Chapter 6: At Least Acknowledge

"I shall take my leave, Alpha, Beta," I bid farewell to the two most important people in my pack as I mounted in a carriage.

They both nodded. "Make our pack proud, Euphyllia." Those were Beta Rocco's words before the carriage set out on a departure.

Sighing, I stayed quiet for a long moment, leaning on my seat before closing my eyes, feeling a little exhausted.

The summons from the royal military should have been the only thing on my mind right now as I packed at dawn, but that one single letter was enough to make me feel restless throughout the whole night.

I had read it once, and once was enough. However, those words were etched on my mind and kept replaying like a broken record.

'It's good that I finally caught your attention. You're even more beautiful up close than only watch you from afar, Lady Euphyllia. But don't worry. I'm a patient person. I'll wait till you're prepared to meet me. And until then, I'll be watching.'

That parchment was resting in the pocket of my uniform jacket as if it had every right to be there against my chest.

No seal. No signature. Only those words, beautifully carved with steady strokes if whoever the gentleman who had written this had spent a lot of effort to make his action impressive to his lady.

Shivers coursed through my body. I knew that I should have thrown this letter when I got home, but I couldn't bring myself to. And I didn't know whether I should feel flattered, threatened, or both.

Was this supposed to be how admiration should go? Or was this an art of stalking?

It was hard to decipher the intention of the person who was the culprit of this letter. But one thing I could decipher was that he spent a lot of effort to trigger Alpha Derrick's uncanny ability to sense intruders near the pack's borders, which was a normal ability for every Alpha. Not only that, having Ives' unconscious just to send the letter was extremely foolish.

I slowly peeled my eyes open, scrutinizing the single chrysanthemum in my hand that until now, I was still holding onto it.

This flower was my favorite of them all. How did that person know about it?

The fact that the person knew about such a small fact that this was my favorite had made me uncomfortable.

My pulse quickened just by the thought of it. Even my hands were going clammy and quivering from what was happening.

Was there an admirer that I didn't know about? Then, who could that be?

Could it be... Redmund? Impossible! Never once had I seen Redmund spend such effort to make a letter.

He would be cautious in being intimate with me. He would never do such a thing as give me any material things that would be suspicious about our relationship.

With that realization, I mindlessly clenched my hand with the chrysanthemum inside my palm. I almost dropped it as I snapped back to reality, looking to my left and right as if frightened that someone might have been watching me for longer than I could imagine.

I was already too late to realize what I had done and flinched as my emotions blinded me just by thinking about how I became a fool towards Redmund.

And now that I would be returning to the royal military headquarters, I would cross paths with Redmund and Lilith.

Just thinking about meeting them again after a few days that I was in my vacation leave was enough to make my heart ache because of their betrayal.

How would I suppose to act fine when I get to see them? Pretend the wound in my chest didn't exist? Or confront Redmund and ask him what his plan is for us, or would there be any plan, and I was just hoping for empty promises?

I must polish what I should do next before facing them. Even though my heart was bleeding, I must apply being a tactical keeper.

I must not let them be a winner in this...

I bit my lower lip as my vision blurred from my tears falling. I gently wiped them away, telling myself to stop shedding tears for those people who had hurt me.

But why was it so hard? They were the people I loved the most.

There was no way that I could be able to show that I was alright.

Those were my thoughts even until I arrived at the camp. With a heavy heart, I reported to my senior, Marlin.

"Sorry for the short notice, Euphyllia," Marlin said when I entered his study. "I know your vacation leave was cut short."

I shook my head. "I don't really mind," I answered politely, clenching and unclenching my hand because Redmund suddenly popped up in my mind for no reason. My heart began to ache again because of it. "I know that this is an emergency, so military first before anything."

My boots echoed in the corridor as I left Marlin's study room. I thanked myself that I didn't break down in front of my senior, or else, I would have had a hard time explaining what had been aching in me lately.

It was my heart. Not physically, but emotionally.

As I turned the corner, I halted when I came to heard some giggles in the corridor and I spotted the people my heart had been aching right now.

Lilith... Redmund...

I held my breath upon seeing them standing close together. The one I heard giggling softly was no other than Lilith, her hand brushing Redmund's sleeves, while on the other hand, Redmund was whispering something in her ear as if there was something funny.

I clenched my hand from the sight I was seeing right now. I wasn't prepared to see them, yet the Moon Goddess would always find a way to mess up with me.

My heels were about to spin when Lilith noticed me. "Euphie!"

My nickname that escaped from her lips was cutting my heart into shreds.

I pursed my lips into a thin line, unable to come up with a word. But my eyes lingered on Redmund, and my wolf felt heartbroken when his expression shifted with unease. But he didn't even distance himself from Lilith.

I swallowed the lump that was barricading my throat. "Lilith." I nodded, coercing a smile at her before turning to Redmund. I raised my hand to salute him. "Captain Redmund, greetings."

Redmund licked his lips, hiding the quivering of his lips before nodding. "Greetings..." he paused.

I secretly gnashed my teeth, silently hoping that he would at least mention my name to Lilith.

But he didn't.

"Ruinart, sir. Euphyllia Ruinart."

Please, Redmund. If you care about me, at least mention my first name...

"Oh..." Redmund sounded like he had just met me. "Greetings, Ruinart."

Ah. This hurts so much. I just wanted him to at least acknowledge my first name whenever we were alone together, but he couldn't. As always.

I had the sudden urge to run away. But my feet were nailed to the ground.

"I-I didn't mean to intrude, you two." Then, I exchanged my gaze with them. But my eyes instantly lowered to the ground when they were getting misty. "M-My apologies. There's something I should do right now."

I made an excuse to leave. I couldn't last long to stay with them. I felt like I was about to pass out.

"Let's catch up later, Euphie!" Lilith shouted across the corridor when I was walking away from them.

Her voice chased after me, but I quickened my steps until I reached my quarters. As soon as the door closed behind me, my shoulders slumped, and my forehead pressed against the wooden door, trying so hard to breathe.

A sob escaped from my lips when Lilith's giggle, Redmund's silence, the way he didn't even acknowledge me as a lover or a friend, but as a freaking subordinate!

"Ruinart, sir. Euphyllia Ruinart."

I recalled my words as if I were a new soldier, introducing myself to my new senior. I hated that I had awakened from my deep slumber and still wanted him to acknowledge me, just by calling me by my first name.

"Redmund... Am I not really the mate you wanted?" I sobbed in a whisper, coming up to a painful conclusion.

Dragging myself to the bed, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall for a moment until my peripheral vision caught a white flower on my table.

It was a chrysanthemum!

My stomach dropped. I remembered that there was nothing on my table when I left to report to my senior. I knew it.

I knew all of my things and how neatly I was in arranging them. And if this was the same chrysanthemum from last night, it was deemed impossible because I accidentally crushed it with my bare hand earlier in the trip.

"Don't tell me..." I gulped, my hands trembling when I reached out to it.

My heart froze when I saw another small letter that had been rolled and tied to the stem. Again.

I gulped, my lips feeling dry as I unfolded it.

'It must have hurt watching them. You don't need to hide that from me, Lady Euphyllia. I see you. I always do. One day, you will see me, too. Until then, remember... you are not alone. I will be here, watching.'

I nearly dropped the note. My hands were clammy, my heart hammering. Whoever this was... not only had they entered my quarters, but they knew exactly what I had gone through mere moments ago.

This wasn't a coincidence. This was someone following me. Studying me.

This was the behavior of a potential stalker!

Fear and fury mingled in my chest. Who was this person? How long had he been this close?

Oh, dear Moon Goddess, please help me!

First, I had to be hurt seeing Redmund and Lilith together.

Second, I had to worry about meeting cross paths with Commander Lucretius.

And lastly, this. A stalker I never knew about, and just appeared recently.

I had so many things on my plate now. Could I be able to survive being in the royal military?