Lord Theodore's Favorite Ritual
Chapter 196: Wait For Me.

Chapter 196: Wait For Me.

Aftermoon.

Hallways, Theodore Mansion.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

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"Where is Helena?"

"Sir Conan!" Dorothy breathed out of shock, her cheeks blooming.

He raised an elegant brow in irritation before repeating the question as she just watched him as though he had asked to help remove her garter. "Where is Helena?" he gritted out.

She found her bearings and replied. "I think she left for her shop already"

"No, I was there just now, she is not there" Conan shook his head before he resumed his walk to look for Helena, he was scared she’d read the muckraker’s papers and must be angry or misunderstanding him now.

With a furrowed brow and a sense of urgency gnawing at his heart, Conan walked the expansive halls of the mansion looking for his witch, each step echoed like a lament in the emptiness of the mansion.

The weight of the slanderous paper hanged heavily on his shoulders, a dark cloud threatening to obscure the truth and tarnish his honor in his eyes and he would not allow that. He couldn’t believe the Muckraker would do this to him, she was indeed in Critic Arley.

Rooms that once filled with either her warmth or laughter now seem cold and foreboding as he searched tirelessly for Helena.

His mind raced with the words of the muckraker, twisted lies woven with malicious intent he belived, she had painted a damning portrait of infidelity and betrayal despite the kingdom not knowing he had a love interest, hen knew he had and he didn’t want her reading it.

Desperation fueled his quest as he checked every corner, every nook and cranny of the large mansion, he hoped to find her and set the record straight.

Yet, she remained elusive, her absence a haunting reminder of the fragile nature of trust and the ease with which it can be shattered by the poison of gossip.

With each passing moment, his resolve strengthens, fueled by the unwavering certainty of his innocence and the burning desire to seek forgiveness from the one he held dearest.

The truth may be obscured by the shadows of deceit, but if he had a good way with words, he knows that clarity will prevail.

And so, he continued his search, guided by the flickering flame of hope that burns bright within his soul, determined to find his witch and lay bare the truth that binds them together in an unbreakable bond of trust and devotion.

He opened the lord’s office and it was as if Theodore was waiting for him. "You must have read the Muckraker’s papers’ ’ he said.

"Theodore, I think I am in trouble," Conan confessed, his brows furrowed.

Joyous appeared from the shadows. "She is in her room, Sir Conan"

He appeared surprised, he had checked the room first right after going to her shop. "But... thank you" he said and left the office without another word to the lord.

He was going to clear his name.

*

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Afternoon

Vegetable Garden, Theodore Mansion.

Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.

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"I am here for my biscuits" Shi’Enz said as she watched from behind where Hound weed his garden like he hadn’t heard her coming, like he hadn’t caught a whiff of her sweet perfume before she neared, like he hadn’t hungered to turn around ad wrap his arms around her small, delicate and inviting body, but he ignores her, he pretends he had never heard her, he pretends if she turned around now he wouldn’t feel his heart tearing as he turns to grab her, he remains silent, putting all of his attention on the green plant while she gulped.

"Are you intending to ignore me?" her question laced with a hint of agony and stinging rejection he was invoking.

"I saw you" she started her voice soft, his fingers continous. "You had been there, under my window, looking up, trying to look in, craving for a sight of me without actually calling for, without ever seeking me out" she sniffed and he almost dropped everything to meet her gaze but he doesn’t, he only stills, unable to continue this mundane act of weeding and trimming.

"I waited, nights after nights, slept of on the balcony and almost freezing to death waiting for you to show up again and at least through a stone at me to get me inside but you did not, you would not come even if I die and so I could not breathe and decided it was better if I came here to confirm you are fine" she chuckled, her gaze settling on his glistening raven hair. "Give me the last of your biscuits, the crumbs of your hardwork so I can go, I shall not wait anymore, this would be the last time you would refuse me and I would merely ask for a goodbye treat"

"Zachary, I will turn now and I would leave before father comes for me, my punishment this time would surely be graver than keeping me locked down, I do not wish to eat your biscuits as a married woman" she gulped before bunching her dress in her fingers and turning around. "Goodbye Zachary" she whispered.

"Shi’Enz." his voice came with the wind, her heart stilled at the call.

She stopped in her tracks, her heart shattering a million times at the things, the words he’d most likely haul at her now.

"I have a commendable restraint, I have never settled for my urges unless because I am Zachary and I have never been an urge for anyone, not to protect, not to stay for or to love-"

She swivelled to face him and she wished she had not as she asked. "Whatever are you trying to say?" he looked so devastatingly handsome, his raven locks was tousled everywhere, his impeccable white was wrinkled by the knee and thigh, she trailed her gaze back to his face when he drew in a breathe.

Has he ever wanted to kiss her? she wondered, because she had, she’d craved his touch for a shameful amount of time now.

"I want you Shi’Enz, like I have never wanted anything, anyone ever before, so much so that I go blind and lines don’t blur anymore they threaten to completely disappear, I want you so much, its an ache, an itch, an urge that I no longer know what to do with myself"

"Zachary" she breathed.

His left arm snaked around her waist holding her firmly against the wall, his lips twitched and she wondered if it was resisting a smile. "Wait for me" he begged.

Her heart spiked, this was happening but- "That... that would be hard" she stuttered out.

He rolled his neck, stress aligning with his features. "Do it for me, for the urge that prompted you to me now" he stalked slowly towards her and involuntarily she backed into the mansions wall.

"Why?" she gasped when her back hit the stone cold surface.

He wrapped his fingers around her neck, his thumb caressing her pulse he watched her take sharp breaths in and out and that calmed his raging thoughts, "Because I would become empty without you, I would remain empty without you, nothing would be appealing anymore, not the life that grows under my touch because then I won’t have your touch, the air would become something that forces it self through me, Shi’Enz because I breathe comfortably knowing you are there and I have you" his words.

"Zach-" he kissed the edge of her lips shutting her up, he knew it was impossible but he refused to hear defeat from her.

"Promise me, that in whatever way you can, you would wait for me" he rasped, his breath fanning her face.

She gripped his wrist as she met his intense gaze. "For how long? what do you wish to do?"

He let out a shaky yet steady breath as he declared. "I wish to get back what is rightfully mine"

"You promise me, promise me you will never be mad at me and would always come back for me" she begged teary eyed. She feared she might soon be another’s and nothing she could do against her father but cry. "Please" she drawled, that he will know in the future if she couldn’t wait, if she didn’t succeed in waiting it was because she was backed into a wall and he wouldn’t hate her for it.

"That is a purpose I live for, I promise you" he proclaimed easily.

He pressed a kiss to her cheek this time before taking a step back. "Farewell Shi-" she cut him off, "My biscuits" none of them wanted to bid the words.

He shook his head slowly. "There are none at the moment, please leave" he gritted out like saying that alone killed him and he’d prefer to die than make her misereable.

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