A Tale Beyond Destiny

Chapter 31: Connor's Revelations (Caliana)

The words that Connor had said to me kept on replaying in my mind as I did not expect that I would hear that from someone who had been living in this world, and it was even more shocking that the person I was referring to was one of Caleb’s close friends.

It was not the main reason why I could not seem to remove him from my mind though. It was what he said next that shocked me the most. Even though it had been days ever since that day had happened, I could not seem to comprehend everything that had happened that day. I still could believe that something like that was possible, but then again, I guess that Connor was really mysterious because of that secret that he had been keeping to his friends all this time.

I remember that time when I became too shocked and too worried because I never thought that someone would be able to figure out who I was before. I could not believe that someone would be able to know the person I was before I came into this world, the person that I left behind with all the priorities that I should have, but I choose to let go because of my own Father.

“Rest assured that I will never harm you in any way, Lady Caliana,” I remembered that he told me those words when he saw how pale I was, while I stared at him as though I wanted to figure out how he was able to find out about that. He smiled warmly at me, though that did not help me to calm myself down because of the racing thoughts that I suddenly had in my mind. “To tell you the truth, I never thought that I would see you again. Not in this world, that is.”

I frowned at him as I tried to figure out what he was trying to say, but then again, I did not ask him any questions as I waited for him to finish what he wanted to talk about. I wanted to know why he had that kind of look on his face, as if he had remembered something from his distant past and I was the one who triggered those memories.

“I thought that the next time that I would see you again was when we were finally free to come back to Asphodel.” My eyes widened once again when I heard him say that, because something had finally registered in my mind. He looked at me, then he gave me a smile as though he still wanted to talk about this, but we both knew that this was not the right time to have a talk like this. “But I guess that you are bound to do something like this, given the nature and the attitude that you had the last time that I visited you in the castle.”

I was about to open my mouth to speak to him once again, to answer a single question that I badly wanted to know, but I was stopped when we both heard the bickering of Caleb and Fabian, which made the two of us act as though we were trying to have a normal conversation about things and not something ‘out of this world,’ literally.

He gave me a smile that I knew was fake, but then again, I just returned the gesture with my own small smile as though we had come into that phase where we tried to get to know one another, just like what a friend of my lover would do when it was the first time that we met.

“I enjoyed talking to you,” he said to me as soon as Caleb and Fabian returned to their previous seats. We both saw how Fabian’s brows raised up as though he was suspicious of something, though he did not point it out any longer. He just chose to stay silent, which I am thankful for because I did not know what to say to him. “Maybe, you can give me your cellphone number? So that you can inform me if Caleb would ever do something so absurd, that is,” he even joked that made all of us laugh, though I knew better than believing that it was his main purpose, which was why he wanted to keep in touch with me.

I knew that he wanted to talk more about the reason why I am here and he wanted to explain why he knew about me, and why he had decided to leave Asphodel, just like what I had done just months ago. I knew that he wanted to continue what he had talked about earlier, and we both knew that it was not really right for us to have a chat like that when Caleb and Fabian were in the same place as ours.

“Of course, I will give you my number,” I said to him as I took out my phone in my pocket, which Caleb had said that I should always bring with me so that I would be able to contact him in case of an emergency. “I will inform you if Caleb is acting so weird again,” I even joke that made Caleb complain, but I did not bother to humor him as I focused my attention on giving my number on Connor.

I also asked for Fabian’s, so that I would be able to make sure that Caleb was just alright whenever he was in the company, and just like earlier, he had been so enthusiastic about it that made me give him a smile, which showed a gratitude that someone like him had become friends with Caleb.

After that, the whole dinner was quiet, and from time to time, the three of them would keep on bantering as if it was what they were doing whenever the three of them would do something like that, and I just watched them, silently, with a smile on my face as I enjoyed the way Caleb had a carefree smile on his face as though this was enough for him to remove the stress that I knew he had these past few days.

Then now, it had been days ever since that eventful dinner had happened, but then, Connor still had not called me, as though he was busy over something that I did not really have any idea about what it was about. I never complained though. After all, even though I was really curious about his identity, I still kept relaxed because I knew that he meant no harm to me, or to Caleb. In fact, I knew that he would be able to keep both of us safe just like what he had done in the past.

I thought that this day would pass by without hearing anything new from him, but I guess that I was wrong as I received a message from him. I immediately checked it out, and I immediately prepared myself when I saw that he wanted to have a chat with me in a café that was near Caleb’s home, and he even said that he wanted to thoroughly talk to me about the matter.

After all, we both knew that this was indeed important for both of us. We needed to know something, and I knew that I would find out something for him which he never had a chance to say to me that day because of the limited words that he had told me.

In no time at all, I managed to take out a pair of jeans and a simple white blouse that I would be able to wear. I also took out flat shoes, which Caleb had bought for me before, even though I already told him that I already had too many things that had come from him. I checked if I was already good to go, and I immediately went out of Caleb’s home to meet with Connor.

Of course, I did not forget to give Caleb a text message saying that I would just go out of his home, though I never said to that text that I would meet Connor because I did not think that this would be the right time for me to reveal something about me, or something about his friend whom I think has been keeping this as a secret to him, after all these years that they were together.

As soon as I reached the restaurant, I immediately saw Connor on the side of the café as though he wanted to have privacy while both of us would have a talk about almost everything that we both had in our minds. He immediately stood up from his seat and bowed down at me as though he wanted to greet me, though I was very uncomfortable about it because it felt like it had been such a long time ever since someone had done that to me as a greeting.

“It is nice to see you again, Lady Caliana,” he said while he kept his head bowed down, though I waved him off as I was really uncomfortable that someone had done something like that again to me. After all, I badly wanted to remove that title from me, though I guess that I would never be able to do that as he knew my real identity.

It never stop to scold him though. To tell him that he did not have to do that to me because no one knew who I was in this world. No one knew that I had a high rank on another world, which I knew did not even exist in their minds, because it was too impossible to be true.

He just laughed at me as I tried to explain that to me, but in the end, he nodded his head as he promised that he would never do something like that to me any longer. He just resorted to changing our topic by ordering something that both of us would be able to eat, though I must say that it was never that necessary, because I did not think that this talk would be that long.

But then again, I did not have any choice as he started to order and return to our place and looked at me with that serious expression on his face that told me that this talk would start any minute from now. I prepared myself, though I did not know why I had to do that. Maybe I just felt like it because I never expected that something like this would happen to me in this world.

“To start this conversation of ours, or whatever it is, I wanted to ask you a question.” There it was. The question that I knew he would ask me, because I knew that I should not really be here, but then again, we found ourselves talking with one another in this world. “Why are you here, Lady Caliana?”

I looked down at my fingers as I started to play with them. I tried to think if I should tell him or not, but in the end, I decided that I should really just tell him because I think that it would not hurt me, right? After all, I wanted him to know how my Father had treated me and how my Mother had become so blind to her love for him and never really thought that everything he did to me was enough and was too painful for me.

“I ran away from them. From my parents. From my responsibilities.” I saw how Connor’s jaw dropped as though he had never thought of that before. It was as if he never really thought that I would do something like that, but then again, here I was, in a world where I did not even have any slightest idea about how they live, but I still felt so free like I had never been before. “He was so controlling that it was almost too suffocating for me. He wanted me to be perfect, though I knew that I cannot do that because I am like any other people in our world.” I let out a bitter smile as the memories of how my Father had treated me came crushing back into my mind. “I thought that I would be able to live as it is, but then, a day that he finally hurt me, physically, had come and I finally decided that it was enough. I needed to go, and so I did.”

I never really planned to run away from them. After all, I knew that many people still needed me so that I would be able to stop him from doing anything, but then again, I had enough. Every pain, the anguish, the words that he had said to me, the self-loathing that he had inflicted on me, it was all enough. I had enough and I knew that I needed to go and never come back. I needed to find a place where I would be able to become as free as I can. A place that will accept me for who I am and not who they want me to be. I wanted to be in a place where I could feel my freedom, and I thought that this world was perfect for that place I always dreamed of.

“I came to this world. I thought that this would be perfect for me, but then, I think that it was more than that.” Caleb suddenly came into my mind, and the way he had taken care of me even though he never really had to do that for me. “This world gave me the best place that I can ever have. A place where I can be free, without the fear that my Father was behind me and was ready to tell me that what I had been doing was wrong, even though I think that it was the total opposite.”

I remembered when I asked my father why he had to do that, to scold me and tell me that I was wrong even though I was not, and I clearly remembered that he said to me that I am a princess and I needed to act like one, though I doubt that I was not acting like one. I think that he just wanted to make sure that everything that I did was according to his plan and nothing else.

“I became his puppet, even though I have my own mind.” Tears threatened to fall into my eyes, but I forced myself to stop it because I never intended to take pity on anyone, and that included one of Caleb’s friends. I only wanted to be vulnerable to Caleb, because I knew that he would do anything just to make me feel better. “I followed him blindly, even though I already knew that he was already wrong, and that was it.” I looked up at him to show him the emotion, the hatred that I had on my own Father. “I have decided to leave... and never come back.”

Connor had become so silent after that. It was as if he was thinking of something, though I could not figure out what it was. He even leaned on the back of his chair as he clasped his hands together. He had this strange expression on his face, though I knew that it was just because he was trying to think, deeply.

“Your Father is really an assh*le, huh?” he said, that made me frown as I turned to look at him with a questioning gaze, and that was the moment that I saw that he leaned closer to me as though he never wanted to make anyone hear what he was about say to me. “Do you know what he had planned in the future?” he asked me that made me frown because I could not seem to understand what he was trying to say.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked him, a frown was still visible on my face because I could not really understand any single thing that he was talking about, though I knew that he would answer me immediately because of how he looked at me.

“Have you perhaps heard him saying about expanding his territory? Expanding the land that he had been ruling?” he asked me, and I came to remember that time when I saw that my Father was talking to one of his subordinates about planning to take some land so that they would be able to expand our land.

I first thought that they were not serious about that talk, but I knew better than that because I knew that my Father was not kidding around. Now that I am hearing this again, to other people, that is, I think that it was indeed true, and he indeed planned to expand our territory, even though it was too impossible to be true.

“I remember that I heard him talk about it with one of his men,” I answered him, honestly, but still, there was a confusion in my voice as I still could not figure out anything, even though we had been talking for a long time now.

“It is this world,” he said to me, that made me frown even more. He looked at me, straight into my eyes and what he said next shocked me the most. “The one that they were talking about to subdue was this world, and with that, they would be able to expand the land that he would rule over.”