Chapter 48: Alliances And A Bit Of Self Doubt
Chapter 48
Megumi stared at the boy with a deadpan expression for a few seconds and then nodded his head. Together, they exited the grand hall through one of the many exits—a side door that led to the castle’s cloister. It was already night, the moonlight dancing on the castle’s stone floor.
They walked into the castle’s courtyard, gently wrapped around by the cloister, which opened up to a picturesque garden in the middle—a serene oasis amidst the castle’s stone walls, perched with vibrant flowers and winding paths.
In the middle of the garden stood the statue of a woman, crafted from obsidian stone, crowned with multiple gems sitting on her head and her palms opened wide, gently arching toward the sky.
Megumi stared intently at the face of the statue for a while, the face of a woman whose eyes were closed and her lips gently parted, as if she were praying... perhaps she was indeed praying. From her closed eyes, water was gently streaming out, falling on the cold stones of the fountain.
What he was staring at was nothing short of an eerie, mystical scene; his gaze slowly went down the statue to the fountain on which it stood, his purple-plagued eyes reflecting on the water’s surface. They had grown colder and sharper, giving him a somewhat juvenile yet mature look.
By his side, Kuran was staring into the waters of the fountain as well, his green eyes reflecting in the water as well as his own. Megumi looked towards the boy’s reflection and stared at it for a while, a subtle similarity in their eyes dawning on him. The boy possessed the same cold gaze that he did.
Right from the moment he set his eyes on the Kitsuboma branch’s heir, he always knew that the boy had gone through as much harsh training as he had. The boy’s tentative and friendly nature was clearly a ruse he had employed to aid in this demon hunt; he was adapting, or had adapted, rather.
His gaze screamed of deep desires—like Yuki’s told of her longing and his told of his lust and greed for knowledge and power—but he couldn’t tell what exactly the boy’s deepest desires were, and in truth, he really wanted to know it.
In the end, he desired to free himself of thoughts of Kuran and stepped back slightly, taking a deep breath as he gazed up at the night sky, a myriad of twinkling diamonds littering the vast expanse of the dark sky. The scent of fragrant flowers instantly pierced his nostrils, a slight smile curving up on his face.