Chapter 222 – The Heartache of Kinue and Chloe
Kinue:
“Was it my fault?” my friend Chloe murmured to herself.
“What did I do wrong? What’s wrong with ?” she asked, her voice breaking as tears stread down her face.
Chloe was drowning in guilt and self-doubt, her words cutting through like a knife. I had never seen her so devastated. She had always been so strong, yet now she was shattered by the pain of rejection. It wasn’t just her heart that was broken; it was also the bond she cherished most in the world—her friendship with Nathan.
Everything went wrong. It’s over… the friendship we had is over. We’ll never go back to how we were… I lost my family again.
As her words ca out in choked sobs, my heart ached with her. I carried my own burdens too, my own hidden pains. I had given up on my feelings for Nathan to prevent sothing like this, to avoid hurting my friend. But seeing her like this, I realized that both of us had lost sothing irretrievable. In a way, I had also lost part of my family.
“I shouldn’t have rushed things. I was so stupid. I should have… I should have…” she said before burying her face in the blanket again.
I lay down beside Chloe, wrapping her in a firm hug, hoping my touch could sohow ease her pain. Her words felt so final, so filled with despair, that I struggled to find a response.
“I was so happy, thinking I could do it. I like him, Kinue. I really like him. I’ve liked him ever since we were little. He’s my best friend… my partner in cri… he’s always been with , even when I dragged him into trouble. He was the one who taught not to be afraid to leave the house… he was always there. I’ve lost a love and a friend. Now, I don’t even know how I’ll face him… what does he see as?”
She told they were engaged… I never even had a chance.
How do you comfort soone when you’re just as broken?
“We’ve both lost soone we care about, Chloe…” I whispered.
Chloe, in a brief mont of vulnerability, peeked out from under the blanket and looked at , her eyes swollen and red from crying.
I gave up on Nathan because I wanted to avoid a situation like this, but now… I’m hurting too. I want to cry like her. I’ve lost my family…
“It was my fault… I rushed things. Maybe if I’d waited… tried harder…” She swallowed hard. “Am I not good enough as a woman? Why doesn’t he see that way?”
I didn’t know how to answer. I could feel her pain and my own, tangled together. The silence between us was heavy.
“I’m sorry, Kinue, for liking the boy you like too.” She hugged back, and her words felt like a dagger in my chest.
“I should be the one apologizing, Chloe. I’m just a commoner. I shouldn’t even have thought about it… and I’m not even human. To most, I’m just an animal.” The pain in my voice was evident, but I held back my tears. I didn’t want Chloe to feel like she had to comfort as well.
She looked at , her tear-streaked face filled with determination.
“You’re not an animal, Kinue. You’re our friend, our family.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “I guess we’re both feeling like trash today…”
She laughed softly through her tears, but then turned to hide under the blanket again.
“You’re the duchess,” I tried to joke, “just command him to love you.”
Chloe chuckled again but quickly grew quiet.
“It’s all my fault. Nate wouldn’t even have this life. I dragged him and my aunt into this… I stole his future. He’s going to hate when he finds out the truth.”
Her words lingered in the silence, weighing heavily in the room. There were no easy answers for the pain she carried.
Chloe looked at with a deep, sorrowful gaze.
"I can fix this. I know how to break off an engagent between high nobles... I just need to have a child with soone else. I can’t bear staying by Nathan's side if he hates after finding out he’s being forced into marrying . My heart wouldn’t survive that. I’ll end it all, Kinue. And you’ll be free to have sothing with him."
She seed resolute, but her expression was shattered.
"It’s over for . I never want to see him again—not because I’m angry, but because I couldn’t handle him hating . I need to end this engagent." Her voice was steady, yet it carried the weight of finality.
She stood up, sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in her thoughts.
"I’ve lost my cousin, my friend, and the love of my life. I hate myself so much for this. I didn’t even know pain like this could exist. I just... I just wanted my friend back. But if I see him again, I know I won’t be able to take it. He’s the one who used to be there for in monts like this."
Chloe buried her face in her hands, her voice muffled by her tears.
"I want Nate. I don’t want anyone else. Why can’t he see that way? I... I love that idiot. I love teasing him, I adore his cute reactions, the way he gets embarrassed. I love annoying him. I think about him all the ti. I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to be by his side every night and wake up to his face every morning. I wanted to go through life’s ups and downs with him, knowing I could always count on him. I wanted to hug him as much as I wanted, to have him lay his head in my lap while I stroked his hair. I wanted... I wanted a family with him."
She looked at , tears brimming in her eyes.
"I’m sorry... I’m selfish. I shouldn’t be unloading all of this onto you."
Her words hit like a punch to the chest, and before I could stop myself, I let out the feelings I’d buried deep inside.
"I wanted that too!" I confessed. "I wanted all of that with him. I wanted him to be my partner, to sleep in his arms, to breathe in his scent. I wanted to take care of him when he was hurt, to be there for him when he was sad. I wanted... to beco one with him. I wanted him to be my love."
The weight of my confession crushed . I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
I sat down, burying my face in my hands, trying to hide the tears that stread down my cheeks.
"Don’t you see, Chloe? You’re a high noble, a duchess. You have everything... status, wealth, beauty. And if he still rejected you... what must he think of ? To him, I’m probably just trash... or worse, an animal." I sobbed, unable to contain the sadness suffocating .
My friend tried to reach out, but I raised a hand, signaling her to stop.
"I’m sorry," I said, my voice choked with emotion. "I can’t look at you anymore. Every ti I see you, I think of him. You were rejected, but I never even tried because I knew I didn’t stand a chance. You lost a cousin, a friend, and a love... but I lost the person I wanted to build a family with. You have your mother, but I have no one. The professor is my ntor, my guardian, but one day, she’ll have her own family. In the end, I’ll be abandoned by everyone."
Tears stread down my face as I spoke.
Knock, knock.
"I’ll get it," I murmured.
Chloe didn’t look at ; she probably felt guilty. But at that mont, I needed to let it out.
When I opened the door, I found a man standing in the hallway.
"Sorry..." I quickly wiped my tears. "We’re not accepting room service right now." My voice was weak, still heavy with sorrow.
The man offered a small smile.
"You’re Kinue, right? And that over there is Chloe Evenhart?"
"Yes..." I answered, confused, as I continued wiping away my tears.
"Great, I’ve been trying to talk to you for a while now."
"I don’t understand…" I murmured, trying to process the situation.
That’s when he reached for his storage bracelet.
"My na is Quinn," he said, his smile twisted and unnerving.
"KINUE!" Chloe scread desperately. "Get out of there!"
Before I could react, a sharp pain pierced my stomach. I looked down and saw the bloody blade.
I was stabbed!
Shock overwheld , and before my body could even respond, I was shoved backward, collapsing onto the floor. Blood poured out rapidly, staining my hands red as I tried to stop the bleeding. My mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening, but confusion and agony consud .
"Kinue!" Chloe's voice tore through the air, filled with panic, yet everything around felt distorted and distant. Pain was the only thing that felt real in that mont.
The man before us continued, his voice laced with venom. "This is all Nathan Evenhart's fault! Rember that as you die!"
He was preparing sothing, and soon I saw the fireball forming in his hands, encased in swirling wind.
"This is my fire bomb!" he shouted, launching the blazing sphere into the room as though it were a death sentence, impossible to escape.
The orb’s light filled the space for a brief mont, pulsating with an intense glow that seed to drain the warmth from the room before releasing it in a devastating explosion. The fireball felt alive, throbbing like a heart on the brink of rupture. Chloe tried to move toward , her eyes wide with terror, but before either of us could react, the spell detonated.
The explosion began with a low rumble, escalating in a single instant to an overwhelming roar. The sound was almost tangible, tearing through the air around us. The light was blinding, burning orange against my tightly shut eyelids.
Then ca the heat—oppressive and suffocating, as if we were trapped inside a giant furnace. The flas spread with terrifying speed, devouring everything in their path with a ferocity that seed almost sentient. The fire clung to the walls, consuming furniture in re seconds.
The shockwave hit next, a brutal force that ripped off the ground as if I were a ragdoll. The sheer power slamd against the ship’s wooden planks. The walls buckled and splintered like paper, shards flying in every direction like deadly knives.
The pressure of the blast forced the air from my lungs, leaving gasping for breath in an eternity of suffocation. The searing heat only intensified the agony, scorching my skin even from a distance.
As my body was hurled through the air, everything around moved in slow motion. Pieces of the ceiling and walls spun through the air, so still ablaze, tumbling like deadly projectiles. The deafening roar of the explosion drowned out all other sounds, a constant, relentless cacophony.
I felt my body crash through one of the ship’s walls, the wood shattering like brittle glass. Then, the sensation of falling overtook , weightlessness pulling downward before gravity seized .
When I hit the subterranean river, the water felt like a solid wall, the impact so fierce that pain erupted through every inch of my body. The freezing chill of the river was a new form of tornt, extinguishing the residual heat of the explosion while sapping away the last remnants of my strength.
Debris from the ship continued to rain down around , striking the water and sinking beside . Bubbles stread desperately from my lips, rising toward the surface. I tried to move, but every muscle felt paralyzed, my body too heavy to respond.
The river's current dragged relentlessly, spinning in its unforgiving force. My body was tossed from side to side, like a re object at the rcy of the water. As my strength faded, only one thought remained in my mind—a single na.
Nathan...
His na was the last thing I clung to, a fleeting spark of light in the overwhelming darkness. The icy grip of the subterranean river seed to envelop , smothering any trace of warmth or willpower I had left. The sensation of sinking deeper into the abyss felt inevitable, as if the river itself was determined to claim .
The bottom felt unreachable, an endless void pulling further and further from life and light. I was no more than a lost soul in its depths, drowning in a sea of regrets and words left unsaid.
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