Chapter 960 Wanting To... (4)
Euan's face instantly darkened at Cyneah's response. Before he could say anything, though, Kyran followed up with a consensus that nearly made his eyes pop out of their sockets.
"Yes," Kyran agreed. "One room is enough for the Lady Saint to stay in. As her bodyguard, staying with the rest of the guards will be more than enough."
Cyneah's brow knitted at what Kyran said. She wanted to insist that he would have to stay with her since he was her bodyguard. But then Euan already followed through and said, "We cannot possibly let you stay with the others since you are still one of our guests. You are welcome to stay in my quarters instead. How does that sound?"
"That's fine, as well," Kyran replied.
By this time, Cyneah's expression had turned cold. She simply turned her head slightly toward Anshel and said, "Lord Anshel, please have one of your subjects guide me to my room. I'm exhausted."
"Of course," Anshel replied and gestured to one of the white-robed mages behind him to take Cyneah to her room.
On the other hand, Kyran nodded his head toward Euan, ushering him to lead the way to his quarters as well.
Only Euan still had his attention on Cyneah and did not notice the younger man's look. Though it was presumptuous of him to say that he was already familiar with Cyneah's character when they had barely met, he was sure she was annoyed at what Kyran did just now. While he was glad that the younger man showed propriety and subtly avoided indulging Cyneah's intention, he was still worried she might think the younger man downright refused her advances.
Alas, a father's worry could turn complicated depending on the situation.
Meanwhile, Kyran cleared his throat to catch Euan's attention.
The older man snapped out of his reverie and looked at the younger man, realizing at once that he had spaced out just now.
"Right," Euan cleared his throat as well and gestured for Kyran to follow him. "I'll take you to my quarters."
With that, the group of three went on their way.
"Are you fine with this?" Euan could not help but ask Kyran as they made their way to his quarters.
Euan's quarters were not that far from where Cyneah would be staying. The two were only separated by a long corridor. Nonetheless, they were located on the same floor. If not, Kyran would not have suggested staying in Euan's quarters. After all, they still did not know if there were still remaining spies in the Kingdom of Cretea. With this in mind, Kyran would not allow Cyneah to be out of his reach.
While Kyran fixed the Regis token he gave her before, allowing her to call on him whenever she was in danger, the problem was if she would have the opportunity to call him. The worst case was that she did not want to call him because she did not want to become a burden.
"Would you rather I stay with your daughter?" Kyran asked, his brows raising in amusement.
Euan scowled at him, "I don't. But she definitely wanted some time alone with you. With you refusing her like that..."
His voice trailed off as his scowl turned into a look of concern.
To be honest, he only learned about Cyneah losing her eyesight the moment Haylee came into existence, and he could only imagine what she had gone through all those years. Apart from that, he knew that even if she showed a strong facade, that did not mean she did not have any insecurities.
One such insecurity was her being a liability because of her visual disability. Thus, no one would want her as a partner. Anshel and Nahir showing interest in her was actually her receiving good fortune— or so the beast-likes and complete beings believed this to be. They did not know about magic sense, which allowed Cyneah to see fairly well, albeit in black and white, even without her sight.
Kyran did not respond. He simply followed Euan to his quarters while looking at Cyneah's figure, which was already a few meters ahead of them.
He did not need Euan to remind him of Cyneah's wish to have some time alone with him. She wanted her reward, and only when they were alone could he humor her because he could not possibly let others see his real face.
Kyran's train of thought paused at that point as he inwardly wondered if there was even a need to hide his face now that all enemy Sovereigns had been expelled in Somuli.
Just as he thought this, Anshel's subjects marked by the enemy Sovereigns flashed through his mind. There was no telling if there were more of them. And so far, Cyneah was the only one who could identify them with ease. Kyran had his way of doing this, but his method was inconvenient to use in Somuli because of its limited magic energy in the surroundings.
"Kyran," Euan suddenly called solemnly.
Kyran snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at him. He did not speak and simply let Euan continue.
"I don't know what my daughter has gone through after leaving my side, but one thing I know is that child had had a rough life. With her losing her sight as well, with no guarantee of her recovering, will you really accept her as she is?"
"I would not have wasted my time looking for her otherwise," Kyran answered almost at once. "And about her eyesight having no guarantee of recovering? You don't have to worry because she will see, again."
Euan looked at Kyran in silence. He did not know why the latter was so sure Cyneah would see again, but he guessed it was not about knowing but rather the latter's conviction that he would make sure that she would see again.
"... Thank you," Euan told Kyran after a short pause.
Kyran did not say anything, but inwardly, he felt somewhat strange being thanked without even doing anything yet. Nonetheless, he knew more or less why Euan thanked him and decided to acknowledge them.
The two continued on their way in silence.
Since Cyneah declared she was exhausted, Anshel no longer prepared a feast for them. Instead, he ordered the cooks to prepare a sumptuous meal for them to bring to their rooms.
The three dined in separately, and afterward, they rested.
Euan initially offered Kyran to use his bed chamber, but the latter refused and settled in the receiving room, where a long couch was included.
Since Euan also had a long day prior to going to the Eidum's border to take Kyran and Cyneah back to the Kingdon of Cretea, he fell asleep almost as soon as he went to bed.
Kyran was also mentally exhausted and was about to fall asleep when he heard Cyneah calling him. His eyes snapped open, and even though he knew she was not in imminent danger and her calling for him had something to do with her strange behavior for the most part of the day, he did not hesitate to go to her.
Kyran found himself outside a veranda as soon as he completed his warp.
Cyneah was also there, looking up as if watching the stars that filled the night sky.
Of course, Kyran knew she was not really watching the stars. No matter how strong Cyneah's magic sense was, she could not use them to see the stars in the night sky. They were physically impossible to reach with one's magic sense, after all.
"You know..." Cyneah started the moment she sensed Kyran's presence. She could not sense his aura per se, but she could feel him nonetheless. "I don't remember the last time I saw the night sky filled with stars, but... I remember seeing them glow beautifully and lighting up the darkened sky."
A look of nostalgia fleeted through her face as she said, "I have been wanting to see the stars again."
Kyran could not help but knit his brows after hearing her. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to assure her. Unfortunately, he was never good with words and failed to come up with anything to say.
But then, it did not matter if he thought of something to say because Cyneah would have cut his words almost immediately.
Shifting her attention to Kyran, Cyneah smiled slightly and said, "The same applies to you, Kyran. I don't know when it started, but I have been wanting to see you, and not just a lump of blank space. I want to see you properly."
Kyran remained silent. However, he already prompted the Shaiha to lower its effect as he raised his hand to remove his mask.
Cyneah's mirror-like eyes seemed to glow as they reflected whatever light was still present in the dimly lit surroundings. She noticed the blank space that usually encompassed Kyran decreasing as she slowly made out his silhouette.
Seeing this, Cyneah finally took a step and approached Kyran.
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