"Hmm?"

"The ring," his eyes twitched in annoyance. "That"s not your engagement ring." It doesn"t have the symbol of the wind Kingdom but the Sound Kingdom. Rhys had a bad feeling about this, that"s why he refrained from asking. But, now, he got this chance.

"Ah, Kazuya gave it to me."

At that comment, his gaze darkened even more. He shook his head; he needs to stop acting so unreasonable. Still, he couldn"t miss how happy she looked.

Rhys parted ways with Lyn and head to the rooftop. Even from here, he could still hear her cheerful voice. He wanted to look down; he wanted to spend some more time with her and look at her for longer.

Even after coming back, the rooftop is his favorite place.

Because it"s a means of escape, if it"s in this place, then all the problems should fade away.

Even though he sorted things out with his fellow team member, Rhyss knows full well that he"s still treading on thin ice when it concerns the brunette hair girl. His thoughts broke of when he saw Arthur.

"Do you intend to stay here whenever she"s with Kazuya?"

Rhys turned away from the man.. Why is he so useless for? Rhys already knew without hearing his words that Arthur failed. He had one job, but it seemed like he couldn"t do it.

"I couldn"t do it, I did everything you asked me to do, but it didn"t work. You"re still somewhere inside her. You haven"t disappeared," Arthur seemed very frustrated.

"She"s right," another voice said.

Rhys and spotted the owner of the voice, it was indeed Beth.

"Lyn approached me. " Umm, can I ask you something? What kind of umm ..relations.h.i.+p do you have with Rhys?"

At that comment, he froze, and he looked away, "What relations.h.i.+p, why would she even ask something like that now?"

Lyn already knows about Beth and him; she knows he used her. Why is she even mentioning something like that now?

"I told her that it was offensive to put the two of us in the same sentence. In any case, you don"t have to tell her the truth. But you also can"t leave things the way they are now, go now."

"Where to?"

"To talk to each other."

"We have plans," Rhys mumbled. "I invited her for dinner."

"Should I ask where you intend to go?"

"Well, my room."

It"s not like he is a lousy cook; it should be fine. Rhys glanced over and saw the look on their faces. Huh? Why are they staring at him like that?

.....

s.h.i.+va Restaurant - 8:00PM

Rhys didn"t think there was a mini town within the castle grounds. But now that he thought it through carefully. It"s no wonder the n.o.bles don"t go out often. So they had a place like this. He supposed it was a good thing. He wouldn"t know what he would do if they were alone. The restaurant wasn"t too crowded, thankfully. Rhys waited for the girl to return with their drinks refill.

He thought back to a conversation he had with Zepher not too long back.

___

Year XX

"Aren"t you putting her on a bit of a pedestal? She"s an average girl," Rhys frowned when he hears Zepher"s words. Is this guy serious? Rhys didn"t

"I guess that makes sense. I can see why she turned out the way she is—trying to take on the world on her own. So the reason why she couldn"t even say one complaint is because there were no reliable adults around while she was growing up. "

"How irritating. Can you stop inventing a world where nothing exists but you two?" Rhys snapped. He held back these words because he was waiting for

"You can"t be the only cause, or rather the cause is her powers, isn"t it? Her magic - and her cursed mark. That"s the main problem."

__

Present

He said it then that Lyn is only a normal girl. That indeed, the world doesn"t revolve around just them. The source of her pain isn"t because of him or the adults around her but her power.

The expectations people pushed on to her, and those words that reminded her of her role are not the only things that caused her pain. If, if it"s just for a short while, then Lyn can be a normal girl.

Kazuya must also be thinking the same.

He took Kazuya"s advice right away. He figured that at this stage, he has nothing to lose and was surprised that Lyn agreed away. Rhys hears approaching footsteps to see Lyn had returned after fetching some water.

"Are you okay with meeting me here?" Lyn asked as she sat down.

"Well, this place isn"t too expensive, so don"t worry about it." There"s that, and this place is quiet at night. "But did you choose this place?"

Rhys scanned the restaurant, this is not the type of place she likes.

"It just caught my eye. Also, I heard good things about this restaurant too. So I thought I would come here and see for myself," Lyn explained. "I thought about ramen, but that seemed a bit too simple and informal."

"Your still somewhere inside her.

You haven"t disappeared."

Somewhere inside her still? Is that really the case? They indeed shared that moment when he returned. But it was more of an emotional reunion for friends rather than lovers. That"s right, what he erased then was that. Her feelings of love towards him. So she could live a happy life with Kazuya.

He is the one who erased it, and yet look at him desperately trying to hold on again. He is pathetic, so very pathetic.

"Thanks for the meal."

"Have you finished already?" Rhys mumbled. They haven"t been here for long.

"Already…" Lyn repeated. Her gaze lands on the two plates and the side dishes, her cheeks fl.u.s.tered, "That was plenty! It"s not like I was trying to eat as much as I can just because you offered to pay! I"m not trying to take advantage of you or anything. I have money, too.."

Rhys found a smile appearing on his face at the girl"s reaction. She suddenly stopped covering her cheeks, and he saw her staring at him, "What is it?"

"I"m just glad. I thought you would be angry."

Why would he be angry? Rhys recalled his earlier reaction to the bracelet and sighed. Then again, he was the one who freaked out on her like that.