In the morning, Aegon woke up with a terrible headache. For a few minutes, he simply stayed on the sofa, trying to battle the pain before he groaned and sat up.

He rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Goddamn it! Why does it still hurt?"

He tried to cast some healing spells, but they didn't work either, which made him even more frustrated. Still rubbing his head, he tried sitting up but fell back onto the sofa.

'Fuck!'

"Don't fight it!"

A calm voice drifted over to him, and he slowly looked up to find Elara walking towards him. For a moment, he sat there frozen as he relished the beautiful sight.

She wore a light black dress that reached her knees, and she looked absolutely mesmerizing in her simple attire. As the twilight sunlight entered through the windows, it highlighted her face even more.

Aegon broke out of his trance when she came to sit beside him and handed him a bowl of yellowish soup. He didn't think much and simply took it from her. "Thanks."

She smiled and said, "The Spirit Wine is very strong, and its effects can't be cleansed so easily. Drink this Herbal Soup and you'll feel much better."

"You're doing much better," Aegon said, glancing at the other sofa where his friends were still sleeping.

"I have a habit of our Wines," Elara said. Then, as if she had just realized it, she exclaimed, "Wait! Was this your first Wine?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah," Aegon nodded. "Maybe that's why the wine hit so hard."

They sat in silence as he slowly ate the warm soup. It was actually delicious, contrary to his belief, and from the way Elara stole glances at him, he could guess that she had prepared it herself. That made him even more eager to taste it.

Even though neither of them said anything, Aegon liked the current situation very much. It didn't feel awkward like he had thought it would. Instead, her presence calmed him down and made him smile even with the headache.

Just as he finished the soup, Elara asked something that shattered all the tranquil atmosphere Aegon thought had built up around them.

"Do you love Rosa?"

He coughed at the sudden question as Elara hurriedly gave him a glass of water. Drinking it, he took a moment to gather himself before asking, "Why all of a sudden?"

"Were you curious about my answer?" Elara asked in a low voice, looking down at her entangled fingers. "Do you want me to answer it?"

Aegon continued to stare ahead for a few seconds, wondering what had happened in just one night. But then he shook off those thoughts and said, turning towards the windows.

"No. I'm not ready to face it. You can call me a coward if you want."

"Then give me an answer," she pressed on. "I want the answer."

Aegon turned his gaze towards the sleeping Rosa. She slept like a cat, which made him smile. He then sighed and answered truthfully.

"I don't know much about love, so I can't answer properly. But I do like her company and can envision a future with her. If that's love, then yeah."

He paused, letting out a dry laugh.

"It's weird, though. At first, I thought the complete opposite. That's why I rejected her. But she managed to worm her way into my heart over the year. She knows when to advance and when to retreat."

A silence followed. He didn't know what expression Elara had after hearing it. He wanted to raise his head and look at her, but he couldn't find the courage to do so.

"So you like her, huh." Elara's voice was even, hiding whatever she was feeling. "It's understandable. She also longs for freedom, unbound by chains of responsibility. You're kind of similar, so it makes sense why you like her."

Elara stood up as she said that, turning to leave, but Aegon grasped her hand at that very moment. He had a feeling that if he let go of her hand now, he might never be able to catch it again.

That thought scared him so much that he reached out to her without thinking.

He tightened his grip around her wrist, his heart pounding like crazy. He wanted this to be more romantic and needed so much preparation. Not like this.

But she had decided to confront him and caught him off guard. She left him no choice.

Aegon stood up, raising his head in determination, and came to stand before Elara, still holding her hand. But the woman herself was looking down, staying silent. Even her long ears drooped slightly.

"I know this is the wrong place to say this and a very wrong situation. I may even come off as a hypocrite, disloyal, and a scumbag, but I would like you to listen to me for once. Just this once."

He raised her face with his other hand and said, "I love you!"

Elara's eyes widened in disbelief as her whole body trembled at his words. For a moment, she stood frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Then she lost all her composure as she clutched his collar and asked, stuttering, "W-What did you say? I m-might have heard it wrong."

Aegon gently rubbed her hands and said, looking into her panicked eyes, "I love you!"

"I love you too!" Elara squealed in happiness and hugged him tightly, her voice full of joy.

Aegon felt the world stop as he stood frozen, as if her words had cast a lullaby over everything. Even though he had known it all along, hearing it felt completely different.

Warmth crept into his heart as his blood rushed rapidly, though he felt as if joy had replaced blood in his body.

A wide smile broke out on his face as he raised his hands to hug her back, but then stopped. Rosa flashed in his mind. Her image poured cold water on his happiness as he imagined her saddened and hurt face, which brought sadness to him as well.

He clenched his hands into fists, trying to restrain himself, as he pushed Elara slightly, making her look confused as he said, even though he hated himself for it.

"El, we can't do this. Not now. If I go along with this, I'll be cheating on my feelings and someone else's too. I know I'm already doing it by not accepting this, but please understand."

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