Chapter 543 - Alter Emotions
A beat differed from others as if it did not belong to him, and it skipped its turn when Arthur laid his eyes on her. His chest swelled with unfamiliar emotions that felt foreign to him, and it made him frown with unease.
"Are you that unhappy to see me?" she said with an awkward smile, one that had a slight panic behind it, and Arthur felt like breaking his bones to reassure her otherwise.
"I just feel... weird," he said as he held his chest, hoping to erase that feeling. Arthur took a moment to understand that this was not his own emotions but something like a natural reflex to his alter self.
"Are you alright?" she asked with worry, her earlier displeasure gone at the mere mention of his well-being. Emma took a step closer and examined his chest with a frown before placing her hand on his heart. "Your heart is beating loud."
Arthur looked down, and the two were close enough to smell her scent, and the unfamiliar emotions grew stronger. Then, finally, Emma seemed to notice his gaze and turned her head upward, and the two allowed a moment to take place between them where nothing else existed.
His body backed away as his willpower refused the emotions of his predecessor, but the mere act made his head feel as if it would explode. Oriole has warned him of meeting Emma, but Arthur did not think that it would have this much impact on him.
This pain came once before when Julia tried to touch him, and it now made him realize that it was the will that lay dormant inside Arthur, who spent a year in Jerano.
A smile blossomed on his face as he realized he would bow down to no one, but this issue needed to be resolved before the two willpowers destroyed the same vessel. Arthur had to compromise and give himself some things that he desired; however, Emma was not one of them.
"I apologize," she said while retracting her hand away from him. "Your heart is beating too loud. Maybe you need to see a doctor?" she asked while looking away, a blush covering her face.
"I think so too," he said while trying to change the subject, as both of them knew the reason for his odd reaction. "I want to explain what happened a few days before."
"...I talked to Oriole," she said without meeting his eyes. "I understand that Julia was the one trying to force herself on you, but that makes me even more upset. You should have reported her to the college."
"I doubt they would do anything," sighed Arthur with a shake of his head. "I want to ask you something."
"What is it, Alexie?" she turned toward him with curiosity, and the name she called was not his. Arthur experienced a moment of disharmony where he wondered whether she liked Alexie or Arthur Silvera more.
However, there was something that bothered him all this time. Oriole told him that Emma was the sole person who never believed it after his fake death and sought to prove he was still alive.
Arthur even remembered a conversation on this balcony a long time ago when she seemed to have absolute conviction that he was alive, even though she did not know that he was standing next to her.
"Are you still looking for your friend?" he asked with his eyes turning crescent moons as he looked on the ground.
"...where did this question come from?" she shot back, her face filled with confusion. "I want to know what made you ask that."
Arthur raised his head and saw her face filled with hesitation. It made him wonder whether she was conflicted about whether her answer would make him give up as Alexie Linan.
"Oriole told me earlier that your pursuit never stopped," he said with a smile. "I wonder when the day would come, and you accept his death."
"...you are one of them now," she said with a cold face. "I have reasons to believe that he is alive, even if I don't know where he is."
"Since he is alive, why is he not seeking you the way you are seeking him?" asked Arthur, and his question made her clench her fist.
"...are you jealous?"
"...maybe," he said.
"I have a fiancé, Alexie," she said while taking a step back. "I think you misunderstood the reason I was upset about that incident. I just didn't think you were that kind of man," her hands grabbed the railings behind her.
"Ah, yes," nodded Arthur with a smile as he bowed down. "I forgot about Prince Caleb Yalen, so please forgive me for speaking out of line. However, I wish to know the reasons that you are so certain your friend is alive."
His actions were met with silence, and when he rose to glance at her, he found her holding back her tears. Arthur watched as his heart felt like it was being torn apart, but his body did not move because he knew that if any of them got any closer, it would be hard to go back.
Arthur was in love with Diana, and no amount of time or distance can change that. The mere image of her left his filled with yearning toward her touch. However, he couldn't deny that the emotions of Arthur Silvera in this timeline did not control him somewhat.
"I am.... sorry," she barely held back her sobs, covering her eyes with her sleeve while backing away. "I just... can't tell you."
Arthur sensed something was off, and his eyes squinted as he stared into the distance. There was some ability at play here, and Arthur could feel that the two of them were being monitored.
"I understand now," grinned Arthur as he took a few steps forward. "They are watching you, right?"
Emma was engaged to the Yalen Family of the Yalveran Union, the direct descendants of the Seer Guardian who can see into everything. It made sense that their next Queen would be monitored all the time.
"No, no one is watching me," she pulled on his arm with fright. Arthur stopped what he was about to do and turned toward her. There were things that he did not know about the situation between Agard Family and the Yalens. "Please, let this go, and I will leave."
It broke his heart to see her so frightened, and Arthur guessed the reason that she was sure of Arthur Silvera being alive was related to the secret that the Yalen Family tried to hide.
The only thing that Emma never revealed about herself was her ability, as she used runes to fight all the time instead of using her ability.
"I understand," nodded Arthur. "I want to tell you something, then," Arthur smiled while patting her shoulder. "I will be leaving Jerano soon."
"...what?" she blanked out, and her grip on his arm loosened. "Are you going on a mission for college or the runes research department?"
"Neither," Arthur shook his head with a smile. "I have no more use for this place, and I want to leave it. I cannot wait two more years to go beyond the gates."
"You cannot obtain the permission without Jerano," she said. "We are all here for that privilege: to be humankind's explorers. I know that three years seem like a long time, but we can be together until then."
Arthur could tell that those were not the real reason she wanted him to stay, but he did not need her to say them. The reason that he wanted to enroll here, to begin with, was to be one of the explorers of the other world, but now that seemed like an empty title.
As long as he enrolls into a proper guild or creates one himself and earns enough merit, Arthur will be allowed entry into any dungeon in the world. However, certain dungeons were bought from the kingdoms to be cleared by guilds, and it made things difficult as not all of them had gates that could lead him back to Freda.
"I want to be here with you too," he said while grabbing her shoulder a little tighter with a sad smile. "However, I need to do a few things, and Jerano is hindering me. Caleb and Trevor are not exactly on good terms with me, are they?"
"I will talk to Caleb so that..."
"It does not matter, Emma. I know the two of them are nothing but children thinking they own the world. But, I am fighting against a bigger thing, and I need to accomplish so much more."
As she heard him, Emma looked downward without trying to convince him anymore. Then, she spread her arms and gave him a hug that felt like the last.
"I cannot convince you to stay anymore, could I?" she said, and her voice was cracking. "Please know that I will always help you with anything."
"I know," smiled Arthur as he hugged her back with a smile, his hand patting her head. "I will be there whenever you need me to, I promise."
Arthur felt her body tremble as she heard his words, and Emma started to cry quietly in his embrace as if fearing being seen. However, the pair of eyes watching them never left, and Arthur glanced in the distance.
Those watching the princess were not trying to protect her but to ensure that she did not reveal something or do something.. Arthur did know what it was just yet that made Emma so afraid, but he vowed that he would pluck out the pair of eyes that tormented her one day.