Chapter 573: Irelia and Amelia miss each other.
The Ainsworth mansion garden occupied such a wide area that, on certain mornings, it felt less like private property and more like a small park maintained by extremely disciplined gardeners. Pale stone paths crossed flowerbeds, low fountains ran between perfectly trimmed shrubs, and ancient trees cast broad shadows over white marble benches. Irelia’s family home rose in the background, elegant and imposing, with tall windows reflecting the soft light of early afternoon. Nothing there suggested urgency, danger, or distant war. Even so, to Irelia, the place felt too quiet.
She walked slowly beside Amelia, keeping her hands clasped behind her back while observing the flowers without really seeing them. The light wind moved a few strands of her hair, and the pale dress she wore swayed gently with each step. There was a conscious effort in her posture to appear calm, but Amelia knew her well enough to perceive the restlessness behind every silence. Irelia was not exactly worried. Not yet. But she missed him, and sometimes longing was harder to manage than fear.
"I miss him," Irelia finally said, without looking directly at Amelia. "I know it has only been a few weeks, but it feels like months."
Amelia walked a few more steps before answering. She held a small closed parasol in one hand, not out of necessity, but out of elegant habit. Her gaze remained on the path ahead, though her expression softened when she heard that.
"When you love someone, time passes differently away from that person," she replied. "A week may seem bearable to anyone, but for someone waiting, every day finds a new way to stretch itself."
Irelia let out a small sigh through her nose.
"That was far too beautiful for such an irritating observation."
"Unfortunately, irritating things can also be true."
The two continued walking in silence for a few moments. They passed a row of red and white rosebushes, then a small circular fountain where water fell in low layers. The constant sound of the fountain filled the space between them without making the silence uncomfortable. Both seemed to be thinking about the same person, and perhaps because of that, they did not need to say anything for a few minutes.
Irelia finally stopped near a stone bench beneath an ancient tree. She sat first, and Amelia followed soon after. From where they were, they could see part of the mansion, the outer corridors, and the long staircase leading to the main hall. It was a beautiful, safe, orderly place. Exactly the kind of place Kael would probably call excessively expensive and poorly protected because it depended too much on appearances.
That thought made Irelia smile faintly.
Amelia noticed.
"Thinking of him?"
"Yes." Irelia rested her elbow on the arm of the bench and leaned her face against her hand. "I imagined Kael looking at this garden and saying that half the statues get in the way of escape routes."
Amelia let out a low laugh.
"He would say that as if it were an essential architectural criticism."
"And he would probably be right."
"Probably."
Their smiles did not last long, but it was enough to ease the weight of waiting a little. Even so, the conversation inevitably returned to him. It always did. Kael had that effect on the people around him. Even absent, he continued occupying space in conversations, thoughts, and worries.
Amelia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before asking:
"What do you think will happen?"
Irelia did not need to ask what she meant. They both knew. Kael had gone after Sylphie, and that meant dealing with Yggdrasil. Under any normal circumstance, that sentence alone would already be absurd enough to end any rational conversation. However, when it came to Kael, the absurd seemed merely a common step along the way.
Irelia looked at the flowers before them for a few seconds before answering.
"Kael will probably beat Yggdrasil until she lets him see Sylphie."
Amelia was silent for a moment.
Then she laughed.
Not a discreet or polite laugh. A real, unexpected laugh that made her bring one hand to her lips in an attempt to regain her composure.
"Irelia."
"What?"
"You just said he will probably beat up the World Tree."
"I said what I think will happen."
"Do you know how insane that sentence is?"
"If it were anyone else, yes." Irelia shrugged. "But it is Kael."
Amelia tried to respond, but realized there was no effective argument against that. Instead, she took a deep breath and looked at the garden with a smile still lingering on her lips.
"It is precisely because it is Kael that we should have explained the situation better."
Irelia turned her face toward her.
"You mean the letters?"
"Yes." Amelia placed her hands on her lap. "Perhaps we should have mentioned that Sylphie sent letters to us."
Irelia stared at her for a few seconds.
Then slowly closed her eyes.
"That is true."
Amelia sighed.
"He probably thinks Yggdrasil isolated Sylphie completely."
"Completely," Irelia agreed, now seeming to better understand the scale of the problem. "And, knowing Kael, that means he must have entered that place with the delicacy of a natural disaster."
"Maybe not."
Irelia looked at Amelia.
Amelia held the expression for one second.
Then gave up.
"All right, probably yes."
Irelia leaned back against the bench and let her gaze rise to the canopy above them. Some leaves moved with the wind, making small cuts of light dance across her face. She tried to imagine the scene. Kael standing before Yggdrasil, tired, irritated, convinced that Sylphie had been imprisoned and isolated for years without being able to speak to anyone. The image was not reassuring.
"He is going to be furious," Irelia said.
"More than usual?"
"Yes."
Amelia made a small grimace.
"That is worrying."
"Very."
The two fell silent again, now for a different reason. There was not exactly fear that Kael would be unable to deal with Yggdrasil. The problem was the opposite. There was fear that he would deal with her far too well. Kael had a peculiar way of crossing obstacles. When his patience ended, obstacles rarely remained whole.
Amelia glanced sideways at Irelia.
"Do you think we should try sending a message?"
"To where? The heart of the World Tree?"
"You say that as if the two of us have not already been involved in worse situations."
"Not this month."
"A fair argument."
Irelia sighed and placed both hands on the bench.
"Even if we sent one, he probably would not read it in time."
"Or he would read it and become even angrier because he only found out now."
"That is also possible."
Amelia tilted her head, thoughtful.
"Perhaps Yggdrasil will explain."
Irelia let out a dry laugh.
"If Yggdrasil explains anything in the wrong tone, Kael will interpret it as provocation."
"He interprets many things as provocation."
"Because many things are provocations."
"That is partially true."
Irelia looked back at the garden, and her expression became a little softer. The longing was still there, but now mixed with a resigned, almost familiar concern. Loving Kael, in a way, meant accepting that the impossible would eventually happen near him. Sometimes it was frightening. Sometimes it was exhausting. But it was rarely boring.
"I hope Sylphie is all right," Irelia murmured.
Amelia nodded.
"From the letters, she seemed to be."
"Yes. But letters are too small to carry everything."
"That is also true."
Irelia lowered her gaze to her own hands.
"She missed him. You could tell even in the simplest sentences. She tried to seem serene, but there was always something between the words. As if she were waiting the entire time."
Amelia grew serious.
"Kael waited too."
"In his own way."
"In his own way," Amelia repeated. "Which, unfortunately, involves invading sacred dimensions when the waiting ends."
Irelia almost smiled.
"I wish I were there to see Yggdrasil’s face when she realized he was not going to leave."
Amelia looked at her with mild reproach.
"Irelia."
"What? I did not say I wanted to participate. Just watch from a distance."
"That does not make the sentence much better."
"I know."
The two ended up laughing again, though the laughter was low and brief. The garden seemed to absorb the sound, returning only the noise of the fountain and the rustling of leaves. For a moment, the distance between them and the events in Yggdrasil felt even greater. There was something unfair about remaining in such a calm place while important people faced decisions capable of changing entire worlds.
Amelia noticed the shift in Irelia’s face.
"He will come back."
Irelia did not answer immediately.
Then she nodded.
"I know."
"You look doubtful."
"I do not doubt that he will come back." She looked toward the horizon beyond the mansion walls. "I only wonder how he will come back."
Amelia understood.
Kael rarely returned exactly the same after crossing something too large. Sometimes he came back stronger. Sometimes quieter. Sometimes carrying new people, new conflicts, and new problems no one had predicted. This time, he had gone to Yggdrasil. He had gone to bring Sylphie back. It was impossible to imagine he would return without some change.
"Maybe he will come back with Sylphie," Amelia said.
Irelia smiled faintly.
"I hope so."
"Maybe he will come back with Sylphie, an irritated Yggdrasil chasing after him, and a primordial entity complaining along the way."
"That seems more likely."
"Unfortunately."
Irelia breathed deeply, letting the fresh garden air fill her lungs. The concern did not disappear, but it settled somewhere more bearable. Kael was far away, but not lost. Sylphie was distant, but not forgotten. And perhaps, at that exact moment, he was finally understanding what they had forgotten to say.
"When he finds out she was sending letters to us," Irelia said after a while, "he is going to be offended."
"Absolutely."
"He will look at us as if we betrayed the moral structure of the world."
Amelia smiled.
"And he will ask why no one told him."
"And we will answer that we thought he knew."
"But he did not know."
"No."
Amelia sighed.
"That is going to be exhausting."
Irelia nodded slowly.
"Very."
The two remained seated on the bench, looking at the garden lit by afternoon light. The Ainsworth mansion stayed silent behind them, beautiful and distant, while the world moved toward some outcome neither of them could see. Even so, in that small interval of calm, both were thinking the same thing.
Kael would return.
And when he did, he would probably bring a story absurd enough to make even that longing seem small.
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