Chapter 23

Past

“Where is the old man?” Livia had asked Beth after they had stopped in the town square of Zinnia. She had returned to the town alone after being away for a while. Sen had left on one of his little jaunts shrouded in mystery, and she had been in desperate need of rest after information gathering. Her stomach seems to have ‘popped’ out overnight, but she had barely brushed upon her fifth month incubating her child.

“Oh, he left a long time ago. He got hired as crew by a passing merchant,” Beth said with a sad smile.

Livia nodded, “It would have been too good of an opportunity to pass up. Still, it would have been nice to see him.”

Beth's eyes warm, “Yes, I’m sure he would have been delighted to see you again. He had been rather upset when he realized you were taken right under his nose. It seemed he blamed himself.”

Livia scoffs, “What could he have done? He was practically skin and bones. Plus, from what I have gathered so far, my kidnapping was done with such precision there is no way it could have been done by any amateurs. They were professionals and knew exactly how to get the job done without raising any red flags. That old man should be glad he wasn’t able to do anything. What is the point of risking your life for someone you barely even know?”

Beth had stopped walking then. She turned to Livia with a strained smile and hazel eyes that seemed to go dull in the warm light of the afternoon.

“Yes, I suppose it is rather ridiculous,” She had said, “We were just prisoners, weak and malnourished. What could any of us have done? But Miss Livia, just because we spoke for the first time that day, does not mean we could not be upset after waking and finding you gone.”

Livia had stopped as well, her hand tight around her parcel, but she had remained quiet. Listened as Beth stared at something in the distance with a faraway gaze.

“It had been so very odd,” Beth said, “Not only were you gone, but the guards and the wagon as well. It was as if they had never existed, to begin with.”

The older women faced the spewing fountain they happened to stop at, the crystal waters turning almost golden as the sun rays fell upon it. It was the typical center of most town squares, and Zinnia was no different. Many people lingered around the fountain, pausing to rest or to start chatting. They paid little mind to Livia or Beth.

“We woke up here,” Beth said and gestured to the fountain, “Everything had been so foggy, it had taken time to get our bearings. By then, the townsfolk had started gathering around us, alarmed as we were confused. The mayor had sprung out of the crowd, and quickly realized who we were.”

Livia glanced at the fountain and took in the small flowers carved into the stone on the side that was starting to discolor.

“Right, you already told me this. No doubt you were all given a slow-acting drug that put you to sleep after some hours. What I cannot gather is how I was given it? I had not eaten anything while I was imprisoned. I couldn’t even stomach the sight of the food.”

“There are many ways to drug someone besides ingesting it directly. Some only take small contact with the skin to work,” Beth said absently, her gaze had still been miles away.

Livia eyes had flickered to her, cool yet calculating, “I suppose if anyone was to know about it, it would be you...”

Beth's smile had been automatic. A small quirk of her lips at hearing such words. Familiar as they were. It had not been cruel, or sad, but not warm and kind either. It had been an odd expression to see on the usually gentle face. A bit unnerving.

Livia had been reminded starkly as why Beth was in Zinnia, and she had wondered why the older woman hadn’t just poisoned her husband. Surely it would have been easier to get away with. No one would have ever suspected the submissive and demure Beth would have done such a thing, even if she had been known to be a little...odd. But no. The woman that had stood before her had flown into a rage so sudden and epic, that had been so consuming she had murdered her husband and his mistress on the spot.

With her bare hands.

Livia had felt a small shiver up her spine, remembering that little detail for the first time since she had met Beth, and felt a small slither of trepidation but it dissipated as quickly as it formed.

How could she judge Beth?

Especially now?

So, Livia shook off the feeling and tuned in as Beth spoke.

“It had been so jarring. The lost time, suddenly becoming aware that you were just...gone, that something had gone very wrong so quickly,” Beth had shaken her head, her brown hair swaying softly at the movement.

“Oh Miss Livia, how happy I had been when I saw you that day, only a month ago. I had thought the worst, and yet somehow, the reality was still much harsher than I could have ever imagined. At first, I admit, it was hard to believe that the crown prince of our home country would have done such a thing, that someone with such power and responsibility would abuse it so readily, but the more I thought about it, the more it became hard to believe that anyone but him could do it. Who would go to such extremes? Who would have such power and money? Who would do all this without a sound motive?”

Livia watched as Beth begins to pace along the fountain, her dainty heels clicking at the cobblestone beneath them as her expression had become increasingly troubled and distressed. Livia had held in a sigh. The topic of the events of her life for the past year always pulled Beth into a right strop.

“And what of the men? The three guards who escorted us to Zinnia and the driver?” Beth suddenly asked, her head snapping up, “They are our main suspects, and I can remember there face down to the very detail, but what is the point when it has been over a year since I had seen them!? They are likely long gone.”

Livia had nodded, “Yes, what little leads we managed to gather on them all led to dead ends. Not a single one of them had been seen around the docks or returned from overseas since the event. Foreign mercenaries are much harder to track.”

Beth small shoulders had slumped, and Livia had resisted the urge to offer an awkward pat on them, knowing it would do little good in the long run.

“Even so, it isn’t over,” Livia had said instead, her voice firm as she walked up to Beth so she could meet those hazel eyes with her own, “There are other ways we have yet to explore, other means. I’m not giving up.”

Beth had smiled then, her eyes going golden as life and warmth had returned to them.

“I never thought you would, Miss Livia.”

Present

Livia dumps her heavy and worn rucksack on the marble floor of the silver apartments they were all escorted to. As her mother marvels at the towering walls and victorian decoration, Sen approaches her.

His mouth falls open, his expression clouded and tight, but Livia holds a finger to her lips and shakes her head gently.

“Not here,” She mouths at him.

They couldn’t talk here, not with so many people around.

Her purple eyes pointedly flicker to her mother's personal maids and the door, where guards stand just outside. She had met her quota. She was done revealing her ‘secrets’ for the day.

Well, there was still one more scene to play out.

Better to get it over with, Livia thinks to herself as she massages her temples. She had a headache from all the crying she did earlier, and she could tell her eyes were puffy and red. No doubt she looked as worn down as she felt. Resisting the urge to let out a long, loud sigh of breath, she instead shrugs off the cloak she had placed on her shoulders before they left the King presence.

The movement gets the attention of her mother.

“Oh dear, what are you wearing?” Lynnette asks with a curl of her lip.

The Duchess sashays closer to her daughter and plucks at the rough fabric of her dress, “Goodness, what even is this material? It feels like raw wool. And this color! It looks so dull and washed out. It does nothing to enchant the beautiful features I gifted upon you. And what hideous flowers someone sewed into it! Honestly, darling, what were you thinking wearing this upon your return? You look dastardly.”

Sharp nails dig into skin as Lynette takes her daughter's chin and turns her face this way and that, “Ugh, my dear, what has happened to your naturally pale, soft, flawless skin? You practically as tanned as a peanut. Do you know how rare that gene is? To think you would destroy it to this extent. I could spot your pores the moment I entered that drab room, and in this light, they are wide and gapping!” Lynette hisses, pressing her fingers into her daughter's face hard enough that red blooms underneath them.

“I know you have been away, thrown into the harsh world, but sweetie, must you embarrass me like this? A dash of cold water in the morning, noon, and at night would have done wonders! And soap, dear girl. When was the last time you washed your face? I can see the oil beading up on your temple as I speak!”

The Duchesse releases Livia’s chin to rub her fingers together with a look of disgust, “So oily. No wonder your pores or so clogged up. Your nose looks like it is dotted with shredded pepper!”

Lynette suddenly gasps, her eyes going wide as she covers her mouth, “Oh. My. Goddess! Is that a scar! A scar!? On your face. For all the world to see?!” She captures her daughter chin once more, harshly, tilting it up.

Livia recalls a rather small but spikey creature she encountered in the forest, barely off the main road. It had caught her by surprise, and she had dodged a split second too late. One of its sharp projectiles had cut open her chin. Compared to the initial wound, the scar was small and barely noticeable. She had forgotten all about it.

But of course, to her mother, it was as apparent as a streak of bright orange paint on her cheek.

Honestly, what did her mother expect?

Did she think her daughter would be able to care for herself the same ways he once did when she still lived in the Valentine Estate? To follow the strict regime of her daily beauty routine out in the wilderness or in a local town, far from the gaudy wealth of Duke Valentine?

Livia was so tired she couldn’t even muster up the energy to frown, much less scrunch up her forehead for a proper glower. She felt like a puppet that had been suddenly taken off a dusty bookshelf and shoved into the spotlight. Every tug on her strings felt painful but so annoying familiar. Without thinking about it, she falls back into the habit of simply existing in the moment, focusing on taking one slow breath after another as her mother voice rants in the background.

Behind her mother, Lynette's personal maids mirror their mistress disgust and horror. They look at Livia like she is some strange being that had suddenly appeared before them, but they hold their tongue and remain professional, though they are unable to mask their expressions.

Beside her, Sen remains quiet, but she knows from how stiff he stands that his hands are clenched into fists and that his expression was barely neutral.

“Is that a pimple!?” Duchess Valentine all but shrieks, her voice going shrill as she jabs a finger at her daughters' forehead, nearly poking Livia in the eye.

Lynette stumbles back from her daughter looking like she will faint. Her maids rush to her side.

“Duchess!”

“Your grace!”

They speak in tandem as they steady their mistress.

Livia has enough energy to roll her eyes at the theatrics. What a drama queen. It was just one little pimple. Never mind the fact that even two years ago if such a thing had appeared on her face before, she would have been just as devastated. She was no longer obsessed with being flawless and perfect at all times. She wasn’t that little sheltered heiress anymore.

“A bath,” Lynette mumbles as her maids frantically fan her face. She abruptly straightens and shoves her maids away from her as she points a finger at Livia.

“You need to be bathed and scrubbed clean from the ends of your hair to the tip of your toes,” She states. A snap of her painted fingers and her maids stand to attention.

“Girls (They were the same age as Lynette, but she still referred to them as such),” Lynette gestures to Livia, “Take my daughter and have her cleaned up. Oh, and make sure to be thorough. I can’t have the filth of the outside world lingerer on my precious offspring a second longer.”

“Of course, your grace!” The two maids say before descending on Livia. Tinnty and Rinnty. They were twin sisters who managed to stay beside her mother throughout the years despite Lynette's shallow temper and short attention. A feat no one else has managed in the Duke Estate beside the head butler.

Calculating little twits, Livia thinks in her head as she is all but hauled out of the room by them. She is given one last glimpse at Sen. Their eyes meet. Livia offers him a weak smirk before the heavy door slams shut, separating them.

As she is stripped of her clothes like a toddler unable to dress themselves, she hopes Sen is able to keep a lid on his temper long enough for the last scene of the little play she had orchestrated in her head.

“Mr. Sen, was it?” Duchess Valentine whips around on Sen like a viper that caught sight of prey.

“Just Sen is fine, Miss.”

“That is Lady Valentine to you, child,” Lynette hisses.

Sen doesn’t say anything. He just levels a flat, unimpressed stare on her.

A pause.

“Ahem,” Lynette straightens her dress and puts on a smile, “Apologies, dear boy. It has been a long day. Come, let's sit and chat while my daughter gets herself cleaned up.”

The Duchess moves like a snake, sensuous with her swaying round hips, the twist of her tiny waist, and heavy bosom as she sits delicately on one of the many antique loveseats dotting the main room of the apartment.

She had a pelt of some rare creature wrapped around her shoulders, and an obnoxiously large pink diamond hanging over her neck, stopping short of her cleavage with matching earrings. Her wedding ring sparkles in the white candlelight of the room, and she had bands of silver around her wrists. Even from his place across from her, Sen could tell her hands were soft and unscarred.

Everything about her screamed of a wealthy Duchess.

“Now, I hear you were the one that rescued my daughter from her horrendous kidnappers and kept her protected and safe as you escorted her back to her rightful home,” Lynette says primly as she sips at the tea her maids had served.

Her nose wrinkle at the slightly cool temperature of her tea. Stupid girls. They should have known to re-serve it before they left.

“Yes.”

Lynette violet eyes peer at Sen over the golden rim of her teacup, “Nothing else occurred during that long and tenacious journey? Nothing at all?”

Sen eyes narrow, but only the slightest bit.

“No.”

Lynette scoffs and places her tea down, “My daughter may be a little rough around the edges now, but her beauty can still be seen even underneath the filth. She is a lovely girl, with unique features. Her eyes are like jewels, and her lips are as red as a rose. You are a handsome young man, noble and no doubt very strong. Are you telling me nothing happened between the two of you? No, better yet, are you expecting me to believe that nothing has happened?”

“I cannot make-up what has never occurred,” Sen says.

Lynette shakes her head, giving Sen a sympathetic look, “You are a kind boy, but there is no need to lie to me. It is just the two of us. You can tell me the truth.”

“I have already stated the truth.”

The Duchess frowns heavily and can feel her foundation creasing at the corner of her mouth, “No one is as beautiful as my baby girl, and I know that beauty has cost her many things over the past year. Even so, I will not accept this false truth that the child she carries is a bastard. You must admit the truth to me, Mr. Sen.”

“As I have already stated-”

Lynette cuts in, her voice becoming sharp and cold, “You must know that if word gets out, my Livia’s reputation would be destroyed and she will be shamed even by the lowest born! She will not be able to recover from it. I will not be able to. What is the point of her escaping her hellish capturers if this is to be the outcome!? She might as well have stayed where she was!”

Sen is on his feet before she can even blink, his glare razor-sharp and icy.

“What cruel words a mother speaks of when regarding her own child. You don’t seem all that pleased that she has returned. No, you seem more focus on some imaginary reputation that is nothing in the face of what your daughter has been through! To think Duchess Valentine was so inhumane,” He snarls the words out but wishes something much more vulgar and impolite had fallen from his tongue. Curse that stupid girl. Why must she plan out things in such detail?

As Livia predicted, Lynette quickly backpedals.

The Duchess stands as well, and tears spring from her eyes as she covers her mouth in horror, “Your right. What am I saying? How could I say such words in face of what has happened to my precious little girl? Sen, I apologize. Today has been so stressful, truly. It has me saying things I never would have.”

“Of course,” Sen says smoothly, regaining his composure, “It seems it would be best if I give you some space. I’m sure you have a lot to process. I will take my leave now. I have done my duty by seeing your daughter safe return, but that is all that it was. There is nothing between us. Now, if you would excuse me.”

Sen bows shallowly before turning on his heel and heading for the door without a backward glance. He is at the door when Lynette's voice stops him.

“What about when my daughter was distressed? You were so quick to comfort her, all but flew to her side. That isn’t the actions of a person who is just an escort,” The Duchess says slyly.

“Of course, I was worried about the girl under my charge being upset,” Sen says, and does not have to turn around to know Lynette perks up at this, but he continues on, his voice becoming frosty, “It wouldn’t do for the one who hired me to suddenly keel over before I got the money I deserved, correct?”

“Wait...what?”

Sen turns back and smirks cruelly, “I was told as the daughter of Duke Valentine, Livia could offer a price for my services no other could. As you said, the world beyond the protective walls of civilization is cruel and many do not survive without a skilled adventurer by their side. As an S Rank, I could provide the protection she desperately needed. I was only doing my job. Nothing more.”

Before Lynette could say another word, Sen continues.

“As far as payment, I will be sending the bill shortly. Goodbye, Miss.”

Sen slams the door shut on Lynette's gaping face.

Deep into the night, when the two crescent moons are high in the sky, a voice calls out.

“There you are.”

Livia blinks out of her absent state and glances over to see Sen walking towards her.

She smiles tiredly at him, “Good work.”

Sen eyebrow twitches, “What do you mean ‘good work’? Do you know how long I have been searching for you? We were supposed to meet up later.”

Livia blinks slowly, “Oh, right. Sorry. Time got away from me.”

Sen drags a hand through his hair and sighs.

“What are you even doing up here? Better yet, how did you climb up here with that stomach of yours?”

‘Here’ being on the blue rooftop of the Silver apartments. Far below, she could see the balcony of her assigned room, and the glass doors that she left open that swings lightly in the breeze.

Livia had retired to her bedroom as soon as her bath session ended with the excuse of being tired from all her travels. As her mother had ordered, she had been cleaned from head to toe with rough hands, and her skin had felt raw and too sensitive after the ordeal. Her mother had tried to retrieve her for dinner, gushing about they had been extended an invitation to dine with the royal family (“As they should,” Lynette had said arrogantly, but her tone could not mask her excitement, “Dear daughter, you must get up and join us.”), but Livia had ignored her, feigning sleep.

After her mother left, Livia had managed to drift off for a bit, before she snapped awake with the distant feeling of falling. Unable to go back to sleep, and suddenly very uncomfortable laying on the impossibly soft mattress stuffed with feathers, she had struggled out of her to high bed and waddled towards her balcony. From there she had gazed blankly ahead for a while before from the corner of her eye she notices a small ledge.

My foot can fit there, she had thought dully, I bet I can climb it.

And so, she did.

Up and up, with mechanically movements until she reached the highest point and plopped down, a bit tired.

Livia shrugs at Sen questions, the movements feeling heavy, “I just did.”

Sen does that thing where he stares at her as he questions her state of mind, before letting out another annoyed sigh and plopping down next to her.

“Whatever. What do I care about it? I’m just the hired sword,” Sen says, not sounding bitter at all.

“Hmm, ‘a hired bow’ would be more accurate. You hate using your sword. You much prefer your own fist,” Livia comments idly, ignoring the pointedness of the words and shivers a bit in the cool night.

She was wearing a proper nightgown, and not just a thin undergarment. She plucks at the frills adorning the silky fabric with a frown and undoes one of the many pointless bows.

There is a rustle of fabric beside her before a thick cloak is casually tossed over her head without a word, obscuring her view. Livia shoves it off with a scowl and a glare at Sen, who has laid down and closed his eyes.

She huffs but puts the still warm fabric on her without much protest. She resumes picking at her clothes, and silence falls between them.

Sen opens his eyes, “Your mother was persistent.”

Livia snorts, “That is an understatement. I could hear her even under Tinnty and Rinnty muttering.”

“She got off my back after dropping the hired sword crap, but what is stopping her from pursuing the matter further?”

A small tug and another useless bow is undone, “Simple. The trial. Mummy dearest wasn’t there we gave our official statements. That matter will be cleared up three days' time.”

Livia plays with the two ribbons she now has and glances at Sen, “Though, she will still be a pest until then.” She gives him a thumbs-up, “Do your best.”

Sen scowls and Livia waves a ribbon over his nose, causing it to scrunch up. He snatches the ribbons from her and sits up. She doesn’t care. She has plenty of where that comes from.

“You should get some sleep,” He tells her.

“Ah, I miss my little kitten,” She says, not moving.

Sen snorts, “He isn’t a kitten little more.”

She smirks, “Oh, I know. I was referring to you.”

Sen throws the ribbons at her. She manages to catch in her mouth and laughs when he makes a face.

A pause.

Another moment of silence.

Then...

“...bad dream?”

Livia pulls the ribbon from her mouth, watching as it twits around her fingers as the night breeze picks up.

“...mm.”

Sen sighs, laying back down.

“I guess we can stay a little longer.”