Chapter 46 Don't You Recognize Me Anymore?

Chapter 46 Don't You Recognize Me Anymore?
💕💕 Seraphina 💕💕

The moment I pushed the door open, that served as a cover for the whole compound, my heart ran cold. The street was empty…although there were some people in sight. I knew the emptiness was from my chest and not from the sight before me. From childhood, when I set my heart on something there's no turning back.

Today is not the first time of taking risk, of being calculative and it will not be the last. I took in a deep breath and stepped outside with Liora, and the old woman watching.

At that minute my foot was out,I realized I didn't know the direction they walked in. I was too busy sobbing away my emotions to think straight. If I tried to navigate alone, I would be lost in minutes, maybe caught. I spun back, my heart hammering, and found Liora still watching me quietly.

“Which way?” I asked, voice trembling slightly despite my resolve. “Which route should I take?”

Liora's smile was calm, almost eerie in its serenity. “Your leg will guide,” she said simply. No directions. No hand gestures. Just that odd, assured smile.

What's this telling me? Should I follow my leg?

I hesitated, brow furrowing, but didn’t step back. If this plan had any hope, I had to trust it. I squared my shoulders and nodded, feeling the strange weight of her gaze lingering on me. The door creaked behind me as I stepped into the sunlight, and I immediately sensed the invisible eyes of the town—or maybe just the memory of them—tracking me. The men had gone long ago; I was alone now, living this moment. Alone, yet already under scrutiny.

If it was of course weird to see a man just going on his own while the others had left. But I had more reason to go forward then turn back.

Keeping my stance and walk like one of the men was harder than I imagined. My legs carried me with an unfamiliar precision, trying to mimic their stride, their subtle strength. My mind scrambled to hold the image of Elias at the house, his frustration, his absence. And lastly his pose, the way he walked and turn through every corner. Yet, no matter how hard I tried to reminisce and put it into practice I just couldn't get it

I had no bearings, no clue where I was going. My legs moved ahead as if by their own will, pulling me forward with a strange certainty. I was just too occupied with the way I carry myself to notice the road I walked in.

The Still City keeps unraveling around me. Who ruled this city? What kind of power sat hidden behind this City? This City was the most powerful with great people living in it. I wonder what the ruler's palace looked like and most especially what he looked like.

He seemed to be one of those leaders that ruled with an iron grip. By the look of things, the subjects are used to his new implemented rule. If not, why have buildings set along distances? No matter what,I was here for a reason and I'm not leaving without achieving it.

Their magic will work for me in a way I never expect. Instead of losing, I'll twist them in my way and become more powerful.

I've always been told I was destined for more, this might just be it coming to reality.

Minutes—or maybe hours—passed before I became fully aware of my surroundings. My feet had crossed into a part of the city I had never walked before. The road stretched endlessly, flat and wide, lined with uneven stone, houses giving way to empty yards. It felt like a different world entirely, one I couldn’t place or name.

I stopped for a moment, breathing hard, trying to ground myself. Was I being led, or was I simply walking blindly? The line between instinct and purpose blurred.

I was consumed with too much thought to breathe, probably now I was panting. Had I been running? I looked down at the ground and tried to regain my breathing.

And then, I saw him.

When I lifted up my gaze.

He was walking ahead, shoulders slightly hunched, hands dangling loosely at his sides. His gait was aimless, as if the world around him no longer mattered, as if he were drifting from one step to the next without thought. My heart seized. Elias. Alive, yes, but something in him…had dimmed. The life I always saw in his eyes, the spark I knew to exist—was gone.

He's always been tough, but this person I'm seeing was walking aimlessly…randomly. Letting his legs lead him. He was lost in his thoughts, his eyes dimly lit, as if the willingness to live was no longer there.

Was that how despaired he is?

I froze, unsure whether to call out or move. I didn't know what his movement, expression and reaction did to my heart. My mind roared with conflicting thoughts. Why was he here, wandering like this? Had he given up entirely? The thought clawed at me, desperate and raw.

He didn’t notice me immediately. Not until he was five, maybe ten steps away. My pulse quickened. I expected some spark, some flicker of recognition—the gratitude in his eyes for the one who’d always tried to save him. But there was nothing. Only that strange, searching look, like he was trying to place a stranger before him.

Or make due with why someone like me was here.

He stared for an impossibly long moment, and my chest tightened with a mixture of fear and heartbreak. Then, without a word, he passed. My instincts overrode everything else. I stepped forward, grasping his arm, holding it tightly.

“Elias,” I mumbled into the crook of his shoulder, my voice muffled by a sob I tried desperately to hide, “don’t you recognize me anymore?”

His body stiffened beneath my touch, and I felt him freeze. I could sense the tension coiling through him. And then…something shifted. A faint light bloomed in his eyes, subtle but undeniable, a flicker of color returning to the pale mask of his face. A hint of a smile—a real one—fleeting, almost timid, quickly masked again.

“I—Are you…Seraphina?” he asked, voice low, cautious.

I pressed my finger to my lips, shushing him silently, heart hammering. “Shut it,” I said, barely audible, and then gave a slow nod, holding my pose, holding myself steady. This was the moment. He was here, I was here, and for the first time since the morning, the world seemed to stop spinning.

I saw it…happiness. The one he tried to mask, the smile be tried to hid under nonchalance. All this reaction made me happy, it made me feel wanted. It made me know that I didn't make the wrong choice by coming here.

I had given Elias another reason to live again. I couldn't help tugging gently at Elias’s arm, letting my fingers grip the fabric of his tunic, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath. My heart thumped furiously.

“You didn’t recognize me a minute ago.” I murmured, though my voice trembled. It was as if I was trying to seek confirmation for what I have the answer to.

He looked at me, his brows furrowed, lips pressed thin. Then he spoke, his voice low, almost brittle. “Why… why are you dressed like that?”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me, sharp and mocking. Oh right! I wasn't Seraphina.

I wasn't the lady he had always seen after one ferocious battle between us.

I was now the bald headed young man with no identity. No wonder he didn't recognize, if not he should have jumped on me and rubbed his nose on the ground when he saw me.

If he knew what I was thinking, he would have probably gone mad

"Why do you think, Elias? Be happy I came for you at all! Even though you’re always so ungrateful!”

His expression darkened. I wanted to tease him further, but the flicker of annoyance in his eyes made me pause.