Chapter 327: It Is For You
Kasmer blinked. "Pardon?"
Lara didn’t answer immediately. She simply gazed at him, eyes searching, her voice dropping to a whisper as fragile as the wind. "It’s really you..."
For a breathless moment, the world narrowed to the two of them—crouched beside the Iron Horse, the sunlight spilling through high windows in golden shafts.
Dust motes drifted in the warm air like suspended stars. Her hand, smudged with grease, hovered near his on the chain. She was close enough for him to feel the warmth of her breath, and yet somehow she felt even closer than that—like a memory rising to meet him.
That scent—earthy cedarwood, rain-drenched stone, and something else indefinably him—stirred something deep in Lara’s chest.
"I thought I was imagining it," she murmured. "Back at the palace... that scent passed me once. I turned to look, but you were already gone. I told myself it couldn’t be real."
Kasmer said nothing, though his throat tightened. His gaze locked with hers, unreadable, but there was a flicker—fear, hope, something unspoken and aching.
What if she’d mistaken him for someone else? Which day was she talking about? Was it two days before the assassination? He had already left at that time for the exile, though he sneaked into the ball organized by Princess Ceres and Reuben, to get a glimpse of her.
"You recognized me by scent?" he asked, trying for a smile, though it came out quiet and unsure.
"Don’t mock me," she said softly, eyes glinting with something between awe and anger. "It wasn’t just the scent. It was your eyes. The way you carry silence like a shadow. The stillness in you... your aura is different."
The chain slipped from his hand again. Lara caught it instinctively. Their fingers met and didn’t retreat. It was not a fleeting brush but a deliberate and steady pause, like both were daring to remember what had been left unsaid for far too long.