"No, not right now. Jenkins, Briny already suspects sothing about the two of us, but we can't lay everything bare just yet. Don't you see? This is all for your own good."
The red-haired girl's expression was as if she were explaining the simplest of truths to a child.
"For ?"
"Originally, my reluctance to tell Briny everything was in the hopes that she could accept you having both of us. I don't know what sweet nothings you used to talk your way into her bed, conveniently solving the issue of her accepting two people. But... do you really think she can accept you having more?"
Hathaway challenged, and Jenkins had no answer to her question.
"Hiding it from her at first was to let her accept a certain degree of your greed. Now it seems that wouldn't have been too difficult; getting her drunk and having us all sleep together once would have settled everything. But now, keeping her in the dark is so she can accept your other appetites. Don't you get it? Or do you really believe Briny can just easily accept living with even more won?"
The red-haired girl looked genuinely angry. Jenkins stamred an apology, understanding that Hathaway's plan was entirely for his benefit. He felt a deep sense of sha. Other than the death of Mr. Barnard, his complicated relationships with the various girls in his life were one of the few things in this world that truly weighed on his conscience.
"What do you think you're doing, Jenkins?"
As Hathaway rose and headed for the washroom, Briny turned on him, her tone fierce as she asked the sa question. Jenkins explained the situation honestly once more, but Briny was far less willing to accept his words than Hathaway had been. She arched a perfect eyebrow:
"Hathaway invited you over tonight... Wait. Jenkins, tell the truth. Have you two already... slept together?"
Jenkins didn't want to lie, and Briny saw the answer written all over his face.
"You two..."
She flushed a deep red and looked as if she wanted to scream, but though she opened her mouth, no words ca out. Jenkins knew she was genuinely hurt.
"I have no right to condemn Hathaway, because I've done the sa thing."
She murmured sadly, her head bowed, before suddenly looking up at Jenkins.
"But it's you I condemn, Jenkins. Oh, for the gods' sake, how could you?"
She had already accepted it all, yet facing the reality of it still stung. But then she rembered the promise she'd made to Jenkins—about marriage, about lovers—and thought of the grueling battle for the throne that lay ahead of him. She felt she shouldn't be adding to his pressure.
Seeing Jenkins's face etched with guilt, unable to et her gaze, she stood up, leaned down, and gently kissed his forehead.
"I should accept all of this. I did make you a promise, after all. You're handling things well... But if you could, please try to consider my feelings sotis."
This only made Jenkins feel worse. He returned the blonde girl's kiss, hoping with every fiber of his being that Hathaway's 'plan' would actually work.
He didn't leave the inn until around eleven o'clock. Though both Hathaway and Briny had hinted that he could slip back after he left, Jenkins chose not to. He said goodbye to them both with an embrace that was a little more than friendly, then turned his back and walked into the night, carrying his cat, without a single look back.
Hathaway and Briny stood together at the room's window, watching Jenkins's silhouette disappear around the street corner. Neither of them spoke; they just stood there, quietly gazing down at the silent street below.
"So... why did Jenkins really co here tonight?"
Briny murmured the question, almost as if to herself. She stood closer to the window than Hathaway, who couldn't see her expression—only her beautiful blonde hair and the desolate set of her back.
Ever since they first t in Bel Diran, Briny had suspected Jenkins and Hathaway's relationship wasn't purely platonic. The girls had even had a conversation about it, unbeknownst to Jenkins, but Hathaway had anticipated it and managed to brush off Briny's suspicions. Until tonight, the blonde girl had rely thought there was so simring tension between Jenkins and the red-haired girl, never realizing just how far their relationship had progressed.
"He ca here tonight looking for the girl he loves."
Hathaway answered without hesitation, knowing Jenkins must have let sothing slip again. Still, this aligned with her original plan. Even if Briny practically knew everything, as long as that final veil wasn't lifted, there was still room to maneuver.
Hearing this, the blonde girl lowered her head in silence. After a long mont, she turned and embraced Hathaway.
"I'm really starting to get scared, Hathaway. About Jenkins, about us, about the choice my father gave . I never told you, but my father..."
But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to speak of the two paths Marquis Mikhail had offered.
"Jenkins's family background... it's not as simple as we thought. I don't know if I did the right thing. Sotis I get angry with him, and sotis I get angry with myself. It's my own greed that's led to all of this. Jenkins... everything's really about to begin now, isn't it? The throne, power, bloodlines, all of it... I'm so, so scared..."
"It's alright. You don't have to worry about a thing, Briny. Jenkins and I will protect you."
Hathaway comforted her gently, knowing what Briny truly feared was what would beco of the three of them, now that they were caught in the maelstrom of the succession.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. Everything will turn out all right. I promise."
She promised again in a hushed voice, and then she heard the blonde girl's quiet sobs.
In the vase by the window, the flowers were on the verge of blooming again with the arrival of sumr. Having survived the harsh winter, the approaching midsumr would grant each and every flower the sa chance to flourish.
Hathaway gazed at the flowers in the vase, her thoughts turning to all the entanglents between the three of them. She had accused Jenkins of being greedy, but hadn't she and Briny, driven by their own greed, rushed to this very city to be at his side?
"None of us are innocent. We're all guilty."
The thought made her want to laugh—a cold, mocking laugh for herself, for Briny, and of course, for the ever-greedy Jenkins. For so reason, her mind suddenly drifted to Chocolate, who had been so quiet all evening. The cat's amber eyes, as they had watched her, had seed to condemn all three of them. It wasn't just her imagination, she decided. They were, all of them, in the wrong.
Reviews
All reviews (0)