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Chapter 40 - Chapter 40

ERROT

Just like he promised, this morning, Canton gave me a permission slip to go visit Oda at the east quarters of his castle, on the right building, where she's currently staying on.

Instead of knocking at the door, I decided not to announce my presence and surprise her by bursting inside.

That counts as one of the worst decisions I've ever made in my life.

Oda screamed and immediately covered her bare body with her blanket while I remained still, staring at a shocked- now fully covered- Oda and an annoyed-looking Santos, wide-eyed.

"Errot, oh my god, why didn't you knock?" Oda asked, her cheeks coloured bright red.

Santos rolled his eyes and begun fishing for his underwear from the floor.

"I wanted to surprise you.." I mumbled still bewildered by what I witnessed.

Santos snorted. "You definitely succeeded" he muttered under his breath while getting dressed under the covers.

"I wasn't talking to you" I pointed out.

"Well, I still replied, what are you going to do about it?"

"Can't you like, turn into a stupid shadow and leave?"

"Boys" Oda interrupted.

We both looked at her.

"Errot go to the bathroom and wait there until I call you out and-" he turned to look at Santos and her voice softened. "and you can leave and I'll meet you later, okay?" She attempted a smile.

Santos sighed and threw a quick glance at me, his face void of any emotion.

He got up, fully dressed and dissapeared through the door.

Oda looked at me.

"Why? Out of a whole castle filled with Inks. Why him? Elvina was just fine, gorgeous, rich and the king's favourite."

"He's really nice.." Oda looked down. "You've misunderstood him"

"Nice. He almost beat me to death a few months ago"

"Those were Canton's orders.."

"But he was still smirking sadistically the whole time. A sadist, that's what he is"

"You're wrong. He's nothing like what he allows other people to see"

I decided not to argue further with her, so I stayed silent.

She sighed. "Bathroom. Now."

♛♛♛

"So you and Cant can finally be together in peace?" Oda asked, finally clothed.

"Cant?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "We got close while you were gone" she paused and smirked at me. "don't worry I'm not going to take him from you"

I scoffed. "Yeah, because now you have Santos"

"I'm not arguing about Santos again. Accept it or don't. It's really a 'you' problem"

I sighed. "I just want you to be happy and safe"

She smiled. "I'm happier and safer than I've ever been. And if he ever hurts me I'm going to call you so you can take care of the situation. Deal?"

I smirked back. "Deal"

"Plus, it's not really...official between us"

I frowned. "What?"

"We haven't said anything about relationships. We just..kissed one day. And we've been quite close since then"

"Since 'when'?"

"Like..a month ago. After I returned from Teal Blood. He was scared that I wouldn't come back. He didn't trust you. But I did"

"So...now you're an Ink as well.."

"Aha." She chuckled. "Seems like that boyfriend of yours wants an army of humans turned Inks"

"You really couldn't have thought of a different plan? You know, a plan that didn't involve you turning into an immortal being?"

"Well, to be fair, E, being an Ink means that I get to live here, in my new home, for as long as I want, without growing old and without an ounce of danger surrounding me. I have the king's protection after all and I suggest you let him do the same to you"

"Oda..." I trailed.

"No, think about it." Oda got up and stepped closer to me, her eyes shining bright with excitement. "We get to live here, in this huge ass castle, together, free of all our worries, with our new friends...boyfriends..that won't use us as slaves..This is what we wanted. A free life. I'm sure that little bourbon-obsessed friend of ours will be thrilled to turn you into one of his kind"

"I still can't get used to you calling him a 'friend' "

"To be honest, Errot. I should have listened to you. That dude might piss me off half of the time but he's really not that bad if you get used to him and his weird sense of humour. He can be really fun" she paused. "When he doesn't call me a blondie. I don't think he's learned my name yet"

I rolled my eyes quite amused. "So a plan to prove me innocent really bonded you two?"

"Yup"

"The plan sucked, by the way. It was wrong and rushed from head to toe"

"We didn't have any other choice. The only person you trust more than yourself is me. I had to come and find you. Even if I had to shapeshift into a weird Teal dude. Oh, the things I do for you and your innocence"

"So you literally shapeshifted into a Teal maid to come and find me into Quinn's palace, all while risking to be exposed, only for you to get me alone and basically 'interrogate me', record my confession and then pass the news to Canton."

"Exactly"

"Awful plan"

"It was all we had. You wouldn't have told the truth to Canton or anyone else. I couldn't call you cause Canton trashed your phone before you left and you weren't calling me. I knew you wouldn't agree to tell me the truth if you were aware of me recording you so I waited until I was leaving to tell you that. Which, by the way, was stupid. Who were you trying to protect? The 1000 year old king of Ink Blood?"

"I told you Oda. Quinn and Cress are the children of the Lyttletons. The two people that were holding the curses against him this whole time. Just because they were connected by blood they had a way of reversing them and throwing them back at Canton all over again. I couldn't risk it"

"They were bluffing, Errot. If they really had a way of doing that they would have done it already"

"Maybe taking me away from him was a greater damage for him"

"Or..they didn't have a way of reversing them and you fell right into the trap instead of telling Canton all about them threatening you in the first place"

"I couldn't risk it. Not when I knew how much he was suffering because of them..."

Oda sighed and gave me a big hug. "Don't ever leave again, stupid"

I immediately hugged her back. "I won't"

There was a pause of silence. "I give better hugs than Santos, don't I?"

Oda chuckled and hit me lightly at the back of the head while pulling away "Santos knows how and where to touch me"

I shuddered. "I didn't need to know that. Please don't go into further details"

She sighed with a playful smile on her face. "Don't you have a boyfriend that almost died yesterday to go to?"

My face fell slightly. "Oda.. something's bugging me.."

"What's wrong?"

"Someone tried to kill them yesterday. They removed the portals and the magic somehow. We all found a way to come back here but neither the portals nor the magic has come back"

"Maybe there is a price by doing something like that. I'm sure removing the magic into a world full of it is not an easy task and it must definitely come with consequences. Whoever did it might have done some pretty good damage to the dimensions"

"I sure hope it's that and not something worse.."

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon"

"Oda."

"Yes?"

"Why wasn't Santos around Canton yesterday? Isn't he supposed to guard him twenty four seven?"

"Yeah..about that.. Tristian's scientific minions informed Canton of a possible attack scheme against him out of the castle and Canton sent him to investigate for a little while. Probably bullshit but better safe than sorry. He has Elvina on his side either way"

"And he trusted Tristian's minions?"

"I told you, he already has great guard around him and Santos will be back before we know it. He came here today for a report to Canton and he will leave again tonight"

"Glad to see he gave Canton a great report today" I pointed at her bed.

"That's where he's actually heading at right this moment" she defended and crossed her arms against her chest. "And that's where you should go to, as well"

"I feel like you're trying to kick me out repeatedly today" I crossed my arms too, copying her.

"Yeah well it has nothing to do with the fact that you, my dear childhood friend of 19 years, saw me naked today" she paused. "Which reminds me... that's another thing you and your king boyfriend have in common that you should talk about" she begun pushing me towards the door.

My eyes widened "Canton has seen you naked? What? When? Why?"

"See? Too many things to discuss. Think about the bonding!" She said and basically kicked me out of the room, closing the door shut at my face.

♛♛♛

I was holding the visit permission slip which I handed to the guards as soon as I reached his bedroom door when it suddenly opened, revealing Tristian with a tray on his hands.

I raised an eyebrow at him, my face falling the moment we locked eyes.

On the other hand, his face became oddly amused in seconds. "Ah, Errot White. We meet again. How have you been?"

I felt the anger coming at me in waves and my ears turning red in frustration. I approached him and pointed a finger against his chest, accusingly.

"How dare you ask me 'how I've been?' " I lowered my voice.

Tristian's gaze briefly fell on my finger and then met my eyes once again, his smirk never leaving his face. "It's a free country, supposedly. No? I have the right to say whatever I want. Speaking of rights. I don't think you have the right to visit the person that you threatened to kill a while ago"

his smirk got replaced with a slightly threatening gaze

"What are you doing here, Errot?"

I removed my finger and clenched my hand into a fist. I took a step back and away from him. "The king asked to see me. I just handed the guards the permission slip"

"Hm." He turned to the guards. "make sure you cuff him before he walks inside"

He gave me one last glance and walked away.

The guards obeyed Tristian's order as if it was coming from Canton's mouth.

They immediately cuffed my wrists anew and pushed me carelessly inside the room.

What is up with people pushing me today

I was ready to begin ranting to Canton when I saw him.

He was laying down on his bed, looking paler than yesterday.

Weak.

"Canton?"

He gave me a small smirk and then coughed a few times. "Welcome back"

I frowned. "You're getting worse?" I walked to his bed and sat down next to him.

"This thing has messed me up completely" he coughed again and then took a sip from his cup to ease his coughing.

My frown deepened. "Maybe you should consult a doctor. You don't look well. Do you even have doctors here?"

Canton blinked. "Errot, there is no possible way for an Ink to get sick. So, no. We don't have any doctors. We only have healers. And I don't need one. Those are side effects from the heat"

"Is Elvina suffering from them as well?"

Canton paused for a few long seconds. "No. But different Inks go through the same situation differently. Don't forget that I'm the oldest creature to exist right now. Give me a few days. I'll be fine"

I placed a hand against his temple -with extreme difficulty because of the handcuffs- to feel his temperature. I gasped. "Canton, you're burning"

"What?" He blinked again.

He does that a lot today.

"You've developed a fever" my mouth is almost gaping open from the shock. "You're actually sick"

"Errot" he said and cupped my cheek, gently. "I love how you care about me. But you're overreacting"

I closed my eyes at his touch and exhaled. "Alright" I re-opened my eyes. "Yeah, okay. You're right. I'm exaggerating as always. I'm sorry, it's just.." I rolled my eyes. "I ran into Tristian outside and I've been tensed ever since"

Canton scoffed and fell back down to the bed.

"It's really questioning how annoyed I get when I bump into a copied image of myself"

Canton smirked at that.

"What was he doing in here anyway?"

"Bringing me breakfast. Kitchen duties. He's definitely not staying in here for free" another coughing fit erupted suddenly and I hurried to help him take a few sips from his cup again.

Once it died down, Canton looked even more exhausted than before.

He groaned a bit.

"Is this how it feels to be sick?"

"Mhm, I'm not quite sure. Want to help me remember?" I said and leaned in to give him a kiss, which he reciprocated.

His kissing was slow today. Soft, gentle. Gentler than all of the other times. It didn't hold a great amount of energy.

His tongue was burning against mine and it felt like he was radiating warmth from all over his body.

He gradually stopped kissing me back so I felt like it was the right time to pull away.

He opened his eyes mid-way. "I'm sorry, I'm exhausted" he murmured.

I placed a kiss at his boiling hot forehead. "You should rest"

"But he just woke up, no?"

A female voice startled us both.

Elvina.

She approached us and sat down at the corner of the bed. She considered Canton. "Damn, you look horrible brother"

Canton smiled. "Such encouraging words as always, sister"

"Well, yeah, I'm always there to lift your mood" she winked. "Wanna have our sibling day?"

Canton shook his head negatively. "I'm so tired. I just want to lay down the whole day" he mumbled a reply back. "And don't you have a job to do, my queen?" He joked.

"Yeah, remind me why I ever agreed on taking your place while you lay in the comfort of your bed in misery doing nothing?"

"Because you love me. And because it was about time for you to act like the queen you are"

She got serious. "I know very little about leading a whole kingdom. Dad never taught me anything.."

"Why?" I decided to butt in their conversation.

She turned to look at me. "Because I was a girl. And I was apparently 'too nice' for this position." She paused, a bitter scowl on her face. "He would have killed me if Canton hadn't intervened"

My eyes widened a bit and I glanced at Canton who simply nodded. "I convinced him to keep her alive with the condition to keep hiding her title from the world. So, she wouldn't be an 'embarassment to the Alastair bloodline' as dad used to call her. That's why nobody knows she's my sister and the heir of the crown"

"Wait. When you were born" I looked at Elvina. "Didn't anybody announce your birth? Alastair couldn't have known that a newborn baby would have been 'too nice' for the position. Not until you were at least 10 years old'"

Elvina chuckled humorlessly. She glanced at Canton. "Should I tell him or will you do the honour?"

Canton directed his gaze at me and I was already looking at him expectantly. "Elvina is our mother's biological daughter..not my father's"

"Thankfully" Elvina added.

I felt startled to say the least. "Shit"

"Yeah. Unfortunately mum decided to tell Alastair once she conceived me. He did everything in his power to hide my mum's pregnancy. He would have accepted me if I turned out to be corrupted like him. I didn't do him the favour"

I clenched my fists, feeling the cold metal of the cuffs against my skin. "I wish he was alive so I could kill him"

The siblings scoffed.

Another cough escaped Canton's mouth. He took his drink on his hands. "Cheers to that" he chugged the rest of it down.

No one's pov

Adan was walking down the corridor of the castle, his gaze glued on the phone on his hands, when he bumped into someone.

He immediately glanced up and came into a halt.

"Adan" Fleur said, her face blank.

Adan gulped.

"I.." he trailed.

He then tried a fainted smirk. "Sorry gorgeous, didn't see you there"

Fleur's head was held up high. "It's alright" she begun walking away.

Adan grabbed at her arm to stop her, losing his smirk entirely. "Fleur"

Fleur turned around and glanced at Adan's grip on her arm. "Remove that hand, please"

He instantly did as told and buried both of his hands at his pockets. "would you like to..you know.. catch up a bit?" He looked at the guards that were surrounding her. "I can order them to leave us for a while"

Fleur moved her gaze to the guards as well and started biting her bottom lip in thought.

She locked eyes with Adan again. "Fine. I don't see why not"

Adan grinned.

♛♛♛

The two of them exited the castle and begun roaming the gardens in silence.

Adan was the first to break it. "So..how are you?"

"I'm good"

He nodded.

"And you?" She asked.

"Good, yeah"

It was Fleur's turn to nod.

They kept walking.

"Do you..uh. Like the castle?"

Fleur rolled her eyes. "Yeah, totally, it's my favourite castle out of all the castles. Such an incredible castle"

Adan snorted. "Still using sarcasm to everything you say, huh"

"Still asking stupid questions just to get me talking, huh?"

"I'm just trying to make a conversation Fleur"

"And you're failing at it, honey"

"Well" he let out an exasperated sigh. "what do you want me to do? How can I approach you?"

"It's too late for that. You should have done that aeons ago"

"You weren't talking to me aeons ago"

"Of course I wasn't talking to you. If you really wanted to fix things between us you wouldn't have given up. You could have tried harder"

"You kept pushing me away!"

"Bullshit. You found Tristian and you completely forgot about my existence"

"I was heartbroken. Yes. Tristian made me forget about you. Momentarily"

"And what does that say about you, cupcake? Using your best friend's boyfriend as a rebound so you could 'forget about me'?"

"I've made mistakes..falling for Tristian was one of them." He looked at her. "But letting you go..was the worst one"

"No, letting me go wasn't the worst one. You were a completely perfect angel. Charming, smart, teasing. You had me. You had power and wealth. And you still chose to burn everything down. And to give in to your Ink side. And to this day, I have no idea why" Fleur said, a hint of bitterness on her tone.

Adan clenched his fists in frustration. "Alright, wanna know why I did what I did?"

"I'm not sure why it matters a thousand years later"

"You know I have an addiction problem-"

Fleur scoffed. "Pulling the victim card again"

"Let me talk"

Fleur stayed silent, staring at the ground.

"During this time, it was at it's peak. It was getting triggered by even the tiniest things" pause. "You know I set the library on fire. But you aren't aware of what triggered that reaction out of me" Another pause. Adan was staring intensely at Fleur.

"It was you. It was you kissing that prick. I saw you Fleur. I saw you and I got furiously mad. Fire was my only form of escapism. But I lost control over it" Adan gulped. "I know I should have stayed. Especially when Elian was willing to work things out with me. To help me. But I couldn't stay. I had already damaged my home, my pride..you. I couldn't look at you in the eye anymore. I couldn't face you. I was ashamed and angry and heartbroken. I wasn't a perfect angel. My Ink side had already kicked in. I had to get away and I did"

A single tear escaped Fleur's eye and rolled down her cheek. "That kiss meant nothing. You should have stayed but you chose the easy way"

"I'm sorry you think that it was the easy way when it was the hardest for me. That was always our main problem, wasn't it? You never understood me"

"No our main problem was you always trying to be the victim. Just like you're doing right now. You want people to feel sorry for you, to pity you. You played that card all the time so how could you expect me to understand you when I have no idea when you truly are the victim and when you're not?"

Adan shook his head in disappointment "I see. Let me escort you back inside" he said lowly.

"God, you're doing again!"

"How do you want me to react to that, Fleur? Do you want me to be all happy and smirky about it? I don't know what to say to you, I don't know how to act towards you. Everything I do seems wrong to you, I can never win!"

"Wanna do something right? Break up with Tristian"

"Brea- what?"

"I know you two are together again, the walls have ears in this castle. Break up with him for me. Do that and I'll forgive you. That is, if you want my forgiveness" Fleur begun walking back inside the castle.

ODA

"Hey"

I whipped my head around so fast, I almost gave myself a concussion.

He was standing at the door of the rooftop, his black hoodie covering his eyes.

I approached him, a simple smile on my face "Hey, stranger"

"I have to go" he mumbled.

My smile fell. "I'm aware"

"I'll be back soon"

"I'm also aware"

"Something is off, Oda"

A small frown appeared on my face. "what do you mean?"

"Something about this mission seems off to me. I've been there for two weeks and with every step I take I feel like I'm falling into another trap. I have a bad feeling about this" he was whispering now.

"Maybe it's because you don't trust the messenger"

"Maybe. Either way, If I don't find anything in two days, I'm coming back."

I nodded. "Okay. You know better"

"Always"

I smirked at his cockiness and playfully hit him against his chest when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him with force, locking his arms around me at the same time.

"Santos"

"Mhm?"

I trailed my hand on his back and rested it at the back of his neck.

"...nevermind"

Santos clicked his tongue. "Now this is why I didn't want a girlfriend" he mumbled

I ignored his comment "Just..take care"

He leaned in and gave me a brief peck on the lips before his figure turned into a shadow and he disappeared without another word.

No one's pov

Elian was staring through the window on their current shared room, having absolutely nothing else to do.

He looked skeptical and maybe a little troubled.

After several minutes of silence Noel got up and approached him.

As soon as he caught Elian's attention he bowed respectively.

"Your highness" Noel mumbled shyly.

"Come on, Noel, I've known you since you were a little kid"

"You're still a king to me" Noel replied, avoiding his gaze.

Elian sighed and then patted the seat next to him on the window couch.

Noel sat down and begun fidgeting.

"What's.. what's bothering you.."

Elian was nervously picking at his left eyebrow. "This whole situation. The failed murder attempt. The magic system collapsing. It just doesn't sit right with me"

Noel looked around the room and noticed how Quinn and Cress were chatting at the back.

He turned his attention back at Elian but stayed silent.

Elian glanced at him. He grinned. "I'm just being paranoid, aren't I?"

Noel immediately looked away and shrugged, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you okay?" Elian raised an eyebrow.

Noel's eyes got slightly wide. "Of course, why wouldn't I be" he uttered fast.

Elian frowned. "Noel, do you know something we don't?" He lowered his voice.

Noel remained wide-eyed. "I don't"

He was staring intensely into Elian's eyes without saying a word for a few seconds.

"But you should maybe ask Tristian the same question"

Elian's face darkened at that.

TRISTIAN

"Wait" Adan stopped me mid-way from delivering Canton his dinner. "We need to talk"

"Not now. Dinner duties" I pointed at the tray with my eyes.

"I'm sure dinner can wait. But I can't"

I sighed. "What do you want Adan?" I placed the tray on the counter.

"I want us to break up. Or whatever it is that we have"

I raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit startled "May I ask why?"

"Because I'm in love with somebody else"

He said sternly.

I scoffed. "Right. Is it because of Canton? Are you backing away because of-"

"No. And I don't need to know what else you're planning to do to him, I seriously want no part. But I suggest you drop this before it's too late. Hurting Canton will be the start of your end."

"When did you become the cupid stricken hero, Adan?"

"When you made it clear that I mean absolutely nothing to you"

"I thought you already knew that"

"I did. But I didn't have respect for myself then"

And with those last words, he exited the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes, not having the time to deal with Adan's nonsense.

I grabbed the tray and headed upstairs.

The guards let me inside and I opened the lights on my way to his bed.

I looked at him. "Room service, my king" I smirked.

Canton forced his eyes to open just a bit, the action looking difficult.

"Tristian" he mumbled.

"That's me" I sat the tray on the bed and made myself comfortable next to him. "How are you feeling?"

Canton gulped. "How do I.." he breathed in "..look" breathed out and begun coughing.

I raised my eyebrows at the sight in front of me. "I better not answer that. Want me to feed you?" I smirked.

"No...Leave.." he managed to say

"You will starve Cant. I won't leave until you at least drink some tea. I added extra bourbon for you" I winked teasingly at him.

Canton gulped and then coughed again. He slowly turned to look at me, his eyes shining bright from the high fever.

"Bourbon?"

"Bourbon" my smirk widened. "Here" I took the cup on my hand and carefully helped Canton drink a bit.

I waited patiently until he finished his drink and placed the empty cup on the tray.

"I will leave the tray on your bedside table so you can eat whenever you feel like it. Okay?"

Canton had his eyes closed again. He mumbled something in reply.

I stared at him for a bit. "Oh and Cant. Before I forget. I have this paper for you to sign. It needs your signature"

"Mhm" a half-sleeping Canton murmured his way into answering.

I took the paper and a pen out of my back pocket and handed them to him. He didn't budge.

"Cant." I shook him gently by his shoulders.

He opened his eyes half-heartedly.

"I won't bother you for much longer. You just need to sign it and I'll leave" I made a second attempt to hand him the pen and I decided to hold the paper open for him.

Canton took the pen from my hands and positioned it on his own trembling fingers.

He closed his eyes for three seconds too long until he opened them again.

He moved the pen at the bottom of the page and weakly added his signature.

I guided his hand at the top of the paper next and urged him to sign it there as well.

He absent-mindedly did.

And at this moment I felt like I have never been happier in my life.

My heart begun racing against my chest but I quickly recollected myself and placed the paper back in my pocket.

I couldn't help the big smile that was plastered on my face as I looked at Canton's sick figure on the bed.

"Sweet dreams, baby" I said but Canton had already drifted off to sleep.