CHAPTER 539: A TALE OF THE PAST

Cedric left; his reluctance was apparent from how he dragged his feet or the number of times he sighed. The door clicked closed at his exit but his heavy presence still lingered in the room.

Seconds ticked and she just stared at the flames. Guilt ate her up for sending him away.

She hissed pressing her eyes together about to stand up

The door opened and a soft smile bloomed on her face. That’s right he wasn’t going to leave. "I thought you left." She said hiding her true emotion.

The footsteps drew closer then stopped. Then a voice came. "He left and he seemed pretty upset. "

Her shoulders hunched, it wasn’t Cedric’s voice but that calm presence was familiar.

Abrielle’s head snapped back, recognising the soothing voice. "Yuki." She blurted.

He stood a few feet away from her with his hands crossed behind him. Yuki maintained a polite smile. His eyes were clear but there was still something which lingered in that gaze.

He was a man with secrets. If he were considered human. This was a fantasy world and being beyond human comprehension existed. The ability to shape shift was possessed among high-level magic users, normally witches but Yuki didn’t strike her as a wizard.

He was too casual and relaxed for someone who was involved with dark magic

"It’s been a while," he casually mentioned then sat beside her staring at the fire. Abrielle just stared at him stunned.

Yuki sighed, "This kind of reminds me of the days you were upset he didn’t send a letter while he was in Vesper. We would stare at the fireplace while you rant out." He recalled one of their memories together.

Abrielle’s eyes softened remembering those times before they narrowed with a subtle look of disgust on her face. "You were a man all those times. " She said as a matter of fact.

The cat she held close to her bosom and even petted was a man all along. He was a pervert. She even allowed him to sleep at the foot of her bed when Cedric was out of the capital.

Yuki nervously laughed under her intense gaze. He cleared his throat then nervously averted his gaze. "Male cat, it’s better you don’t think about it." He justified himself.

Abrielle’s face scrunched up, remembering everything she had blabbered to him. Thank God she never mentioned anything about being from another world

But then her mind drifted to a strange statement Yuki made.

"You still think you don’t belong here," which warranted him to make the statement. She just couldn’t understand him.

He seemed more mysterious the more she thought about him. "You remember every rant I made," she blurted just testing the waters..

Yuki smiled, "If you want me to."

He definitely remembered Abrielle deadpanned. "You don’t have to worry much about your rants, I have the memories of a goldfish." He chuckled

Abrielle was stunned, "How did you?" She stuttered, then shut her head, trying to process everything. She didn’t want to say something that would blow her cover.

The memory of a goldfish was a modern-day saying. How the hell did a random shape-shifter in a historical fantasy world know that?

"The less you think about something, the better," Yuki mentioned. The room fell silent. The crackling sounds of the flames mixed with the subtle rattling of the windows echoed in the room.

Abrielle’s mind drifted to Cedric. She wanted to find him but held herself back. She knew Yuki didn’t randomly appear now after disappearing for a while.

Her gaze was still stuck on the flames when she gathered the courage to ask him a question which had been lingering on her mind.

"Why did you pretend to be a cat?"

She didn’t understand why he was in a cave in the middle of winter, the night she found the cute white cat in that cave.

Yuki’s eyes grew distant and he was reluctant to answer the question. "It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. We all have secrets but I still can’t get over the fact that my cat is a man." She added.

Yuki rolled his shoulder while rubbing his neck a tired sigh slipped through his lips. "I didn’t stay as a cat for a perverted reason," Yuki stated and Abrielle nervously laughed. He read through her as if he knew her thoughts.

"It’s fine to ask. I would be suspicious if I were you..." He paused, his mind drifted off for a while before he answered. "It is easier to avoid the eyes if you are a cat." Yuki hinted.

Abrielle’s brows furrowed, wondering if he was hiding from someone. In that case, staying in Cedric’s castle was the best place for him. "The eyes searching for you, have they gone blind?" She mentioned.

He wasn’t pretending to be a cat or animal again. "They are still searching, but I already blew my cover when I helped you teleport your friend to Litoralia, and besides, it would be weird if I appear as a cat now." He explained and her lips formed an O sign

She didn’t dig into him further. He wasn’t going to share much either. "Sorry you lost your cover. Life is just messed up."

Watching the fireplace together, kind of reminded her of the time he was her only companion she could rely on. When she was the unloved villainess. Although it mustn’t have changed now

The distance between her and Cedric didn’t seem to be any shorter. "I don’t regret it. I am good at avoiding them for years; besides, it was fun getting on Cedric’s nerves, although you aren’t the best cat owner out there." He teased Abrielle’s whose face turned Ashen. The audacity of this man.

"So what are you going to do?" Yuki suddenly asked. She was taken aback confused by what he meant. "What do you mean?" She blurted her confusion written all over her face

Yuki pulled his legs together, placing his arms around his legs. He was trying to get more comfortable. "Do you want to hear a story?" Yuki asked instead changing the topic abruptly. It was hard trying to figure him out but a story wasn’t going to be bad.

"Maybe one would help now." She answered. She gave up trying to figure him out; she just accepted his presence, which was helping her avoid drowning in her thoughts or thinking about Cedric.

The thoughts of Cedric made her heart squeeze one more. He must be upset. After returning she chased him off.

Yuki started narrating his story. "Centuries ago, so long even text has forgotten, only a few can remember something. Two hearts which weren’t meant to merge fell in love."

His soothing voice immediately drew her attention and she was drawn to his story he had to share. A love story.

Abrielle was sure it was probably fictional but her interest was piqued. "A tragic love story." She chirped and Yuki nodded

"It was... She will be considered a princess if it were this time a noble, gentle soul. She wasn’t the fairest of them or the most noble when he fell for her; it just happened." Yuki paused, his voice heavy with emotions that Abrielle didn’t understand rang through his violet orbs.

"Was he a prince? Or better a poor servant?" Abrielle curiously asked. Her eyes sparkled with excitement already thinking of scenarios. Her wide author imagination was already ahead of her.l

His light laughed rang. He pinched her cheeks pulling them, his actions soft and familiar

Weirdly Abrielle was okay with this despite him being a mysterious shape-shifter who was her cat

.

"Hold your horses. It isn’t your book. I am the one telling the story." He teasingly said. Her eyes flickered, another weird statement.

It wasn’t her book

Her suspicion about Yuki deepened. Who was this man? "Fine, I will just listen."

Yuki let go of her cheeks and then turned back to the fireplace, immersing himself in the warmth. He closed his eyes, his striking handsome face relaxed and Yuki continued his story with his eyes closed.

"He was considered a prince or something higher. Status wasn’t really the problem; they were both noble and when they met and slowly fell in love, although it was filled with so many trials, that wasn’t the problem...." Yuki stopped as if he wanted to let the words sink in

Like there was something cryptic in his words. "What was keeping them apart?" Abrielle could not help but ask, earning a glare from Yuki.

His eyes popped open, his cold eyes glared straight at her, forcing her to press her lips together after mouthing a simple. "Sorry."

"What stood before them and their love was the fact she was mortal, a being bound to grow old, he was a divine being, immortal and bound by rules." Abrielle’s gaze softened. Why did this story seem familiar?

"He was a god, just like many other gods. During that time, the rules of the divine realm were more relaxed and they roamed among men. Some even had random entanglements with humans but it wasn’t love..."

" But their case was different"