The rain was drumming a frantic rhythm against the tall windows of the Great Hall. I was hunched over a map of the borderlands, my eyes burning from lack of sleep, when a young butler burst through the double doors.
"My lord!" He called me, his chest heaving.
"Haven't I already said it before ? No one is to disturb me when I am working!" I snapped at him with an annoyed expression.
"You heard the Duke!" the Head Butler who was standing beside me barked, stepping forward to intercept the intruder. "Out! Now, before you lose your position!"
"I... I deeply apologize, My Lord! Head Butler! But this is urgent!" The young man was drenched, shaking not from the cold, but from sheer adrenaline.
I took off my glasses, my hand trembling with a fury I could no longer suppress. "what can be more important or urgent than my orders ?"
I hate it when people interrupt me in the middle of my work. Especially when I am so close to finding her traces.
He didn't flinch, did not say anything and instead came closer to the table, stood on the opposite side and Placed something on my table surface, a flat object.
It was a Card.
A blue card with golden edges.
The card had a wolf crest on the back, the Symbol of Volk family engraved on it along with the Volk name on it.
The card looked a bit old but anyone can tell that the card holder had tried his or her best to take care of it.
And there was also a signature on it at the bottom.
My Signature.
I quickly snatched the card, my fingers brushing the worn edges. I put my mana into it And the Signature responded with a soft glow.
It's genuine, And...
I turned it over, and there, in a cramped, hurried script, were two words that shattered the last of my composure:
'To Naty'
It's the one I gave her...
I felt a sharp, burning itch in my eyes. The Relief threatened to spill over into tears, but it is not the time to get emotional.
I looked at the young butler and asked him, almost yelling "where did you get it ?!"
"Someone in rag clothes, perhaps a beggar gave it to the guard." he said
A beggar ?
"The guards tried to drive her away but she insisted on meeting you. She gave us this card and told us that you would perhaps want to meet her after seeing it. The guard gave it to me, and seeing it had your sign, i hurried over here." He explained
Her ? A woman ? ...Could it be ?!
I stood up so abruptly my chair clattered to the floor. "Bring her in! No—I'm going myself!"
Saying that i dashed out of the room. my boots thundering through the marble halls of the mansion. I burst through the front doors into the freezing downpour, my uniform soaking through in seconds.
I ran toward the outer gates.
The outside was raining but I did not care.
I ran towards the Gates without any stop.
As I got closer to the gates, "Sir!" The guards snapped to a salute, their armor clanking in the rain.
One guard came to me "Sir, this woman..." And started giving me a rundown of the situation, ranting about protocol and security
But his words did not register in my ears.
Because my eyes were set on the person outside the gate. My entire universe had narrowed to the figure standing on the other side of the iron rods.
The person was wearing a heavy, mud-caked cloak that hung off her slight frame like a shroud. Her head was bowed, her face hidden in the shadows of her hood.
If not for the fact that it was raining and the wet cloak was tightly clinging onto her body, someone might not even be able to tell if she was a man or a woman.
But i could see it. A few stray locks of wet hair peeking out from the hood of her wet cloak.
They were pink.
Then she Slowly, agonizingly, she lifted her head looking up, towards me. My pair of Eyes met her pair of pink eyes.
"It has been a while, Theo" she whispered. The voice was thinner, raspier, but it was the melody that i was very very familiar with.
Then I saw it. I saw her. Her face.
It was night, with clouds covering the moon but there were still mana lamps near the gates.
So, I could see it. Her face under the shadow of the cloak.
The mana lamps near the gate flickered, casting a sickly yellow light through the rain. I saw her face. She was smiling. It was the same smile she had worn at the Academy—the one designed to put others at ease. But it was different now.
Back then, it was a smile that was hiding her emotions and brought joy and reassurance to others but her current smile ? It is a smile that has been through a lot and is now trying reassure it's owner herself.
Her eyes too, look the same peach color as the ones I once always used to and longed to see.
But her current eyes had lost its sparks. It doesn't have the light it once used to have despite being the same color.
"Open the gates" I ordered the guards.
"Yes!" The guards did as i ordered them to.
The guards didn't hesitate. The heavy iron mechanism groaned, the barrier that had separated my world from hers finally sliding into the stone. I didn't wait for it to clear. I stepped into the mud, my eyes fixed on the hooded figure.
Although I was too stunned, my heart was just as excited. My heart was a frantic, erratic percussion in my chest.
If anyone could hear the beating rhythm of my heart right now, they could tell.
As I approached, she mirrored my movement. Her steps were slow, halting, as if every inch of ground was a battle won against her own body.
"I.. am.." she spoke, her voice a mere rasp against the sound of the downpour.
Before she could finish, her strength simply evaporated. She tilted forward, her body surrendering to gravity. her body collapsed.
..Or she might have collapsed if I had not moved. I moved faster than I ever had on a battlefield. I caught her just inches from the wet gravel, pulling her against the soaked wool of my shirt.
I held her in my arms as she looked at me, from the shadow of the cloak.
I could see her clearly now. It was her. It is Her.
"...Glad." She said, before closing her eyes.
I panicked. I quickly pressed two fingers to her neck, searching for the thrum of life.
Pulse... faint. Breathing... shallow.
...She has fainted.
I picked her up in my arms and without a minute of waiting, dashed towards my mansion, this time in a slower speed compared to when I rushed to the gates, to keep her head from jarring..
I saw our head butler running with two umbrellas in both hands, with one of them over his head, towards the gate.
But i ran right past him, in the opposite direction.
Sorry, Butler.
As I reached the mansion door, a butler was waiting for me.
"Call the doctor in my chambers! Now!!" I commanded him the moment i saw him.