Bonus Short Story

The Reason He Confessed

That day, Cain had run into Kiara in the gardens of Delphion Castle.

It was safe inside the walls, so he didn’t typically accompany her around the premises. Being a teenage girl, so long as she wasn’t in any danger, she likely didn’t want a man hanging around her 24/7. Once he’d finished up his morning training and breakfast with the other knights of Évrard, he’d simply gone to check up on Kiara upon hearing she was in the garden.

He wasn’t terribly surprised when he spotted her in the gazebo. She always had preferred sitting still over roaming around. When she found the perfect place to settle down, she’d probably made herself comfortable there.

Upon drawing closer, he saw that she’d fallen fast asleep. Her head rested against one of the white pillars, exposing her defenseless sleeping face for anyone to see. Now this was a rare sight; had she stayed up too late the previous night?

As Cain peered into Kiara’s face, which hadn’t quite outgrown childhood yet, he noticed dark circles under her eyes. He lowered his hand, stopping himself before he instinctively reached out to touch them... and when he dropped his gaze, he spotted something he hadn’t seen before.

Kiara almost never wore accessories, yet on one of her fingers, there sat the perfect fit of a silver ring. The moment he saw its tiny, blue gemstone, he thought of Prince Reginald’s eyes.

“So it was His Highness.”

Reginald had to have been the one to give it to her. Who else would be brazen enough to bestow jewelry upon the girl? The prince cherished his spellcaster like none other. If another man gave her a gift that plainly spelled out his feelings, there was no telling what kind of trouble he might get himself into. Besides, Kiara wouldn’t have accepted it in the first place.

Cain brushed his fingers against hers, and still she didn’t wake up.

“Is this the reason she didn’t sleep?”

Of course she’d fret over it, even if it was the prince who had given it to her. She was only conscious of her familial feelings toward him; whenever he treated her like a lover, she never knew how to take it.

Now that the prince had beaten him to the punch, Cain wondered if he ought to have given her something, too. While he’d considered it on the day of the festival, he had ultimately discarded the idea, worried it might make her shy away from him again. He regretted that decision now.

“If only I’d given her something...”

If he’d told her it was a token of familial affection, she would have accepted it. She was a lonely girl, after all. Even knowing that Cain was out to use her, she’d never tried to cut him loose. Cain was delighted by that state of affairs; it helped him believe that she would never leave him.

That was exactly why the ring unsettled him.

He hated watching her sleep with that accessory on so much that he reached out to wake her up. During the ensuing conversation, he couldn’t help bringing up the ring—and that was exactly what he shouldn’t have done.

Tripped up by Cain’s questioning, it didn’t take long for Kiara to admit that the gift was from Reginald. Hearing her say it only caused his frustration to grow.

Considering she had left the ring on her finger, he worried that it wouldn’t be long before she left him for Reginald. Perhaps the reason Cain placed a kiss on the same hand was because he wanted her to think of him every time she looked at it. Of course, he’d known the gesture was bound to send Kiara running.

And yet, she didn’t go anywhere. When she claimed she hadn’t minded it, Cain felt relieved.

She’ll stay by my side. She won’t leave me behind yet.

He’d wallowed in his regrets and dwelled on revenge for so many years; Kiara, who always looked forward no matter how much remorse she felt, was far stronger than he was. Sometimes she might wish she could do something over, but she never let herself grow fixated on it. Without ever losing sight of her goal, she could still keep on mourning fallen enemy soldiers. Considering the standstill he was stuck in, he’d always suspected that Kiara was walking far ahead of him along their path.

She simply pitied him, and thus she would stop to look back at him every now and then.

The realization had made him feel truly pathetic. He’d tried to convince himself that her earnestness was a product of her youth and nothing more.

Still, the part of him that pined for her whispered, Just admit it. If he gave up and exposed to Kiara how pitiful he really was, she would be even less inclined to turn her back on him. Those feelings spilled out, leading him to say, “I’m afraid you’ll leave me behind.”

Kiara promised not to abandon him, but she’d framed it as an obligation to him. He didn’t like that; he could never be satisfied with such a distant relationship.

And so, he confessed the truth: I love you.

The reason he didn’t press her to respond was because he didn’t want to hear her answer yet—not until Cain himself was prepared to leave her side. Instead, he told her that she did need to order him. Given how heavy her sense of responsibility was, she would never forget that she’d done it.

Kiara always hated bossing people around. She was hesitant at first, but eventually she did as he’d asked.

When he heard her reluctant command, Cain was reassured. With this, she’ll be by my side for some time to come.