V2. Chapter 38 — Violet's Mixed Feelings

The streets of the Capital at night were mesmerizing with their lights, even though parts of the city still bore the scars of the recent chaos.

At that very moment, a young man with ash-gray hair and slightly narrowed amber eyes was walking calmly along Lesser Amber Street.

It was Kael, deeply immersed in his thoughts.

From the outside, he looked remarkably relaxed, but in reality, his mind was relentlessly analyzing everything that had happened in the Palace and trying to formulate plans for the future.

“On the bright side...” he thought as he walked slowly along the illuminated street. “It’s unlikely anyone will dare pick on the people from Lasthold anymore. And Lasthold itself will most likely be relatively safe...”

Lifting his gaze to the starry sky, Kael let out a heavy sigh.

“But now I need to take care of Girren, Violet, and the others...” he quietly muttered under his breath.

As he passed a group of young mages, Kael did not even notice them beginning to whisper among themselves, occasionally casting interested glances his way.

“Is that him?”

“Looks like him...”

But Kael was far too absorbed in his own thoughts.

“The tavern will provide them with housing and money...” he continued to reflect calmly. “But that’s not enough. I need to help them establish themselves in the Empire and give them the opportunity to move forward on their own.”

After a brief moment of thought, Kael almost immediately began organizing everything in his mind.

“Gilmesh, Roselle, and Lissandra can easily continue developing their blacksmithing skills,” he analyzed while automatically weaving around the evening crowd. “And if I leave them some additional recommendations and crafting techniques from other Dimensions...”

A faint gleam flashed in his amber eyes.

“Then they’ll definitely be able to achieve serious success.”

Recalling Estelle, who had almost imperceptibly become part of their group alongside Dorian recently, Kael narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

“If I teach Estelle some techniques for creating lightweight yet incredibly durable fabrics...” he thought. “Then she, Gilmesh, and the girls will be able to make armor.”

Methods for reinforcing fabrics and specialized spinning techniques used in some of the more powerful Dimensions immediately surfaced in his memory.

“Yes...” Kael mentally nodded to himself. “That could definitely work.”

As he continued walking calmly down the street, his thoughts gradually shifted to the others.

“Violet and Girren are more complicated...”

At that thought, Kael’s expression grew slightly more serious.

“Violet will almost certainly join the Scholars’ Guild,” he thought calmly. “With her personality and abilities, it’s the obvious path.”

And almost immediately afterward, Girren’s image surfaced in his mind.

“And Girren...” Kael thought. “He’s a soldier through and through.”

Remembering his friend's monstrous trait, Kael even shook his head slightly.

“Once they examine his soul...” he continued thinking. “The Imperial Academy will probably announce that it has discovered yet another genius.”

Yet almost immediately, Kael frowned thoughtfully again.

“But how exactly can I help the two of them?”

Letting out a weary sigh, Kael muttered tiredly, “The most I can really do for them is put in a good word with Archmagister Al-Hakim and General Salazar...”

And the moment that thought fully formed, Kael’s reflections were abruptly interrupted by a flood of excited voices.

“Young hero Kael! Greetings from the Fire Turtle Family!”

“We’ve been waiting for your return all day!”

“What a shame your tavern closed earlier than usual today!”

Before Kael could properly react, several dozen men and women in expensive clothing had already rushed toward him, many of them clearly aristocrats or representatives of influential merchant families.

Some smiled warmly.

Some tried to strike up a conversation first.

One young woman even hurriedly extended a small lacquered box toward him.

Faced with such an onslaught, Kael seemed to snap back into reality, and after a quick glance around, immediately realized he had almost reached the Merry Drunkard Tavern.

Before Kael could say a single word, gifts were practically being shoved into his hands from every direction.

“Please, take this! It is a token of gratitude from our family!”

“Young Master Kael, please accept this small gift!”

“There are several rare ingredients here for your practice!”

At those words, a subtle glint of cunning flashed through Kael’s amber eyes.

“Since the Empire decided not to hand me a sack of gold...” he thought, feeling his mood steadily improve. “It would be a sin to refuse compensation in this form.”

And in the very next moment, Kael’s usual friendly smile appeared on his face.

Calmly accepting gifts and spatial rings one after another, he immediately slipped into the role of a polite and grateful young hero.

“Oh, really, you shouldn’t have gone to such expense...”

“Thank you for your generosity. I will certainly remember your family’s kindness.”

“ Oh? High-grade alchemical herbs?” Kael even perked up slightly as he peeked into one of the boxes. “That’s exactly what I need right now.”

Hearing such a response, the man who had presented the gift immediately broke into a satisfied smile, clearly feeling that his investment was already beginning to pay off.

Meanwhile, Kael continued accepting new gifts with an entirely sincere expression, though inwardly he was already calculating their approximate value.

“Not bad...” he noted to himself, discreetly putting away another spatial ring. “Quite good, actually...”

Some of the men went even further, casually beginning to introduce their daughters to Kael.

Standing beside the richly dressed aristocrats were young women in elegant yet remarkably “coincidentally” chosen outfits that accentuated both their figures and their families’ status. Light makeup, expensive jewelry, and deliberately modest behavior only made it more obvious that they had been prepared for such a meeting in advance.

“Young Hero Kael, allow me to introduce my daughter.”

“It is a great honor to meet you.”

“We have heard so much about your accomplishments...”

Kael merely continued smiling gallantly, calmly maintaining the conversation while offering restrained but carefully measured compliments.

“I see that beauty and nobility are traits that run in your family.”

“Your daughter possesses a remarkably refined aura.”

“It’s no wonder your family is held in such high regard.”

At such words, some of the young women immediately began blushing slightly, while their parents looked increasingly pleased.

It was obvious that they genuinely liked the response they were receiving from Kael.

At the very least, many of them were already beginning to think that a closer relationship might actually be possible.

And it was precisely at that moment that a tall man with neatly groomed mustaches narrowed his eyes and asked with a faint smile:

“By the way... is there already a special lady in your life, Lord Kael?”

But at the very moment Kael was about to answer, a pleasant female voice suddenly sounded from the side: “Kael, you finally made it back! We’ve been waiting for you!”

Everyone immediately turned toward the alley in surprise.

Standing by the open gate leading to the Merry Drunkard Tavern was a beautiful young woman with long violet hair, delicate features, and deep violet eyes that gleamed softly in the light of the night lanterns.

Violet was wearing a simple lilac dress without any unnecessary adornments, yet even such modest clothing did nothing to conceal her natural beauty and calm charm.

And the moment Kael saw her, he immediately took advantage of the situation.

Almost at once, he bowed to the assembled aristocrats and, with a polite smile, said, “I must apologize, but my friends have also been waiting for me all day. We’re having a celebratory dinner tonight, so I’m afraid I must take my leave.”

Then, already taking a step toward the alley, he calmly added, “But please do come tomorrow. I’ll be home all day.”

After those words, most of those present nodded in understanding.

No one dared keep Kael any longer, especially after he mentioned that the people close to him were waiting for him.

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As for Kael, he wasted no time and quickly headed forward, and only a few seconds later, he and Violet deftly slipped through the gate into the alley.

Almost immediately, the heavy gates closed behind them, finally cutting off the noisy crowd from the tavern.

Kael let out a weary breath, finally allowing some of the tension from the past few hours to fade, then turned his gaze to Violet.

The girl was looking up at him with a faint reproach in her eyes, and only now did Kael suddenly notice especially clearly just how much he had changed lately.

“Has Violet always been this short?” he thought.

But in the next moment, he merely smiled, jokingly responding to her sharp gaze:

“What’s with that threatening look?”

Violet gave a quiet snort and crossed her arms.

“We’ve been waiting for you forever, and you still decided to stay out even longer.”

Kael only laughed softly in response.

“I couldn’t exactly ignore them. That would’ve been rude.”

However, Violet merely raised one eyebrow slightly, and a faint teasing smile appeared on her lips.

“Don’t lie to me. You just wanted their gifts.”

And the moment those words were spoken, Kael immediately flashed a broad, utterly innocent smile and declared with exaggerated sincerity, “What are you talking about? I had only the noblest intentions!”

At that, Violet merely sighed heavily, then unexpectedly took Kael by the hand herself, quietly saying, “Come on already. Everyone’s been waiting.”

And at that very moment, an unexpected thought suddenly crossed Kael’s mind. Violet’s hand felt surprisingly soft and delicate, and her fingers were pleasantly warm despite the evening chill.

Without even realizing it, he squeezed her hand a little more firmly as he walked beside her.

“You seem a little on edge today,” Kael said with mild suspicion. “Did something happen?”

Violet, walking slightly ahead of him, merely averted her gaze almost imperceptibly.

“Everything’s fine... Don’t imagine things.”

Yet her thoughts were far less calm.

“What’s gotten into me today?” flashed through her mind irritably. “Why am I even angry?”

And almost immediately afterward, Dorian’s words about the Imperial Branch and the young women of their family resurfaced in her memory.

“Could it really all be because of that stupid comment?”

At that thought alone, that strange unpleasant feeling seemed to rise in Violet’s chest once more.

And before she even realized what she was doing, a question suddenly slipped from her lips, “By the way, how did your award ceremony go? They didn’t happen to marry you off to some girl from the Imperial Branch, did they?”

And the very moment the words left her mouth, Violet froze.

Her eyes instantly widened from shock and embarrassment at herself, while her face was almost immediately flooded with a deep blush.

“What kind of nonsense did I just say?!” she screamed inwardly in panic.

Kael merely raised an eyebrow and asked in mild confusion, “Marry me off? What are you even talking about?”

And the moment he said it, Violet completely panicked.

Abruptly looking away and almost hiding her face behind her hair, she immediately blurted out, “I... um... It was just a bad joke! Dorian joked about it, so I just repeated it!”

But the moment the words left her lips, a mental scream immediately erupted inside Violet’s head: “Damn it! Why did I drag Dorian into this too?!”

As she started walking again, utterly burning with embarrassment, Violet practically shouted at herself inwardly, “Just shut up, you idiot!”

However, at that very moment, Violet suddenly felt Kael’s hand twitch slightly in hers.

Kael had stopped walking.

That made Violet freeze as well, feeling her heart suddenly start beating even faster.

Afraid to even turn around and look him in the eyes, Violet swallowed nervously before hurriedly muttering, “Did something happen, Kael? Let’s just hurry.”

But in the next instant, she unexpectedly felt Kael suddenly pull her toward him.

Caught completely off guard, Violet immediately stumbled, feeling the ground literally slip from beneath her feet. Before she could start falling, however, Kael stepped forward sharply and confidently caught her by the waist.

And at that moment, their eyes finally met.

Violet’s embarrassed, bewildered, and slightly frightened gaze collided with Kael’s confident look. A distinct trace of mischief was clearly visible in his amber eyes.

She felt the warmth of his hand on her waist, and a faint tremor ran through her body from such close proximity.

“I... almost fell, actually...” Violet muttered nervously, trying with all her might to act as though nothing unusual was happening.

But in the very next moment, the exact thing happened that made Violet’s face flush so deeply that even the evening darkness could no longer conceal it.

Kael suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly, and then an openly cunning smile appeared on his lips.

“Are you jealous, Violet?”

And the moment those words were spoken, Violet seemed to freeze completely. Her eyes instantly widened, and her jaw parted slightly at such a direct question.

It looked as though she wanted to say something, but no sound would come from her throat.

Inside her, meanwhile, absolute chaos reigned.

“This unpleasant burning feeling in my chest...” flashed through her mind in confusion as her heart continued pounding faster and faster. “Could it be... am I really jealous?”

Kael, in response, only narrowed his eyes further. A faint predatory edge suddenly appeared in his amber gaze, making Violet unconsciously swallow.

She distinctly felt his hand tighten slightly around her waist, boldly pulling her closer.

And before Violet could gather her thoughts in any way, Kael suddenly spoke again.

His voice had become slightly lower and calmer.

“I already told you,” he said confidently, never taking his eyes off hers. “When you’re beside me, it’s as though no other women exist.”

Then, slowly lifting Violet’s hand, which he was still holding in his own, Kael lightly pressed his lips to it.

“If that’s what’s bothering you...” he added with a faint smile. “Then I can promise to reject any marriage proposal offered to me.”

And the moment those words were spoken, Violet wanted nothing more than to sink straight through the ground.

Her mind had completely stopped functioning properly.

Her face was burning.

Her heart was pounding so hard that she could literally hear her own pulse.

And the worst part was that she no longer had even the slightest desire to argue.

For a brief moment, Violet genuinely felt as though her legs were about to give out beneath her.

But in the very next instant, something suddenly snapped inside her, and she practically shouted at herself inwardly, “Don’t embarrass yourself, you fool!”

Straightening her back sharply, Violet almost immediately yanked her hand free from Kael’s grasp and then lightly smacked him on the head with her fist.

“Who would even want you anyway!”

Trying her absolute best to make her face look serious, she frowned slightly and added in a much more familiar tone, “Look at you, some ladies' man all of a sudden.”

And before Kael could say anything in response, Violet grabbed his hand again and quickly strode forward, making sure he could not see her face.

“Let’s hurry,” she threw over her shoulder, almost grumbling. “There’s no time for your stupid jokes.”

Yet despite her feigned irritation, complete chaos still reigned inside Violet, and her heart continued pounding so fast that she felt certain Kael would notice at any moment.

Everything inside her seemed to be screaming with embarrassment and panic.

“How? Why did that even happen?!” her thoughts raced. “Am I really jealous?”

And the moment that thought fully formed, something inside her seemed to tighten unpleasantly.

“If I’m jealous... then does that mean...”

At that thought, Violet pressed her lips together slightly, her shoulders tensing as they rose. Without even realizing it, she sharply shook her head from side to side, as though trying to literally fling such thoughts out of her mind.

Meanwhile, Kael walked calmly behind her, merely observing her reaction thoughtfully. Then a gentle smile appeared on his lips of its own accord.

“Violet really is a lovely girl...” the thought crossed his mind with unexpected warmth, and for a moment, his chest felt surprisingly calm and light.

But the very instant Kael caught himself feeling that way, his expression seemed to change immediately.

The smile vanished at once.

His face darkened.

His gaze turned cold, even cruel.

Inside Kael’s mind, as though against his will, the image of other women suddenly surfaced. The memories of one of them in particular were especially vivid.

As he walked forward, Kael slowly closed his eyes for a brief moment…

✦ ✦ ✦

Almost immediately, a stream of slowly swirling black feathers passed before his mind’s eye.

Then, from that darkness, a familiar figure gradually emerged.

A pale young woman in a long black dress and delicate gloves that reached her elbows sat calmly upon a luxurious bed, one leg crossed over the other. Her short black hair lightly brushed her neck, while the longer strands near her forehead fell softly below her chin.

Her pale skin contrasted sharply with the blood-red eyeshadow on her eyelids.

And the two slender straight horns and slightly pointed ears only further emphasized her inhuman beauty.

In the next moment, Kael saw her eyelids slowly part.

Blood-red eyes with a languid, almost sultry gleam looked directly at him.

And the instant those eyes met his gaze, a complicated feeling involuntarily rose within Kael—a mixture of warmth, passion, and profound sorrow.

The feeling made Kael shudder.

Then he abruptly steeled his mind, forcibly driving away the resurfacing memories, causing the entire image to begin dissolving away…

✦ ✦ ✦

Opening his eyes, Kael merely shook his head, and an ironic smile appeared on his face.

“Better not get carried away...” the thought passed heavily through his mind as his gaze settled once more on Violet walking ahead of him. “I was already beginning to forget that my love has always brought women nothing but sorrow.”

Like several fleeting flashes, memories from his previous life swept through Kael’s mind once again.

“To condemn Violet to such a fate...” Kael continued inwardly, feeling the familiar cold weight rising within him. “That would be far too cruel.”

And yet, despite those thoughts, Kael’s gaze involuntarily lingered on Violet’s violet hair, swaying softly as she walked.

Afterward, he merely smirked faintly at himself.

Then, quickening his pace slightly, he calmly drew even with Violet, once more wearing his usual enigmatic and relaxed smile, as though those previous thoughts had never existed at all.

At that moment, they finally reached the tavern entrance, and together pushed open the heavy doors and stepped inside.

Warm light and the scent of food and alcohol immediately washed over them, and the next instant loud laughter and cheerful shouts rolled through the hall.

Stepping into the Merry Drunkard, Kael almost immediately saw a long table laden with food, around which all of his friends had already gathered.

Girren was sitting beside Dorian, discussing something with him calmly.

A little farther down sat Gilmesh, trapped between Roselle and Lissandra, who were arguing animatedly about something.

And not far from them sat Estelle beside Barnabas, who lazily twirled a bottle in his hand.

And the moment the group noticed Kael and Violet entering, the tavern instantly became even livelier.

“You’re finally home!” Roselle was the first to shout happily.

Gilmesh immediately burst into loud laughter.

“Well? What valuable rewards did you get, Kael?”

Barnabas, as usual, was talking about something entirely different.

“Hey, pup!” he barked cheerfully, raising his bottle. “I already managed to swipe a few bottles from all that alcohol people have been bringing you these past few days!”

At those words, everyone immediately laughed, and the atmosphere inside the tavern instantly became so warm and lively that Kael actually paused near the entrance for a brief moment.

After the difficult conversation with the Shadow of the Throne, the thoughts of war, and everything that had happened in the Palace, this noisy, brightly lit hall suddenly felt astonishingly peaceful and familiar.

“For now, let’s just get some proper rest and celebrate the fact that we’re all alive and well,” Kael said with a broad smile. “We can come back to my award ceremony a little later.”

With those words, Kael confidently walked forward, now pulling Violet along behind him toward the table.

And the moment they took their seats, everyone around them almost simultaneously raised their already-filled glasses.

“To us!”

“To the residents of the Merry Drunkard Tavern!”

“To the survivors!”

Amid the clinking of glasses and loud laughter, the celebration they had all been waiting for the entire day finally began.

Barnabas almost immediately began pouring drinks, loudly telling yet another one of his tall tales.

Gilmesh had already started pestering Girren with his inappropriate jokes.

Roselle was laughing so loudly that she could probably be heard even out on the street.

Meanwhile, Estelle was quietly chatting with Lissandra, occasionally chuckling and whispering something into her ear.

As for Kael, looking at this noisy table filled with laughter, conversation, and living faces, he unexpectedly felt an astonishing sense of peace settle within him.

“Maybe I’m not very lucky in love...” he thought with a hint of irony, shifting his gaze from one friend to another. “But when it comes to finding good people... I turned out to be damn talented.”

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