Vow Of Silence

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

1st PERSON: Pelomina Lorenzo-Capiz

It made me guilty.

It’s not me that Lykus is praising or apologizing to right now, but Pelomina Vaustero. The real owner of this body. I really need to get my act together. It’s already bad that I’m starting to be enchanted by this man’s otherworldly looks, and it didn’t help that I have such weird taste in men.

This is a losing fight that I’ve got myself into.

No worries, I’ll just need to focus on my goals. My current goal, for now, is to attend that coronation. For some reason, it’s hard to explain, but it’s just plain and simple: gut feeling. I have no idea exactly what’s my purpose for attending. I didn’t even want to attend, initially, because it would mess up my almost well-drawn plan of escape,

‘I was so close, but that suddenly came…’

I wonder if I’m supposed to find something or someone in the castle, I know that this should be the last thing I should ever base my judgment on, especially while being in a foreign world, but it’s all I got.

I can’t blindly ask questions either, even Lykus was starting to get suspicious of my memory because kept asking and talking about things I completely have no idea, but should already know, about. No matter, everything is going to be fine… eventually.

“My lord,” I called, and he hummed in response,

“When are we leaving?” I followed. He stretched his neck and cracked his knuckled with a sigh,

“Honestly, wife… I’m not very eager to leave Viellyen, so I suppose we should leave on the day of the coronation,” he said, and I hummed. He does look like he cares a lot about this country and more of his land. I still don’t know how extensive his jurisdiction is, but I bet the perimeter would be vast.

He seemed to love this town, too. Everyone knows him, but I bet that would be a give. How he is now is the exact opposite of how he is in the castle. Everyone in there is afraid of him, except for the knights.

One of the knights even tried to s***h him in full swing. I shudder just remembering it.

But back to our discussion… he answered the question, that’s for sure, but when are we actually leaving, specifically? He still had his hands on his back as he held the reins, looking at our surroundings with a calm expression, and I'd truly hate to ruin the ambiance by asking a ton of questions about the event.

His hair swayed gently on his back as we walked, and I couldn’t help but focus my gaze on him again. I wonder if I could ever convince him to listen to my side of the story, make him understand that I didn’t mean to take the body of his real wife.

“Unless,” he announced again, making me look up and listen to him completely,

“Yes?” I replied out of instinct,

He threw a glance my way and scoffed, “Well… it did make me feel bothered, but I suppose you really are not the type to do such things, if you wish to go there earlier to spend time with Yulsey, I will allow it,” he said and my brows furrowed as I tilted my head,

‘… Who the heck is Yulsey?’

He must be someone I know quite well, someone I’m close with so much so that it bothered Lykus. Or maybe Lykus is just a jealous man, who knows? But in this situation, since I don’t know anything about Yulsey, it’ll be best if I stray far away from them. I better not involve myself too much in Pelomina’s personal matters.

If Yulsey is as close to the real Pelomina as I fear them to be then it’s over for me.

“I’m more than fine with staying here until it’s time for the coronation, my lord,” I replied and he smiled slightly, enough to be noticed by someone like me who’s probably been staring at him for longer periods of time ever since he started showing signs of kindness.

“It makes me… happy to hear that from you,” he replied and my hands involuntarily clenched.

‘This man has to stop—’

I need to distract both him and myself, curse my tendency to fall for men who look like they fight bears in forests as a hobby. I looked around the place and spotted the puppet show that I’d been eyeing since earlier.

“Ah, my lord, can we go see that?” I said, pointing to the little stage that was set on the sidewalk. He looked at me with a small smile.

“A puppet show, my lady?” he asked, and I nodded. He sighed as he led the horse to the spot. It was mostly children-no let me rephrase that. It was only children here, so our presence was somewhat impossible to ignore. The man controlling the puppets looked up at us and bowed with a big smile, and as he did, his puppets also bowed.

I returned the favor, and Lykus only nodded with a small smile.

There’s a proper term for this kind of puppet, the one with strings… uh.. ah! Marionettes! He’s controlling marionettes. I don’t know what story he was telling, but it looks interesting, and it looks like we’re too late to watch the beginning, so I’m trying to catch up as much as I could,

“… and so, the wizard left the cruel city filled with people who scorned and hated him for doing good for others,” the man said, and even though I just arrived and I have no idea what he’s talking about, I’m already felt bad for whoever that wizard was, it didn’t help that the performer was good with controlling the puppet and the little puppet-wizard looked so down in the dumps that I couldn’t help and pout for him.

The children also felt the same and while some were sad, some were angry, one kid stood up, “Why did they hate him because of that? He didn’t do anything wrong,” she yelled. What an eloquent delivery.

I looked back at the performer, looking for answers to the little girl’s questions. The performer only shrugged, “Well, they thought that taking someone else’s heart is wrong,” the performer replied, and another kid butted in,

“But he healed her sick heart and gave her a new one,” the child reasoned, and the puppeteer agreed.

“You’re right, but even so...” He trailed off, moving the puppet again after putting on a different background for the setting, “He went to a better place, he went to Solaraw, where people cheered for him and thanked him for his help,” he went on as he controlled the puppeteer,

“Because sometimes… even if we are doing great things people will hate us and the things we do, but we just need to find out ‘Solaraw’ where people would appreciate us,” he finished, and the kids made a chorus of ‘ohh~’s which sounded so adorable.

Our ‘Solaraw’. That is one profound story, for sure. I hope these kids understood what it truly meant. I suppose all of us would’ve been searching for something like our very own ‘Solaraw’. It does bring a sense of comfort, to know that somewhere out there is a better place for all of us. Where we’ll be treated differently and more loved.

But I think adulthood did a number on me now that I realize there is no place like that. People won’t treat you any differently unless you act differently. That’s why when people change locations, they always say ‘start anew’ because they’re also planning to change themselves and start with a clean slate.

‘For goodness's sake, Pelomina, it’s a children’s story,’

The day seemed to pass by quickly because soon enough it looked like it was past noon and the sky was starting to turn into different shades of orange, purple, and pink. It seemed untrue. Everything looked different at night. I could see stalls and houses starting to light little lanterns that lit the streets so well with how many were hung all over the city.

Even in the cold breeze, the scene felt so warm.

The breeze begged to differ. On the other hand, it’s cold as heck. I hugged my arms close for some sense of warmth. Lykus stopped in his tracks and looked around. “Would you like to have dinner here, wife? Somewhere to keep warm, or would you rather head back?” he asked and pursed my lips as I also looked around.

I really want to stay out here a little longer. I’m somewhat worried that the moment we step back into the castle, Lykus would revert back to his old attitude, “Should we have dinner here then, my lord?” I asked,

“Then let’s eat dinner here, what would you like?” he asked, pulling the reins once we started walking again,

“It’s pretty chilly, how about something like soup?” I suggested,

“I agree, I know just the place,” He replied with a small smile.

‘This almost makes it feel like it’s a date,’