The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 11.1

“Why are you out here? It’s cold.”

“I am waiting for spring to come.”

“Waiting here?”

Evelyn nodded.

“When you were at Tatar… I came here often with Livell.”

Her smile was so sad that it made Ilya’s heart hurt. He leaned down and picked the child up from her hands. This was the first time he held a baby because he held it awkwardly.

“Your…Highness?”

Although Livell usually squirmed and cried in stranger’s arms, he was surprisingly calm today. Ilya looked down at the baby in his arms for a moment, then handed him to Sophie. He then grabbed Evelyn’s hand and pulled her away.

He stopped in front of the big black horse and grabbed the reins.

“Are you good at riding?”

Evelyn shook her head.

“You can ride with me, then.”

“But where are we going?”

He lifted her up onto the horse, He hopped on the horse’s back and grabbed the reins. Evelyn was between his arms on the reins.

“I’m scared.”

This was her first time riding a horse. She feared the horse galloping off and was nervous of her husband being so close to her. She felt him smirk and his muscular arm wrapped around her waist.

“Straighten your back and lean back.”

She did as she was told. She felt his hard chest behind her. Her heart raced. It was hard to breathe. She trembled and squirmed and he held her tighter.

“I won’t let you fall so stop trembling and sit still.”

The horse began to sprint. Her surroundings moved quickly along with the sound of the wind. She felt her chest loosen up.

After a short while, the horse stopped. Ilya dismounted and helped her down gently. Evelyn’s face flushed, feeling childish.

“What is this place?” she asked, finally noticing where they had stopped. She felt intimidated when she looked up at the tower. It looked tall and indomitable; the tip pierced the sky.

“The Tower of Penance.”

His deep voice made her scared. Why did he bring me here?

“Are you…going to lock me here?” she asked.

“What?!” He laughed. “Why would I lock you up here?”

“It’s…The Tower of Penance.”

“Well, did you do anything wrong which requires penance? You didn’t cheat on me while I was away, did you?”

She glared at him and did not respond. He smirked and turned to the knights who had followed them. “Wait here,” he told them.

He extended his arm to Evelyn, and she accepted it awkwardly.

The two entered the tower hand-in-hand. They entered a square room at the front. The room suddenly started to move. After a while, a door appeared and opened to reveal a luxurious room inside.

“Let’s stay here for a moment.” Ilya led her inside. He seemed at ease as though he was familiar with the place.

“It’s different from how it looks from outside. I expected the rooms here to be narrow and pointy.” She looked around the room which was spacious.

“Everyone who lived here were members of the Aujantice family. So, the rooms and facilities are not that bad.”

“Why did they live here?”

“Well… various reasons.”

“The last person who lived here…must have been a woman.”

The bed with the canopy was intricate. There was a wardrobe, a tea table, sofa, and small wooden chairs for children.

Something moved behind the wardrobe. She could see a head full of hair. Evelyn rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things.

Soon, a small head emerged. A young boy who looked just like Livell. When they saw each other, his blue-gray eyes seemed to smile.

Evelyn approached the wardrobe slowly. She reached out to touch the boy’s face, but her hand passed right through. Is he a ghost?

“What’s going on? Is there something there?”

Evelyn whirled around to face Ilya. His deep blue-gray eyes were a perfect match with the little boy’s. Ilya, you…

“Ah, ugh….” She felt bile rising from her stomach.

Her heart beat out of control. Evelyn felt dizzy.

“Evelyn, what’s wrong?”

When she heard Ilya’s troubled voice, the heat and the bile disappeared. What was that? She wondered. There was someone there…. Evelyn decided to go to the top of the tower.

“Let’s go,” she said. “You said we have to reach the top before sunrise.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The two stood in front of the stairway to the top of the tower. Evelyn looked at the endless spiral stairs and grimaced.

“We’re walking?” she asked.

“Yes. Magic can only bring us up this far.”

The stairway was so narrow that it looked like it couldn’t fit two people at a time.

“I’ll go first,” he said and walked up the stairs. Evelyn followed behind. At first, she looked around at the walls but soon, she felt like she was running out of air in the narrow staircase with no windows. She felt like she might faint, but she gritted her teeth and continued walking.