A Heart's Façade

Chapter Three : Counterpoise

"fie! Come here and englut mine own chapeau you distemperate fool!"

Fenriz growled in an enraged roar out of frustration with all guns blazing that made a beat on walls against walls of the worn-out house of wood and poor cement that was about a century old, in an echo towards Vladislav. The latter scoffed back with an innocent pout, in disbelief at Fenriz, who was steamed up hot under his collar as cross as two sticks, for all Vlad had done was eat the irascible's share of red bean paste dumpling.

"Eheyy! Your temper seems to be increasing with your age, brother." Vlad hissed with sarcasm, a chill in contrast to how triggered the hot-tempered elder was.

Fenriz was so angered that he was now going to make sure he shoves the entire house down Vlad's throat before he could take a rest, just to see how much the latter could truly take in, because he had the audacity to eat the elder's dumpling too after his own. Just two children playing.

It was soon to be sundown, but instead of the tranquility that suits sunsets that Caelus would have loved to enjoy for once, it was total chaos that was shaking the house as usual. Seth heaved a heavy sigh at the scene taking place in the living room while he tidied the cabinets in the kitchen before he could prepare dinner for the boys.

"I wonder where you have wandered through today..." Seth sighed again under his breath as his eyes met the ones of Caelus when the latter entered the scene. Caelus looked at him, taken aback and confused as he greeted the eldest with a fuddled expression on his face.

"What took you so long? I have been waiting for two solid hours." Seth hissed at Caelus' return as the latter took a seat on a stool by the kitchen island.

"...Caelus is never behindhand nor long-overdue to mine own concern." Seth teased with a scornful chuckle, his intonation taking over for emphasis, as he hastily grabbed the ingredients he had asked Caelus to bring for him from the market.

"I surprise myself too at times. I wast hath caught up in...you could call business, nothing much." Caelus shrugged casually although hesitance was slightly visible.

"The marketplace hath seemed busy and did crowd the present day, the merchants might not but've made quite a lot of wages. I could wend pickpocketing some if 't be true you want me to, brother." Caelus joked at Seth with a look of a mischief that he can be.

Instantly at the end of his own response, excuses began to pile up in Caelus' mind because he did not want to reveal yet what he had brought home; agonizing whether Seth would charge him with his curiosity over this sudden business of his that he could prioritize more, which had always been something he was fond of doing. But to Caelus' fortune, Sephtis entered the scene and saved the criminal undercover from the effort.

"Ho Seth! We have serious business to hear over." Sephtis panicked with a voice full of haste as he rushed in, making it obvious that he did not have good news to feed their worries. "But the San Marino foremen would be pleased by your presence at the court with them."

Seth followed Sephtis outside, leaving Caelus in the kitchen by himself. The mischief couldn't bother himself with any worries when it was the least of his concerns. What he was rather worried about was the girl that he had brought home, who was panic-stricken by herself above his ceiling. He rather chose to attack the refrigerator in order to find any edible food he could get for the girl.

Soon he entered the attic again, with a sandwich in his hand that he had managed to make for her. Chuckling to himself, feeling proud that he had the talents to make a sandwich that he had never done before but only seen as it was usually Seth who was the chef of the house.

As he stepped into the attic, his eyes grew skeptical as he found the improvised bed where he had laid Freya on earlier before he left, empty. She couldn't have run away, could she have?

A sigh of relief escaped the lips of Caelus as he found the answer to his queries when his eyes fell on a figure near the window, looking outside at the tranquil greenery of the area, which was a lovely view from the house that rather looked like a parasite there. And in fact, it was one of the only things he always liked about this place, even through his intense dislike.

"What have you been impressed by?" The man asked with teaseful curiosity with a slight bow to her royalty, but only a defeated sigh left her lips.

"What do you want from me?" She raised her brows with her demeaned concern over any wrong move Caelus could make, urging the latter to respond.

"You do not have to be so armed," Caelus mentioned in a calm voice to send her assurance, but the tension she was radiating showed she did not feel very safe yet.

"And why should I not? How can i-"

"You will need to use one to eat this so..." Caelus chuckled softly at his own pun, his tone still as serene as he tended to appear.

He had only attempted to cool the tension in the room so that Freya could lighten up a little, despite knowing it was only normal for her to be this terrified. Though he was hoping he could make her feel safe, she kept her guard up way too high compared to how frightened she was inside. He offered her the sandwich with a small, harmless smile.

She only stared at it. Gulping, but her clenched jaw tried not to make it very obvious.

"It's okay to accept it". Caelus assured, with a sincere tone.

His approach was very gentle, which made her trust him as her body gave in and she leaned in to take a bite of the sandwich from his hand. His brows furrowed, taken aback from his spot, and the two shared an awkward glance.

"Right." Freya mumbled, sealing her lips in embarrassment as her cheeks flushed.

"Do they hand feed you at the palace?" Caelus chuckled with his low raspy voice, unable to hold it back.

"No, you just held it like- wait, you know who I am." Freya's tone transitioned from warming up to turning cold as she looked at him like her heart had just skipped a beat with a flash of fear visible in her eyes.

"I do, Princess. And I also know you are being hunted for escaping the palace, which is why I brought you here when you fell unconscious." His words were convincing. "Words are quick to get around. And I had to be faster."

"And you believe I should trust you? How would I be any safe here...?" Freya sighed, looking down in hidden panic inside her chest as she looked out of the window.

His tone was assuring at first before they turned confident. "No one would dare to step foot on this side of the forest."

No response came from Freya's side, only a quiet sigh was heard. She continued to eat the sandwich to fill her stomach, which had her feel at least a slight bit better. A constant frown on her face was there as she stared out the window like she had a lot to think about in her mind. Letting the girl have some spare minutes alone, Caelus walked away without a word to go downstairs from the attic.

Freya sighed to herself once more as she contemplated in her head what her next step could be. She was finding trust slowly in the way this man who appeared in her life all of a sudden, was taking care of her. But she was not aware of his full identity yet, which had her skeptical about whether he was indeed trustworthy. And even if he were, how long could she depend on him when independence was what she aimed for when she stepped out of the castle to discover the world and herself. But one thing she had so far grown to learn was that life was anything but a fairytale and so there was no point in comparing her life to any or anticipating a happy ending for herself like she had seen every princess in a fairytale experience.

By the time Freya was done only thinking through half the things that were on her mind, Caelus came back to the attic with a little wooden box in his hand. He gestured with his hand politely for Freya to come sit on the pile of old books stacked up, which Freya did not doubt and listened to.

"Not there." Freya pointed at the books as she took a seat on the improvised bed she had previously laid on instead. "I do not disrespect the love of my life."

Caelus chuckled lowly, finding it adorable. "And what if you were sitting on your lover whom you were making love with."

Freya's face flushed red as she sent him a glare at being flustered. A grin creeped on the mischeif's face as he knelt down and let the topic slide, internally satisfied that he could finally make the girl loosen up and be free with him, which felt like a slight relief in his burdened heart.

He took her feet on his lap and opened the wooden box which held first-aid kits inside.

"You almost looked like you were about to propose to my foot." Freya chuckled, growing a little silly as she loosened up. Perhaps it was the sandwich that brought her strength and made her feel better. Neither could she deny that she felt relaxed from the confidence she heard in his voice when Caelus said that nobody would dare step on this side of the forest like it was his property.

"A ring box wouldn't be this huge. And rings don't exist for such tiny feet."

"As if you have massive feet" Freya scoffed.

"I would say the massiveness was contributed elsewhere." Caelus chuckled, constantly enjoying teasing her at any chance he got.

Freya's cheeks flushed once more at being flustered. "You are a mischief." She muttered.

"Hm... you don't fall in the category any less than me if you understood what I meant right away." Caelus responded, to which the girl rolled her eyes, giving up with a huff.

A wince escaping Freya's lips interrupted their playful conversation as Caelus had begun treating her wounds without her realizing it because of being distracted by their chat. The ointment left a burning sensation at every cut that was on her body because of the infections. Caelus's heart clenched internally, wishing he could do more than just apply organic ointments on her for her to heal.

With a sigh leaving the man's lips, silence fell in the room. Caelus's attention was on treating Freya's wounds but the latter's attention was on the former instead. At that moment Freya happened to realize that this was not the first time the two had met.

As much as his face felt similar yet so different [ and what caused the biggest confusion was his hair, which was a little above the shade of blackish brown with natural hints of cedar and carob when she clearly remembered it to be this color, yet in her memory lane she remembers seeing him with dirty blonde hair ] those pure pair of hazel eyes that were clear like pools of bourbon were definitely ones she had encountered before.

What confirmed her more was the voice, calm and deep with a soft raspiness to it; one that fills you with the fuzziness of late autumn, one that brings you warmth against winter, one that was locked in her soul when he held her back from taking her life and said:

"Death is never an option."