The inscrutability that the man was trying to maintain was broken down with only a few words from Ilya.
His straight lips slowly became a frown. The near ends of his eyebrows were almost touching by how deeply they were knitted. He lowered his gaze to the ground and began to massage his temples with his cold fingers.
Ilya copied the frown on the man's face, yet her eyes were resolute. She lowered her hands to the side and went on with her speech, "You know that I can do it, right? Please, just please let me. We all know who's the one be-"
"Can you please stop convincing me, Ilya? Are you even aware of the repercussions of your suggestion?"
Hearing his response, Ilya straightened her body and backed further away from the man. She laughed sarcastically as she took the coat off of her. She handed it back to Halkias, but the man refused to take it, much less look at her. Still, Ilya didn't pull her hand away.
"I won't wait for your permission, Halkias. I will do what I want and pay for my offenses later."
Right then, Halkias snatched the coat and looked at Ilya. His eyes were rabid, coming off as wanting to imprison the lady with only his gaze.
"I don't care whether you turn into a criminal by disobeying my orders, Ilya. However, your body will suffer if you wield that much Manna." Halkias muttered through his gritted teeth. "You can even die from it. So just listen to me. Please."
Ilya immediately closed her mouth upon hearing the man's sentiments. She felt a lump growing in her throat, disabling her from voicing out her thoughts. Tears flooded her eyes, and soon, they were racing down her cheeks.
She wiped the tears with her hand at once. She looked away from both Halkias and the fire, sniffing as quietly as she could. She stopped the flow of her tears within a few seconds and settled her emotions down thereafter.
Without another word said, she walked away from the man. Halkias grabbed her arm to stop her from moving, but she removed his hand with force.
"Ilya, please don't do this. The Empire can just yield the investigation to the Obelisk. You know that there are opportunities for us to catch the criminal, right? This incident is a new one, so we're not certain if they're the one behind this."
Sans giving the man a glance, Ilya replied, "Are you letting this incident pass? Do you want more lives to be sacrificed? Are you really going to wait for another major incident to happen before making a move? Are y-"
"Yes, if that's what it will take to preserve your life." Halkias intervened, "You have to lose this battle, Ilya. Your opponent won't be shaken by this incident. The fire has spread enough for their Manna tracks to be erased. Remember, the war is only at its beginning. If you make a mishap, it will cost us the chance of an entire lifetime that was given to us."
Seemingly losing her strength, Ilya's knees trembled. Thankfully, Halkias caught her in time.
In all honesty, she recognized the truth within Halkias' words.
It was an incident that she hadn't encountered in the first timeline. As a consequence, she became flustered and lost a sliver of her reasoning.
Halkias caressed Ilya's back as he heard her moaning softly. He could feel his sleeve being wet with her tears.
At that moment, Marquis Benedict and Count Schatten arrived at the scene. They saw Ilya and Halkias in an instant and made their way towards the two in a haste. The Commander nodded his head at them as his sole greeting.
"Sir Halkias," The Marquis uttered as he stopped in front of the Commander, "It's a good thing that you found her. Your knights reported her departure right away, so we were able to chase her here."
"Marquis Benedict, what would you have done if I failed to convince her from putting the fire out all on her own?"
The Marquis ran his tongue along his lips, following it with a sharp sigh. He swiped through his hair with his fingers.
Thenceforward, he bowed his head at Halkias and spoke, "I apologize, Sir Halkias. Though I was given the duty to be on the lookout for Lady Gertrude's actions, I failed to act immediately."
"I don't want you to apologize, Marquis. The knights who are supposed to be guarding her are under my order. I should've been more attentive. Anyway, please take Ilya back to the mansion. She will need a lot of rest for tomorrow."
"Understood, Commander."
The Marquis then raised his head and approached Ilya. He put his hands over her shoulders and guided her away from Halkias. The lady kept her head down, her hair covering her face. She was still sobbing but in a controlled way.
Noticing that she was barefoot, Marquis Benedict bent down slightly and put an arm under Ilya's legs. He went and lifted her off of the ground, bowing one last time at Halkias before taking his leave. The Count soon followed, leaving Halkias to deal with the fire with his subordinates.
Rather than taking the carriage, the Marquis chose to take their time and walk back to the mansion. Since the citizens living in the area near the fire were able to flee without delay, the roads were empty.
Apart from the distant shouting of the knights and soldiers, and the roaring of the fire, there was no other noise to bother Ilya.
"It would be good for you to take a walk once in a while. You've been cooped up in the mansion for too long."
Ilya's rejoinder was a mix of sobbing and her weak voice. Thus, the Marquis didn't understand it. He ceased sauntering for a second to lend his ear to the lady.
"What did you say again?"
"I said, it's your fault."
Marquis Benedict couldn't help but sigh upon knowing her answer. He said nothing further and simply resumed their walk, an awkward silence hovering above them.