This chapter is dedicated to @offthemenu! Thank you so much for the supergift!
"I know that you think I'm weird right now. I don't know how to explain it to you to make myself believable enough. But I just… I just don't want to go anywhere else anymore. I'm… I'm tired… I just want to stay here… to lie down or sit here on your floor… drink your coffee… eat your cookies… I just want to be able to breathe… and sleep…" he dropped his head into her lap and his shoulders sagged as though the weight of the world was placed on his shoulders. "Last night… was the first time I've ever slept that long and peacefully since I woke up from that long slumber. I am not deciding on this out of a whim, if you were wondering. I've never been this sure before of what I want or where I want to be …"
"And the thing you surely want is to stay here?" Iryz asked him.
"Yes." Came his soft but determined reply.
"And you're going to go as far as making an oath, not just any oath but a witch's oath, just for me to let you stay?" Iryz questioned again.
"Yes. If that is what it would take to make you feel at ease, I'll do it."
"Zeres…" she called his name and when he looked up and met her gaze, Iryz breathed out softly. "Do you know that… Eris had always been… in love with you?" she had not planned to let this secret out. She was actually thinking of bringing this fact to the grave with her, never to see the light of day. Who knew that now, she actually had just blurted this secret out to the very person that was involved?
A deafening silence spread across the room. Zeres took a long time to respond. He did not speak. He just shook his head quietly as he dropped his head down. He was honestly clueless. He had no idea of this matter at all.
"She's been in love with you for so long. I believe… ever since the day you had saved her. That was why she had disguised herself as a boy just so she could stay beside you. Be with you… even if it only was as a friend." Iryz paused for a moment. "I can't imagine… no, I don't even want to imagine how she had felt when you never returned after that time. She might never have even found out that you… you died from that war. I felt like she had waited for you faithfully and patiently until her very last breath. I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty… but I just… I know you've probably realized already that I am most likely Eris' reincarnation. We both look exactly the same and… the moment I saw you that day you came here… I've felt something that I couldn't quite explain. It's as though that I've loved you even before I had met you. And when I was shown Eris' memories, I immediately understood why I couldn't fight back my feelings for you at all. Even during those times when you do not even spare me a glance or say my name…"
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