Chapter 309
Alexcent slamd the door, letting out a sigh as he did.
“Carol?” Pauline called out tentatively. She was still in shock after everything that had happened.
Athyst turned to her and rushed over, pulling her friend into a tight embrace. “Pauline!” she exclaid. “I’m so glad we got here on ti.”
“You are Carol, right?” Pauline asked, laughing a little at the sudden affection.
“Yes,” Athyst said, pulling back to look Pauline over, checking to see if she was okay. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
Pauline tightened her grasp on Athyst. “No, it’s okay.”
Athyst let a beat pass then she asked, “What’s going on here? Who was that man? It wasn’t your ex-husband, was it?”
“No, no.” Pauline shook her head. She looked around the ss of the room and huffed, letting go of Athyst. “Why don’t you take a seat first and I’ll bring out so tea.”
Athyst moved to sit then, rembering that Alexcent was with her, and beckoned him over. “Pauline, this is my husband,” she introduced. “His na is Alexcent.”
“Oh, hello,” Pauline greeted, setting the table with cups and a pot of tea. “You look familiar… like a clumsy version of soone I once knew.”
Athyst let out a laugh as Alexcent’s face grew red. “Like an upgraded version of Gray?”
At that, Pauline seed to swoon. “Yes, Gray…” she said dreamily. Then, she stopped, looking between Alexcent and Athyst. “Why did you leave Gray? Did he cheat on you with that beautiful face of his?”
Alexcent narrowed his eyes as he took a seat beside Athyst. “You know I can hear you, right?”
“Oh, right!” Pauline exclaid, embarrassed. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but ask.”
“I get it,” Athyst smiled. “It might be a little confusing but… I’m still married to Gray. Well, that is, I’m married to Gray who also happens to be Alexcent… my husband.”
Pauline stared at her, obviously confused. “What?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I was cursed,” Alexcent supplied, ignoring Athyst’s confusion. “I had to work as a slave to break the cure. So, I beca a slave and returned to her after I was freed.”
“Oh,” Pauline said, looking a little dazed. “Well, that doesn’t matter now. As long as Carol is happy, I’m happy too.”
“About that…” Athyst trailed off. When Pauline turned to look at her, she avoided her gaze. “My na isn’t actually Carol. It’s Athyst.”
“Oh?”
“I didn’t want to deceive you,” Athyst said. “It’s just that I really thought I would have to go by Carol for the rest of my life.”
“Carol—No, Athyst,I don’t mind,” Pauline told her. “It’s just a na. It doesn’t matter.”
Athyst let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for understanding,” she said. “I thought you would hate for deceiving you.”
Pauline laughed. “Well, technically I lied to you too,” she said. “Did you hate then?”
“No!”
“Exactly.”
Athyst grinned. “I was just surprised. I didn’t know you had divorced.”
Pauline nodded. “Well, it had been a while already, honestly,” she said. “But I kept up the image of being married so n would stop hitting on . It’s hard to have so many people on you when you’re just trying to raise your child.”
I suspected that was the case, Athyst thought to herself.
Pauline sat on her chair, her body tilted slightly askew as she waved everything away. “I just couldn’t seem to fit into the role of the perfect wife and mother.”
“I thought you were a perfect mother,” Athyst said, scrunching up her nose.
Pauline smiled. “There’s no such thing.”
Athyst was quiet for a mont. It had never occurred to her that this was what Pauline thought of herself. She couldn’t help but feel bad that she had boxed her friend into this role before.
Then, she sat up stiffly. “That man earlier,” she said. “What was he doing?”
“Well,” Pauline frowned. “Things around here haven’t been so great lately, what with the feudal lord changing and all.”
Alexcent leaned forward upon hearing that. “The feudal lord changed?” He grabbed a cup that Pauline had placed on the table and sipped the tea, pretending not to know anything.
“Yes,” Pauline said. “The new lord… Well, he’s trying to clear this whole area so he can build a resort. He hired a bunch of thugs to threaten the people in the area into selling.”
So that’s why so many shops were boarded up, Athyst thought. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “Why would he want to build a resort here? It’s already a wonderful place.”
“It gets worse,” Pauline told her gravely. “He’s trying to buy everything for dirt cheap. It’ll be hard to find a place to live—let alone set up another shop—with the kind of money they’re offering.”
“The rich are the worst,” Athyst groaned. “Well, then… lead the way to the new lord.”
Pauline gaped. “What?”
“I need to speak to him,” Athyst said, already standing up.
“Ash,” Alexcent said quietly as Athyst fud. “He can do whatever he wants with this land. We don’t have a say here.”
Athyst glared at him. “It should be illegal for him to treat people so poorly,” she said. “Kicking people out of their stores? Paying them next to nothing in exchange for their livelihoods? It’s terrible! We have to stop him.”
“Leave it to ,” Alexcent said, calmly, ushering Athyst to take a seat.
“What are you going to do? Kill him?”
Alexcent nodded. “That would be the easiest solution.”
“No,” Athyst told him, scowling. “See, this is why I want to handle it myself.”
“Fine, then,” Alexcent said. “I’ll just restrict developnt in this area.”
“Can you do that?”
“Of course. It’s the edge of the Empire, so I can lock it for military use. Then, developnt will be restricted.”
That makes sense, Athyst though. We won’t even have to use force.
“And I have the perfect person for this job,” Alexcent said.
Athyst smiled. “Are we thinking of the sa person?”
“Probably.”
Sorry, Gen.
Across the table, Pauline looked astounded at their conversation.
“Listen, Pauline…” Athyst cleared her throat.
Pauline shook her head. “No, I figured you were pretty important people,” she said. “The ID you have has a few noble symbols on it. Did you know?”
Athyst pondered. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but her ID actually did have more than a few noble symbols on it. All thanks to Alexcent, no doubt.
Alexcent laughed as realization dawned on Athyst’s face.
“I made a really great friend,” Pauline teased.
“I would have told you everything,” Athyst said bashfully. “But I couldn’t really write it in a letter. I wanted to tell you in person.”
Pauline waved it off. “I understand,” she said. Then, she perked up, rembering sothing. “Erina will be ho soon. Will you stay for dinner? For old ti’s sake?”
Athyst smiled. “Of course.”
“Great!” Pauline clapped her hands together. “Erina will be so happy to see you.”
***
That night, Erina greeted Athyst warmly. She kept Alexcent at a distance, but it was mostly because he was a stranger to her.
After dinner, Alexcent turned to Athyst and said, “Let’s go.”
“Where are you going?” Erina and Pauline asked in unison.
“Oh, we were just thinking of staying sowhere else for the night,” Athyst smiled. They only had two rooms in the house.
“Erina can stay with ,” Pauline offered.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Athyst said. “We wouldn’t want to be a bother.”
Pauline sighed. “Well, if that’s what you want,” she shrugged.
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