Chapter 157
“Kama…”
Kama’s friend looked down at the glass of milk in front of him. It was the drink I had asked Helios to bring out, hoping it might help calm him down. He’d been too worked up to speak clearly.
“Take your time,” I said softly. “Have a sip of milk first.”
The warm milk did seem to help, if only a little.
“Thank you, Lady Rienna. You’re very kind.”
The compliment felt too generous.
I was only passing on the kindness Kama had once shown me.
Even after drinking, he still struggled to calm himself, taking deep, heavy breaths again and again. It took quite a while before he was ready to begin his story.
During that time, Helios idly played with my fingers.
He’d acted like we were in a desperate rush not too long ago. Now he looked like he had all the time in the world.
For someone supposedly here to investigate, Helios looked almost indifferent. I nudged his shoe lightly with my foot.
He glanced up at me, then straightened his posture and turned back toward Kama’s friend.
“I don’t have much time,” Helios said flatly.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness!”
The man’s breath, which had only just begun to settle, grew ragged again. I shot Helios a glare, and he furrowed his brow in protest, as if to say What did I do?
“It’s alright. We’re short on time, but… you can take your time.”
Even I winced at how contradictory I sounded. Kama’s friend placed the half-finished glass of milk down and folded his hands neatly on his knees.
“I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but…”
“If I didn’t plan to believe you, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
“Your Highness, l-let’s hear what he has to say first.”
The man looked truly terrified. Given the circumstances he must’ve gone through just to get here, it made sense. But Helios had guaranteed his safety, yet he still seemed frozen in fear. I couldn’t quite understand why.
Whether I understood the man or not didn’t really matter. He was an important witness either way, so I gave Helios a few pokes in the side.
“Be nice.”
Helios continued speaking with a face that screamed how much he hated this.
“Talk to me. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
Then he turned to me and mimed zipping his lips shut. A disgruntled hand gesture and pouty lips…
Why is that so cute?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked back at the man.
Feeling the attention on him, the man began to sweat nervously. He was really quite the handful.
I straightened the tissue box rolling around on the table, pulled out a sheet, and handed it to him.
“Thank you.”
He dabbed his forehead with the tissue. A small bit stuck to his skin, but neither Helios nor I said anything.
“You might not believe me, but—”
“I believe you.”
I’ve lost count of how many times he’s said the same thing. When I quickly responded, the man gave me a wry look.
He must have finally realized that the repetition of the opening sentence is tiring.
“I…”
Perhaps he was finally getting to the point. He swallowed hard, and the veins stood out on the backs of his clasped hands.
“I saw Kama die.”
Helios uncrossed his legs. I gripped his collar tightly.
“I’d like to hear the details.”
The seriousness in my voice earned his trust.
And so began the real story from Kama’s friend, Phil.
“Yes. I’ll tell you everything. That day was, well…”
It was the day Phil returned from a long journey. He and Kama had been close friends since they were very young — the kind who couldn’t go a day without meeting three times.
Three years ago, Phil had left on a journey around the world, so they hadn’t been able to meet as often as before, but they had stayed in touch.
“Kama told me many things. That he’d quit his well-paying job at the Steel Merchants Company, and that he did it to help a woman he was imprinted with.”
“An imprint? But there was no name on Kama’s body.”
I pretended not to know, even though I did. At that, Phil’s breathing quickened erratically. The backs of his hands, clasped tightly together, trembled faintly — a reaction to facing fear.
“Phil, are you okay?”
Phil nodded. Like a drowning man grasping for a rope, he fumbled around and gripped the cup of milk tightly.
“I know there was no name on Kama’s body. I saw him erase it myself.”
“Kama erased his name?”
“Do you mean a burn scar?”
