Escape - Chapter 1.1
Chapter 1.1
Paths diverge, intersect, miss each other, and then merge. The wanderer dreams of settling down, but reality dictates a nomadic existence. For when all roads converge, the destination becomes yet another journey. The road never ends. And when we’ve walked as far as we can, we finally realize: we are but pawns in an endless labyrinth.
– Margo Estapa, The 103rd Expedition – Reflections of a Lost Wanderer, page 541.
* * *
Gone. Adeline frowned, her eyes closed as her hand groped the empty space beside her. ‘Really gone? Just like that?’
“Bast*rd.” The crisp sheets crumpled in her fist. The stark sensation shattered the barrier between dream and reality, pulling her from the hazy in-between and planting her firmly back in the waking world.
“Who are you cursing first thing in the morning?” A familiar voice pierced the air, and startled, Adeline’s eyes flew open. Sitting by the window, smoking a cigarette, was a figure she knew all too well.
“Huh?”
“What?”
Their words echoed simultaneously. There, in the room, was someone who shouldn’t be. The man who had just broken up with her in her dream. The man who had coldly pushed her away, despite her tears and pleas.
‘Wait a minute. In a dream?’
“Bad dream?”
“…It was a dream.” Adeline breathed out a sigh. Such a vivid dream, unlike any she’d ever had. Strangely, she couldn’t recall anything but the final, heart-wrenching scene.
“What did you dream?” the man asked, stubbing out his cigarette and approaching the bed. His tall frame cast a long shadow that stretched across the covers as he drew closer.
“You might want to stay away from me right now.”
“Why?”
“I think I might hit you if I look at you.”
Damian chuckled at the absurd statement, a smile gracing his sculpted features. Jet-black hair framed eyes of the same dark hue. His skin, untouched by the sun, held an aristocratic pallor. That easy smirk… today, of all days, it was infuriating.
“And what exactly did I do in this dream?”
“…I think I’m stressed.”
“Stressed about what?”
“The stress of being married to such a handsome, well-built man…”
Seeming to guess the dream’s general theme, he laughed softly. Adeline glared at him, eyes narrowed.
‘He’s laughing? I’m being serious here.’
“I’m telling you, I’m furious. If I’d woken up first, you wouldn’t be getting breakfast.”
“I always make breakfast.”
Adeline was speechless. She started to sit up in a huff, but he gently pressed her shoulder back down. “It’s 5 a.m. Go back to sleep. You don’t want to be napping later and then complaining you can’t sleep tonight.”
His low voice always spoke sense. It was true. If she got up now, she’d just end up napping and then tossing and turning all night. But sleep wasn’t her concern. A strange unease washed over her the moment she heard the time.
“Five a.m.? Why are you leaving so early?”
“I have something ‘outside.’ It’ll take a while to handle.”
Just as she suspected. Adeline bit her lip, a wave of foreboding washing over her. He’d been on these expeditions more frequently lately. Goosebumps prickled her arms.
“It hasn’t even been that long since your last deployment.”
“Something tripped the trap last night.”
His voice was casual, as if they were discussing dinner plans.
“…Which trap?”
“The first one.”
Adeline swallowed a curse. The first trap was closest to the city gates. That meant the Serpiente had come close, very close.
“Be careful.”
Sensing the anxiety in her voice, Damian smiled, the coldness of his features instantly melting away.
“I mean it, you idiot. Don’t come back injured again.”
She reached out, intertwining her fingers with his. His large hand squeezed hers gently as he gazed down at her. She wanted him to stay, just a little longer. But it was no use. His damp hair was evidence of a recent shower, yet he was already in his navy uniform, meaning he had to leave urgently.
“Don’t worry. Go back to sleep,” he whispered, gently disengaging their hands and pulling the covers higher around her. A strange anxiety gnawed at her; her heart pounded in her chest. It was all because of that unsettling dream. It wasn’t like it was the first time he’d gone ‘outside.’
Adeline closed her eyes, then opened them again, a newfound resolve in their depths. “…You broke up with me,” she said softly.
The hand adjusting the covers froze. Damian’s eyes, dark and questioning, fixed on her.
“In the dream. I was crying and begging you to stay, but you coldly took off your ring and turned away.”
She knew it was just a silly dream. Especially with him. With Damian, her companion since they were fourteen, her worries were unfounded. She knew what lay beneath his stoic, indifferent exterior. She alone knew the tenderness hidden in those long, scarred hands, the playful glint that sometimes sparked in his seemingly cold eyes.
But anxiety is anxiety, regardless of logic. Years together didn’t necessarily guarantee anything.
Adeline fell silent, watching Damian’s reaction. Their gazes met in the quiet room. He stared down at her for a long moment, then raised a hand to touch his lips.
“Adeline…”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“…For what?”
“For making you anxious enough to have that dream. I’m sorry.”
“….”
A serious apology for someone else’s silly dream felt unfair. He was always like this, giving his all, even in his apologies to her. It disarmed her completely.
“But I would never leave you first.”
