Clara came back not too long after washing up. She was still dressed in her previous outfit as to the provided robes
She entered their shared room while drying her pink hair with a small towel only to see the window that looked out on to the road wide open and room empty
Clara had known Aradia would leave but she had not expected it to be so early, hell she did not even bother to wash up after the long day
She didn't blame the red head though nor would she tell her to stop, Clara too goes out late into the night for various reasons of her own
She may be protective of her siblings but that doesn't mean she watches their every move like a hawk
If they need help they can come to her, she will always be there
Clara wanted to check up on Issac before leaving herself to finish some unfinished business but seeing as how the sun was so close to setting, she knew she had to leave now if she wanted to be back before dinner
The pink haired girl closed the inn's room door, she knew no one would come looking for her at this moment but it was better to have the door closed than have someone snitch
Though, Clara likes to think everyone is equally on the same wavelength so snitching seems very hypocritical
Clara could go out the inn door like a normal human but she decided to walk in her sister's footsteps and jumped out the window, being on the second floor, the jump didn't have too much of an effect
She simply started walking, slightly damp hair swaying in the wind softly while everything was covered by a soft orange hue with some yellow as well
It was very peaceful, only a few people lurked the streets, birds high above her head were flying to their respective nests
Anyone who passed her would probably think she was walking aimlessly, which to some extent was true but also not?
After some more walking she stopped at a small bakery, there was a small table and two chairs outside the window that gave a look inside to all the baked goods that were by now all completely gone save for a few things
A boy around the same age as her sat on one of the two chairs, legs crossed as he had himself engrossed in a newspaper. It completely hid his face except for a tiny bit of his back hair peeking out
Clara sat on the opposite chair, looking off into nowhere in particular, just enjoying the sunset
Aster finally looked up from his paper and looked at his old pal
Clara in return dragged her gaze to him as well but didn't say anything, just tilting her head off to side slightly
"I see that you made it out alive"
It wasn't a question so Clara just hummed in response
"Y'know Al, I was wondering, how good would it be if things could be like how they were in the past"
Al, the boy Aradia had met and deemed weird, the boy that had given her a letter to give to Clara was currently sitting with the same tousled black hair and vibrant purple eyes, light freckles being more prominent in the sunset, only his menacing grin as the red head had worded no longer stuck onto his face
"Clara, you and I both know that is not possible"
"I know, I know.."
She said annoyed but continued after a short pause
"It's just.. sometimes I miss the good old days with my old friend you know..."
Aster didn't say anything, he folded the newspaper perfectly before putting on the table and looking at the pinked hair girl in front of him
"How is the academy treating you so far?"
"It has been alright but chaos has found me and that brat yet again"
She said with sigh and commented
"Couldn't order drinks at the very least cheapskate.."
Aster rolled his eyes at that
"Oh shush"
He leaned forward resting his elbows of the table
"By brat I assume you're talking about the red head this time and not the blond?"
"Yeah, seriously, it hasn't even been a month and see what happened today"
"Hey at least your shut-in ass is finally getting some adventure in your veins"
"Oh shut it"
The two fell into a peaceful silence, just watching the sunset in peace
Aster and Clara go way back, Aster De Angis, the youngest son of Viscount Angis
They met at Clara's father's second wedding and got introduced, after that they had met a few times and became friends, real friends
Clara never truly had real friends so when she met Al, she was overjoyed. As time passed he opened up more to her and she found out they were more similar than she thought
For starters, they shared the same birthday thus they shared the same school year
Their story too was eerily similar, Aster used to an only child, his mother had died at birth but closely after Clara's father had gotten married, Viscount Angis announced his marriage as well
The woman he married was of no particular nobel family, ultimately leading to not so great rumours
But he never seemed to care, well that is for everything, their are a lot of "rumours" that the Viscount doesn't care nor do anything aside from indulging in drinks all day and night long
A few years ago, the well known and beloved son of Viscount Angis, Aster suddenly stopped making any public appearances all together and vanished in a sense while day by day it became more and more evident that his older step-brother would take the future Viscount position as him mother made sure of it
Only Clara knows the true reason just like how he knows many of her secrets, hell they have a game of sharing secrets during their occasional meetings like this
"Family?"
Clara said, it was their way of talking, as they preferred to only use one or two words for a question
She was asking for any new petty actions by him step-mother or futal assassination attempt
"Been out of spotlight long enough that they no longer even spare a glance at me"
He said with great joy
"Father dearest?"
Al questioned in return
"Last I checked, still in the act of courtesy"
Aster hummed in return. He knew all too well how Clara has a rocky relationship with her father and to some extent even hates him
"So.., does the blond know about.. the incident?"
Clara froze for a second before starting right at him, no longer joking
"You know damn well I won't tell him even if it's my death day"
The raven sighed
"I know that, alright? But you do know at some point you will have tell him"
Clara leaned back and let out a long low sigh
"I know, but you also know that I was trusted with this truth and I'm not going to tell it to anyone, especially not her own son"
Al didn't push it after that, he too has only a vague idea of said incident but he knows that it slowly chips away at Clara's sanity and he doesn't want that
But every single time this topic is brought up it always ends with the same silence
"Y'know, we don't really have to continue meeting in secret"
Aster said and leaned back in his chair as well
"It was my choice and I'm not changing it, suck it"
Al rolled his eyes to the moon before both of them burst out laughing like toddlers
"Say, was your sister suspicious of the beautiful letter I sent you?"
Clara scoffed at that
"Beautiful? You call only writing "midnight" beautiful? It's the most vile letter I've read"
"Suck it"
Al used her own words against her with a wink
Now it was Clara who rolled her eyes
"Well, I guess she was suspicious but didn't really push it.. unlike someon"
Aster let out a offended noise, putting a hand over his heart
"My dear.. why must you just me like this"
"Drama queen"
"Rat"
"Fuck you"
"Gladly"
"Ew"
And the two laughed yet again
After that both chatted until the moon had rose high into the sky, bathing everything in a soft silver glow
"I should go"
Clara said, showing no move to get up
"You should"
Aster said
"I would ask you to come stay with me for the night but I'm sharing a room"
"Dang cheating on me already, darling?"
Clara rolled her eyes before playing along
"Don't act like you're innocent, dear"
Al raised a brow in question
"Oh? What are you talking about honey?"
"Figure it out yourself"
She said with wink
Aster was deep in thought, pondering about what she meant. A realisation suddenly hit him as he brought his hands forward
His left hand had its palm up as his right hand, which was in a fist, smacked against the prior in an acknowledgement
"Are you seriously talking about that girl I flirted with once?"
"You still got brains huh"
"Shush"
Clara chuckled, they like to joke like this at times and it's fun seeing passersby look at them and squirm in discomfort though the one's that sometimes coo at them tend to give the feeling back
They sat in silence yet again, they should get moving, really but neither wanted to
It felt as though even breathing wrong would ruin the moment
"You.. never gave me details of the.. incident.."
Clara paused before humming
"True"
Aster stayed quiet, he knew the pink haired girl knows what he wants but she gave him the look of, "say it out loud and I'll think about it"
Al sighed in defeat
"Tell me the whole story"
Clara hummed softly again, looking as though she was thinking if she should say it or not
"Go ask her yourself"
She said at last, which made the ravens eye twich in annoyance
Clara just grinned, looking at the moon as she thought about the incident that she otherwise always pushed to the back of her mind
Bellen, her step-mom had told her this-, no she trusted her with this and Clara wasn't going to betray her
The pink haired girl hadn't originally liked Bellen or even treated her with respect but on their wedding day, when Clara had snuck out into the garden with all her siblings, she had come after them and had sat without a care for anything
She didn't try to get Clara to like her, she simply spoke straightforwardly, getting to the point. If it had been anyone else Clara wouldn't have believed, but.. Bellen had such a aura around her that Clara couldn't help but believe it and it proved to be the right choice in the end
It was fine and quiet evening, only Clara and Bellen were seating in the garden drinking tea, on one was there
Clara drank her tea, occasionally speaking otherwise she just listened to whatever her mother had to advice her about, they were truly appreciated
As Clara put down her now empty cup, Bellen spoke up again but this time, she no longer had that friendly vibe to her, it was all seriousness
"I like to congratulate myself, for the fact that you decided to trust me and think of me as someone close"
Clara sat quietly, not knowing where this was going in any way
"Today however, I want to tell you something that.. no soul knows aside from me. It is my burden to bare and I have no complaints"
She looked straight at Clara, almost like she was looking inside her mind and not the outside
"I'm not telling you to bare my burden as well, if you hate me after this or tell this to someone else, I'll understand and just so you know I will have no regrets or be disappointed but if you choose not too.. I truly have no words to describe what I'd feel"
"What is this about?"
Clara finally spoke, in return Bellen smiled sweetly but that was smile changed into something cold in no time
"As you know, this is my second marriage but do you know what happened to my first husband?"
Clara nodded, it was said that he had been assassinated by his rivals, which was why Bellen's family took her back along with her two son's and after a year when they found out she was persuing a man, they were more than happy to wed her off again
Bellen chuckled softly, it was getting chilly all of a sudden
She leaned in closer, like someone would hear them and said
"I killed him"
Clara was stunned speechless, she knew it was a truth which made her furthermore stunned
"That bastard.."
Bellen continued without a thought for the world
"My parents wed me off, having no idea that bastard was an abusive piece of shit"
Clara's eyes widened, this was the first time she had cursed
"That guy.. he did nothing but drink day and night, keeping me home at all times and of course hit me whenever he got pissed of because "he was the man""
Clara felt her blood boil and she made her hands into fists trying to calm down
"I didn't do anything because let's be honest, my parents did not care enough because "he was right" and of course outsider couldn't care less"
"I put up with it, then Isaac happened and closely after Ceil, I made sure that bastard didn't lay an finger on my children, but on that one faithful night, that shit hit my children and tried to strangle my new born"
Clara sucked in a sharp breath, she really, really wanted to hit something
"I grabbed the kitchen knife with my skirt, can't have magic welders realise it was me, no?"
She said with a cruel smile, this too was advice for her daughter
"I stabbed him more times than I could count"
Bellen finished the rest of her tea, humming to herself before saying
"It was easy after that, blame his "rivals" and act piful, really tricking a human is too easy at times"
She didn't say anything else because Clara knows what happens next, she had said it at the start
"Was it satisfying?"
The pink haired girl asked and looked straight at her as well. Bellen was then aback by the question but laughed in the end and nodded
"Yes, yes it was the most satisfying thing in the world"
"He should rot in hell"
"I'm surprised.. you aren't concerned i'd kill your father as well? One murder means the next will be even earlier"
Clara looked at her thoughtfully before saying
"Who would you put the blame on then?"
She tilled her head off to the side slightly
Bellen chuckled, indeed, the Duke was far too liked for this to go as smoothly
Clara smiled
"If you wanted to murder him, you wouldn't be telling me all this"
Bellen chuckled
"Indeed"
"Issac doesn't know.."
She finally said, Clara finally understood her words at very beginning, she wasn't referring to the world, no, it was her own son
"I won't tell unless you tell him first"
A woman true to her words, Bellen truly did not know what to say. She finally joked to lift the mood
"And here I was hoping to not have to explain all that again"
Clara stared at her attempt at humour
"Thank you.."
Bellen said quietly, so quiet it was almost drowned by the sound of leaves moving in the wind
Clara snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a light punch on her shoulder, she looked at Al who was bending over the table to reach her
"What?"
"You were day dreaming"
"And?"
"Fuck you"
He said without any actual heat before sitting back down again
Clara and Aster looked at the moon, their eyes moving in sync to the road as someone walked by them
They were talking quietly to one in particular then suddenly halted and turned to look at them and Clara saw it then
Under the moonlight stood a very familiar red head...
Bonus:
Clara: you give my middle finger an erection
Al: what the f-
To be continued...
Hi people, it is me again, Yan
First sorry for not updating, a lot of shit is happening rn
Like bro firstly I am going to move, mind you I've moved a lot in my life so it should not trouble me as much as it is but the thing is, I been living at the same place for 5 years now and I had finally started to see this place as something I could call a home but now not only do I have to move but I also have to change schools which, I also changed schools a lot in my life but the thing is the thought is so dreadful to think about as I realise that I'm going to be surrounded by all these foreign people, people that I don't fucking know and so that has been making me like panic a lot
Second is my mental health is shit as fuck right now it has been so for like months now but it's really bad right now so I have no fucking motivation
There are a lot more things as well, like how in my new school I spoke English fluently obviously but my teachers and principal were blown away quite literally so then for a reunion of ex students I had to do the opening speech in english yesterday, it didn't go bad but I had like two anxiety attacks the days before for no reason
I always do this, like I'll overthink and lose my mind before something important but then on the day everything goes well cause I know what I'm doing lol
I also have something important to announce, I'm changing my update schedule, before I used to post at the bare minimum 1k word chapter every week but as you can see with things being hectic as hell I've decided to have mercy on myself so from now on I'll post every two weeks with at the bare minimum a 2k chapter
Not only do I get save my sanity but the story also progresses faster and also makes sense, so yeah that is what we'll be doing from now on
Oh and sorry for the long ass note (no I'm not)
Anyway imma go cry now lol
Have a good day, afternoon, evening or night
Once again please forgive this lowly author for any grammatical mistakes
Hope you all are doing better than me lol
And yeah I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it
And I will see you all next time with an actual update and an update on my life and mental health lol
Peace
Words: 3,187