After steadying her racing heart, Elise carefully unfolded the contract she had meticulously preserved on the desk. Nestled beside it was a small piece of paper, and she reached for the inkwell, ensuring her tear drops didn’t taint the parchment. With steady hands, she dipped the pen into the ink and began to write, each stroke deliberate and measured.
“Do you remember, Rezette?” she penned, her voice echoing silently in the empty room. “You said I could escape at any time after the agreed six months. You assured me it was merely a contract marriage, a transaction of mutual benefit. There was no need for sentiment.”
Elise’s words were devoid of the overflowing emotions swirling within her. She tersely and formally notified the termination of the contract.
“The agreed deadline has elapsed, and it is time for everything to revert to its original state,” she continued, her writing steady and unwavering.
And then, she acknowledged it—acknowledged him. He might not have been the one, but to her, it had been love. A naive love, preserved like a fragile flower on the brink of blooming.
Rezette Kyrstan had been the first stranger to enter Elise’s shattered world, a beacon of hope in her darkest hour. Despite the knowledge that everything was a first and shouldn’t have unfolded this way, she had entrusted him with her heart.
First marriage, first experiences. First joys, first sorrows. Amidst countless ‘firsts’, Elise had chosen to name him her first love.
Once the decision was made, bidding farewell became surprisingly facile.
“Thank you for accepting unreasonable terms. I apologize for failing to uphold my end of the bargain,” she wrote, her words a bittersweet farewell. “It was a privilege to dwell in your world, a world I scarcely deserved, even for a fleeting moment.”
“May the blessings of the divine grace Rotiara for eternity,” she concluded, her hand trembling slightly as she wrote the final lines. “And may you be my final despair.”
As Elise’s strength waned, the quill slipped from her grasp, its unpleasant sound reverberating through the stillness of the room as it rolled across the desk.
A profound sense of exhaustion swept over Elise as she carefully returned the quill and inkwell to their designated places, gathering the contract and note with trembling hands. A wave of agitation rippled through her, causing a discomforting sensation in her lower abdomen, like being pricked by tiny needles.
Unable to muster the strength to move immediately, Elise sank into the oversized chair, her petite frame swallowed by its embrace. Tremors wracked her body as she struggled to contain the flood of tears that threatened to consume her. It seemed to take an eternity for the tears to finally subside, leaving her drained and hollow.
The following day, when Freya ascended to the bedroom, she reluctantly relayed the news that the test results showed no signs of a special pregnancy. Nevertheless, she promised to conduct another test as a precaution, drawing yet more blood.
But by then, Elise had already steeled herself for what was to come. There was no longer any reason to waver or agonize. Peace settled over her like a comforting blanket.
***
Rezette’s return to Rotiara came a week later, under the cover of darkness as the sun dipped below the horizon, marking the last night of September. His arrival was earlier than anticipated.
As soon as he crossed the boundaries of the estate, a page was dispatched to the castle. The urgency of his return was evident in the instructions for the servant to prepare and await his arrival without delay.
Elise stood by the door leading to the stairs, anticipation coursing through her veins. When Rezette emerged from the shadows, she enveloped him in a tight embrace, almost suffocating him in her desperation. She had expected him to suppress his emotions, to revert to his usual composed self, but she was mistaken.
“Damn it,” he muttered, his words laced with restrained frustration, catching her off guard. As she blinked in confusion, she felt his grip around her nape tighten.
“I can’t get over it,” he continued, his tone fractured and raw, more a reflection of self-reproach than directed at her. The scent of iron and steel emanated from his heavily worn armor as he leaned closer, his voice a low rumble, as if grappling with internal demons.
“Why can’t it just disappear when I let go?”
Elise didn’t press for details, nor did she feel the need to satisfy her curiosity. There was nothing to gain from dwelling on regrets, she knew.
If this was to be their final encounter, Elise resolved to gaze upon his handsome face without restraint. Fearlessly, she traced the cold contours of his breastplate, enclosing his chest and waist.
As she loosened the leather belt in his grasp, the sturdy armor shifted and slid away. Rezette, shedding the tangled pieces, buried his face in Elise’s chest. Amidst the faint scent of blood, a hint of the dry forest lingered in the air.
The darkness cloaked the world, shrouding Elise’s usually pale complexion even further. They melded together seamlessly, without pause or interruption, not even a fleeting moment to illuminate the shadows with a candlestick. Rezette’s demeanor betrayed a desperate longing, as if he were clinging to her with all his being.
Elise couldn’t recollect how that night transpired. She only retained fragments of memory, blurred by his uncharacteristic roughness. A lingering fear gnawed at her, the fear that her body, now a disarray of sensations, might never return to its former state.
That night, Rezette was unmistakably not himself. There had to be a reason, one that would remain forever shrouded in mystery to her.
As dawn approached, Elise remained awake, her thoughts drifting through the events of the past six months. At times, she descended into a void of emptiness, while at others, she rationalized her choices with a pessimistic outlook. Yet amidst it all, she found solace in reminiscing about the farewell she yearned to impart, her gaze fixed upon his sleeping face.
And when the first light of dawn breached the horizon, she vanished.
As if she had never existed, anywhere, to begin with.
