"Hahahahaha," the girl's evil laughter filled the room.
In his twenty-five years of his life, Rhys has never suffered a direct injury like this. You would think after all the battles and street fights he's been in; he should be used to situations like this. However, one cannot compare being beaten physically to receiving a knife wound.
Ever since he was younger, Rhys realized how his strength far surpassed other people and anything he didn't know; he could learn it. The longer Ayah held the knife; the further she hit his organs. Rhys felt himself losing blood quickly, and could barely stand up. But he could handle pain. Even though this situation is unusual, Rhys won't back down. He somehow summoned up his strength and held the knife.
"Prince Rhys, let go of that!" Princess Kaede exclaimed.
Huh? Let go? Why?
"Hahahahahaa. Too late."
Princess Kaede's words followed by Ayah's maniac laughter made him look down. The knife he held had discolored his hands. Rhys already pale face turned even more pale, as he felt himself lose whatever remaining strength he had. With a final thrust of the knife, Ayah let's go, and Rhys felt the last dab of poison enter his system before he fell on the ground. Before everything faded to black.
...…
T Mansion - XXX Town
When Rhys woke up, he realized he was no longer in the same room as before. 'I lost consciousness,' he thought. "Ungh," he tried to get up. But as expected, his body felt weak and drained of strength.
"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!"
Princess Kaede's face appeared in his blurry vision, and he nodded, "This place?"
"This is my home," Kaede explained, "We couldn't stay there any longer, so we brought you here,"
Rhys nodded, "Is this place safe?"
Kaede bit her bottom lip, "At most you will be safe here for a few days. But people come in and out of here all the time, so it's risky. I currently act as a deity to the town, so the guests who come here ask for my advice. However," Kaede trailed off, "Ayah saw us together, she will most likely report it to Queen J. I will act as a decoy, and you can escape the town with Queen Lyn."
"Act as a decoy," Rhys didn't like the sounds of that. He may have no personal connection to her. But this woman is still a member of the Sound Kingdom. He can't just let her play sacrifice for him.
Rhys wanted to reply, but he realized how difficult it was, to even say his earlier lines.
"Do not worry about it, this is my duty," the woman hesitantly brushed her fingers across his face, "Please get some rest. You are still quite pale. The poison hasn't been cured completely. I will send word to Queen Lyn."
Rhys wanted to tell Kaede not to. Don't disturb them. Don't disturb Lyn who only has a short time left with Kazuya. As much as it pained him, seeing the two together. He didn't want to interrupt their time with each other.
____
At XXX Mansion
Lyn stood in the decking area as she watched the sky deep in thought, "Say Kazuya, what happened to Rhys?"
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't seen him lately," though Lyn only noticed he was missing this afternoon. She felt bad about it. But now that she thought about it carefully, she hadn't seen spoken to him since the day Kazuya came back.
"Gathering Intel, don't worry he will be back soon," Kazuya muttered.
Lyn saw his uneasy expression and frowned; a sudden thought came to her. Now that she thought about it, Kazuya should know about her and Rhys. The reason why he seemed so distant to her when she woke up in the Sound Kingdom means he knows what happened between her and Rhys. But he isn't telling her.
She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him. Kazuya laughed, "What are you doing Lyn?"
"Kazuya, Kazuya, do you love me?"
"I do," Kazuya said.
"Then, why did Rhys say this was all something you planned?"
Lyn understood that the friendship between them is strong. She saw it all those years ago. It was one thing to send Rhys to protect her - but another to make her remember her memories. Noticing his silence, her frown deepened.
"Kazuya?" Lyn called out.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I just thought it would be better for you to remember. It would be easy for me just to tell you everything myself. But if I did that, you'll hear everything from me, and you probably won't remember anything," Kazuya shook his head, "No if you heard it from me you'd be subjected to bias."
His tone contained bitterness, and Lyn paused. It must be hard for him to accept, while Lyn does not remember having feelings for Rhys at all. Kazuya does, Kazuya heard everything when he was all the way out to the Sound Kingdom. How difficult must that have been for him to hear? Hearing the woman he loved was getting closer and closer to another man, how much pain did he feel? Lyn felt bad. However, she had to know the truth.
The one thing she disliked the most was loose ends, "Kazuya, can you still tell me?"
The only reason she went along with Rhys ridiculous whims was so he could let his guard down. However, Lyn realized her plan was failing, and the increasing longing she had for her husband every day made it worse.
Before she knew it, she used the chance she was alone in the bath to harm herself. If Kazuya hears this wasn't the first time, Lyn knew he would bring her with him. In the past, it would have been easy to drop everything and rush to his side. But that's not the case now. The two of them have grown up and have responsibilities.
Lyn realized how quickly her thoughts drifted to Kazuya, and she cursed. In the end, everything leads her back to Kazuya. While she was very curious about the 'I was once in love with Rhys' theory, what's more, important to her is staying by her husband's side.
What's more important is Kazuya, whatever Kazuya wants she would do it. If he feels uncomfortable about this which he clearly does, then she shouldn't per sue it. However, at the same time since it's a matter that causes him so much unease. Lyn wants to help him overcome it.