Chapter 84: 24
Chapter 84: 24
Klara hadn't believed Roshan when he'd told her that Lucian was alive but then she saw Irene crying with happiness and sadness at the same time after meeting her son she was assured that Lucian was indeed alive. She had cried as well, in relief, together with Irene. That day had felt like forever.
Now she was sitting in the garden, alone, thinking of what to do next. She could not stay here forever, she didn't want to feel like a burden.
"You are not a burden and you can stay here as long as you want." Suddenly Irene spoke from nearby as though she had been there the whole time.
Klara turned her head slightly and found Irene strolling toward her looking like her usual self, beautiful and elegant at the same time.
"You can hear my thoughts." Klara asked surprised.
"Don't be so surprised. I told you I was a witch." Irene smiled and came to sit next to her on the bench.
"Why are you so nice to me?" Klara asked. "I was not very nice to your son and his wife."
Irene smiled. "You loved my son despite sensing that he was different. How were you not nice to him?"
Klara looked down at her hands. There were things that Irene didn't know. Things like how she forced Lucian and threatened Hazel. She wasn't proud of those things.
"I know those things." Irene said surprising her again. "Sometimes love can make us do crazy things. What matters is that you helped them in the end and... I actually enjoyed your fight with Hazel." She laughed. "You are a strong and determined woman who goes after what she really wants. Not many have that courage."
Klara was confused. Irene liked her despite knowing everything? This woman really amazed her.
"As I said, you can stay here as long as you want."
"I might never find somewhere to go." Klara said realizing the gravity of her own words. What if she really never found somewhere to go?
"I doubt that." Irene smiled, her eyes swirling with the knowledge of something that Klara couldn't understand. Then swiftly she stood up "I'll see you at dinner." She said and left.
Klara sat alone again, her thoughts drifting away to Lucian. Was he alright? Was Hazel alright? Klara knew that if Hazel got hurt then that would hurt Lucian and she didn't want him to hurt because that would hurt her.
And then slowly her thoughts drifted to Astrid. Her sister must be so worried right now. Klara felt guilty for being the troublemaker. She always put her sister in difficult situations and made her worry. She really was good for nothing.
With sunken shoulders, Klara stood up to walk back to her room when she took notice of Roshan standing two steps away. She had almost walked into him if she hadn't looked up.
"God, you scared me. Don't you know how to keep a distance?"
Again his lips curved into that wicked smile that annoyed her so much. She had tried her best to avoid him these last few days but it was difficult since she was living in his house. Everytime he spoke to her she found herself blushing, everytime he looked into her eyes she found herself losing track of her thoughts and stuttering, and everytime he smiled like that she found herself wanting to slap him and kiss him at the same time. He was just plain annoying.
"Why? Do I make you nervous?" He asked.
"Nervous?" She laughed nervously. "You don't make me feel anything."
"Is that why you are avoiding looking at me?"
Klara lifted her chin and looked directly into his eyes. The way he looked back at her made her heart skip a beat. Why did he have to look so good? It would have been easier to hate him if he didn't.
"I am looking at you now." She said challengingly. "Now if you will excuse me." She pushed past his shoulder but he grabbed her wrist preventing her from leaving.
Klara was about to jerk her hand away when he said. "I can take you to your sister."
How did he know? Klara turned back, "I thought you couldn't read my thoughts."
"I cannot...well, most of the time. Anyway, do you want to go and see your sister or not?"
Klara nodded, suddenly excited and happy. This time she didn't bother to ask how, they would probably go through some gate or the ground might open and swallow them. Anyway, she didn't care. She just wanted to see her sister.
He pulled at her wrist and drew her into his arms. "Close your eyes." He said and Klara complied. She shut her eyes tightly and wrapped her arms around him in a steel grip embracing herself for whatever was coming, but nothing happened. She just felt some weird sensation go through her body before Roshan told her to open her eyes again.
Klara opened her eyes and realized that she was in Astrid's room, already.
"Oh...that was fast." She breathed but risky. What if Astrid or some maids had been in here?
"I made sure no one was here before we came." He explained. "Stay here, I will bring your sister.���
Klara panicked and grabbed his arm to stop him. "How? They will see you if you leave here."
"Don't worry. I have some tricks under my sleeve." He winked then left.
Klara waited and waited, getting more anxious for every minute that passed by. What if Roshan got caught? What if he was in trouble because of her?
Just when she decided to leave and look for him the door to the room opened and Astrid entered. At first she didn't notice her but as she walked further in she almost stumbled back at the sight of Klara. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Klara? How…? Are you alright?"
Klara didn't reply. She just went and hugged her sister. "I miss you."
"I missed you to." Astrid said wrapping her arms around her tightly. "I was so worried. I thought something happened to you. Where did you go?"
"I am sorry for making you worry, but I'm alright. I'm staying with a friend."
Astrid took a step back and looked at her sister skeptically. "What friend? I didn't know you had friends." She whispered with tears in her eyes.
"There is someone." Klara smiled.
"Did that friend bring you here?" Astrid asked.
Klara nodded.
"Can you trust that person?"
"Yes, don't worry."
Astrid sighed not entirely satisfied. "Rasmus will calm down eventually so make sure to come back. Until then be careful." She said.
"I will."
After talking for awhile it was time for Klara to go back. She kissed and hugged her sister tightly, telling her not to worry.
"Now, my friend is waiting outside. I need your clothes."
Astrid undressed and gave her dress to Klara and then they said goodbye again before Klara went to look for Roshan where they decided to meet. Now she could walk without hiding since everyone thought that she was Astrid, the benefits of being Identical twins she thought with a smile.
Klara hurried to the castle's rooftop where Roshan was already waiting.
"I am sorry I took so long." She said breathlessly after walking up all the stairs.
"It's alright."
Roshan took them back home without asking anything and Klara was relieved. She didn't feel like talking after seeing how worried her sister was. She wondered if she would ever be able to go back home and live with her siblings again. She missed them so much, especially Astrid.
Klara turned in bed and shut her eyes. Everything would be alright she told herself and tried to sleep but as much as she tried she couldn't.
This time her thoughts drifted to Roshan. Why was he helping her and even taking her to see her sister? And if he wasn't a witch then what was he?
Klara couldn't quite figure him out, or what he wanted and that bothered her, even more than the bruises that covered her body and hurt everytime she turned in bed. The whole sleeping experience was painful and bothersome so she decided to go out instead.
She wrapped her shoulders in a scarf and went to sit in the garden.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Roshan. He always seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"No."
He sat down opposite her, again wearing all black. She wondered what he would look like in other colors.
"Is something bothering you?" He asked in a soft tone that made her want to tell him everything.
"No, I am just not tired." She looked at him, his expression was soft, almost worried.
The wind blew some strands of his hair onto his face which he removed by running his finger through his hair. The more closely Klara looked at him the more impossibly beautiful he seemed, yet he had that dark aura that surrounded him, warning her of something unknown.
"I thought you would be relieved now that you have met your sister and know that Lucian is alive."
Yes, she should be more relieved but she wasn't. She had met her sister but she didn't know if they would ever be together again. And Lucian, yes he was alive but he could never be hers. She hoped that he was at least happy with Hazel. He deserved it after everything.
"Why did you love him?" Roshan asked suddenly. Klara knew he was talking about Lucian.
At first, Klara liked Lucian because he had saved her, not just once but twice and then she liked him because he respected her and didn't treat her as just a body but as a human being. He showed her that he was a man who kept his word and protected and cared for other people. The opposite of what all the rumors said about him.
Klara had thought that she would like him less when she found out that he was married but as she saw his loyalty and love to his wife she liked him even more. Men like him were rare and difficult to find, therefore she had decided to become his second wife.
But slowly as she tried to convince him she realized that she was miserable. She went to bed every night feeling like the villain in the books she usually reads. The villain who tries to come in between the hero and the heroine. Klara didn���t want to be the villain. She didn't want to go to bed feeling guilty and mean. She didn't want to be selfish or greedy. She knew she had to let him go, not just for his sake but for herself as well. Deep down she knew she wouldn't be happy after ruining someone else's happiness.
Then the day came, when Lucian finally agreed to marry her and she hadn't felt happy as she had expected, instead she felt strange and guilty. That made her realize that she indeed couldn't live with making the person she loved unhappy. How could that be called love? That was just her own greed. Yet, she had persisted for awhile because she couldn't imagine her life without him until she couldn't anymore. His heart already belonged to someone else, there was no meaning in just keeping his body so she let him go. She even helped him escape and after that even went to save his wife.
She smiled at her craziness. Irene was right. Love does indeed make us do crazy things. It had been very painful to let him go and she had felt very sad and empty but at least she was at peace with herself. She had felt proud of something she had done after such a long time.
Maybe loving someone isn't always fighting for them, sometimes letting them go is also a way of loving and that she learned the hard way.
"He seemed like someone who needed love." Klara shrugged.
Roshan just looked at her, his eyes focused as though he was trying to read her.
"By the way, thank you for taking me to see my sister." She smiled.
Something in the way he looked at her change. He made her nervous. "What?" She asked.
"I haven't seen you smile before. You look beautiful that way."
Klara felt her cheeks burn. "Thank you." She said shyly, but then quickly tried to change the topic. "But you still haven't told me what you are? You said you are not a witch and I know you are no ordinary man, then…?"
"Then what?" He raised a brow.
"Then what are you? And don't try to lie to me or make things up." She warned.
"If I don't, I don't think you can handle the truth."
"Try me." She challenged.
Roshan watched her silently for a while. "I am a demon."