(Sinclair)
***
Leo did not gag as he usually did, but a grim expression painted his features. I did not know what to make of it.
"Can you continue?" he asked me softly, sounding vaguely upset. His expressive voice became flat, and his gestures were muted, subtle.
I reassured him, "I will in just a moment."
***
I always said I loved Algor, but he never replied to me. He simply took me by the arm, bit me on the neck, and avoided the question in the only way he knew how.
***
I leaned back to peer at the stars and closed my eyes.
***
That was the love I thought I deserved at the time, which wasn't really love.
And I let him play me like that because I thought that was the only way I could get validation from anyone. He promised me great things to come, but I never enjoyed the mental games we played with each other, stepping on eggshells to never upset the delicate balance we fabricated.
I was always a very selfish person, and he wasn't any different when it came to the physical things we did. We were the kind of couple someone would look at and say, "Those assholes are perfect for each other."
***
"That's completely fucked up," Leo interjected, sounding baffled and concerned. He hadn't sipped on his water in a while.
"Is it?" I asked him back, biting my cheek.
*Don't make me think about the way Algor and I acted even when I know the answer… Some memories shouldn't be marred by the sharpness of retrospective focus…*
Eh, I was a messed up, insecure person. Still was. I needed to be more careful about what I wished for.
Tipping my wine glass, I shrugged. "Maybe it is. I don't know. I got what I wanted, but I wasn't very happy after a while."
***
Eventually, he had enough fun with me and told me to keep it a secret that he was in love with King Daemon when the boy was around twenty or so. That was about twenty years ago. We didn't end our relationship there, however, and he used it as some sort of blackmail against me. I was only scared because he was more powerful than I was.
One night, he told me he went into the young prince's bedroom and kissed him. As if it were a melodramatic play, the prince told him to leave and never come back. Obviously, Algor had too much of a conflated ego to comply. He kept bothering the man, trying to pressure him into dating.
***
"I didn't realize you meant that noble earlier. Thought you meant Inei," Leo mumbled to intrude. "Were you aware of that last part?"
"Yeah."
"And you still didn't end it with him?"
"Nope," I replied bitterly.
It was not as if I didn't have regrets about it, but…
***
After a few years, Daemon had enough of Algor's constant stalking. Consequently, he went to his father and asked for help, but the man did not see the point in angering the fairy. Daemon's father relied on Algor's help to keep the farms running properly, and he valued the economy over his own son.
So Daemon turned to King Inei for help. Inei was in his mid-twenties at the time—very young and naive after his appointment. His kingdom suffered through a famine—killing thousands—and he had no idea how to curb its effects. The man told the slightly younger boy something like this:
"Your kingdom has bountiful harvests and plentiful caverns, correct?"
"Yes," Daemon replied. "It has all that."
"Then, I'll help you at a cost," Inei told him, dusting off some ceramics while atop his throne. He was always nonchalant back then.
"I'll do anything. He's driving me crazy." Daemon clutched his hair. "I need something to help."
While setting the porcelain down, Inei smirked. "I want you to marry a woman from my kingdom. You will then be unavailable to him. In return for you doing that, I will have my messenger exile Algor, and you will give me access to your crop fields. My records show the Terrestrial Kingdom has been overproducing for a while to the point the food keeps going rotten in silos."
Daemon nodded. "That is true, sir."
Inei leaned on one wrist. "What do you say to my proposition?"
"I think I can take you up on that," Daemon said without hesitation as he shook the king's hand, eager to be left alone for the first time in years.
As the story went, Daemon happily married Lucy in the Terrestrial Kingdom, which angered his ill father—who was unable to do anything about it. Daemon carried out his side of the deal perfectly well, and Inei called upon me from the sky one day.
"I need you to banish Algor from the Terrestrial Kingdom," he told me without a preface.
I was surprised, and my deep love for the man made me apprehensive. "Why should I? What has he done to you, Your Highness?"
He stood with his arms wide in disbelief. "I had to do something to save the people here, and help came at just the right time."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, offended.
"The Terrestrial Kingdom is providing this place with food. Don't you see how many fewer people are dying at the hands of hunger now?"
"Yes, but…"
With an irritated yet subtle grunt emerging from his throat, Inei hit his arm against the throne. "I think that a man who keeps his promise should be repaid on the terms with which he agreed to the promise, don't you?"
"Yes," I begrudgingly replied with my head tilted down in shame, "but isn't a promise something kept sacred between two people? It should not cause others to be dragged into it."
I used my best logic to reason with him, but he was dense. Leo certainly knew that.
"I only drag things into promises that I have the power to control, and it's not difficult to force you to do this for me. My grandfather saved you from your life as a cupid, which means I can easily deny you of your life by dismissing you from your job if you refuse to comply."
The thought of such a thing terrified me, so I simply nodded and told him, "Very well."
Contemplating nonexistence was nearly impossible. One would not have imagined being torn apart by the embers of war or fading to black from the rough embrace of hands around their neck.
The next day, I collected some stones, performed a spell, and banished Algor from the Terrestrial Kingdom for however long I could keep the magic in place. It didn't wear off until recently, meaning Inei had been exploiting the resources of Daemon's kingdom ever since then. Its riches dwindled as its development lagged.
He knew better than to talk about the predicament publicly, though, because Hikaru reprimanded him severely for it. However, Hikaru unfortunately knew Inei was a force of nature that could not be controlled since he lacked reigns and simply ran free to do as he pleased.