Chương 75: Don't Break Her Heart

POV: The Dark Lord, Milo Miles Evelisse had just asked me something I'd somehow never once stopped to think about.

"What... is Nyx to you?" I had no idea how to answer. It should've been easy. Nyx is my assistant; a frustrating one to work with, sure, but she'd helped me more times than I could count. That was the answer. Simple. Except... I didn't think that was what Evelisse meant. I'd already told her Nyx was my assistant before. Maybe she'd noticed Nyx didn't exactly behave like your standard assistant. Did they even have assistants in this world? I was overthinking it. Nyx is the assistant.

Just the assistant, the one I should've thanked a hundred times over for everything she'd done.

"She's..." The word snagged in my throat and wouldn't come. Just my assistant. Say it. Whatever Evelisse was worried about, and I was probably reading way too much into it, that would settle it.

"Um, Nyx is..." Damn it. Why wouldn't the word come out? I'd said exactly this to her before. It should've been the easiest thing in the world. Did my last conversation with Nyx do something? That's absurd. We just talked. Evelisse must have caught me faltering, because her face fell a little.

"I—it's okay. Sorry. I don't know what came over me." She looked down.

"I just... thought maybe something had happened between the two of you. Earlier, you both seemed... off." She wasn't wrong, and it hadn't just been earlier. Perhaps it had been days now. There'd be moments where I'd think things were fine between Nyx and me, and then she would go cold again, out of nowhere. Was it that time of the month for her too? Uhh, I didn't think so. It shouldn't have been that simple. And from my end, I couldn't explain it, but there were moments when Nyx felt... different to me.

Not like an assistant. Like she was someone else entirely. There was this strange, groundless sense of familiarity about her, and I had no idea where it had come from or how long it had been there. Should I tell Evelisse that? It wasn't even clear to me. I'd only leave her more confused than I was. But, if I brushed it off or said nothing, she might think I was hiding something important from her again. After everything I'd already fumbled, the very last thing I wanted was to fumble this too.

"Y-yeah, I guess something's up," I said finally.

"But it's nothing serious! You know how she is. I'll sort it out. There's really no need to worry." Evelisse looked like she had more she wanted to ask, but she let it go.

"Okay then. I... I think I'll go take a bath."

"Yeah. Sure." She turned to leave, then turned back.

"Um, If there's anything I can do to help…you can just tell me, okay?" Something in my chest went warm at that.

"Yeah, I will. Thanks." I couldn't drag Evelisse into this. Not when I didn't even understand what this was, but it couldn't keep going the way it had been, either. A sigh escaped from me. I should really go talk to Nyx again as soon as possible. How should I bring it up though? After breakfast, I flew out to Arkhay with Lunessa; a quick shopping run, and a chance to check whether there was any news on the Astrea stuff. Fortunately, there was.

The mayor told us the Arkhay representative would reach Astrea around noon, and if all went to plan, the announcement should follow by tomorrow. We also cross-checked what Nyx had learned about Evelisse's status, and the mayor confirmed it: no statement had come from Astrea branding her a traitor of the Church, which was good. After that, we shopped. Lunessa picked out a portable stove-like thing, a cookstone, she called it, with a red crystal set into it that seemed to power the whole affair.

Then an assemble-it-yourself counter, and a washing machine, which they simply called the washer. It all went smoothly, or even uneventfully. Lunessa tried to initiate conversation a few times with the usual teasing and chatter, but I couldn't quite muster the energy to match her. The whole business with Nyx was still sitting heavy in my head. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Hey, Milo," Lunessa said. The playfulness had dropped out of her voice.

"Yeah?" I had the entire haul balanced in my arms; the washing machine on the bottom, the stove and the counter stacked on top.

"I know you've got a lot on your mind right now." She paused.

"But could you promise me one thing?"

"I'd probably have to hear it first, but as long as it's nothing impossible, sure."

"Don't break Eve's heart." Huh? Wait, what? Had I done something wrong?

"Uhh, what do you—""Just... don't do anything that'll hurt her." Lunessa's gaze was steady on me.

"Eve almost never makes her own decisions. And lately, she's finally started doing things she's decided for herself. For the first time in a long while." I listened. Either Evelisse told her about my weird stance on Nyx last night, or she just guessed it based on her sister's behaviors or expressions.

"So she's throwing everything into it. Trying her hardest to see it through. She overthinks, worries too much, but that's just how she is." I thought I understood what she was getting at. Evelisse had spent her whole life as the Hero candidate, then the Hero; a path the Church laid out for her, one she'd never chosen. Now she was free of all that, and she was the one who'd freed herself. And I... happened to be the thing she'd chosen for herself. A Dark Lord. A screw-up.

If I didn't think things through and if I let her down, then her first real decision, the first thing she'd ever picked for herself, might turn into something painful. A regret. And that might make her doubt herself so much that she would never choose for herself again. Lunessa watched my face, and something in her expression softened into understanding.

"... I think you get it. Just—don't let her first choice in years turn out to be a mistake." She's basically telling me to not screw things up, and I agree. I can't mess this up, not when Evelisse had given so much for a nobody like me.

"Yeah," I said.

"I know."

"Good." The lightness came back into her, easy as breathing.

"Well then, here's about right, I'd say?" She reached over and caught my wrist, her hand warm against my skin. It was a pleasant sort of warmth. The kind I didn't think I'd ever get used to. I teleported us back. After we'd assembled the counter, set the cookstone on top of it, and hauled the washer into a corner of the living room, the elf gathered us around the dining table. There went my time again. I kept wondering when I'd actually get a chance to talk to Nyx today.

I glanced over at her; she looked fine, but she didn't so much as flick a glance my way. Not once. Like I wasn't even in the same room. For some reason, that made something in my chest sink. Not much. Just a little. Something dropping quietly downward, and I didn't like it. This shouldn't even have been a thing in the first place.

"I should like to express my gratitude for permitting me to lodge in this shack—" the elf caught herself "—residence. It has been passably pleasant, and I daresay my presence here has graced the household with a bountiful harvest for a time." It's not like we were planting anything, and this cursed forest was still barren of a single edible fruit. Also, come to think of it, the elf still hadn't told us her actual name.

"Since we will depart for Silvanis, the elven kingdom, tomorrow, I felt it best to brief you first-timers on the route," she said. She began sketching at the air, as though we could see whatever she was drawing.

"Here is Aniaros Forest. We head north from here to Stelfolk Forest, a full day on foot, perhaps half that with horses. From there, further north to the Dunmagne Woodlands, roughly the same again. Then farther still, to Linmis Forest. And once we reach Linmis, Silvanis is not far."

"But that's not even the far edge of the continent," Mel said. The elf's mouth curved into a smug little grin.

"Ah, as one would expect from a common human. You lowly creatures are so—" Nyx cleared her throat, likely intended to be a reminder of what she'd done to the elf just the day before. The elf course-corrected instantly.

"Um, th-that is, we have a portal in Linmis, one that responds to an elf's melody. Step through it, and Silvanis is only half a day's walk beyond."

"So every path to Silvanis has to pass through this portal?" Lunessa asked.

"Correct. There is no other way." The elf lifted her chin.

"Even should you reach the very edge of the continent yourselves, you'd find nothing but endless forest, not the faintest trace of the elven kingdom. To reach Silvanis, one requires an elf as guide. So be grateful, you commoners, for I shall be the—" Nyx cleared her throat again.

"—the one who shall guide you all safely to the elven kingdom," the elf finished, deflating. I raised my hand.

"Yes?" she said.

"What's the problem the elven kingdom's actually dealing with? We briefly touched on it before. The fact that there's a prophesied savior means something's clearly gone wrong there." The elf's expression flickered.

"Umm, that is..."

"Tell us, elf," Nyx said flatly.

"Or I'll go for those ears of yours this time." The elf went stiff.

"F-fine! Knowing it will only help you lot contribute to our kingdom properly anyway." She began sketching at the air once more, still invisible to the rest of us, though from the shape of it I could guess she was drawing some kind of creature.

"Let me tell you," she said, "a very real tale of Ladon and the Golden Apples."