Vow Of Silence

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

1st PERSON: Pelomina Lorenzo-Capiz

Did I hear that right? Did the vengeful and grudging Lykus praise me? He did preface his words by saying that we’re going in a cold place, but he did just go out of his way to defend his point by giving me a roundabout compliment, didn’t he?

Man, now I’m kind of jittered and embarrassed about it.

He still gave the woman a stern look. Does he not realize what he said?

“Well, I suppose you do have a point, lord Lykus,” the woman noted with a knowing smirk before looking at me, “Unfortunately, my lady, I cannot fulfill such a request,” she added while not looking very sorry at all, placing a hand on my shoulder, “Your health and well-being comes first,” she finished,

“Indeed, you made the right choice, madame Illescent,” Lykus affirmed,

‘So, she’s lady Illescent,’

I was shifting my gaze between the two of them, waiting for Lykus to follow up with something demeaning or annoying, and when he saw me looking at him, he raised a brow at me,

“Why’d you choose that? Who are you trying to be beautiful for? You said you don’t have a lover,” he huffed one question after the other. I almost snapped my fingers at him. 'There’s the mean unnecessary comment that I’ve been waiting for.'

I nodded, “Do you believe me then?” I asked back, tilting my head,

“That’s not the point,”

“Well, I only chose it because I thought I’d look beautiful in it,” I replied,

“Really? That's not very like you at all,” he argued.

‘Oh… yeah, I haven't thought about that, crap’

This is why I shouldn’t put personally vendettas first. I keep forgetting that I’m not here as myself, I’m here as Lady Pelomina. I chuckled nervously as I flipped through the sketchbook, looking for other variations and styles for the dresses, humming nervously as I did, thinking of what to reply without me making it look like I’m just throwing crap at the wall.

“I’m just… exploring don’t take it seriously my lord, I’m not being adamant about it, I merely wanted to try new things,” I began, looking at him briefly, “of course, this only applies in material things,” I followed, just in case he’ll say another thing about trying new things involving having new partners and go about on saying that his suspicions about me having an affair is right.

Walking around eggshells when it comes it him is getting really taxing as time goes on.

I continued to flip the sketchbook over and saw a dress better designed for the occasion and climate. It’s almost like a turtleneck with large sleeves, cuffed at the wrists. The dress is flowy and although it’s a little fitted; it has more volume compared to the first one, this is much better, it has very little detail, and is somewhat subtle with minimal embroidery across the clavicle area.

“Hmm… what about this?” I announced, and Lykus crouched a little to see better,

“That’s better, but I don’t think having it up to your throat is good for you, it could make it hard to breathe” he replied, focused on the drawing, it took a moment or two until he looked up to madame Illescent, “Would it be possible to lower that part, just right below her neck,” he said, demonstrating the length on his neck instead of mine.

So this is why he’s so involved with the dress part. I guess he cares a little bit about Pelomina to make sure that her clothes catered well to her constitution. Domineering, of course, but also a little thoughtful. I suppose she’s just looking out for her health. A dead wife is a useless wife, isn’t it?

Or I guess that would be his reasoning. It’s just hard to imagine that he has a gentle bone in his body.

And it almost seems like he’s making an effort to actually look crude, so it further backs up my impression and understanding of his character. Madame Illescent looked at the dress we were talking about and nodded, “Of course, however, I thought the place is cold, what would the lady wear to keep warm around her neck?” she asked with genuine concern.

Lykus waved her worry off, “I have something for that,” he replied, and madame Illescent, although doubtful, just nodded and sighed as she took the sketchbook from me,

“When will you be needing the dress?” she asked,

“Could you finish it in a day?” Lykus asked,

“Could you stay awake for a whole day?” she asked back,

“In two days then,” Lykus sneered, jutting his chin out, is he this playful in reality or is it because he and madame Illescent has a different relationship and not the usual lord and servant relations he has in the castle, either way, it was refreshing seeing him not act like he carries the world on his shoulder and even more, seeing someone banter with him.

That said, madame Illescent sighed deeply, shaking her head at him, “You’ve grown up to be a stubborn man, lord Lykus,” she noted. So they’ve known each other for a long time. Madame Illescent knew Lykus back when he was a child. Lykus only huffed at the remark as madame Illescent set the sketchbook down and crossed her arms.

“I’ll be expecting a generous payment for my efforts, I suppose?” she asked, not exactly concerned with the amount but rather reminded Lykus that she's to be paid.

Lykus clicked his tongue, looking away and nodding, “Yes, yes,” he said and madame merely shrugged and nodded to me.

“Then I will see you in two days, my lady,” she said, leading us out of the back room and to the front of the shop.

“Yes, I look forward to it,” I replied with a curtsy right as we left and got onto the carriage, like earlier Lykus came in after I did and closed the doors, giving me an annoyed look.

“Are you that eager to appear beautiful for other people?” he asked. Oh wow, so we’re talking about it. Man, I shouldn’t have tested him like that, I momentarily forgot we’re not even friends,

“Lord Lykus, to be quite frank with you I only did that because of you,” I began, I wonder if it’s just me who thinks of this or did the moment I saw him acting like a stubborn child, I started seeing him in a less frightening light.

Less frightening enough for me to even reply in a not-so-meek ‘please-don’t-kill-me’ voice.

He raised his brows and crossed his arms. The scowl was always there so I take note of it more when he’s not doing it, “Pray tell, my lady, why would that be because of me?” he asked,

I shrugged, trying to keep this from being a serious conversation, “I just found your eagerness to help me in picking a dress quite… well,” I trailed off. What am I supposed to say? I can’t just say ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ I didn’t mean that completely in that sense. It was weirdly adorable, not actually adorable.

‘How many synonyms are there for the word cute?’ Because I’ll be darned if I ever need to call a seven-feet tall weapon of c*****e ‘cute’.

“Well?… quite what?” he pressed. WAIT I’M STILL THINKING! I’ve been hating on Lykus for so long thinking of praises and compliments for him is a fresh new experience.

“Uh… how can I describe it… c-charming? I suppose?” I replied. That seems pretty fitting, right?

The cabin was filled with silence, and I started to hear the sound of clacking hooves. The air has become so tense that I could feel every movement in the carriage, something that I didn’t notice until now. Lykus, on the other hand, had his expression frozen in a scowl.

For a quick second, he moved. Placing his palms on his knees and looking out the window, I for sure thought he was going to say something stupid or tell me off for associating him with something that was not born of war and masculine origin but he just remained silent, after giving me the meanest face he could muster. He must’ve thought that it’s not to fight over with.

Good. I agree,

We got back to the more crowded parts of the city and the loud chatters replace the sound made by the carriage, ton our route I managed to get a closer look at the puppet show that I saw earlier, I tried to watch as much as I could but we passed it by pretty easily,

“Jewelry,” I heard his voice mutter along with other incoherent words, and my eyes darted to him. He’s still looking out the window but I was pretty sure I did hear him talk.

“I’m sorry, what was that, my lord?” I asked. All I heard was jewelry,

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking at me again, “Would you like to look for jewelry next?” he asked,

“Ah, no it’s a—”

“And if so… would you like to get to the store… on foot?” he followed, cutting me off and averting his gaze from me.

What is going on? What sort of thing is he trying to pull, does he want me to walk alone or does he want us to walk there?

“O-On foot?” I repeated,

“Yes, the town seems to be having festivities and… I… I would like to investigate whether it’s all safe and sound,” he explained.

‘Is this… mild character development?’ I thought, but no… it can’t be. It happened out of the blue. Either way, I guess I should go along with the current. Who knows where this change in behavior is going to end up? I nodded at him.

“Then yes, my lord, I would love to,” I replied.