Chapter 16 Chapter sixteen
As I walked down the dimly lit hallway, my mind wouldn’t stop racing. Every step echoed softly against the stone floor, the sound mingling with the faint hum of torches flickering on the walls. The air was cool, almost biting, but the heat in my chest made it hard to breathe.
The maids bowed when they see me, I give a curt nod in respond.
I couldn’t stop replaying Claus words, my mate’s words, over and over in my head.
Why had he asked that? Why had he questioned me about his brother, about Sylvia, as if there was some hidden truth I wasn’t telling him?
“Sylvia could go through. My own brother could reach you, and I couldn’t. Why, Ellie?" he’d asked, his voice calm but his eyes sharp, watching me too closely.
I didn’t have an answer then. I still didn’t now. The question clung to me like a curse, whispering doubt and fear into my thoughts.
The only explanation to it is that Sylvia is my true mate. But I can't tell Claus that is the reason. Sylvia was able to enter the portal is because we are bonded for life.
My hands trembled as I brushed a loose strand of hair from my face. Was he suspicious of me? Or of Sylvia? Or both of us?
And then there was Beta Roger always lurking, always smirking. His stare had followed me down the hall earlier, full of something I couldn’t quite name. Amusement? Pity? Or something darker? The memory of that smirk made my stomach twist. I hated how uneasy he made me feel, as though he knew something I didn’t. I wish I could crush him to death.
I just want all of this to go away. The doubt, the betrayal, the accusations, Roger's lingering stare, I just want to forget all it including the incident that happens last night.
I sighed, trying to steady myself, and that was when I heard it sharp, metallic sounds echoing faintly from somewhere beyond the hall. Clang. The rhythmic clash of steel against steel. My curiosity pulled me toward it before I could even think to resist.
The noise grew louder as I followed a narrow path that opened up into the courtyard. The torches there burned brighter, the light dancing over the stone walls and the wide expanse of the training ground. I stopped at the edge of the entrance, letting my eyes adjust and there he was.
Sylvia.
He moved like water, smooth and unstoppable, his blade slicing through the air in perfect rhythm. Every swing, every turn, was graceful yet deadly. His silver hair clung to his forehead with sweat, the muscles in his arms flexing under the moonlight. The sheer focus in his expression made it impossible to look away.
For a moment, I forgot everything, the questions, the fear, the uncertainty. All I could do was watch. My heart beat faster, not from worry but from something warmer, something I didn’t want to name.
He was beautiful in motion. Lethal and precise. It was like watching a storm and realizing, too late, that you were standing in the middle of it.
I leaned slightly against the wall, unable to tear my gaze away. A smile tugged at my lips without permission. There was peace in watching him train, a strange comfort in the way his sword caught the light. I could almost forget that the world beyond that moment was complicated, that every relationship I had felt like a secret waiting to unravel.
I didn’t even hear someone approaching.
“He’s good, isn’t he?”
I nodded "Yes, he's so good"
my eyes widened and I nearly jumped out of my skin.