The week inside the castle passed in a blink. Tomorrow would be the last day they could enjoy the comfort and security the castle offered them in exchange for the two soul fragments. For many, the impending eviction would be a source of genuine despair.
But, for him, it wasn't so terrifying.
"I'm bored as hell," thought Sunny, rotting away in the excuse for a bed.
His routine over the past few days had been relatively simple:
Waking up in the middle of an angelic embrace.
Forcing himself to get out of bed.
Shaking off any grime Cassie might have in her hair, sometimes styling it or doing some other touch-up.
Going out and heading to the dining hall.
Eating his portion and returning to the room.
The pattern repeated itself for the afternoon: he would get up again and go eat. At night, he would finally sleep and pass on to the next day to repeat the cycle.
At first, it felt like a well-deserved vacation. After the tremendous torment that their entire journey there had been, in the span of those days he was freed from burdens he carried on his back that he wasn't conscious he had. Also, over the days, he released and expelled other less relevant tensions.
Technically, he wasn't deprived of anything; while he desired it, he had the complete freedom to go out and wander the castle or do anything else, but he continued to feel that these vacations were more like a cage.
The biggest thread of entertainment he received was his information gathering.
All these days, while doing his routine, he dedicated himself to investigating with his Shadow: he checked every room, analyzed every person who seemed important and the not-so-important ones too, scratching for every fragment of information and secrets that might or might not serve them; everything was worth it.
That stimulus was one of the few things to do that kept him entertained. Most of this information he decided to keep to himself, not out of distrust toward whom he would tell it to, but out of caution and because deep down Sunny wanted to enjoy this lapse of companionship, involving problems as little as possible. Of course, he didn't keep all of it to himself; after all, he had the best possible company to discuss the juiciest information.
"Then... you're telling me that our hypothesis about those two guards... Did you really see them?" asked Cassie, who was looking down at her thighs, where Sunny was reclined on them.
"That's right, apparently they are more than work colleagues. We were correct."
They indulged in gossiping about curious details of other people's lives.
Sunny rubbed his face against the divine softness of her thighs while chatting about anything with Cassie.
At some point in their talks, both had fallen silent, enjoying each other's company. Sunny's hair was caressed and combed by her fine fingers. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping, or at least he was trying not to fall asleep.
In that lapse of silence, his mind fluttered, thinking irrelevant things like considering possibilities, but his questions paled before one that took priority like a flash over the others.
'Hey... thinking about it, if I'm this bored... How is she holding up?' His brow furrowed.
If for him being locked in these four walls, lying down all day doing nothing, truly sent a stab of anguish through him, what would it be like for a blind girl who depended entirely on him?
Sunny opened his eyes, maintaining the worried expression that had appeared a few seconds ago. He lifted his head looking towards the ceiling, but the ceiling was not what he wanted to see; above him, there was Cassie's face.
"How are you feeling?" he blurted out suddenly.
Cassie's hands, which were stroking her beloved's hair, stopped upon hearing the question; after an instant of processing the question, her fingers went back to stroking him.
"I feel calm, I suppose. Why are you asking that so suddenly?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Uhm… I just wanted to know if you're comfortable, I worry that you might feel overwhelmed, since I feel that way, I'm bored," he breathed, turning his head to one side.
Cassie brought a hand to her chest and gasped dramatically: "So I bore you and you want to leave?" she grumbled, annoyed, too exaggerated for a genuine reaction.
Sunny chuckled under his breath. At first, these kinds of jokes made him tense. Over time he learned to recognize them easily. After being fooled by her jokes several times, he decided to defend himself this time.
"That's right! I want to leave here! Being here with you is boring, I constantly feel trapped, maybe I should have gone with Nephis, that way at least I wouldn't be so overwhelmed!" he exclaimed with clear irony in his voice.
The hands that were caressing him trembled.
"… Are you serious?" she sounded above him, tremulously.
He turned upwards. From below he saw how her expression transformed into one of pain. A wave of panic was born from his chest, accompanied by a cold sweat.
'Damn it! Did I mess up?'
He jumped up, sitting up.
"Yes-No! I mean: It's not that… Dammit! Sorry, forgive me, I didn't mean to…", his scared voice began to lose its nervousness and fade as he realized that Cassie's pained expression barely held, transforming into a mocking smile. Unable to contain herself anymore, a laugh burst from her chest; leaning back, she was mocking him directly. She used the fabric of her forearm to dry the tear that escaped her eye.
Sunny looked on, bewildered. When his surprise vanished, his countenance darkened; he squeezed his fists harder with each laugh.
"You're always so easy to tease," she sighed. .
'This annoying little cutie...', he thought, annoyed upon realizing that Cassie had managed to play a prank on him again—she always did!
The tension in his jaw relaxed at the arrival of his new idea. He had thought about it before, but never had the chance to execute his strategy. Suppressing a half-smile, he would begin his revenge.
Cassie was gasping for air, wiped away a tear that escaped her eye, and gradually the laughter ceased.
"You're always so easy to tease," she added.
She kept looking at him expectantly, with a smile.
Seconds passed and Sunny did not turn to look at her.
The blind girl, feeling no response, tilted her head, still smiling.
"It was a joke, you looked so funny," she said, letting out some nervous giggles in between.
He didn't look at her or budge at all; he just stared into the void. Another couple of silent moments continued to accumulate, forming a palpable tension. Suddenly, Sunny responded to her—he turned, giving her his back.
Cassie reached out her hand towards him, probing the space looking for him, and ended up finding him, more specifically his back. She extended her palm, pressing subtly against his back.
"Sunny?" she said in a low voice.
For his part, Sunny continued not to respond directly to her approaches; he concentrated on maintaining the annoyed facade.
That's when an idea occurred to him that seemed perfect at the moment.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue with clear disdain.
He felt the hand resting on his back contract with a fleeting tremor.
'Is it working?' he wondered, who, blind to what was happening behind him, felt tempted to turn around, but he decided to remain firm. This would be his way of giving her back all the tricks she had been playing on him. To complement his act, he sighed heavily.
The uncertainty continued to grow despite his decision. The silence stretched for almost a minute. The air was becoming heavy; even he began to feel uncomfortable.
"Forgive me," a painfully deep and fragile voice.
"I-I love you," the same voice sounded, now fragmented and powerless, seeming like a desperate plea.
Following the declaration of the voice behind him, Sunny's will was broken; he turned around, his eyes widening as he saw what he had ignored.
Cassie was trembling, clenching her fists in her lap. Tears rolled over her skin in torrents from those two dull jewels she had for eyes. Runny snot fell from her nose. Her entire face was drenched as a result of her inconsolable crying.
His body moved on its own. In an instant, he jumped towards her as soon as he saw her, now standing in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Cassie! Why are you crying?" he raised his voice, alarmed, noticeably worried, he was tense.
The girl who was crying so desolately managed to make her expression look even more melancholic. Her trembling intensified when she was held. Her small chin wrinkled, causing her lower lip to tremble.
She wasn't sobbing; the tears just fell non-stop, but she managed to open her mouth and utter words despite the deep knot in her throat.
"I-I thought that... you didn't love me anymore." Once the words that made her chest ache were released, the small spasms in her chest finally began, giving way to sobs.
Sunny watched all this without being able to understand the sudden change.
'But only a moment passed! How the hell could she have reached that conclusion?'
A hand grabbed the cloth covering his chest, with desperate firmness, pulling him out of his short train of thought.
"You said… you said you loved me… Do you not love me anymore, Sunny?" Somehow she managed to look even sadder.
"Of course I do! What's supposed to have changed from one moment to the next?"
'I would have preferred this to be another one of her jokes...', he thought, sighing mentally.
The spoken words stopped Cassie's tears abruptly. She herself paused, tilted her head, and slightly parted her lips.
"I... I don't know?"
"What do you mean, you don't know!" He tried to understand what was going on in her head, but failed.
"It's just... well... you didn't want to talk to me anymore, so I just assumed you didn't love me anymore," she murmured, almost seeming to pout. Her shoulders dropped, as did her head.
Sunny's chest tightened, his mouth tasted bitter from guilt. He gave her slumped shoulders a gentle squeeze.
"I apologize... it was a joke, I'm sorry…", he spoke with difficulty.
Her blonde head subtly lifted, reacting to his words. The vestige of a pout fully manifested into one, she frowned, causing another tear to fall. Although it wasn't the time and Cassie was not in a good mood, Sunny couldn't help but almost smile at how cute she looked.
The girl's lips trembled and curved downwards.
"I didn't like that joke!... Don't ever do it again!" she cried while shaking her head fervently.
Sunny pulled her towards him, wrapping her in his arms. Cassie, feeling the arms, launched herself against his chest, starting to tremble and sob again. She clung to him as if he were going to disappear, digging her nails into his back. Although he had his armor on, Sunny clenched his jaw, denying any sound of complaint.
A drop of sweat fell from his forehead: "I think I learned my lesson, I can't go against the grain on this, I won't respond to her teasing again."
Time passed; his chest was damp where her face was buried. The most tense moment had passed. He still heard an occasional hiccup, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. At his first attempt to move, the arms with which she clung to him exerted such pressure that he could barely breathe. She was gripping him like a leech.
Somehow he managed to convince her to loosen her grip so he could adjust and at least try to get comfortable. The minutes kept passing, turning into hours, and there seemed to be no way for him to be released.
The time to go eat was approaching, and he had no intention of skipping a meal.
After waiting a bit longer, the hands crossed around his back loosened just enough. He tried to discreetly pull away forward, but as a result, Cassie pulled him closer, squeezing him harder. Not only that, she wrapped her legs around him, interlocking them over his legs, leaving him genuinely imprisoned in chains he couldn't dare to break.
"Don't go," she said, murmuring into his chest.
Using the hand he had free, he stroked her head. "Cassie, I want to go eat...", he pleaded with her. "What do you say?"
The blind girl was reluctant to let him go despite his request. Seconds kept passing without him even receiving a response. He was about to resign himself to giving up his meal for today.
The desperate grip that was chaining him suddenly subtly loosened, as if she was hesitating whether to release him or not, only to finally let him go.
Sunny, still expectant, didn't move a muscle, attentive to his beloved's next move.
After waiting a few more moments and seeing no other movement, he slowly separated before the girl could change her mind and imprison him in that hug full of love and fear.
He sat on the bed and turned toward her, scratching the back of his head seeing her still disheartened. He gathered the courage to dismiss the embarrassment he felt confronting her and extended his hand to take hers.
"Come on, let's go together, okay?"
After saying those words, the fragile-looking hand he held closed, gently squeezing his.
Following that subtle nod, she sat up. Seeing her positive reaction, he stood up and sighed with relief. While he stood, accidentally their hands separated, but this fact lasted no more than a fleeting flash. In less than a blink, Cassie had already jumped toward him, wrapped her hand around his again, fitting it between his fingers. She was leaning against his shoulder; not only did she take his hand, but she wrapped her arm around his possessively.
His left side was leaning due to the girl's weight. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, fearing that anything he said could reverse the situation that was going relatively well so far, although he wasn't entirely sure about the near future.
One thing he was sure of: if Cassie didn't come with him, he wouldn't show up to eat this afternoon. He could justify that decision by saying he couldn't leave her alone for her safety, but that would be a lie and, as his flaw dictates, he is incapable of lying. The truth would be that he loathed the simple idea of eating without her company. Moreover, he found it blasphemous to afford the luxury of filling his stomach while her stomach growled as a result of the discouragement caused by his decisions.
The two of them left the room offering a peculiar sight. Fortunately, there were no surrounding witnesses to appreciate it.
Every step Sunny took was uneven: he was noticeably leaning to one side, precisely the side where Cassie was persistently clinging to him. Basically, as they walked, she was draped over him.
They hadn't walked even half a corridor and he already felt the tense discomfort in his spine, threatening to transform into waves of pain that would escalate in intensity with every step.
He cleared his throat and prepared to speak to her carefully. He still felt tense addressing her, despite her being the person he loved and appreciated the most at this moment; perhaps for that very reason, he felt intimidated.
"Hey…", Sunny began. "Cassie… I'm finding it hard to walk properly. Could you let go…"
"No," she said sharply, sounding authoritative.
"B-"
"No," it sounded again with more invisible force.
'... How do I win against her?' he thought with a dejected expression.
"You can carry me," she murmured beside him.
Sunny stopped abruptly. Cassie responded as if she had read his mind to answer his concerns. He blinked a couple of times and turned toward her.
"Do you want me to carry you to the dining hall?"
Cassie shook her blonde head from side to side in denial.
"All the time," she demanded.
His eyebrow twitched: 'This damn blonde cutie...'
He held back a heavy sigh and accepted it with all the kind neutrality he could muster.
"Alright, let's go."
When he turned, entering the Dining Hall, at first he went unnoticed, but with every step, more pairs of eyes turned to look at him, to look at them more exactly. He didn't like receiving so much attention, but he had already dug his grave a while ago.
His spectators caught an interesting sight.
When he offered his back to carry her, Cassie refused, suggesting, or more accurately demanding, another way. Having no other choice, Sunny bowed his head and obeyed.
Sunny, already the focus of attention of the entire silent dining hall, shrugged and sighed resignedly. Cassie, in contrast to her past demeanor, not only looked happy, but she was even humming. She was hanging from his neck, wrapping her arms around him. The icing on the cake to make the sight more memorable was the silly smile she wore.
She practically glowed with happiness being carried like a princess, although her knight looked more tense than content.
He had to make a mental effort almost as great as the one he made to escape the control of the cursed tree to ignore the curious and some intense gazes on him.
He managed to reach an empty bench, relatively secluded in a corner. Relieved that at least the stares would cease once they started eating, he bent down to help Cassie sit down.
The weight on his neck became more noticeable; Cassie wouldn't separate.
"You're not going to let go of me," she warned in a low voice, without the smile disappearing from her face, looking extremely more threatening that way.
'She's going to be like this... all day?... Gods, what a nuisance... and how cute!'
Despite being secretly fond of her behavior, it was still problematic. He sighed and shook his head.
"Listen to me, I have to go get our portion, I need to leave you here."
Her smile disappeared; she frowned and pouted. She finally gave in and let go of her arms from his neck, remaining seated, with her arms crossed.
He stood looking at her for a second longer than he should have, four seconds longer in fact. He smiled slightly and turned half-way, walking toward the two girls who were distributing the food. Before he could even say anything, one of the girls offered him a tray. She was smiling; both of them were smiling at him in a strange way that he couldn't quite recognize.
"Take it, it's yours," said the girl with the tray with kind courtesy, but with a trace of emotion in her voice.
Sunny almost tilted his head at how things were unfolding.
"Thanks...", he said, surprised, taking the tray.
On the tray were two deep bowls of stew similar to yesterday's and the day before, with subtle, unmemorable variations. He was about to turn around when he noticed the cutlery. He turned back towards the girls who were still looking at him and smiling.
"Excuse me, I need more cutlery, you only gave me enough for one."
"There are no more," she replied robotically instantly.
He blinked. Coming out of his brief moment of stupor, he looked at the cart where they kept the food. In between, there was a tray with more cutlery.
"Hey, there-"
"They are reserved," the other girl quickly replied, interrupting him as if she had anticipated the question.
He had no choice but to resign himself. With the tray in hand, he turned, heading towards his spot. On the way, he glanced over his shoulder to look at the girls who served him, seeing them laugh, excitedly gossiping, as if something was about to happen.
He sat down, sliding onto the bench right next to the blind girl. He let the tray drop onto the table. As soon as he did, an unstoppable and immovable force pulled him.
But instead of being pulled somewhere, he was in the same spot. The only difference was that his view was suddenly blocked by a wall of blonde hair.
Cassie was sitting calmly between his legs.
"I want to eat," she said, turning toward Sunny.
"There's only one piece of cutlery for the two of us; you eat first."
"Okay."
After agreeing to eat before him, Sunny waited for her to turn to eat her bowl, but she didn't move; she remained in the same position, expectant.
"Uh... Is something wrong, Cassie?"
The girl was quiet for a few moments.
"I'm blind, I can't move my arms."
He subtly furrowed his eyebrows; a vein pulsed on the side of his head. He opened his mouth to attack the ridiculous lie she used as an excuse, but his words were cut short when she leaned back, fitting herself into the hollow of his neck.
He stayed still for a few moments until he heard giggles in the distance. It wasn't necessary to turn around to know who they were from, because he recognized the voices of the two girls who had served him.
He looked down at the girl snuggled against him, his eyebrow twitching and his heart pounding simultaneously.
He huffed as he closed his eyes: 'I want to strangle her... but I also want to hug her.' He ended up giving in to the latter thought, running a hand over her side. He leaned forward, still holding her.
He took the only spoon and dipped it into the steaming deep bowl. He brought the spoon to her lips and blew on it twice, then lowered his hand to the level of her chest.
"Open your mouth."
Before he could finish saying those words, Cassie had already parted her lips, unable to suppress a dazzling smile as well as the trace of a blush on her cheeks.
He listened to two more feminine laughs again. This time, he turned his head in their direction. The two girls were laughing with their hands over their faces. When they realized they were being watched, they turned their backs to him, but continued to laugh and murmur amongst themselves.
He wanted to growl, but he resisted. He had other things to worry about. Without making her wait any longer, he put the spoon into Cassie's mouth.
Once he withdrew the spoon from her lips, her smile widened even more; she nestled back against his neck, closing any possible distance.
He continued feeding her, spoonful after spoonful until the bowl was finally empty.
Cassie had never been so happy; she reflected so much happiness that even her normally dull eyes seemed to sparkle this time.
"Can I eat now?"
She subtly pulled away from his chest to look up at his face. She gave him a simple nod. She was about to settle back into the space in his neck, but a hand intercepted her, holding her by the cheek.
"Wait, you have a smudge here," pointed out Sunny.
A trace of food was stuck to the side of her lip. With his other hand, he ran his finger over the smudge, cleaning it. Seeing the residue now on his thumb, Sunny brought it to his mouth, licking it.
They stayed there for a few more moments, looking into each other's eyes.
"I think... I see another smudge," Sunny whispered.
The next instant he leaned towards her, kissing her lips.
He separated with a smack after enjoying her lips for a few seconds.
Cassie finished turning toward him, placing a hand on his cheek.
"You haven't cleaned it well."
"I apologize... I'll try again," he whispered, narrowing his eyes, returning to immerse himself in her lips, but he didn't get to. A loud scream sounded, cutting the moment short.
"GET A DAMN ROOM, YOU PAIR OF BASTARDS!"
Another shout with similar insults sounded, followed by another. Apparently, not everyone was happy with the touching sight.
The two turned toward where the screams were coming from, but without paying them too much attention. Even so, the moment was already ruined.
"I think... they're right," Cassie laughed.
"Maybe…", he murmured, annoyed.
After Sunny finished his bowl, in the same way he had brought Cassie, he took her back.
He laid her on the bed; following her, he lay down beside her, as close as possible. Kisses came and went; at some point, clothes were a nuisance.
The cold dampness of the room, full of cracks where the air entered, was eclipsed by the warmth of two lovers enjoying their last night of safety.
There was a witness to all of that: a single witness, an imposing crimson needle that was staring at them penetratingly.