The lecture ended. Alaric gathered his materials and left, his mind still turning over the sa useless questions.
He headed to the dining hall.
Not because he was particularly hungry, but because sitting alone sowhere with food gave him an excuse to think without looking conspicuous.
He claid a table in a quieter corner of the Silver Crown section, away from the main clusters of conversation. Grabbed food chanically, didn't really register what. Just fuel.
Sat down. Ate and thought.
Elena vanished. Henry vanished. Thomas vanished. Oliver vanished. All clean exits, no traces, nothing to follow. Four weeks of looking and I've found exactly nothing.
He tore a piece of bread, chewed and swallowed.
They're still watching. Have to be. But from where? How? Who else is involved that I haven't identified yet?
Another bite.
What's the endga? What am I missing?
"Eating alone?"
The voice broke through his thoughts like cold water.
Alaric looked up to see Verelia approaching, tray in hand. She sat down at the table beside him without waiting for permission.
"Yeah," he said, returning his attention to his food.
"Feeling lonely?" There was sothing almost teasing in her flat tone. Almost.
He blinked at her, then shook his head. "Why would I be?"
"Your best friend just dropped out. I've seen you brooding." She picked up her fork with precise movents. "It's fairly obvious."
"He wasn't my best friend," Alaric said flatly. "And I wasn't brooding."
Verelia actually snorted, a tiny, unladylike sound that was gone almost before it registered. "I've watched you for the past month. You can't lie to about this."
"Why are you here?" Alaric asked, deflecting.
"Why can't I be?" She t his eyes with that cold blue stare. "You're my fiancé. It's natural for to be with you. People expect it."
He didn't buy that for a second and kept eating.
Verelia was quiet for a mont. Then, quieter. "Maybe I'm also paying back what you did. Taking to the gardens after my loss. Listening when I needed it."
Alaric paused mid-bite. Looked at her.
She was staring at her plate, not eting his eyes, which was unusual for her.
He nodded slowly and returned to eating.
"I'm just paying what I owed," Verelia said quickly, her tone sharpening back to normal. "Now we're even."
"Fair."
They fell into silence, just eating. It wasn't uncomfortable, exactly. Just two people existing in the sa space without needing to fill it with aningless conversation.
Then Verelia shifted slightly closer. Her voice dropped lower.
"Were you... were you really telling the truth?"
Alaric blinked, turned to look at her. "About what?"
"That you reincarnated. That you were a king." Her blue eyes searched his face, analytical, trying to detect deception.
Ah. So that's what this is about.
Alaric considered lying. Deflecting. Claiming it had been taphorical.
Then decided against it. "Yeah."
Verelia's expression didn't change, but sothing flickered in her eyes. "What kingdom?"
"One that doesn't exist here."
"How did you die?"
"Violently. Next question."
"How long ago?"
"Ti works differently between lives. I don't know exactly."
"Do you rember everything?"
"Most things. So details are... fuzzy. Emotional mories are clearest. Facts and events, mostly intact."
Verelia processed this, her mind clearly working through implications. "Can you prove it?"
"How would I prove rembering a past life? Show you things that don't exist anymore?" Alaric's tone was dry. "You either believe or you don't."
She studied him for a long mont. "The way you strategize. The way you manipulate social dynamics. That's not normal for a first-year. Not even for Silver Crown."
"No. It's not."
"Because you've done this before. Ruled. Governed. Played these gas at the highest level."
"Yes."
Verelia was quiet again, but Alaric could practically see her thoughts organizing, filing information, building a frawork to understand what this ant.
Then sothing flickered in her eyes, sothing sharp, calculating, almost... excited. Then it vanished, buried beneath her usual icy composure.
"So, can you..." Her tone shifted slightly, there was a new quality to it. Respect, maybe. Or recognition of sothing she'd been searching for.
"Tell about your past life? What were you like as a king?"
"No."
She blinked. "Why not?"
"Because that person is dead. That life is over. And dwelling on it doesn't help survive this one." Alaric t her gaze steadily. "I'm not that king anymore. I'm just soone who rembers being him."
Disappointnt flickered across Verelia's face. But she didn't push.
"That must be... difficult. Rembering power you no longer have."
"It has its monts."
"Do you want it back? The power. The throne."
Alaric was quiet for a mont, considering the question honestly. "I want control over my own fate. Whether that's through a throne or sothing else doesn't matter as much as you'd think."
Verelia nodded slowly, absorbing that. "And the engagent? To ? Does that factor into your plans for control?"
"It did. Then circumstances changed." He took another bite of food. "Now it's just a complication I'm managing."
"How flattering."
"You asked for honesty. I'm giving it to you."
"Fair." She mirrored his earlier response, and there might have been the ghost of amusent in her tone.
They continued eating. The silence was more comfortable now, like sothing had shifted between them. Not friendship, exactly. But understanding.
"Alaric," Verelia said after a while.
"Mm?"
"Thank you. For telling the truth. Even if you won't elaborate."
"You would have figured it out eventually anyway. You're too smart not to."
"Also fair." She finished her al and stood. "I should go. I have research to complete."
"Of course you do."
She paused before leaving. "If you ever want to talk about... any of this. I'm available."
"Why?"
"Because reincarnated kings who rember their past make excellent strategic allies. And I've always valued competence over sentintality." She t his eyes. "Besides. You listened when I needed it. Reciprocity matters."
"Practical as always."
"Obviously."
She walked away, her posture perfect, every movent controlled.
Alaric watched her go, then returned to his food.
So now Verelia knows. Interesting.
He wasn't sure if that would prove useful or problematic.
Probably both.
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