Chapter 242: Quiet Resolve
Lys didn’t answer right away. His head dropped, eyes fixed on the floorboards between his boots. The room felt too small all of a sudden. Everything Sara had just laid out sat heavy in his chest, pressing down until it was hard to breathe right. He had walked in here thinking the paper in his hand was something good, a reward for what she had done at the gate. Instead he had ripped open scars that ran deeper in her heart than he ever could imagine.
Sara watched him. Her voice came softer now, but the exhaustion in it was plain. "You don’t have to beat yourself over it. None of this is either your or my fault. It is that woman who made it impossible for me to help people when needed with my own ability. If we should blame anyone, it's her. I just felt like it was time that you knew what kind of scars I have with me."
She paused, then forced the next words out, seeing the complicated look on Lys’s face. "You must think differently of me, right? It’s okay. You don’t have to feel too bad if thoughts of keeping your distance from me come to mind. I wouldn’t blame you. After all, no man has to tie himself to someone who is stuck in this much risk. It’s okay, I’ll understand."
The words hit Lys like a slap suddenly. He stared at her, chest tight.
For a second he couldn’t speak. Then anger flared hot and sharp in his gut. He turned on his heel, shoulders rigid, back to her. "I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last part from you."
His voice came out rough, edged with frustration he couldn’t hold back. "I’ll see you later, Sara. Rest now."
He walked out without waiting for her to say anything. The door clicked shut behind him harder than he meant. His boots sounded loud on the wooden floor as he crossed Sara’s house and stepped into the yard.
As soon as he came out, the afternoon air felt cooler on his face, carrying the faint smell of cut wood and distant smoke from the walls. He kept moving, jaw clenched, hands curled into fists at his sides, not believing she just said that to him.
Selene stayed a moment longer inside. She looked at Sara, eyes sharp with quiet anger. "You shouldn’t have said that to him, Sara. You know how he is. Do you really think he’s the type to walk away just because things get hard? If that’s what you think of him, then I’m disappointed."
She turned and followed Lys out, calling after him. "Lys, wait for me."
Sara sat there with Bertha after they left. She stared at the closed door, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. She knew she shouldn’t have pushed like that. The fear had made the words slip out anyway.
Bertha stayed close, hand resting on her arm, saying nothing.
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Outside, the afternoon light stretched long and golden across the mostly empty street. The hammering from the walls sounded faint and far away from this distance.
Lys was walking ahead, steps firm on the dirt path. His mind kept turning Sara’s story over and over, the tremble in her voice when she spoke about her father, the way her hands had clenched when she mentioned her brother.
Although he hadn’t seen her power at the gate, at least he heard the explosive sounds of magic she used, which had been heard even from inside the village.
And now that he got to know that she had been holding her real power back for years because of one woman, he still couldn’t believe it; how could this even happen? How can a single woman do all of this? And how can just one noble, a lesser noble at that, cause not only a rebellion, but also successfully pull it off and secure that noble’s title for herself?
All of this looked a little like a fairy tale to Lys, as he still didn’t have any idea how aristocracy worked in this world. For what he knew, things here could as well be completely different from Earth’s standard, as here were magic, curses, and even gods present.
There was no denying that everything was a shitshow here, which he knew from the moment he came into this world.
Still, the more he got to know this world, the more he realised that without power, he was not even a shit to others here. And that fact infuriated him more than he would like to admit.
Selene finally caught up and fell into step beside him. She watched the tension in his shoulders, the way he stared straight ahead.
The slow breeze of wind tugged at her robes as she walked beside him. "It’s okay," she said gently. "Don’t take Sara’s last words too seriously. She didn’t mean them; I’m sure of it."
Lys kept walking a few more steps before he stopped suddenly, causing Selene to almost bump into him.
He looked up at the sky, overcast at the edges, the light going flat and heavy. His hands stayed clenched at his sides.
"I’m not mad at her," he said quietly. "I know she only said it because she’s scared."
Selene studied his face. "Then why do you still look angry?"
He turned to her. His eyes burned with something deeper than anger now. Determination filled them completely. "I’m angry because I finally see how weak I still am, Selene."
She opened her mouth to say “he’s not”, but he kept going before she could speak.
"All I could do in there was sit and listen while Sara poured out everything she’s been carrying. She shared her biggest fear with me, but I couldn’t give her a real solution. Couldn’t offer her anything solid. Just… nodded like an idiot."
He met her eyes straight on. His voice stayed low but steady. "I want to change that, Selene. I want to be capable enough to offer real strength to her when it matters. I need to get stronger than I am right now. Because if I stay like this, I won’t be able to protect the people I care about when it actually matters. I’m not willing to stand by and watch someone I love suffer and do nothing about it.”
He clenched his fist now, “Not anymore. Not after I’ve finally started feeling like this is where I belong, right here, with all of you. And I won’t let anyone take that away from me."
He started walking again, pace steady and sure.
Selene watched him for a second before she followed, too. She didn’t argue. She didn’t even try to tell him he was already enough. She knew him better than that by now. Empty words would bounce right off.
Instead, something warm and deep caught in her chest. The way he said it, so steady, no show, just plain truth, made her heart beat a little harder.
She fell into step beside him. Her hand brushed his without quite holding it. The touch lingered for a second before Lys grabbed her hand himself.
----
They turned the corner toward home, as they didn’t yet have their lunch anywhere. The last of the afternoon light followed at their backs, warm across their shoulders even as Sara’s words stayed with them.
Selene walked quietly beside Lys. She glanced at his profile, and saw the determined line of his jaw, the set of his shoulders. A quiet feeling grew in her that she didn’t put into words.
She didn’t need to. Just being here, matching his pace, felt just about right.
For now, at least.