Chapter 99: Silent cave

Words : 1103 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 99: Silent cave It was still in the early hours of the morning, the sky was still dark, and the cold wind howled. Abrielle lay close to the warm charcoal that still had some red warmth in them. The fire had gone off since it was left unattended in her sleep. A few steps from her, Cedric stood looking at her vulnerable self being protected by an animal that didn’t know its place. The kitten was too scared to attack Cedric, but it didn’t stop baring its teeth at him. Cedric walked closer to her while the kitten continued standing against him until he got a bit impatient and kicked it out of his way. He stood admiring her sleeping face, she did look like an angel when she was completely asleep. He slowly squatted down his hand grazing her face that was still warm. It earned him an incoherent mumbling in her sleep. "How were you able to walk this far off?" He asked but no one answered. She seemed completely unaware of her environment; his gaze then trailed to her feet, that was bruised all over from running. His heart ached for seeing her like this; it was only human to pity her, but he felt utterly embarrassed of himself. When things were getting out of hand, and Callista seemed to have misunderstood Abrielle’s intentions, he stood stunned, unable to do something. He wanted to step in and at least take her away from them, but his body refused to move. The voice kept on saying complete rubbish like she deserved what she was getting because of her pride and jealousy, but that was completely wrong because all she wanted to do was apologize. "I am sorry, I just froze," Cedric mentioned as he gently brushed off some stray strands of hair from her face. Abrielle’s brows furrowed with her eyes squinted together before the open. Her gaze was blurry and she thought it was a dream because there was no way Cedric was here. He should hate her for humiliating his Callista. "Cedric," she muttered rather inaudibly. His face was still covered in a mask. He hummed as her hand stretched out to touch his face. From a distance away the kitten came running back to the cave but stopped on seeing Abrielle’s and Cedric’s interactions. "Even in my dream, you have a mask on. That’s a shame, I was hoping I would be able to admire your face without feeling guilty." She said, which left him flabbergasted. He smiled, but only half of his face was visible; he found it amusing that she thought this was a dream. "Let’s go back home." He told her but she slowly sat up with a blank look in her eyes. "I don’t want to go back there. I miss home, but I don’t think I can go back." She muttered, her words were bizarre but it was what she truly meant. She missed her true home; it wasn’t because of a flimsy reason, because of a long-time date with her crush, no. She really misses her family; she wasn’t some character from a transmigration story with an unloving family. She actually did have a family that she loved and cared about. She was the eldest child from a barely average home with 2 younger siblings. Her parents were hard workers but there was just much they could do. Hazel started writing to find a secondary source of income to support the family; she might have been young, but being the eldest child, even if her parents never said it directly, she knew they were struggling. So she worked hard to get a scholarship with the hope that after she was done schooling she would get a good job and support her family further. Life was a mix of bitter and sweet, her prayers of having money got answered early when she became a hit as a writer. She could then help at home. "I miss my family, Do you think they are doing fine without me?" She asked this Cedric in her dreams as she curled up to a ball. Cedric sighed as he recognized the look in her eyes, distance and longing. She looked like a complete mess. "I am sure they are doing fine." He answered but she shook her head. Her mother must be devastated, she remembered their last argument when she visited home last. Her mother wanted her to stop writing because the threats were getting too scary. She didn’t care about the income she was having but just wanted her to be safe. Of course, she opposed it because she knew they needed the money. In the end, her mother’s biggest threat came to reality when she died. It’s just a book; everything was fiction. Why was she hated so much? She bowed her face on her lap and started to cry. She was losing her mind; she kept on wondering if she was truly scared that no one thought otherwise. Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed and Cedric’s heart squeezed at the sight. He was a puzzle and couldn’t understand her; she was dumb at times, pretentious and tricky, but now she was like a completely different person. It was like her mask finally fell off. "Lies, all lies. Don’t believe her. If you kill her here everything will end." The voices continued to whisper, trying to manipulate his will. But how could he hurt someone that looked like this? She was a good liar, but right now, she didn’t look like she was lying and honestly seemed like someone who needed a shoulder to cry on. He ignored the voices and every other reason and pulled her into a hug. Maybe he must have truly gone mad but all he thought was to protect her now. He wanted to protect someone who wanted him dead. They were just two broken pieces drawn together. Abrielle froze for a bit when she was welcomed by his warmth. Even in a dream she never expected his embrace to be so warm when she should hate it. "You are warm." She muttered burying her face on his chest to take in more of his rich scent. He just rubbed her back to give a faint sense of comfort. He looked down at her lonesome figure as she wrapped her hand around him. His gaze had been drawn to the flame mark that drew him here. "Let me be your home and I will give you all the warmth you miss from your old home." He offered tenderly.

Chapter 99: Silent cave

Comments (0)