“Bars…”
“Prison bars…”
“Be free… or…”
“…hide behind them…”
“You're free and doing fine. Move on already.”
“Hmmnn…?” Javi forced his eyes slowly open; the clear view behind the familiar prison bars gradually changed at the calm voice, reassuring with a hint of annoyance. He blinked the blurry picture away and caught sight of black and red…
“Finally awake?”
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The Red Flower
Chapter. 16
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Alarmed, Javi jumped so fast to sit on the bed, but he groaned in pain immediately and clutched his head, “Ugh, ouch… why…” he managed to send a glare to the person sitting casually on the desk before him, “Why are you in the room with me?”
Ellmer slightly raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, “It's my room. I had to look after you until you woke up.”
Javi scrunched his whole face at the other in disgust and disbelief. Ellmer suppressed a sigh at the dirty look thrown at him, “I also hate your presence, so feelings mutual.”
Wary and defensive on the bed, Javi stared at the other silently with a deep frown, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the calm black-red head. He had many questions and was still bothered by what Ellmer said before they started foolishly fighting. The words rang loud in his head.
“I'm sorry…”
Javi blinked, taken aback by the genuine apology from the cold person, the one he declared as the villain in his head.
“I shouldn't have let my anger out on you like that… after all… you weren't at fault for the fact I was bought just to be forced to guard a complete stranger,” said Ellmer, closing his eyes with a light sigh, resting his arm comfortably on the backrest of his chair.
“What are you talking about…?”
“……”
Javi was so confused that one could see question marks all around his face. Ellmer clicked his tongue after a long stare at the other’s clueless face, closing his eyes in repressed annoyance, slumping down and resting his elbows on his knees, “The fact that you have no idea about anything at all still pisses me off, though…”
“……?”
Ellmer leaned back again with a sigh and played with the back of his hair, “Anyway, about Davante, I don't want to kill him. Now that I've met him properly, I seriously want to protect him. I also want to ask him about some matters.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Javi intently eyed the other's necklace, a long thin cuboid with five small balls hanging down and stuck together and tied to a choker, “That necklace… is your weapon, right? Why do you need to hide your neck?” he narrowed his eyes questionably at Ellmer’s neck.
Ellmer opened his eyes and stared silently, slightly bewildered at the thoughtless question; he remained calm nonetheless, “I don't think you forgot the organization's punishments for anyone who disobeys?”
Shocked, looking sorry for a quick second before he narrowed his eyes, still doubtful, “If you really want to protect Davante… then why did you kidnap him?”
Brushing his hair back with a light sigh, “I'm not really obliged to prove myself to you, but why would I want to kill my little brother?”
Javi blinked, widening his eyes gradually as the words slowly sank in, “No way! Then what about the two kids in Edmund's Class? They're your brothers, right?! Also! Davante's last name—”
“Long story, don't ask.”
“……” Javi stopped flailing his arms and imagined with wide eyes the cute little cat that is Davante, beside the big devil that is Ellmer, together next to each other. He frowned at the horrifying picture and angrily gripped the blanket, “Unacceptable!”
“Your opinion doesn't matter.”
Javi fell silent at the other’s brutal words; he suddenly looked anxious and hesitated before asking, “Why… do you know so much about my past?”
Crossing his arms, Ellmer calmly answered, “It was my job to watch you 24/7, 'for his safety,' was what the old man said.”
“Safety? Old man? What??” Javi felt that the more he learned from the guy, the more lost he was.
Ellmer observed silently for a long minute, “You should worry about yourself first. Owin is Elois' little brother, and he's in this academy. I have no idea how Elois would react if he knew about you.” He noticed how Javi froze in his place. A heavy silence filled the dimly lit room. He followed with his eyes when Javi slowly stood up and silently walked to the door. Before he could open the door, Ellmer interrupted, “Hey, just an info and an advice for you,” he stared at the other’s stiff back, “Your friends weren't the ones who killed your family, also… don't trust Edmund Cavalon.”
Ellmer only stared at the door slowly closing. He calmly ran his hand through his hair, thinking this should be enough to make up for stupidly letting it out on the guy.
.
.
“How are you? Are you enjoying your time here? Emmie really misses you.” Karl said with eyes fond and playful, though the other's face remained unbothered and tired. Davante stared silently, “You didn't really come here only to tell me this, right?”
Karl's smile remained as she calmly warned, “You must stay away from Elois. You may have to consider him your enemy.”
Davante frowned at her ever so slightly, “Was that why you attacked him…? I can't do that.”
“Hmm,” Karl’s eyes softened fondly at the other, “I can't force you on anything, but I trust your decisions, Davante.”
Davante turned his head to look at the rest of the academy, which looked like a whole city looking from the balcony, resting his cold hand on the railing, “The game you told me about last year… is it the same game I'm playing now with Emmie?”
Karl silently tilted her head to look at the night sky above, “Yes.”
“Karl…” Davante weakly called, not looking at the woman, “Your brother whom you want me to save… is Lucas, right?”
Karl's smile vanished, and she slowly lowered her head to look at the ground; no answer.
“Lucas and Baldrick are the same person, right?”
Still no answer.
Davante turned slowly to sternly look at her, “Why would I save that kind of person, Karl?” he weakly clenched his hand at the thought of saving a heartless person, “A man who enjoys the miseries of others is not worthy of my help, especially…” He slightly gritted his teeth, ‘Alucia… a smiley doll used by her own father… she wasn't allowed to feel anything at all…’
He remembered her last words, smiling and crying while relaying her father’s words to him, only allowed to breathe all day and undying just for that. He frowned painfully at the vivid memory, ‘That was the first time I saw her tears… she was hurting all the time but wasn't allowed to say anything…’
“Saving someone isn't always a good thing, Davante.”
Davante was pulled from his thoughts by Karl’s calm voice. She was still looking at the ground, her eyes hidden by her hair from the teen.
“Sometimes, you must kill that person just to save him, erase his existence.”
Davante widened his eyes. He couldn't describe what he felt by the woman's cold words; he just felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, a weight he may not be able to handle…
She pointedly avoided his eyes, “I can't kill my brother. I can't even tell you the reason. That’s why…” She started walking calmly toward him, “Be careful of everyone in this place, Davante,” she got close to him, leaned down, and whispered in his ear, “Emmie hates this game more than anyone else. If she could, she would have taken you somewhere far away from everyone to keep you safe.” She closed her eyes with a soft smile as she started disappearing gradually with the smoke slowly surrounding her, “I honestly hate to see you suspecting her while she misses you in the castle, so… the best thing you could do for her is to trust her.”
She left Davante alone with his thoughts. He stood silently for a while, feeling his head heavy after the small talk. Slowly, numbness slowly crawled all over his body. He felt so… empty, oddly detached from the world and unmoving, so… tired. It was so quiet in the academy that he got startled when someone landed on the veranda in front of him and so silently like a feather. He recognized the person immediately, “J-Javi?” He was surprised by the look the other had on his stiff face.
“I was a member of Anfinrud's organization, and my last mission was to kill Davante Fixsen…” said Javi in a low voice enough for the teen to hear.
“What…” Davante slightly widened his eyes, but more than anything, he honestly had no idea how to react. More than the shocking news, Javi’s face troubled him more so. He took a hesitant step back when the other quickly walked toward him and grabbed his shoulders tightly; he felt Javi's hands shaking badly on his shoulders. He looked up to be met with Javi’s trembling eyes. Javi's eyes looked so shaken and… scared, unlike his usual self.
“Javi—”
“I was the one who ruined Elois' brother's eye and— And I don't know what to think or do anymore—”
“Calm down—”
“—And I'm sorry, I don't really know what I'm doing or why I'm telling you all of this now! But I never planned to kill you!!”
He weakly raised his hand in an attempt to calm the other, “Wait, Javi— calm down first—” Davante caught something moving from the corner of his eye. When he tried to glance quickly, he widened his tired eyes.
‘I… am scared… how can I protect two close friends from each other now…?’
There, by the veranda door, stood a shocked Elois.
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The End of CH. 16