CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 69: TO ABDEL-SHAFI(2)

The clerk adjusted his spectacles. "Abdel-shafi... that is a three-day journey. You’ll switch carriages at each relay station along the way." He paused to tally something in the ledger. "The fare will be ten gold coins."

Min-jae reached into the pouch at his belt and placed the coins on the counter, one by one, each resting with a soft finality against the polished wood.

The clerk nodded, satisfied.

"Follow him.." he said, signaling to a stablehand nearby. "He will take your trunk and show you to the carriage. You’ll be boarding the one headed for Abdel-Moheem. It’s the first stop on that route."

Min-jae inclined his head in acknowledgment.

The stablehand took the trunk without speaking. The morning air was cold enough that their breaths fogged in the air as they crossed the courtyard to where the long-distance carriages waited

. The horses were sturdy desert breeds, lean and sure-footed.

When Min-jae climbed in, three people were already seated inside.

Two men sat by the window, wearing wide, brimmed hats typical of the western provinces. Their expressions were unreadable, but not unfriendly. Opposite them was a woman; a soft scarf veiled the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible. They were warm and steady.

Min-jae bowed his head politely before taking the empty seat beside her.

The carriage rocked faintly as the door closed and the driver secured it from outside.

The woman spoke first, her voice gentle.

"Traveling far, stranger?"

Min-jae glanced at her. "Yes."

She offered a small smile visible even through the fabric. "Then may your path be smooth. My name is Hanan. I am returning home to Abdel-shafi."

Min-jae returned the smile, though faintly. His true name felt heavy on his tongue, a weight with too many chains attached to it.

So he just gave her the name Johan called him and said his name was "Vahid.."

Hanan nodded, accepting it without question.

"May fortune watch over you, Vahid."

The carriage lurched as the horses began to move, wheels crunching over the dirt-covered road.

No one spoke for some time.

Outside, the world stretched out into a calming blur, free of crowns, palaces, and the eyes that had always followed him.

Min-jae sat with his hands folded loosely in his lap, his gaze turned to the window.

He just needed a little break, unlike Kaizar, he wasn’t the type to sit down and let someone toss shit at him.

He would make Meical suffer for hurting him.

The carriage rumbled back into the estate courtyard, wheels slowing over the stone ground. Meical stepped forward before the horses had fully stopped, his expression tight with the strained patience of someone bracing for an answer he already feared.

"Where did he go?" Meical asked.

The driver bowed his head, still catching his breath. "Your Excellency... I only took him where he asked. He told me to go to Blakewoods. He gathered clothes and coin. Then I dropped him at the carriage hiring station. That is all I know."

Meical closed his eyes, pressing his palm to his forehead.

Of course.

Kaizar was the type to run and hide when his feelings got hurt.

He had known this.

And he still let his jealousy speak first.

"...I see..." Meical exhaled, the words heavy, as if dragged up from somewhere deep in his chest. "Go. Fetch Sebastian."

The driver bowed again and left at once, sprinting toward the gate.

Sebastian had been preparing them to leave for Lucine three nights past. The investigation into Morrigan and the mad king of that cursed kingdom.

Plans delayed. All because Meical had been waiting for Min-jae to come home.

And when he finally did, Meical had met him with distrust, with suspicion, with the echo of Seraphine’s poison still ringing in his skull.

It was almost laughable, if it had not been so bitter.

From the veranda, three figures watched quietly.

Odysseuss stood with his arms folded, expression grim beneath the weight of too many unspoken thoughts.

"I knew the master would say something foolish the moment the madame returned," Odysseuss muttered. "I told him to think before speaking, but the moment jealousy touched his shoulder, all reason left through the window."

Vanadis exhaled, shoulders slumping. "I waited for the madame for three days. I stepped away for only a breath and he returned. And now..he’s gone again."

Serin’s voice was softer. "If we had been there... we might have stopped it."

"No." Odysseuss shook his head. "None of us could have stopped him. In all of this, the madame suffered more than anyone. And we stood there and acted as though his humiliation was a mere inconvenience. He came home bruised, exhausted, pelted with rotten fruits and what did he receive at his door? Not comfort. Not warmth. Just accusations."

His voice lowered.

"Sometimes I do not understand how the master thinks."

The room fell silent, until they realized Meical was no longer outside.

He was standing behind them.

Vanadis and Serin straightened immediately, their heads lowering. While Odysseuss froze, the last sentence still hanging in the air between them like smoke that refused to clear.

Meical did not reprimand him.

He simply closed his eyes for a single, weary moment.

"All you’ve said is correct.." Meical said quietly. "I let jealousy blind me. I didn’t see him, I only saw the shadow Radomir left on him. Seraphine’s words lodged themselves like a thorn I did not remove. I... I should have known Kaizar would never have returned if anything had happened."

His voice wavered in realization of what his failure had cost.

"And when he reached out for me.." he swallowed once, hard, "..I pushed him away."

His hands curled slowly, as though he were holding a blade that could not be dropped.

"I hurt him. When he needed me most."

No one spoke.

Because there was nothing to be said.

Somewhere far beyond the gates of Aldoria, Min-jae was already miles away.

And this time, no one knew if he was coming back.

"Still, you’re going to bring him back. Right master?"

Meical nodded, that was certain.

"Yes. I will bring Kaizar back.."