Rosie's Games

Chapter 316: Waiting For You

If only she was a little stronger, Milith would not have received those grievous wounds.

Milith would have survived.

Rosalind closed her eyes as she thought of the sword made of fire that Lachlan used during the war. If she had that sword, a sword made of darkness, she would use it to carve her enemies to death. It would have been easier if only she was stronger or smarter.

Rosalind should have known better than to leave Milith alone. She miscalculated.

She pursed her lips and opened her eyes.

Seeing that the sword in her hand did not turn into darkness, she sighed.

It had been two days since she found Milith's body— two days since she had been trying her best to turn the sword into pure darkness. She thought it would be easy, she thought it would be simple. She was wrong.

"You are too angry."

Rosalind spun around and looked at Lucas who was on top of a tree, standing on a branch, his body leaning against the tree's large trunk. His arms were crossed against his chest, his face devoid of any emotion.

'Good,' Rosalind thought. The last thing that she needed right now was sympathy— especially from him. She needed someone to understand her plight. She needed someone to teach her how to grow stronger.

"Your emotions are not calm enough. Your motivation is wrong. You cannot harness darkness if you keep doing that." He jumped and gracefully landed in front of her. His dark clothing seemed to pop against their white environment. Even in his somber mood, he looked good.

How could someone look that good even when they are frowning?

Rosalind blinked.

'Focus,' she thought.

She had been avoiding him since he found her with Milith's body since she cried in his arms like a child. She wanted to avoid talking about what happened, she wanted to avoid talking about everything else.

So, she ran away into the beastlands. She knew he would eventually find her. In fact, she thought he would follow her on the same day. He did not. Instead, he gave her time to contain her emotions— it was something that she appreciated with all her heart.

"You are here," she stated.

"You were waiting for me."

"If I wanted to hide, I would have chosen another place."

He stood before her and looked at the few bodies of beasts around her. This place was where he had taught her how to use her darkness. This was already a part of the beastlands so the appearance of one or two beasts would be quite normal.

Rosalind blinked. She expected him to ask the question that she dreaded the most. She expected him to ask if she was alright. Instead, he said.

"I brought food," Lucas took a table from his spatial bag, surprising her. "And wine."

"I—" Rosalind did not know what to say. She just stared at him as he placed some food on the table. Then he took out two chairs, one for him and one for her. josei

"You were out here for two days, I am guessing you were eating your stash from your spatial bag."

"Well…" Beef jerky and some candied fruits were pretty convenient.

"Shall we?"

Rosalind said nothing. She stared at the various foods in front of her for a few minutes. Then she took her seat and started eating. It seemed that she had underestimated the food that he brought. All of them were her favorites, all of them were delicious and all of them reminded her of Milith.

She did not know if he deliberately did this to remind her of her maid.

Rosalind continued eating without saying a word as he watched her while having his wine.

Once done, she accepted the wine that he handed her and downed it.

For a few more minutes, the two of them did not say another word as they sat across from each other. This was not the kind of silence that made her awkward or anxious. It was the kind that felt warm and reassuring.

Then Rosalind looked up, she met his blue eyes for a brief moment before she turned away.

"Rabbits," she interrupted the silence as she stared at the red wine in her glass. "For years… during my birthday, Milith cooked the biggest rabbit that she could find. And for years, I complained. I hated how it tasted. I wanted meat— real meat. Chicken, beef, any meat aside from a rabbit." Then she let out a loud sigh. "This year… she assured me she won't be serving me the same rabbit meat anymore."

Rosalind recalled Milith's expression when she woke up after she returned. It was weeks after her birthday and she was still eating rabbit meat.

"Most of the animals in that place were demonic. So, she could only catch rabbits," she added. "I guess, she will not see the day that I am going to spend my birthday… with real meat."

Lucas said nothing. He did not give her any words of comfort or any advice. He just sat there and listened to her talk. That made her grateful. She would not want him to say something emotional and make her cry. She would not want him to comfort her or give her any advice on how to move on from the loss.

All she wanted was a listener.

She looked towards the dead trees and thought she spotted a rabbit, hopping around totally oblivious to the profound loss that she felt in her heart. How fleeting she thought. How could she just lose Milith like that?

In her past life, Milith died too. Was it possible that even if she had made a lot of changes in this lifetime, she still could not escape the fate that was already set for others?

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For coming here."

"You were waiting for me, how could I not come?"

He was right. She was indeed waiting for him. She would have been very disappointed if he had not come. She stared at him for a few more seconds before she smiled and nodded. "You are right. I was… waiting for you to come and find me."

....

A/N: So, Eve's Gambit is R19 and it will tie up some loose ends on Rosie's Games like how did Rosie turn back time and stuff like that. It is also darker as Eve is scheming and pretty is a morally gray character. I really hope you will like it. Add Eve's gambit to your library please! Thank you!