Azriel’s face turned pale.
“Azriel,” Rhema slowly said her name and knitted his brows faintly. “Did you already give your affection?”
“What, what do you mean?” she asked.
“I told you not to give affection,” he replied.
“I, I mean, I mean, now,” she could not speak well. She falteringly made a sentence. “Wh-why are you trying to kill Sophie?”
“It’s because she’s a wizard,” he said.
It was a simple answer. Azriel staggeringly moved towards him. “Is it because I made her a wizard? Is that why you’re killing her? Is it because of me?”
“That’s not the reason,” he said.
“Then why, why do you? Why?” she asked.
“It’s my duty,” he replied.
“What is that freaking duty then?” she yelled like a scream and held Rhema’s arm. Rhema looked down at Azriel’s hand that grabbed him, with a lifeless face as if it was made out of beeswax.
“Azriel, do you remember that I said wizards were exceptions among the people you know?” he asked.
“Rhema,” she called him.
“Now, it has been just several days. It’ll be better for you to end this before you become too attached,” he continued.
“Rhema, wait.”
He pulled her, holding her inside his robe so that she could not see it. She remembered that knights were crushed and their blood splashed while she was trembling in his arms when she was young. Azriel desperately pushed him away. “Rhema, Rhema, wait for a minute. Just, just a second, let’s talk for just a second.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No! Please!” At last she burst into tears. Azriel clung to his arm, wailing. Rhema’s hand that was reaching out to Sophinea paused. “Please, for a moment, just a talk, please…”
Azriel’s tears dropped in his arm. Rhema looked at them vacantly. In that instant, Sophinea tossed as if she was awake. The girl slowly opened her eyes. “Hmm…”
Azriel stopped her mouth with her hands. Even though she was trembling, she did not let go of Rhema’s arm. Rhema saw Sophinea’s yet focusless eyes and Azriel who was grasping him in turn and sighed in a low voice. He stretched out his hand. Marthicoras, who was still reading the atmosphere, was grabbed in his hand and lifted as if the back of his neck was caught by an invisible hand. Rhema traveled through space directly. Sophinea, who woke up from her sleep, tilted her head strangely, looking at her empty room, and lied again with a doll in her arms. The girl went back to sleep in peace.
Rhema and Azriel arrived at the lakeside where they could see Brownie Castle. The surrounding was quiet and the night sky was being reflected on a quiet surface of water. As soon as passing the space, Rhema let go of Marthicoras. Marthi soared, making fluttering sounds with his wings, and went to the lakeside. He then sat on a rock and glared at him in an alerted position. Not paying attention to the familiar spirit, Rhema looked down at Azriel who was still clinging in his arms. He could feel her shaking.
“Azriel,” he called her.
“…”
“Azriel,” he called again.
Azriel lifted her face only after he called her twice. Her tears dropping silently and reddened eyes seemed to pierce his eyes. Rhema opened and closed his mouth several times and said in a creaking voice as if he was broken. “Don’t cry.”
He wiped her eyes with his fingers. Azriel did not avoid it. She received his touch with her mouth shut tightly because she thought that she would burst into tears if she opened her mouth. His touch was too gentle even at this moment. “Don’t cry, Azriel. I made a mistake.”
To her resentment, his anxiously whispering voice sounded soft. “Like I said before, it is hard for me to judge the scope to which you’d be sad. So, I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
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