Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen
~Ellie~
I wasn’t out getting some fresh air last night; I was in Sylvia’s room, locked in a passionate kiss with him.
Did Roger see me there? If he did, why hasn’t he mentioned it and is instead covering it up with something else? What is he up to? He must know something about last night, but he's acting like he doesn’t, choosing to ignore it while using it to torment me. There’s been an undeniable tension between us for years.
Roger's stare felt like it was burning through me. Even when I tried to avoid his gaze, I could still feel it. Every time I looked up, there he was, watching me as if I were some kind of spectacle. My palms become sweating, and the air in the room felt thick and suffocating.
I forced a small, awkward smile, pretending to smooth out my dress. "I was feeling light-headed, so I decided to take a walk last night."
“Oh, so you enjoyed the walk so much it left you flustered?” His smile was fake, and it stung.
This is driving me crazy. Why can't he just say what he saw instead of keeping me on edge, slowly torturing me with uncertainty?
“You should’ve told me, love,” Claus said, stroking my hand. I pulled away gently, and he noticed the distance between us. I offered a weak, faint smile in response.
“I’ll like to get some fresh air,” I said softly, hoping no one would notice the tremor in my voice.
But Claus did. His sharp gaze flicked to me from across the room, his jaw tightening just slightly. Roger’s smirk deepened, and that alone made my stomach twist. I didn’t wait another second. My heart was pounding so hard that each step I took echoed like a drumbeat in my ears as I hurried down the hallway.
When I stepped outside, I leaned against the wall, trying to steady my breathing. My chest rose and fell too quickly, and my pulse wouldn’t slow. Roger’s stare had unsettled me more than I wanted to admit. It wasn’t just discomfort, it was something else, something that made me feel exposed. Vulnerable.
A portrait hung on the wall of the hallway pulled my attention, I take a few step until I stopped in front of it.
Sylvia.
It was portrait of Sylvia clad in his full army uniform. There wasn't a different from the man I have met years ago on the woods. Silver hair, golden eyes, chisel jawline and cherry pumpy lips.
My mind drift between last night. I haven't been able to recover from his touch yet. I still feel his finger lingering on my skin and the kiss, oh my Goodness. I haven't have a kiss as good as that before.
Sylvia is a better kisser than my husband.
“What am I thinking? Shame on you Ellie,” I whispered to myself.
I can I be thinking of that despicable and sinful act this moment, I was supposed to be angry at Claus for everything he’d said, for the way he’d doubted me, and call our unborn child bastard . I shouldn’t have been standing in front of his brother portrait, admiring him and remembering how last night I was in his brother room seeking comfort.
The floorboards creaked behind me, soft but distinct. My heart skipped a beat.
“Ellie.”
His voice.
I turned sharply. Claus stood in the across the hallway, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the floor. His expression was hard to read, part frustration, part hurt, part something deeper that I couldn’t name.
“Claus,” I breathed, taking an instinctive step back. “Why are you here?”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he closed the distance between us, his movements calm but deliberate. The faint scent of pine and musk reached me, and my chest tightened. He walked closer, his eyes searching my face.
“I wasn’t going to let you walk away again,” he said finally. “Not without talking.”
“I didn’t walk away,” I shot back, though my voice shook. “I just needed space to process my thoughts,”
His jaw clenched. “Space? Ellie, you’ve been avoiding me for since yesterday. Every time I try to speak to you, you shut me out.”
“Maybe because I’m tired of being accused of things I don’t understand!” I blurted, louder than I intended. My voice echoed faintly off the walls.
He pause, staring at me like he was trying to hold himself together. “When you were kidnapped,” he said slowly, “I tried to follow you through the portal.”
I froze. My breath caught in my throat.
“I tried,” he continued, his voice cracking slightly. “I tried until my body gave out. But it wouldn’t let me through. No matter how hard I fought, the magic rejected me. And yet...” His eyes darkened. “Sylvia could go through. My own brother could reach you, and I couldn’t. Why, Ellie?”
The question slammed into me with the force of a blow. My lips parted, but no sound came out.
“Why could he go through when I couldn’t?” Claus pressed, stepping closer. “What connection do you share with him that I don’t?”
I blinked rapidly, heat rising to my cheeks. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m asking you to tell me the truth,” he said, his tone low and rough. “I deserve to know, you're my mate”
I backed away until the edge of the table pressed into my hips. “I don’t know!” I burst out. “I don’t know why the portal let him through! Do you think I asked for that? Do you think I wanted him to be the one who saved me?”
“Did you?” he asked quietly.
That single question stole the air from my lungs. I stared at him, stunned, feeling my throat tighten painfully. “How could you even think that?” I whispered. “Do you have any idea what I went through? I was chained, Claus. I was tortured. I thought I was going to die. And the whole time, you're just here filling your mind with nonsense” My voice cracked at the end, and I turned my face away before he could see the tears gathering in my eyes.
Silence fell between us. Heavy. Suffocating.
He looked like he wanted to reach out, but he didn’t. His hands stayed at his sides, trembling slightly. The tension between us was almost unbearable, his hurt, my anger, our fear intertwining until it was impossible to tell them apart.
“I didn’t mean to....” he started, but I cut him off.
“Yes, you did.” My voice was small, but steady. “You think I’ve done something wrong. You can go ahead and call me a cheat just like you have done before.”
He said nothing, which somehow hurt even more.
I brushed past him, unable to stand the weight of his silence. His hand shot out and caught my wrist before I could reach the door.
“Ellie, please...”
“Let go,” I said softly.
He didn’t. His grip tightened, desperate. “I just need to understand.”
“I can’t explain something I don’t understand myself!” I snapped, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. “I didn’t choose the portal. I didn’t choose who could save me. All I did was survive, Claus. Isn’t that enough for you?”
His face fell. The fire in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something raw, something like guilt. Slowly, he released my hand.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke. The only sound was the faint crackle of the candle’s dying flame. I wiped my tears roughly with the back of my hand, refusing to look at him.
“I can’t do this right now,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Not when you look at me like that.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked out. My footsteps echoed down the hall, faster and faster, as if I could outrun the ache in my chest.
I didn’t look back. But even as I walked away, I could feel his eyes on me, confused, wounded, and searching for answers neither of us had.