Chapter 74: A cup of poison for Earhart. (7)

Alice was splayed out in the bath, leaning against the edge as she splashed the water on her face. Cold. Each drop felt like ice as they slid down her face, some of them desperately clinging to her hair. She could see her breath every time she exhaled, the chill slowly seeping to her core.

"So, can I now ask about what went down?"

Teresa spoke up from behind Alice, tending to her hair. Doing so with cold water was a new experience but water was water so the job remained unchanged. Wanting an ice bath was strange enough, but the Alice in front of her also had a small wound on her lips, a few drops of blood occasionally sneaking out when she pursed her lips too tightly.

"It was Gabriel."

Alice cupped more water in her hands as she spoke, wincing for a second as she splashed it against her face, gazing at the rippling water through the cracks between her fingers.

"That much is obvious with you."

Teresa rolled her eyes, Alice could practically hear the wry smile forming on her lips. Yes, it really was obvious, wasn’t it? Who else but that knight could elicit such reactions from her?

"He found out about the upcoming engagement proposals that we’ll be handed during the investitures."

Alice tapped the water as she would a table, as if she was pondering some conundrum. But she was just trying to keep herself in check, she was working with the icy water to suppress that which rose whenever she thought back to what happened barely a few minutes ago.

"I see. I’m guessing he’ll cause a great big ruckus?"

Teresa could somewhat guess Gabriel’s reaction after finding out. And if it was the Gabriel that was showing signs of change… Yeah, he may just cause a ruckus large enough to make Alice react like this. But the truth that Alice revealed…

"He said that it was unacceptable. He’ll propose to me during the investiture to shut down all future talks about marriage."

Yeah, that was a bit beyond what Teresa had expected. That was a… Big step for Gabriel. It was… Illogical, if you thought about what they were trying to achieve. But oh well, people were supposed to be illogical beings, it was about time that Gabriel got that memo.

"Yes, that does seem like something that would push that button. I would ask if I should congratulate you on your future heir, but I’m guessing this bath is taking place to prevent exactly that."

Teresa knew Alice, and some parts she knew better than Gabriel. Alice was already struggling to hold herself back at normal times, with Gabriel springing something like that on her it was easy to imagine her control slipping. But evidently, the last step wasn’t taken. Alice responded simply, raising a hand.

"I was this close, Teresa. Really, this close. I had him beneath me. I can still taste him, a mixture of blood and apples. His shoulders are quite hard, did you know that? I felt like my fingers were trying to dig through stone."

She held her index and thumb against each other as she spoke, barely leaving any room between them. She could still feel the sensation of skin and flesh beneath her fingers, if she had dug just a bit harder she would have drawn blood there as well. She wanted to draw blood there as well.

"I marked him. Shoulders and lips. And he marked me back…"

Her hand fell. The fingers, still warm to her thanks to the sensation, tracing her lips. A soft sting of pain shot through her when she reached the small wound on her lips. Where she drew blood, so too did he. He wasn’t just an observer, he was a participant. But…

"But it’s not enough, Teresa."

No. Not yet. Her hands clenched, quivering softly as she held them in front of her face. So close, so easy… It wouldn’t even have taken a push to go on. But no… No, it wasn’t enough.

"Years ago, before you were employed here, Marion and the others actually helped me understand something. Teresa, I am greedy."

Alice recalled that conversation with perfect clarity. When Gabriel was struck by Leonardo and Marion only scolded him for making a scene, drawing a clear line to represent Gabriel’s status. Oh how Alice remembered that conversation, oh how she remembered the feelings she felt for the first time.

"I want him. Gabriel. I want my knight. I want him to be recognized, not just by me but by the family and the entire empire."

Desire. The first desire that she felt, the first fire he lit in her. He was beaten for her, but the one who did it wouldn’t even be punished because Gabriel was a nobody. The candle that banished her night, the knight that showed her light… Oh how she wanted him to be recognized.

But then they grew. People always grew, time always passed. And as time passed and people grew, so too did desires. Time and time again, the knight moved for her. Time and time again he banished the night. So it just grew, and grew, and grew, and grew. The greedy became greedier, and in the end her desire reached its current state.

"I want him to want me. To need me the way I need him. I want that stoic face to crumble when he looks at me, I want that cold rationality to burn when he thinks of me. I want him to lose his constant control when faced with me. I pushed him down today, but in the future I want him to push me down in equal measure."

It was no longer enough to just have him. She wanted him to crumble, she wanted him to show her a face that he would show only her. She wanted him to wake up and think of her before he even blinked, she wanted him to close his eyes and think of her the second before he fell asleep. She wanted him to become like her.

She was close. She could feel it in his gaze, his voice, his very being. But it wasn’t quite there yet, at least not in the way she wanted.

"So I have to hold back today. I need to be patient, calm. He took one step today, he tasted me as I tasted him. Soon… Very soon, I’ll make it so that he takes the next step of his own volition."

Soon, really soon. The investiture, that was where she would do it. She would just do what he taught her, she always did things by following the things he taught her. Not a tenet, not a rule. No, this time she would use what she learned from watching, experiencing. She would fix him with love, or perhaps it could be considered breaking him.

"Fufu. Teresa, I really am quite greedy."

She couldn’t stifle her laugh when she thought about it, the shaking of her hands getting stronger as she squashed down the rising fire.

———

Gabriel rose from the bed a while after Alice left. For a few moments he had just been lying there absentmindedly. Looking down, his clothes were rather dishevelled thanks to how Alice had pushed him down. He tried to straighten them out, but his bandaged hands made it a futile attempt so he abandoned the idea.

The mirror that Alice had set up in his room, he found himself stopping in front of it. He really looked dishevelled. Scattered and unruly hair, wrinkled clothes and sleeves that had been pulled up. His gaze was a bit unclear, his eyes almost murky.

"Ah… I look a mess."

He muttered somewhat absentmindedly, he looked as if he had just been rolling around in bed for the last few hours. But with his hands… Well, he could forget about fixing it on his own. Then again, he didn’t really need to dress up considering who he was thinking about meeting now.

"Nergal, let’s go."

The small octopus plopped down from the bed as Gabriel turned around, slinking over before melting into his shadow. Gabriel left the room and moved through the hallways, heading in the opposite direction of where Alice had gone.

He left the mansion through the side entrance and followed one of the many paved paths, the training grounds soon stretching out ahead of him. The sun had just dipped below the horizon so there shouldn’t be anyone here. But he’d spotted someone there earlier when he first returned from the Night Pack, and right now he was looking for their aid.

He entered the training grounds, and sure enough, that figure was still training furiously over there. The dull sound of metal hitting wood echoed across the grounds as the figure danced around a spinning wooden dummy, evading the various limbs it had.

"Training ended a while ago, you know?"

The figure winced as Gabriel spoke up, a fleshy thud resounding as one of the dummy’s limbs smashed into the side of her chest. She groaned and staggered back but grit her teeth and stepped forward again, still dodging as she answered.

"…Maybe, but only for those who can afford to stop."

Trisha dodged the blows of the dummy, swinging at it with a dull training blade. Her voice was low and heavy, her breath coming out in quick gasps as sweat ran down her face. Her deep blue eyes seemed alight with flames and indignation as she kept smashing her sword into the dummy.

"I’m not angry. You had no choice, I know that."

Gabriel wasn’t saying it just to calm her, he never did. He really wasn’t angry at her and Lawrence for leaving when Francis came to the north. They had no choice, they were knights of House Vritara, and someone higher ranked had given an order. If they disobeyed then they would get fired, and Lawrence would likely be robbed of his knightage. They would lose everything.

"But I am angry."

Trisha’s reply was simple, her sword colliding with the side of the dummy and leaving a large crack in the wood. The dummy stopped spinning as a result, the following silence broken by Gabriel.

"I’ve come to ask for advice."

Advice. Yes, Gabriel felt that he needed advice. The things he was planning, he knew preciously little about them. But he felt that he… wanted to do it right. So he needed to get some advice. Trisha spat out several quick heavy breaths before she turned her gaze onto Gabriel.

"Alri… Gabe, why are you bleeding?"

She cut off her own reply in the middle, her head tilting slightly. Now that she was actually looking at him she could tell that he was rather dishevelled, his hair and clothes in complete disarray. She bit her lips when she saw his bandaged hands. She knew that there probably wasn’t a lot she would be able to do if she had gotten to stay behind and join them on that expedition, but she would never know for sure so she couldn’t help but blame herself. Gabriel however didn’t even seem to pay his hands any mind.

"Bleeding?"

He was caught somewhat… Off-guard by her question. He brought a hand to his face since that was what she was looking at, and there were indeed a few drops of blood stuck to his bandages when he lowered his hand again.

Strange. He hadn’t seen anything like that when he looked at the figure reflected in the mirror. His tongue moved a little, drifting past his lips for a moment. And then the taste hit him. Blood mixed with a bit of lemon and vanilla.

A figure flashed past his mind. A familiar face flushed red, gasping desperately for air as it looked straight at him, eyes seemingly alight with flames. Crimson eyes that reflected only him, his own reflection gasping for breath.

"Ah… This… It’s nothing to worry about."

He remembered. His chest started to heat up, starting in his lungs and spreading to his ribs, like fire eating him from the inside. Right, she gave him fire. She plugged him up and then poured in nothing but fire, until the flames were all that remained within him. His tongue slipped back to his lips. Vanilla and lemon… soft and delicate.

"Alright… So, what are you planning for Lady Alice?"

Trisha gave a slow nod of her head, her initial response a bit drawn out because Gabriel was reacting strangely. But he returned somewhat to normal after she drew his attention by speaking.

"Astute."

He nodded his head, but Trisha shook hers just as quickly as he had responded.

"No, it just so happens that you really only ask for advice about things like that."

You didn’t have to be astute when it came to Gabriel, you just had to be good at picking up patterns. And when it came to advice, especially when he came to her for advice, it was generally only about this. And indeed, Gabriel’s response proved her right.

"I intend to propose to Alice during the upcoming investiture, its the best way to stop the unwanted engagement proposals they intend to send our way."

Trisha couldn’t help but stop momentarily. She tapped her ears a few times and blinked as she looked at him, but he looked as serious as always so he clearly wasn’t joking.

"You… You’re planning on proposing? How?"

Gabriel was going to propose? She’d heard some rumours about the investiture, and Gabriel, as one of the main actors, wouldn’t be able to escape getting a title. But using that opportunity to propose to Alice?

"I haven’t thought about that yet. I have a ring in mind, but I’m unsure about how to hand it over."

It was… about the answer Trisha expected from him. He was generally like that when it came to other people, assuming he wasn’t looking to kill them, have half a plan and then improvise.

"…"

She stood there quietly for a moment, leaning on the dull sword that she had stabbed into the ground. She looked at Gabriel, observed his eyes. He didn’t seem to notice it, but his tongue kept occasionally tracing his lips. It would appear that things had… changed in her absence.

"You are sure that Lady Alice will accept the proposal, yeah?"

Naturally, Trisha knew the answer to this question. Anyone who spent the slightest bit of time with them would know the answer to this question. But Gabriel… previously he would be among those who didn’t know the answer.

"Yes, I have already spoken about it with her."

Yes, things really had changed after she was forced to return to the Vritara estate. Well would you look at that, this man was finally starting to change. In that case, Trisha knew exactly what she had to do.

"Right. Do you know what that means?"

She phrased it as a question, but she didn’t give Gabriel any time to answer it, there was another question far more important for him to answer.

"Gabe, most women only ever want to get proposed to a single time in their life. I am sure that Lady Alice is like that, and I don’t imagine you plan on letting someone else propose to her in the future, right?"

Ha, Lady Alice was more than just like that. Trisha feared for the safety of anyone who tried to propose to her, assuming they weren’t Gabriel.

"Unacceptable. None of the possible candidates are worthy."

Luckily, the answer Gabriel provided was satisfactory. Well, in a way it was, the reason he gave was just a bit… Arrogant? Insane? Whatever you wanted to call it. Bottom line was that it was good enough for now.

"Alright, whatever you say. Do you know what this means, Gabe? It means that this will be Lady Alice’s first and last proposal, her one and only. It needs to be perfect, you need to be perfect."

Right. Her Lady would finally get the proposal she desired, the thing she had sought for quite a few years already. It had to be perfect, it had to be everything she dreamt of. If Trisha managed to make that happen… perhaps her guilt would be lessened a bit.

"I don’t know how long we have, but you never come for advice at a proper time so it can’t be that long. We’ll have to rush through it, but there’s no way around it, we’ll have to work with the time we have. I’ll help you make it perfect, Gabe. But to do so, you’ll have to do what you hate the most, you have to stand out."

Yes, the main proponent required for Lady Alice’s perfect proposal, Gabriel. The man who kept on trying to hide in the back, an unassuming knight you could easily ignore. She would have to pull him away from that image.

"A Lady wants her man to be the best in the world, someone everyone is envious of. By the time the investiture rolls around, I’ll have you become a man who commands everyones gaze even by just walking."