"Haa….." Val sighed after a hard day of work at his boutique. After this, he still needed to briefly check on his information guild in the. Due to Callisto, his busy life has somewhat been comfortable to work through as he had a secure home to return to.
"Why are you smiling?" A female staff member asked him while he was preparing to close the boutique for the day.
Stunned for a split second, Val answered her. "Because I am in a good mood today."
"That's rare." She commented. "Even if you were in a good mood, you would never smile blatantly open like this in a daze for anyone?"
How did she know? As if she read his mind, she grinned. "I am a mastermind at feeling emotions. Spring must have finally come to you. Uhm, Vel?"
"You must be mistaking it. I am happy because I have my kids waiting for me at home."
"Oh, really?" Narrowing her eyes playfully, she smirked. "Huh, what a shame. I thought you were smiling because you thought of 'you-know-who'."
Val didn't fall for her taunts to mention Callisto. "Nah. And also call me Val. How many times must I tell you this?"
"Uh," she whined, "I like calling you this way! It is easier to pronounce as well."
"There's no difference."
"If there's none, what's wrong with calling you Vel?" She teased him.
"Aileen." At his low voice, Aileen stopped. Val was smiling but his eyes weren't.
She got the message loud and clear, but still wanted to push his bottom line a little bit further. "No matter how I ponder about this, it's really weird."
"What is?"
"Your reaction to my nickname for you."
"You know how much I hate cutesy nicknames. I am already feminine with this appearance as it is, with your nickname, people are going to think I am a girl."
"I didn't know you would think like this. Then, I will consider another nickname." Val understood it was going to be a long time before his nickname could be changed.
"Make it short."
"You are so cold to everyone here except the kids and the duke. I guess I should thank him for showing me this sassy side of you. "
"Again with your jokes." Val's smile vanished, warning her. "Don't play any of your dirty tricks on them, Aileen."
"Ehh…," Aileen had a dangerous glint in her eyes, under control. "That's a shame. Even if I try, your kids have your sixth sense. They always managed to avoid me and run away before I could catch them."
"Don't try to sound innocent. I know you are more than capable of dragging them with you by force." Val rubbed salt into her wound. "Isn't that what you are best at?"
"..." Aileen pursued her lips. "That's true." Placing her hand on her neck awkwardly, she replied bitterly. "Have you still not forgiven me for that incident?"
His silence echoed throughout the room. Hearing no response, she was afraid to see Val's cold eyes staring upon her with indifference. Not asking her to repent for what she did nor demanding any compensation for the consequences. This feeling of not paying for a great debt she owed him was what shackled her down to his side.
"Aileen Chasey." Val paused before putting it bluntly to her. "I have told you many times not to feel guilty for it."
"B…but…," She sniffled. "Ugh…hic…ugh…" Tears formed as they uncontrollably dripped down her cheeks. Val handed her some tissues.
"At this sight, people are going to think I am bullying you, so stop crying."
As she received them, her sobs blended into a mixture of laughing happily and sadness. She found it funny that even at a time like this, he still remembered to keep her at arm's length. "Hahaha….sniff…This is why I can't move on. Why can't you just relieve me of this guilt?"
"They threatened your family. I know for sure I won't exchange the lives of my kids with anyone else. That's why I don't want to do anything that would bring you losses." Val propped his chin onto his elbow as he said calmly. "Don't worry. If you are ever in danger, come find me."
"How could I...when I already owe you enough as it is?"
"I would have done the same except tweaked a few gears in their plan. I only derailed slightly from what I was originally ordered to do. You guys made it out on your own with a minor help from my side."
"Minor ... .sniff…are you looking down on me or what? What you did wasn't minor at all." Rubbing her eyes with her sleeves, her tears soon stopped as she remembered the confidence Val emitted as he stepped into the enemies' den all alone for his children, as well as saving her family. "I remain grateful to you for saving my family despite the horrible deeds I did to you and your children."
"I won't say you are forgiven. I am doing this because I would feel no regret for the things I have done to save my children. Humans are selfish. As a half breed bastard, I am even more selfish and despicable."
"You aren't selfish!" Instead of stuttering, this time, Aileen spoke boldly. "I want to repay you so that I can relieve my sense of guilt and not think about you all the time!"
"You are already helping me out a lot by working as my assistant and getting half paid." Val smiled, calmly suggesting to cut off ties. "You should live your own life away from this chaos."
"But..! You are my benefactor. How dare I…?"
"Aileen!" Val interrupted her. "You aren't fit to be in the Valerian Empire or Regalia. Stay in the Luz realm safely from the broil. This fight will pass so quickly you won't feel the winds blow towards your direction."
"Fine." Turning her face the other way around, Aileen pouted, giving in to him. "But, can I still work here?"
"Until you find another job in a month or two, you are more than welcome to stay, however, you shouldn't stay here for too long."
"Okay." Aileen returned after reminding Val to take good care of his body and not overwork himself because of the clients.
Val appreciated her considerate nature, but he didn't trust her enough to let her remain a part of this staff. It was a shame since she was really skillful in her job.
Anyways, was he really smiling? Because of the duke? Impossible. He squished his lips gently to soften up his expressions. Usually, he would be exhausted to keep up his facade of a friendly and kind persona because there were lots of clients needing adjustments in a tight deadline like 2 weeks later. The fussy ones, who would want a new design after seeing a draft product, were particularly difficult for the newly hired staff to handle.
Actually, he didn't want to hire more staff because his boutique was small and could be managed by 2 to 3 people. In addition, employing more staff meant he would have to pay more wages and look after more people. Callisto guaranteed that he had paid them more than enough because guarding Val was their main job.
At first, he declined the duke's offer as Callisto had already done too much for them. He didn't like the feeling of owing him too much. But he eventually accepted it after the children went as far to beg him because they were worried he might have gotten hurt, where they couldn't see him. Feeling sorry for letting them worry at this young age, Val agreed to it on the condition that Callisto would concur with this. Later, that evening, the duke sent him 5 guards, blending in as a staff and handling all the labor and cleaning.
He felt bad for them and paid some tips to them occasionally.
Since he decided to trust Callisto, he recommended new jobs for his 2 employees to a more well-known dress shop. After he informed them of this decision, they were more than elated to switch their working places. The pay in this boutique wasn't sufficient to support their financial problems since their only job was to manage and clean the boutique, not help Val come up with designs or handle the clients like the receptionist Val personally hired, Aileen. But now, he might have to find another receptionist.
Furthermore, the suitors posed another problem, appointing meetings with Val when it was apparent they had no intention to buy anything. Some would even go as far to yell at the part-time receptionist, when they were denied the appointment. Thankfully, after they had been informed of Callisto's frequent visits to the boutique, these spineless pursuers - both male and female - had decreased the frequency and the cheesiness of their endeavors to pursue Val.
Now, only enthusiasts, who genuinely admired his work were coming to the boutique in hopes of purchasing his works of art.
Closing his boutique early, he sat on a bench nearby to wait for a taxi to come by. How did he not know before that time flew so fast? Winter passed, and it was now the season of spring.
Living together has been chaotic mostly because of Raul's and Rune's arguments but it wasn't as bad as he thought, especially when he could see Callisto's handsome face every single day after coming back home. It cheered him up to see Callisto cooking. He thought of this privilege as a bonus.
These three months, he observed that Callisto had a serious and earnest personality. He set up rules for the children and Val to follow in the period of time they were staying in his house. He was lenient about the payment for the rent because he didn't need much money. He was already rich enough from supervising and managing his land.
It was annoying how Callisto would unintentionally boast about his achievements as if it were anything a normal vampire could do. Like destroying the corrupt nobles, working day and night to manage the territories, and getting so many medals from the royals for saving the innocent citizens from rogue werewolves and bandits.
Though his implications were subtle, Val was sometimes annoyed by how dense he was. Was he this dense when it came to women? Out of curiosity, one time he blurted his thoughts in front of Callisto accidentally, who replied calmly. It seemed he was quite sensitive to them but pretended not to notice them because it was troublesome.
For a second there, he sounded completely like a player but Val got the gist of what he meant. Most of the capital ladies were desperate to marry off to a rich man of high status for the sake of a stable living. For them, pure affection is just an afterthought after securing a safe place in marriage for them. Putting aside their mediocre appearance, their personalities were terribly arrogant for thinking seduction would let anything flow easily into their pockets.
Val didn't have such an impression of the nobles. Because he wasn't of high status, they must have just been curious and wanted to get acquainted with him. Not all nobles are bad. He didn't know since when but his boutique had turned into something similar to a church, a place not for devotion to religion but a place for making confessions.
Come to think of it, rumors about the boutique being a confessional must have started from that time when he saved that woman from the grasp of her stepmother's influence and abuse. He remembered she was extremely grateful for his actions so why…! She was repaying good with evil! Almost occasionally, his ears had to suffer listening to many client confiding about their family situations and asking him for solutions.
He wasn't a therapist nor was he an adept mind reader who could solve all problems in a snap of a finger. Though this method to gain customers was useful, he'd prefer not to have so many people mistake it as a church. He rather have them come to his boutique because they wanted their dressings fitted or buy clothing from him.
As Val was starting to feel cold, he was lifted off the bench by someone.
A familiar voice rang into his ears as a warm, thick scarf was wrapped around his neck. "Val, were you waiting long?" It was Callisto.
"No," He clutched the scarf. "Why do you always come here despite your busy schedule?"
"Because I like you." Callisto smiled genuinely as if he was in love.
Callisto had no qualms with putting up a facade to achieve his goal. He just didn't bother to put his facade up because he simply didn't care about the nobles there. What he finds indifferent, he wouldn't waste his efforts on. It was a very cruel but simplistic way of thinking.
"You are joking again." Val patted his arm lightly as he got into the car, naturally next to the driver's seat. Starting the engine, Callisto drove the way home.
As usual, when they were alone, they rarely had anything to say to the other. The silence was as stifling as when they met a few months ago. "Any plans to take back your wife?"
"..." Deja vu. But then he really had no other topics he could talk about right now. "I was wondering why you always ask about my former wife whenever we are alone. Are you that curious about her?" Callisto's gentle voice vanished replaced by a cold, resounding tone.
"Ah, it's just I see you rarely talk about her even though I can still see photos of her on your desk. And I have seen her before in the ball hosted by the nobles. I don't remember which one exactly because it'd been some time since we met." Technically, what he said was true.
"We divorced. And I vowed to not search for her after the divorce." Not sure what got him into the mood, but from how obediently Callisto was answering his questions, the duke might have wanted someone to listen to him after a bad day today.
Val could sense he was about to drop this topic, so he followed up on him. "You made a good decision. It was better to part ways before your relationship is broken into pieces, which could never be recovered. Isn't it good that you live your own life while she lives hers?"
"If I ever saw her again, I am certain I wouldn't be able to let her go."
"Woah, that's so cheesy coming from you."
"Is it?" Callisto paused before his confidence dropped. "Being with me might not have been as good as she thought it was. That's why I decided to let her live her own life as long as she stayed out of my sight."
"And..? Because of this, aren't you suffering right now? I know you are one to rarely show emotions, but you should have at least proved to her how you really felt. Because of your cowardice to act, look at the result. In the end, she left you."
"That's not what I wanted." Callisto mumbled. "All I wanted was for her to stay by my side as long as possible regardless of the difficulties. Was that so difficult for her to do?"
"I think she may have had some unexplainable circumstances to tend to."
"What kind?"
"How would I know? I have never seen Velda's name before in my reports of investigation since she wasn't heavily involved in our side of the world. I do know that she is your former wife and that she is half human and half werewolf."
"She left me because I was surely incompetent."
"How?" Val exclaimed. "I don't think there's a difference between you now than you were in the past. Your achievements piled up, and your strength and body build was bolstered. These are the only two differences I saw in you."
"I have gained support and trust from the royals compared to before. This was the sole reason why the other aristocrats in my domain hadn't pressed me to find a wife yet. With one word, I could destroy their lands in a second."
"Oh, right. I did hear the nobles chatting that you are on the high rise, being on close terms with the royal pure bloods and riding their coat tails. They were being so jealous that their heads were about to pop any more if they were to talk about you."
"….that much? I should have seen that sight."
Was he regretting the fact that he wasn't able to threaten the aristocrats to stay away?
Callisto sighed in dismay. "I would have snapped a photo of it to make those arrogant nobles follow my orders. If not, I would post these photos on Ywit."
Ah!
Ywit. An app with similar functions to twitter was a widely used social app inclusive to vampires only and is the most popular place for any gossip to gather there. If those unsightly photos or scandals of nobles were to be reported, they would quickly become the target of netizens. In the worst case scenario, they might be dragged off to the chamber to be interrogated upon.
Just the thought of the post being uploaded sounded scary. "Ahaha, that's such a good joke. How hilarious."
"But I wasn't joking though." His eyes were serious.
Getting the chills, Val shifted the topic back to his wife. "What do you even want to do when you find her?" He was suddenly reminded of the tyrannical CEOs in romance manhwas he read. "Don't tell me you are going to lock her up?"
"Why not?"
Val paused. This man was really serious in what he can do and what he couldn't. Val patted his shoulders, shaking his head. "Reality doesn't work this way, man. It's harder to do what you want with laws and plenty of witnesses in the city."
"Nah. I wouldn't go to such lengths, but might as well make use of them."
"Huh?" Val was puzzled by what he meant. Callisto, not explaining his statement, had a request for him. "What is it?"
"Send a letter to my former wife."
"You sure you want to trust me with this? Isn't it important to you?"
"I am trusting you." He handed over the letter he had in his inner pocket earlier.
Val was honestly hesitant to accept this task. It sounded too much of a trap rather than a genuine task for the information guild. "What if she didn't come to you even after I sent it there?"
"I will accept the result as it is."
Subtly mumbling, Val was relieved he overthought things. "You must love her very much to do this."
"I do. I hold her dear. But, I wonder whether she is living her happy life with someone else or whether she's faring well after our divorce."
"I will find out for you later. But, what was your relationship exactly? I don't think you were a couple."
"We are close friends, who share the same hobbies and spend time together after work is done. We didn't have the intimacy lovers do. Still, this is my last attempt before I find her personally to persuade her to come back home."
"I see." Val empathized with him. "From experience, I don't think you should get back together. There can be many problems you haven't discovered or expected while not living with her."
"I will solve all these problems regardless of the nobles' opposition to her background and her blood. The only thing I need for this marriage is her consent."
He never heard Callisto talk so much unless it was business. Val lowered his head. "Did you miss her throughout the years?"
"Of course." Callisto clenched his steering wheel. "I have. The first two years I realized her absence in my house. The third year I despaired in hopes of her coming back to me. These last few years, I took this period of time to clearly think things over. Why she left and what I had to do to get her back."
Val sighed at his foolishness. "Is there something that could legally tie her down to you?"
"The marriage contract we had."
Val narrowed his eyes upon the word "marriage contract". He still had it up to this day? "If this were a novel, the main plot would be two strangers bound by the contract falling for each other during their time living together. Except you are the only one falling and she, after leaving unlike the other female leads, won't ever come back."
"..." Sensing that the duke was nearly reaching his bottom line, Val didn't ask further nor did Callisto say anything else. Val looked out the window to enjoy the scenery. After a while, he took out his phone to distract himself from Callisto's pondering gaze upon him.
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"Yes...yes." She nodded to the professor speaking from the screen. "I would like to join the research lab for XXX drug." She reassured the professor she wouldn't quit like the other students before her and she was quite determined to see the research until the end. It took a while for the professor to accept her words and hang up on the call.
Deleting the call tab, her home screen depicted a picture of her standing next to Val. How she missed the old times where they could have chatted freely from suspicion and doubts. But, it couldn't be helped. Well, she reaped what she sowed.
A text popped up, notifying her that Val had found a suitable job for her in the Baltimore, a state in USA that was not a far nor a close distance to travel from NY.
"As expected, Vel remains as heartless as ever." She looked out into the beautiful city view from the balcony. She felt refreshed at the same time, the soaring night sky seemed to be mocking her inept capabilities, and her tainted hands. "Still," She buried her head in her hands, regaining her composure, "since it's too late to save my only family, this time, I will protect you, senior."