CHAPTER 135: SOFT MELODY

’It’s weird... why isn’t he as excited as usual?’ Lethia thought. It was even stranger because he hadn’t called her "Queen."

"Thank you for the ride, by the way," Lethia said, her smile genuine, yet painfully forced.

She half-expected him to throw in some cheeky comment like he used to. But all she got was a silent nod.

The way Caelum stayed composed, eyes serious on the road, made Lethia feel... off, like he wasn’t himself.

The suffocating vibe, the silence—it felt like she was riding with Renar or Zeran instead.

And somehow, it made her ache a little for the usual Caelum. The playful one. The childish, light-hearted energy that always made her feel at ease.

Lethia tilted her head slightly, eyes drifting to his left chest. She couldn’t see the round white glow like the one she’d seen on Renar. ’Did that fox really lie to me?’

"Hah!! I can’t take it anymore." Caelum’s sudden outburst and heavy sigh startled Lethia, and she blinked in confusion.

"I thought being all serious and aloof would be easy. How the hell do Zeran and Renar stay silent, composed, and stiff all the time? I really can’t live their boring-ass life," Caelum grumbled.

Lethia blinked again, trying to process what he’d just said. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, and before long, it bloomed into a full, unfiltered laugh.

"Did you... did you just mimic Zeran and Renar?" she asked through her giggles.

Caelum didn’t answer and just cleared his throat. But the moment his eyes caught Lethia’s laugh, a soft smile tugged at his lips. He was glad.

"Am I a joke to you?" Caelum asked, faking an annoyed tone to hide the rush of excitement pulsing in his chest.

"Huh? Nah... you... you’re a natural charmer, Caelum. You always make me laugh," Lethia said, still giggling.

What Joe said about him being a simple man was fucking right.

Just hearing her say that he made her laugh, that she found him charming—it made his heart beat faster, nearly burst with enjoyment.

He even forgot the annoyance he’d felt seeing Lethia disappointed when Zeran was not the one who accompanied her to the countryside.

Caelum cleared his throat. "There’s a reason why I’m an entertainer," he finally said, letting out a relaxed smile.

"But seriously, if Zeran had told me earlier he didn’t want to take me, I could’ve asked Chasey. I didn’t want to bother you."

"You’re not bothering me, queen. And it’s not that Zeran didn’t want to, he..." Caelum cut himself off.

Zeran had warned him not to spill anything. He needed to handle something related to Lethia’s assassination.

"Something went wrong with one of his deals. You know how stingy he is when it comes to losses."

Caelum glanced at Lethia. Her face looked relaxed; thankfully, she didn’t seem suspicious.

"Then... were you mad at me? Why didn’t you reply to my message?"

Caelum clenched his jaw. "Why would I be mad? I should be the one asking that. I... I’m just ashamed of what I did. So I hoped today I could make it up to you," he said, trying to reassure her.

Though deep down, the fuller truth was that he felt utterly useless, ashamed he couldn’t protect her when it mattered most.

"So, the reason you didn’t come to the Lykon Gala had nothing to do with what happened between us?" Lethia asked quietly, her head lowering.

Caelum’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. Her question made him nervous. Even though she wasn’t wrong, the real reason behind it all was far more tangled.

"No... not at all," he denied anyway.

"Then... is it because of Reia?"

Caelum froze. How much did she know to be able to ask him that?

"Was it because you knew Renar would have something with her?" Lethia pressed on, her tone digging deeper.

And somehow, it hit Caelum hard. That question...

The question about his presence. Somehow, Caelum felt it wasn’t really for him.

It felt like a probe—like she was fishing for how serious Renar and Reia were.

But it wasn’t for his sake. It was for Lethia’s own jealous curiosity.

Caelum frowned, his eyes narrowing.

No. He wouldn’t tell her that Renar had sacrificed himself for Lethia’s safety. Not because of the promise he made to stay silent about the death-curse, but because he wanted Lethia to keep thinking whatever the hell she was thinking right now about Renar and Reia.

He turned to her and flashed that angelic smile, the kind a villain wore when pretending to be a hero.

"No, my queen. I don’t care about what they’re doing. I don’t know what you think you know about the three of us, but right now, I can’t even remember what colour Reia’s hair is. I’ve just been busy, that’s all."

"Ah... so Renar and Reia—"

"Have you noticed?" Caelum cut in, his voice calm, smooth, almost gentle, though his pulse had started racing in irritation.

"Not a single one of your questions has really been about me. It’s either about Zeran or Renar. Am I just your search engine now?"

Lethia was well aware of it; she had intentionally steered the conversation toward Renar.

But deep down, it wasn’t about him. It was a way to avoid slipping into something more intimate between her and Caelum.

She flinched and turned her gaze toward the window right as Caelum made a turn into the rest area, the very one where she had run away and met Renar for the first time.

Her eyes shifted briefly to Caelum, who looked calm as ever behind the wheel.

She wanted to ask whether he’d chosen this place on purpose, if maybe Renar had told him about it.

But something told her if she brought up Renar’s name again, Caelum might snap. She took a deep breath.

"Of course not. I’m sorry if it felt that way," she said softly. "But Caelum... you’re the one who keeps showing up before me like I’m the very air you need to breathe. Maybe that’s why I got too comfortable with you. Since I know you have a soft spot for me, I... I felt like I could use you as I pleased."

Lethia turned to face him fully, offering a warm, honest smile.

"I’m sorry for that."

Her voice felt like a soft melody to his ears.

And just as the car stopped and settled in the charging spot, Caelum, who had been holding her gaze with a quiet intensity, suddenly leaned in closer and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.