Since he still had matters to discuss with Alexia, Jenkins had timed his return perfectly. After a brief trip back to Nolan, he reappeared in her carriage as she was heading back to her residence. By now, they had already left the royal palace, so Jenkins felt it was safe to lift the curtain and gaze outside.
The streetlights along the main road cast a bright glow. Unusually, it wasn’t snowing tonight, but thick piles of snow were heaped at the base of every lamppost. The carriage wheels crunched rhythmically over the packed snow, though Jenkins couldn’t be sure if the accompanying creaks were from the aging vehicle itself.
“Of course, it won’t go that smoothly. I’ve already looked into it. Dolores’s brothers are getting restless, and at least one of them is certain to use this opportunity to make a move. The man’s a fool—doesn’t even realize he’s being used.”
Alexia’s words confirmed his unspoken suspicions.
“I still don’t quite understand,” Jenkins mused. “Our friend has no desire for the crown, so why do they still see her as a threat?”
“That’s because you don’t understand the kind of power our friend truly wields... Don’t look so surprised. I’m not talking about her individual strength, but the power that encompasses her influence, connections, and authority.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Jenkins shook his head gently and turned back to the window. The biting night wind stung his cheeks, but the sensation helped keep his mind sharp. The warmth of the carriage was pleasant, but after a while, it could start to feel a bit stuffy.
“So, on the one hand, Miss Stuart’s brothers fear her power,” Jenkins summarized, “and on the other, they covet it. But the most crucial point is that while she has no interest in the crown now, that doesn’t mean she won’t in the future. The human heart is a fickle thing. She could change her mind over some ridiculous pretext.” Chapters fırst released on novèlfire.net
“This is why I enjoy our conversations. You always know what I’m thinking,” Alexia said playfully. “So, guess what I’m thinking right now.”
As she spoke, she leaned forward until her face was inches from his, her beautiful eyes seeming to dance with a dazzling light. This development did not please Chocolate, who was curled up on Jenkins’s lap. Alexia’s advance had significantly cramped its space.
That awkward night on the train had clearly taught him a thing or two. His progress in certain matters was astonishing, and he proved it right then.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he replied, “but I’m not going to say it.”
A captivating smile graced her lips. She did nothing more, simply leaning back to sit opposite him again. She held his gaze, her eyes unwavering, until an embarrassed Jenkins was the one to look away, turning his head back toward the window.
Alexia knew she had feelings for the man before her. She also knew he felt the same, even if he didn’t realize it himself—or simply refused to admit it.
“About the undead in Nolan, you need to remain vigilant. Since you believe the skeletons are linked to a Mysterious Object, the situation could be quite serious. There are many artifacts capable of creating undead, but to produce so many at once, including high-level ones... unless it’s an item unrecorded by the Orthodox Church, I can narrow the possibilities down to a few truly catastrophic objects. A weapon effective against the undead recently appeared on the black market in Ruen. I think Dolores and I could acquire it.”
“No, please, don’t trouble yourselves.”
He was already indebted to Miss Stuart for her Vampire Buster during the last incident. Jenkins felt he couldn’t possibly impose on them again.
“It’s no trouble at all. Didn’t you share the B-03-01-8383 Cup of Hidden Fear with us? This is only fair.”
Jenkins froze for a second before staring at her, a mixture of shock and disbelief in his eyes. “Fair? Are you still measuring our friendship like some kind of transaction?”
He’d meant it as a joke, but perhaps he’d gone too far. Alexia’s brow furrowed, and the atmosphere in the carriage grew taught.
She leaned in again, but this time she closed the distance completely. After a soft kiss, she pulled back and watched as a red-faced Jenkins wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “So,” she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “can you feel how I ‘quantify’ our ‘friendship’ now?”
Jenkins was still savoring the sensation, his reply absent-minded. He suddenly realized that every time he kissed a woman, he was the one being kissed. That didn’t seem right.
Before, when he hadn’t been fully aware of his feelings for his female friends, he could have blamed his casual acceptance of their kisses on naivete. But now that he knew, was it really right to carry on this way?
There were Hathaway and Briny, far away in Nolan, and Alexia, right here in Ruen. He was aware of his feelings, and theirs, yet he hadn’t changed how he acted around them.
“Am I some kind of playboy?”
The thought struck him with alarm. He worried he was becoming the very thing he despised most—a person who trifled with the emotions of others.
The cat let out a warning sound, but neither of the humans was in any state to pay attention to the adorable creature. Chocolate reached out and pawed at the back of Jenkins’s hand, trying to get his attention, but the attempt was a clear failure.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Alexia’s voice cut through his thoughts, seeming to answer his unspoken anxieties as if she could read his mind.
“Don’t worry. Not at all. You need to keep your eyes on the horizon; I know you’ve always had your own goals. As for what’s right in front of you...”
She picked up a biscuit from the small plate beside her, broke it in two, and offered half to the disgruntled cat. Chocolate eyed it suspiciously and refused to take it. Jenkins took the piece from Alexia’s hand instead, and only then did the cat deign to accept it.
“Did you see what I did?”
This kind of conversation was utterly exhausting. Jenkins had to admit he was completely lost.
Alexia tilted her head as she looked at him, then popped the other half of the biscuit into her mouth.
Her eyes crinkled and a faint smile played on her lips. She wanted him to be confused. Her views on love were certainly unique, but no matter how “generously” she was willing to “share,” right now Alexia was just a woman. It was one of those rare moments where her feelings ever so slightly trumped her logic.
But whether that thought belonged to Jenkins, Alexia, or even Chocolate... no one would ever know.