispered in a pleading voice, then he placed his palm to cover her lower face.
Seconds ticked by so slowly as he stared down intensely at her, at those pair of eyes.
Then he swallowed and let out a soft murmur. "E... ris." It was so soft that Iryz did not catch it.
She impatiently pushed his hand off her face. "Stop being like this!! Will you stop confusing me? Why did you even come back here? Get off me now! This is not fair for your lover –" Iryz struggled under his hold as she ranted at him.
"I don't have a lover." He cut her off, his jaws clenching.
Iryz stilled under him. Her forest green eyes circled wide as she gazed up at him in disbelief. Wait… what did she just hear?
"Iryz… tell me…" his voice was cracking as he lifted his hand and showed her the painting of Eris that was hanging from his fingers. "What is the meaning of this?"
Slowly, her eyes moved to the paper in his hand. Her lips parted at the sight of that drawing.
"This… how did you…" his breathing coming out a little sharp but shallow, sounding so shaken. "Don't tell me this is nothing because I won't believe it. And… your eyes… your eyes are…" his words were all over the place as his mind still could not quite wrap around what he was seeing.
"So you remember who that person was?" Iryz asked, her green orbs gleaming with so many emotions but she did not answer his questions. "Tell me, Zeres. Why did you not keep your promise to her? Why didn't you go back to her?" Iryz's tone was bordering on a little aggressive and at the same time heartbroken.
It was Zeres' turn to fall into an almost catatonic state. One word had struck him like a lightning bolt. "H-her? Did you just said 'her'?!"
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Chapter 840 Home
A bitter smile flashed across Iryz's face. Her eyes that were slightly dazed looked at him with so much hurt.
"Tell me… Zeres. Was she… was Eris even someone you care about? At all? Did she even mean anything to you? Perhaps more than just a… more than just a comrade?" silent tear slowly fell from the corner of her eyes. Though it was only a single tear track, she could feel how bitter it was as that lone tear traced its way down her cheek. She could not help it then. The tears just came pouring out one after the other. It was as though that one lone tear was the one to unlock the dam holding all the tears back.
She thought that maybe these were Eris's tears. She had been thinking about her the entire time she was drawing that portrait of hers. How did she live the rest of her life after Zeres never came back to her? Was she able to move on? Did she find someone else to settle down with and close that chapter in her life?
His facial muscles worked. The confusion in his eyes now being replaced with something else she could not quite describe. Why was he looking like that?
"Eris was…," he swallowed. His entire body tensed but he took a few deep breaths to compose himself and he somehow managed to relax enough to continue. "Eris was the only witch in my past that I never once forgot. Everyone... I can't even remember their faces anymore. It's funny because Eris never showed me his face. And yet I remember him so clearly as though it was only recently that I had seen him, and not thousands of years in the past that I last saw her." He still could not even consistently address Eris as him or her right now.
There was reminiscence gleaming in his eyes as he continued. "There's only three people whose faces I remember clearly from my past. Alexander, Abigail and… Eris. He had been with me almost every night. We fought vampires together. We watched each other's back. We had tended to each other's wounds, saved each other's…" he trailed off as he was caught up in memories. Remembering those times suddenly was causing his heart to ache. There was that once time when Eris had gotten beaten up really badly until he was even unable to walk. That had happened to her because he was unable to arrive to aid her in time. Because at that time, he was with Alexander and Abigail.
The thought Eris was actually a girl and that she had suffered such a vicious beating… his throat hurt so badly. He remembered when he had reached out to tend to the wound on his chest. He could see that the clothes was ripped by a blade. But she had quickly slapped his hands and scooted away, gripping his clothes over his chest. At that time, Eris had claimed that he was fine and that his grandmother was better at healing before leaving quickly.
He thought that Eris was just angry at him at that time, because he had arrived late. Now he realized the reason must be because he was hiding something. That he was actually a girl. Everything was starting to clear up for him. Thinking back now, there were… too many signs that hinted to her being a girl. That small frame… his naturally sweet scent. He had asked about his scent before, and he had given some excuse saying that attributed it to using his grandmother's homemade soap.
Those times when he was always bringing him food for dinner. Telling him that it was leftovers despite the fact that it obviously looked so well prepared as though specifically made just for him to eat.
It had always made him feel a little frustrated that Eris had never showing him his face. Back then, he thought that Eris just had not trusted him enough yet. Now he realized that the sort of thinking was ridiculous. Eris had proven his trust to him time and time again, even trusting him with her life, but just because he did not show him his face, he thought that Eris did not trust him at all.
He should have realized that there was another reason why Eris was hiding his face. It was a common knowledge that only male witches stayed out at the frontlines. Female witches were not allowed to engage in combat back then. They only fight using spells if they needed to protect their queen.
The real reason behind Eris' hiding of her face would have been obvious had he made more effort to think about it. There were so many signs. How could he have missed all those signs all those years that they had been together as partners? He was such… a big idiot to her. To this only witch who had genuinely cared about him all those times.
"I care about him… her. But I was... nothing but an idiot to her." he choked out, weakly dropping his head right next to hers and burying his forehead on the bed. "I couldn't come back because I was… I actually died in that war…"
Iryz's eyes stretched wide at what she heard.
"She…" his voice cracked, "Eris waited for me in vain, right?" he asked that question as if he had already known that she had.
Iryz's tears fell even harder, and she could not help but put her arms around his back and hugged him. She could feel the man was already broken as he was. She should not continue to break him. She did not need to pile on the guilt and reproach that he was already most probably heaping on himself. He stiffened for a moment when he felt those small and frail arms curling around his back, but he slowly breathed out and relaxed as he allowed his body to press down against hers, hugging her back tightly. Inhaling her natural scent, Zeres felt the stress just leaving his whole body. Somehow, here in her arms, it felt like home.
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