Vow Of Silence

CHATER TWENTY-NINE

1st PERSON: Pelomina Lorenzo-Capiz

The castle servants gave us weird looks the moment we walked in, maybe it had to do with the fact that Lykus was smiling wide enough to be noticed even from a distance and while the servants kept their distance, I could see Polly in those gathered clusters. Looking at the two of us with wide eyes and an even wider grin.

She’s practically beaming.

Still, while some kept their distance, I suppose it’s another servant’s job to greet Lykus in a closer vicinity, “Welcome back lord Lykus,” a man greeted with a deep bow and Lykus nodded,

“Bring a keg and two pints to the drawing-room next to my study,” he instructed, and the man nodded. My eyes widened with an excited smile as I looked at him. He only smirked at me but said nothing.

‘Something tells me I’ll be having more than a “modest” amount’

“Immediately, my lord,” the servant replied as he excused himself.

Lykus kept my hand in his as he led me to where ever the drawing-room he was talking about is, even slowing down his pace to match mine, I looked up to stare at his face again, so far, the scowl he usually puts on hasn’t made an appearance yet.

'I'll be on the lookout for that scowl,'

Once we arrived at the said drawing-room, he sat me down on the couch first and opened the windows a little, turning to me with a stern face, “Now, if you feel any discomfort you tell me immediately,” he began, “If you feel sudden jolts of pain, you tell me immediately,” he followed, pacing around the room as he spoke,

“If you feel dizzy, you tell me immediately,”

“Yes,”

“If you feel sleepy, you will also tell me,”

“Certainly,”

“If you’re having trouble breathing you—”

“—Will tell you immediately, yes my lord, I will,” I filled, and he nodded,

“You will be drinking modestly, do you understand my lady?” he asked again, and I nodded curtly. He hummed and his chest dropped as he looked at me with his brows slightly furrowed in worry, but before he could speak again, a knock sounded on the door and once he went there to open it, came in a tray with a beer keg and two pints, as he ordered it to be.

He wheeled it in himself and waved at the man to take his leave, he poured the beer over to the mug, filling it to the top and when I was about to reach for it, he moved it away with a frown,

“Wife, does this look like a modest amount?” He asked with a smirk.

I chuckled, “I thought one glass was enough,” I answered. Isn’t one glass modest enough? In a gathering, having one glass was rather modest if you think about it.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head, “Definitely not, do you see the size of this thing? It’s bigger than your head,” he noted, placing it next to my face, making me chuckle,

“Then half—”

“Less than half,” he pressed, making me chuckle,

“Now you are just being stingy, my lord,” I said, and he scoffed, setting the beer mug down on the coffee table.

“Me? Stingy? Wife, I’ll have you know that if it weren’t for your health, I would’ve been more than willing to drink with you until morning,” he said and I made an ‘oh~’ sound as he narrated the whole thing.

Then he proceeded to fill my glass just halfway and handed it to me, “This is me being generous when it comes to this and involving you at least,” he said and I hummed as I took the glass in my hands, I waited from him to take a seat and I lifted my glass up to gesture a toast that he agreed to with a smile.

After that, while he took a big swig, I had to take a careful sip. The thing is heavy as heck. To think he held this thing as if it weighed nothing.

The taste was a bit startling, and it’s not as smooth as how it is back in my real world but beer is beer and this one is probably as authentic as it can get, I don’t much about beer history and I’m also still hoping that I won’t experience any negative reactions with this.

I gulped and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Yep, that’s definitely good beer, or I hope it is, it feels like good beer.

It should be since it’s from the castle of the generous and extravagant Lykus himself. He sighed with a smile after gulping half of his drink down, looking at his glass with a satisfied grin before looking at me, “how do you feel?” he asked and I hummed with a smile,

“I’m fine, my lord,” I replied

“That's good,” he said after taking another full swig, this time his glass was already empty and it was clear that this didn’t even affect his mood, he was still sober which was somewhat disconcerting if you think about it, he already has one initially back at the tavern, and if that still hasn’t taken effect even after all that, then this man has the tolerance of a freaking bear.

“Do you ever get drunk, my lord?” I asked, lightly tapping my fingers against the thick glass of the mug and he hummed, seemingly looking into the distance with furrowed brows.

Deep in thought, was it that far away for him to take a pause,

“Frankly, wife, I don’t recall,” he replied with a nonchalant shrug.

‘freaking knew it,’

As expected of the high and mighty lord Lykus. A man who rides a dragon for a horse and suggests emptying a whole store’s stock and calls it shopping. There is a lot to say about Lykus’s character, and the only thing that’s for sure is that ‘frugal’ is not one of them. Strict, yes, but I could see from here just how light and lenient he is towards his wife.

And it still kept ringing in my ear that it's not me. ‘I’m not his wife,’

To drown the doubt out, I took another swig, while the unaware husband was busy enjoying himself thinking that he’s finally having some quality time with his wife, I feel like I’m robbing the Vaustero couple of the joys they could’ve experienced together, on top of that, I just realized that I am crushing on a married man.

‘A married man!’

“Has anything changed?” he asked as he poured himself another cup,

I shook my head “I’m still alright, my lord,” I replied, and he hummed with a nod, he then sat down beside me, his brows knitting once again, “Then why do you look ailed?” he asked, casually brushing a few stray strands out of my hair,

I’m starting to think that this man truly has no sense of space and if he does, he ignores them when it comes to his wife. I huffed, trying to fool him and myself that I could just push that issue aside for now because as far as Lykus knows, I’m his wife and I will need to act like his wife if I don’t want to get busted and face the consequences of my action for not being upfront about it.

Can anyone even blame me for trying to save my own neck? Sure, he looks amicable now, but let’s not forget that rumors carry a fraction of the truth.

Even if I never had any confirmation that he’s as cruel as he was made out to be by the servants, I’m not that curious cat who’s willing to mess with the bulls only to get the horns.

“I’m fine, my lord, I’m simply… thinking,” I replied, taking another sip, is it me or is this beer extra strong? I’m starting to get woozy, just simple alcohol influence. I’ve drunk enough to self-diagnose drunkenness, at least.

“It must’ve been quite the thought, are you being troubled by something?” he followed and I shook my head again. He sighed as he opened his hand over to mine and I instinctively placed my hand on his,

And this man…. THIS MAN, I—

He KISSED MY HAND. Right at the knuckles to be exact, but he just did that, and I had to bite the insides of my cheek to keep my facial expressions calm and my head leveled. He then pressed my hand to his chest, looking directly at my face,

“Wife, rest assured that whatever it is that troubles you, I will settle, I promise you,” he said with such passion that made him look like he was making an unbreakable bond,

I chuckled, keeping my hands on his chest for some reason, it was warm and I could feel his steadily beating heart, “and I believe you my lord, and as such, I also assure you that I am fine, I’m merely checking my body diligently,” I began,

“I wouldn’t want to be a nuisance on the festivities,” I said and he frown at me and flinched his head back,

“My lady… I’m afraid I must’ve hurt your feeling with how rash I’ve been acting, but you will never be a nuisance,” he began, looking away with an anxious look before facing me again with a firm gaze, it’s as if he’s trying to nail me in place,

“My wife, your constitution doesn’t ruin the balance of the castle, the castle balances itself upon your constitution,” he said and I felt my hair stand on ends,

I know it’s not me he’s talking to, but having heard those words said to me made me feel so important, so loved, so cared for that I was moved to literal freaking tears, and yes, it’s embarrassing. I hastily tried to wipe them off my face. He didn’t need to see that, I’d hate for him to see that.

But it was too late, curse this man’s hyperfocus tendencies.

He set the beer mug down on the coffee table and peeled my hands off my face. Almost as if he was cooing at me while I sniffed and hiccupped, “Are you an emotional drunk, or are you emotional even without the alcohol?” he asked with a teasing smile and I scoffed at him and shook my head.

“Perhaps it’s the alcohol,” I replied, tears continuing to stream down my cheeks, and he hummed as he wiped them with his thumb, I wiped them with my hands took one last sniff, and sighed, trying to liven the mood up again and stop crying,

“Well then, I suppose alcohol has no bad effects on me,”

“Apart from being emotional, yes,”

“Then why don’t we continue drinking?” I suggested, and he smirked,

“for as long as you can,” he replied and with that, we made another toast.