Free Web NovelChapter 117: What if I insist on trusting this feeling?
"Ten minutes?"
Those words made Evelyn smile a little.
"Ten minutes."
She nodded as she looked at Clara. Clara looked at her, then at Lucian. She knew what he was doing, they needed time to plan their exit, if they did all that in front of Evelyn, she would panic, he wanted to keep her away and Clara, as surprising as it was to her, agreed with Lucian.
"Green room two. Cross, stay inside with her, keep your comms open."
She pointed toward the side hall.
"Sure~"
Lucian grinned playfully.
Then, he extended his hands towards Evelyn—
"My lady."
Evelyn chuckled and took his hand.
Lucian led Evelyn through the side corridor and into the green room.
The room was clean, there was a vanity mirror inside, a few bottled waters, a small table, a couch, and flowers that someone had placed there before the rehearsal.
As they walked in, Lucian closed the door behind them, dulling the noise outside.
At least for Evelyn, Lucian could still hear everything outside, more actually.
Shouting from somewhere far away, more guards communicating through their comms, fast steps, people panicking, even a siren.
Something was happening.
Lucian’s face turned solemn for a very slight moment, but then he just smiled, the priority was to make sure Evelyn didn’t panic.
He would leave the rest to his dear team.
So as Evelyn sat down on the couch, he passed another bottle of water to her.
"I already drank."
"You should drink mo—"
Before Lucian could even complete his sentence, his comm activated and—
[Cross.]
Alaric’s voice came through.
Lucian touched the comm.
"Listening~"
He answered playfully as he grinned at Evelyn.
[A nearby building has caught fire, we do not know if it is connected but we are treating it as such.]
And Lucian’s face changed, Evelyn looked at him and he didn’t even bother hiding it.
Alaric continued in a colder voice.
[Lila and I are moving to confirm the suspicion, Clara is arranging the exit route, Sarah and Elise are on crowd watch. Until we return, Miss Starling’s safety is in your hands.]
And the instant Lucian heard those words, whatever smile that was left on his face, thinned even further.
After all, he could feel it.
This was... trust.
Or the closest thing Alaric Ashcroft could give to it.
And at a moment like this, it felt... quite heavy.
For a moment, Lucian didn’t know what to say, then—
[Do not disappoint me, Cross.]
Alaric’s voice came again.
And Lucian—
He did what he always did.
"Romantic as always, Commander."
He grinned.
He could bet his money that Alaric’s mouth twitched at that, but before he could say anything else, the line cut.
For a moment, the room was silent, then, Evelyn looked at him and—
"They are trusting you now, your teammates."
She pointed out.
"Have you seen me? I scream trust."
Lucian spoke as he moved his hand through his own hair.
Evelyn just stared at the man in front of her.
He did NOT scream trust, not one bit. In fact, he seemed like the last person someone should trust but...
When she noticed that his team had begun trusting him, Evelyn wasn’t surprised.
"I get that..."
She spoke in a light tone.
"Hmm?"
Lucian tilted his head. Half his attention was outside, so he didn’t catch that.
"I can get why they are trusting you."
Evelyn looked at him with a small, genuine smile.
"I trust you too."
Evelyn paused for a slight second, as if she was collecting her thoughts, then—
"The private rehearsal’s information was leaked, a crowd gathered, blocking the exits, then there’s a fire in a nearby building. All of this screams suspicious, there are people who are most probably coming after me, I should be panicking.
And yet...
Here I am, inside this little room, with you, completely calm.
Feeling this strange sense of safety."
Lucian looked at her, he heard her calm heartbeat, he noticed her easy breathing and he...
He decided to be honest.
"Do not trust that feeling."
"What?"
Evelyn blinked in confusion.
"I am saying you should be careful with that feeling."
"Why?"
She frowned.
"Because it may not be yours."
"What...?"
Evelyn’s expression changed and Lucian decided to voice out what he had been suppressing all this while because now was probably the only moment the two of them would get where no one would be hearing them.
"The last time I saved you, your mind was being torn apart by something you did not understand. I was there at a very bad moment, I was the last person you saw, the last person you thought was saving you.
And sometimes...
In desperate moments, the mind grabs the last thing that felt safe and holds on to it, but that does not always mean the thing itself is safe or something you should trust blindly."
Lucian explained.
Honestly, his worries were stronger.
He was worried that because her mind was being conditioned to rely on a man, him being the last person she saw might have... imprinted him in her mind as a safety anchor.
Of course, he couldn’t say this to her, the last thing he wanted was to tell her what was happening to her and what kind of people were after her.
"Are you... warning me about yourself?"
Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. freēwebnovel.com
"Someone should."
Lucian smiled faintly.
"And that someone is you?"
"Well, who better than me?"
Lucian answered jokingly, Evelyn stared at him for a moment, then suddenly—
"You weren’t the last person I thought was saving me, you were saving me."
She spoke up.
Lucian looked at her and Evelyn continued—
"You saved me, Lucian.
Of course that matters. I would be lying if I said it did not. When I see you, some part of me remembers that I survived because you came.
But that is not the only thing I remember."
She spoke as the shine in her eyes became stronger.
"I remember you standing where I could see you at the interview, I remember you waiting outside when I needed privacy, I remember you joking to divert my attention when I started to panic, I remember us talking about mangas and manhwas endlessly, I remember you looking at me as a friend, like a person you genuinely care about instead of a product you could make money off."
Lucian lowered his head, not knowing what to say.
He did not like the direction this was going but Evelyn—
She looked at Lucian and—
"Lucian Cross."
She called his name.
"What if I insist on trusting this feeling?"
