CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: TO ABDEL-SHAFI (1)

Meical hesitated.

Just a moment.

But even a single heartbeat can betray the truth of a man.

"I did not say that.." he answered.

"You didn’t need to." Min-jae’s tone remained even, controlled in the way of someone who had learned long ago how to bleed without making a sound. "You think I stayed with him willingly? That I allowed this? That I wanted it? They called me names, threw fruits at me when I did nothing wrong.."

Meical reached for him, perhaps to apologize, perhaps to take back the words he had never fully spoken aloud.

Min-jae stepped back, not sharply, but with finality.

"I know our marriage was not born of affection.." Min-jae continued. "I know it was made of necessity and pressure. Even so, I believed that we could move forward with dignity. Respect, if nothing else."

His voice did not waver, but the quiet in it carried deeper wounds than shouting ever could.

"But the moment the world said something vile of me, you accepted it as truth."

Meical’s face shifted, the realization was slow, dawning, and terrible.

"Kaizar, wait. I.."

"We have thirty-one months before we can end our marriage.." Min-jae said, each word clear as glass. "Until then..let us spend them apart."

He turned.

Meical moved forward but it was too late.

Min-jae paused at the carriage, but did not look back when he spoke.

"I did care for you.." he said. "I thought we could build something. But I was wrong. You are simply a polished man with a polished temper, and I want nothing more to do with you. I shouldn’t have forced myself into your life.."

He stepped into the carriage.

"Drive."

"Kaizar, wait. I didn’t mean to..."

The carriage drove off, Min-jae leaned back, he reeked of rotten fruits and he felt shitty both inside and outside.

"Take me to Blackwood. My estate is the third one down the line.."

Even though Kaizar lived with Meical in his estate and he also had the Amagi estate to go back too but that wasn’t really a hiding spot for Kaizar.

Hence the estate in blackwood. This was Kaizar’s private estate, he doubt even Meical knew about it.

He would get a change of clothes there, take a bath, get some money and go on a short trip.

Away from Meical, Radomir, Seraphine, and all other crazies Aldoria had to offer.

The road to Blakewoods was long, secluded, and untouched by the noise of the capital. The trees stood tall on either side, branches interlacing overhead like a vaulted ceiling.

It had always been Kaizar’s preference to own a place no one else could intrude upon, no servants, no guards, no curious eyes. Only silence, woods, and the slow turning of seasons.

And the distance between the other estates was too far to even consider theirselves neighbors.

When the carriage crossed through the iron gate, rolling to a stop, the estate was exactly as Kaizar had left it.

The door creaked softly when Min-jae pushed it open.

Dust had not yet settled, Kaizar hadn’t been gone a long time, if he hadn’t married Meical, he would have been here by now.

The scent of cedar lingered faintly, woven into the beams, the floorboards, the space itself. The quiet here was not oppressive. It was simply empty, honestly, peacefully empty.

Min-jae walked through the rooms without haste. He didnt need to search for anything. He knew exactly where everything was.

In the bathing room, he turned the pump and waited until the water warmed. The mirror reflected a man stripped of adornment, hair cut close now, exposing the slope of his neck, the shape of his jaw.

He looked like he had aged tremendously in days.

"Fuck, I need a spa, this stress is causing my skin to break out. Ancient times don’t got AHC skincare here, so it’s crucial I remain stress free at all times.."

-_-

But the men here were draining!

Having a foolish king and then an equally stupid husband was too tiring.

After the bath, he packed some clothes into a revealing trunk, then he went into the study.

He couldn’t run away without money. He needed it if he wanted to live comfortably where he was.

At least he able to pay for a inn and warm meals everyday but that was just his second option.

At his first option, he’d be treated like royalty and wouldn’t need to spend.

He was so lucky to have met Johan at the ball, now he had the perfect excuse to visit Abdel-shafi.

He could stay for at least a month and then return back to Aldoria, he was sure he’d have calm down enough to listen to Meical’s crap apology.

He opened the safe, Kaizar had even saved him the trouble and organized the money in it.

He happily picked the twenty thousand satchel and closed the safe.

Taking a deep breath, Min-jae ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t miss the feeling of having long hair, even as Min-jae he always had a short mullet, he wanted to keep Kaizar’s hair long, if he has grown it this long then must definitely love it.

But it was too much of an hassle, so it had to go.

"Im sorry about your hair K..but it was either me or the hair and I have to choose myself.."

He went back to the room, grab the trunk and walked back to the carriage.

"To the nearest carriage hiring services.."

-_-

The driver said at the trunk and then at Min-jae.

"Sir..are you leaving?"

Min-jae placed the trunk inside and then got in himself.

"Yes I am. I’m sure your master will be well without me.."

The driver nodded awkwardly, it wasn’t his place to say anymore so he kept quiet and drove off.

When they reached the carriage rental station, Min-jae stepped down. He handed the driver a handful of coins, more than the fare, more than courtesy required.

"Forget today.." Min-jae said.

The driver bowed, deeply, understanding the shape of such requests.

Min-jae turned to the rows of traveling carriages. Each one could take him far, north, west, across the border, into any city where his name meant nothing.

He walked to the counter.

The clerk looked up. "Where to?"

Min-jae rested his hand on the satchel strap.

His answer came without hesitation. "Abdel-Shafi.."