Alex called his name, but he ran away. When his name was called, he fled without answering.
…Was that wrong?
Something terrible would happen. Since he wasn’t working anymore, would he be beaten until all the bones in his body broke? No, no. It would be worse than that. Surely, they would lock him in the basement and never let him out.
The thoughts filling Cayden’s mind gradually lost their color. Fear gripping regret shook Cayden.
“Cayden. When father dies, you’ll be mine again. That’s when… I’ll become your real master.”
A voice, blurred by the passage of time, echoed in his ears.
He was terrified. Even though Count Surmen had canceled all his debt when he sent him away, even though he hadn’t forgotten that, he became frightened like someone with an unpayable debt remaining.
Squeezing himself into the darkness that would hide him, Cayden trembled. He buried his face in his hands, afraid of the man’s countenance that shimmered even when he closed his eyes.
A world darker than night quickly enveloped Cayden.
* * *
A deep crimson began to shimmer beyond the closed tent. It was the color of sunset.
What woke Cayden, who had fled into darkness, was someone’s silhouette faintly visible through the cloth hanging at the tent entrance.
Cayden instantly knew who the owner of the shadow looking for him was.
“Amun…”
Blinking his eyes to look at the light, Cayden unconsciously called Amun’s name. Just by uttering that single name, the fear stirring within him shattered in an instant and scattered beyond the shadows.
Cayden felt an indescribable relief just from the fact that Amun had come looking for him.
He thought Amun would be displeased if he knew about his relief. To him, Cayden was probably just a burden, someone who needed a bit more care, entrusted by his employer. But to Cayden, Amun wasn’t just a servant. He was a friend. The only person here… who would take his side.
Amun, who had half-raised the cover that had been lowered to the ground, bent down and entered the tent. The scene of the market at sunset briefly appeared behind the sweat-soaked Amun, then instantly disappeared. This was because Amun lowered the tent cover he had raised.
Darkness once again settled in the ownerless tent.
In the stillness that resembled darkness, Amun caught his breath. He exhaled roughly, like someone who had forgotten to breathe for a while. But soon he moved towards his bride hiding in the corner of the tent, towards the man who didn’t know what to do.
Amun sat down silently in front of Cayden. A silence that seemed endless swirled between their meeting gazes.
“Before I completely left my position beside you… I went to a man guarding a nearby merchant group and gave him money. I told him to watch over you, Cayden.”
“…”
“I told him to help if you looked like you needed assistance, and if someone picked a fight with you, to grind that person’s face into the ground.”
Amun spoke calmly, as if he had never been breathing heavily.
“But…”
“…”
“It was a waste of money. That person neither helped nor followed you. He just stood there stupidly and told me when I returned that your lover had suddenly disappeared. When he spouted nonsense like ‘Maybe he left because he disliked you,’ I grabbed him by the collar and shook him, and he honestly confessed that you had seen something and ran away. Along with the excuse that it was difficult to follow you because there were so many people.”
“…”
“…Cayden. Did you encounter any trouble while I was away?”
Cayden shook his head at Amun’s question.
He couldn’t bring himself to speak. Cayden felt a heavy apology toward Amun, who must have had a hard time because of him.
However, in the end, he couldn’t tell Amun the truth.
He tried to hide his fear while concealing the encounter that might have been purely his imagination. He attempted to hide the fear that contained nearly ten years of Cayden’s past.
Amun wouldn’t know anything. If he knew what kind of person Cayden was, he wouldn’t worry about him like this. That was certain.
“I’m sorry, Amun. I lost your candy.”
Cayden told Amun about his mistake. He informed him that he had lost Amun’s possession while foolishly running away. This was instead of telling him what had happened in the art section of the market.
Cayden didn’t want to bring his sordid past to the surface. He didn’t want Amun to know anything about it.
“I think losing me is a bigger problem than losing candy.”
It was difficult to look directly at Amun. Cayden was afraid of asking him for help. It was an absurd thing to consider.
“I’m really sorry.”
“…”
“For disappearing without a word and hiding in a place like this… I’m sorry for acting so pathetically. It was my fault.”
With a pale face, Cayden watched Amun’s reaction.
The problem began with causing unnecessary trouble that made Amun sweat profusely. If Cayden disappeared, Amun would be the person most inconvenienced. He genuinely felt pathetic for not considering such an obvious fact and leaving his spot at will.
Cayden’s words continued haltingly.
“There wasn’t any trouble. I just acted foolishly. You asked me to stay in that spot, but I ignored it. I got swept away by people and lost my way.”
It was a lie that even a child wouldn’t believe. It was far from the story the merchant group’s guard had relayed. But it was the best lie for Cayden at the moment.
“Why did you hide your body inside the tent?”
“Already disoriented from being lost… and with so many people, I felt confused. My head became dizzy, so I just stepped aside for a moment. I was planning to go out as soon as I felt better.”
Cayden forced a smile.
Both Amun, who had experienced a sudden perplexing incident, and Assad, who would hear Amun’s report, would probably view him as even more pathetic for committing such an incomprehensible act. Still, it was better to be seen as pathetic than to be seen as disgusting.
“Hey, is anyone in there? You’re not supposed to be in there.”
Someone spoke while tapping the lowered tent cover. They were bending down as if about to raise the cover.
So it was. I wasn’t supposed to be in here. The startled Cayden tried to quickly get up. But Amun leaving his spot and rushing out happened before Cayden could rise.
Amun went to the entrance and raised the lowered tent cover. Then he immediately spoke to the man outside.
“Get lost.”
That was all.
Leaving the speechless man behind, Amun lowered the cover again. As Amun walked steadily toward Cayden, the man also left his spot. The curse the departing man spat out flowed into the dark tent.
The man was right. They needed to leave this place immediately. While thinking this inwardly, Cayden silently watched as Amun sat down in front of him. He was still afraid to go outside.
“I don’t understand why you’re lying to me.”
Amun, sitting with his knees up, said. He declared that everything Cayden, who had hidden in the tent, had said was a lie. Faced with the confident Amun, Cayden couldn’t make any more excuses.
“But… as a subordinate, I have no choice but to pretend not to know.”
After finishing his words, Amun stared at Cayden. Then he nervously brushed his short hair, or buried his face in his palm. Several times he tried to say something but then closed his mouth. When Cayden apologized again, Amun closed his eyes tightly, suppressing his anger.
“Cayden… you are difficult.”
“…”
“A very difficult person. I never thought I’d use the word ‘difficult,’ but this day has come.”
A light smile appeared on Amun’s lips. It was a smile that somehow felt dejected. He also seemed to have relaxed.
“From now on, whatever problems I face, they will seem easier than you, Cayden. For the rest of my life.”
While feeling sorry again for Amun, who must have had a hard time looking for him, Cayden naively smiled along with him. It was a reflexive action that came from having the thought deeply engraved in his mind that smiling would result in fewer beatings.
Still, Amun’s mood seemed to have softened a bit. Cayden was relieved that he wasn’t as coldly angry with him as he had been with the person outside the tent. Even in this situation, he had such thoughts. Pathetically.
Again, silence came.
In the relief and stillness that came from being with Amun, Cayden tried to erase what had happened before Amun arrived at this tent.
Perhaps… he had truly seen an illusion by himself. He was just startled by seeing a man who resembled Alex. Then, as if by a lie, he had lost his way.
The man he had encountered would not be Alex. That’s what Cayden wanted to believe.
“…Give me your hand.”
Amun, who suddenly spoke incomprehensibly, extended his hand toward Cayden. When Cayden just stared blankly without any particular reaction, Amun even wiggled his hand as if urging him.
The surprised Cayden extended his left hand toward Amun. Amun, as if he had been waiting, grabbed Cayden and rolled up his sleeve once more.
Hmm. Staring at the exposed wrist, Amun pulled out a pouch that had been hanging around his waist. While obediently holding out his hand, Cayden waited for Amun to finish retrieving something from it.
What Amun took out without saying a word was a bracelet with a blue gemstone hanging in the middle of a thin string.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
