Chapter 49: An Unspoken Awkwardness
Aureleah immediately noticed that something was wrong.
The atmosphere within the Cave felt... Strange; not dangerous or tense in the way a battlefield is, just awkward. Very awkward.
Her silver eyes slowly swept across the Cave...
The fire crackled softly in the center, its orange glow dancing around the stone walls. Around it sat the rest of the cohort, yet nobody seemed focused on the flames.
Instead, almost every gaze kept drifting toward Regaleon.
The silver-haired Knight himself stood rigid near the entrance. For some reason, he looked like a child whose parents caught him stealing meat from the pot.
Meanwhile, Veyrath, Valmyr, and Vaelorin were staring at him with expressions that could only be described as predatory amusement.
Like a pack of wolves that finally found an injured deer to play with.
Or perhaps worse.
Like three bozos who had discovered something embarrassing and intended to milk it for the rest of eternity.
Aureleah frowned slightly...
Just what the hell happened here?
However, before she could ask, a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Sister!"
Sylveris shouted, rushing toward her. The younger girl practically threw herself at Aureleah before wrapping both arms around her waist.
The sternness in Aureleah’s expression softened almost immediately as she lowered a hand and gently rested it on Sylveris’ head.
For a moment, she forgot about the strangeness of the Cave entirely.
"Are you alright?" Aureleah asked softly.
Sylveris nodded happily, then she looked up suddenly. The younger girl had a peculiar glimmer in her eyes, like a problem child that is about to cook up a whole batch of mischief.
"Sister..." Sylveris tilted her innocently as she said. "Regaleon said that he saw you while you were bathing."
Immediately, there was instant silence as the whole Cave froze completely. Only the crackling fire suddenly seemed louder now.
Aureleah blinked once... Then twice... Then slowly, she turned her head...
The silver-haired Knight had become a statue as he stood perfectly still; unmoving, unblinking, and barely breathing.
If someone were to place him beside a monument, nobody would have known the difference between the two.
Across the Cave, Veyrath’s eyes lit up like a newly born star giving out its first light...
Valmyr nearly bit through his lips as he tried to stiffle the laughter escaping from his mouth...
Vaelorin looked as though he had just witnessed the beginning of the greatest entertainment in history...
Meanwhile, Regaleon stared at Sylveris in utter betrayal. The look in his eyes practically screamed "How could you do this to me?!"
He almost couldn’t believe that:
The girl who normally defended him...
The girl who usually supported him...
The girl who always seemed to view him favourably...
Had just casually thrown him into a pit filled with hungry beasts... And she didn’t even seem aware of it.
In the meantime, Aureleah herself was momentarily stunned...
Had anyone else said those words, her Daggers would have been the response given to them; not because she was angry, but because accusations like that tended to end badly.
However, this was Sylveris and she couldn’t treat her precious sister the same way she would treat anyone else.
"So sister..." Sylveris asked curiously. "Is what he said true?"
Somehow, the silence that reigned over the Cave deepened slightly. And seeing this opportunity, Veyrath, ever the forward one, was the first to jump at it.
"She’s right..." The failed Alchemist eagerly leaned forward. Like an idle housewife listening to the juiciest story just early in the morning.
"So Aureleah, is it true?" He asked, his voice dripping with questions and undisguised curiosity.
Aureleah’s silver gaze shifted toward him and the look she gave him... Was enough to make a lesser man question every life decisions he had ever made.
At once, Veyrath immediately shrank back. "You know what... Never mind."
Then, Aureleah turned toward Regaleon. Unlike the Forgotten Knight, her expression remained calm, collected and unreadable.
"Did you really tell them such a thing?"
Her voice was level, almost gentle and somehow, that made Regaleon even more nervous.
He opened his mouth... Closed it... Then opened it again... And finally...
"Actually..." He scratched the back of his head. At this point, honestly, the motion had become somewhat automatic.
"...that isn’t exactly what I said."
Then his finger immediately shot toward the three troublemakers. Like an accused desperately trying to prove his innocence by shifting the blame, he continued.
"It was their interpretation that was the problem."
The trio looked offended and Veyrath pointed to him in disbelief. "Our interpretation? Now, that’s unfair."
Valmyr nodded solemnly. "Right. We merely analyzed the available information that you provided with your own mouth..."
"I didn’t give you that sort of information. You were the ones who distorted the true meaning behind my words." Regaleon fired back instantly.
Vaelorin placed a hand on his chest and groaned dramatically. "You wound me Regaleon. We were only trying to connect the dots..."
"That’s the point. There was no dots."
"No. There were actually several dots!"
Meanwhile, Aureleah watched their exchange silently and to her surprise, Regaleon appeared genuinely flustered.
Not because he had done something wrong, but because he was frustrated. As though he had spent the last several minutes trying to explain something to people who refused to understand.
Which, knowing Veyrath and the others, was probably exactly what happened.
The realization almost made her lips twitch... Almost.
Then, Regaleon turned towards her. "You have to believe me, Aureleah. I merely informed Sylveris about where you were..."
Aureleah nodded. That was perfectly reasonable.
"...and they were the ones who somehow concluded nonsense."
With that, the argument resumed instantly. Like a fire reignited by a gust of wind.
Aureleah watched the spectacle for a few moments, the glanced toward Caelestra.
The failed Merchant herself looked genuinely exhausted; the kind of exhaustion one developed after spending too much time around nincompoops.
Caelestra rubbed her temples methodically, then heave a long sigh.
"Gods above. What is all these early in the morning?"
Nobody answered as the argument continued; Veyrath accused, Regaleon defended, Valmyr encouraged, Vaelorin added fuel, and Kaeloris occasionally inserted a logical observation that managed to worsen the situation.
It was chaos... Pure chaos.
Eventually, Caelestra stood and stretched dramatically. "You know what, I think I need a bath myself."
Instantly, the Cave became slightly quieter. Then Regaleon nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like a great idea."
Everyone looked at him and then the Forgotten Knight froze. He seem to have realized how quickly he agreed...
"I mean..." He coughed awkwardly. "... I should probably wash properly too."
The moment the word left his mouth, Veyrath pounced. "Do you actually mean you want to bathe? Or do you mean you want to follow someone bathing?"
The Cave erupted as...
Valmyr nearly fell over while laughing...
Vaelorin slapped his knee hard...
Even Kaeloris adjusted his glasses to hid a smile.
But Regaleon wasn’t laughing. He stared at Veyrath for several seconds, then he began walking forward deliberately.
Seeing this, Veyrath’s smile vanished and the failed Alchemist immediately began retreating.
"Now hold on... Let’s not do anything irrational... I mean, we are all friends right... Regaleon?"
Finally, the silver-haired Knight stopped direcly in front of him.
"That’s enough from you. Do you understand?"
His voice wasn’t loud but it didn’t need to be because in the next instant, Veyrath nodded.
"Yes. Understood."
The response was so quick that even Aureleah was mildly impressed by Regaleon’s dominance...
A few snickers escaped around the cave and the tension that had existed moments earlier gradually dissolved.
The awkwardness slowly faded as laughter replaced it and conversation returned.
Eventually, one after another, members of the cohort began leaving the Cave and headed toward the waterfall.
As Regaleon watched the group disperse, he finally released a long breath. The morning had nearly become a disaster... Yet somehow, it had ended without anyone getting stabbed.
Nearby, Aureleah watched him for a brief moment, then silently turned away.
Neither of them spoke, but the awkwardness still lingered somewhere beneath the surface as something unspoken, undefined, and incomprehensible.
