OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

053

HELLO IM BACK (for a while)! hopefully you're all still here!! :]

1) TYSM FOR 8K READS!! thats so much and i appreciate u all a ton agksdjs <333 

2) im either in like . a writers block, or a trial-and-error for my writing style,, so apologies if the next couple of chapters aren't as good as they used 2 be <3 ! bear w/ me hehe :) 

3) these chapters r rly just not long at all anymore ,,,, oh well

anyway, enjoy!! (and good luck w/ recapping) 

"Do you think we'll ever see Kenric again?"

I hope so, but I'd also love to stay alive. 

I shrug. "Welll, you're the smart one here. You tell me."

"I mean, it's not like we can break him out or anything today, but... you know." She shoots me a mischievous smile. "I am the smart one here."

"Yeah, okay." I teasingly shove her. "Your head's getting a bit too big for you, now."

Rosaleen flashes a honey-sweet smile at me and stands from my bed, stretching. "You know where Vespera's office is, right?"

"Wait, you're actually gonna—?"

"We need to check if Skylar's down there, too," she says, matter-of-fact.

I realize she's right, and immediately feel guilty for not realizing it sooner. Of course she's in the prison; the Neverseen hate humans.

As I lead us to Vespera's office, Rosaleen recounts everything we know about Kenric's situation. He was in a coma for a few years. He still has his memories. He was saved by Fintan. He's used as leverage against us. 

Soon enough, we stand at the office door. Silence stretches on, and then, "Do you think she's inside?"

"I'm not sure." A twisty nervous gut feeling's starting to rise; the last time I was here, I made a mistake that could've cost us everything.

She glances sideways at me, understands, and squeezes my hand. "I'll go in," Rosaleen says, like an angel. "You wait here, okay?"

I consider arguing, but she seems... confident. "Okay," I say, and even though I feel guilty for letting her go alone, I trust her. "Be careful."

She smiles at me. "What's the worst Vespera can do?" she says flippantly, but her eyes know the answer, and so do I.

Rosaleen knocks, and I hear Vespera call "come in," so she opens the door and does just that.

I try to eavesdrop, but I can't hear anything. The walls really need to be thinner.

 At least ten minutes pass before the door opens again. "Thank you," Rosaleen calls over her shoulder.

"Give it back when you're done," I hear, and Rosaleen nods before closing the door behind her. She holds a key in her hand;

"You got it?" I ask.

Rosaleen laughs, "I got it."

Of course she did. "How?"

"A lie or two," she says. "If anyone asks, my family was close to him, and even though he was a Councillor, we all mourned and missed him."

"I—" I laugh. "First Bronte, now Kenric?"

Rosaleen shrugs, with a smile. "I guess we're popular." She holds up the ornate silver key. "Ready?"

I nod. "Yeah, I guess so."

When we make it to the cafeteria, no one's there, and we don't have to lie to near-strangers. Rosaleen unlocks the door next to the stage, and we walk side-by-side down the hall.

Neither of us go ahead of the other. We're probably both afraid to lead the journey to Kenric.

And then we make it to the arched doorway at the end, which a dwarf is supposed to open. I glance at Rosaleen, but she just crouches down to knock on the floor.

"It's us; um, Rosaleen and Dex."

There's a long and uncomfortable silence; I'm scared to say anything to Rosaleen, as if a single word will inform the dwarves of our ulterior motives.

Finally, the door opens, a dwarf and their golden lantern behind it.

They smile a toothy smile at us, then kneels to Rosaleen, who tenses.

"I'm sorry you thought he was gone," they murmur. "I know elves take loss very deeply."

Rosaleen smiles a little, and there's something sad in her eyes, even though the whole Kenric story was made-up. "It's alright," she says to them. "It all turned out okay in the end."

The dwarf gets up, gives me a respectful nod, blows out their lantern, and leads us down the onyx staircase.

It's beautiful, but its gold stars are too bright for me, and the smell of smoke makes me nauseous. Maybe I'm just nervous, for some reason.

We reach the bottom of the spiral staircase, and the dwarf adjusts the tinted glass.

Kenric meets my gaze, head tilted. "Why are you here?" he mouths, and I just smile at him, unsure how to explain it without words.

"I'll be underground if you need me," the dwarf starts.

"Wait."

They smile patiently at Rosaleen. "Yes?"

"What's your name?"

"I'm Erum," the dwarf says with another smile. "It's nice to meet you, Lady Rosaleen."

She nods, dipping her head. "It was, um, it was nice to meet you, too," she says. "Thank you."

"Mhm, thank you," I add, realizing my apparent rudeness.

They just smile at us. "Of course," they say, then disappear underground.

A long silence; Kenric and I watch each other for a moment.

He sighs, laughs softly. "So, all things considered, how are you?" he says, and things feel so weirdly normal and so weirdly wrong that I laugh, too.

"All things considered, I'm alright," I say. "And you?"

"I'm okay," Kenric says. "All things considered, I'm okay."

His eyes are tired and his smile's sad, and he's lying.

Your mask, I think, but don't say. Your mask is still on, Councilor.

˚ ༘ 🌷 ── author's note!

im currently brainrot-ing over genshin impact ,, the characters r so pretty and 4 what?? 

and on another note tysm 4 reading!! <3 vote if u like! see u next mon (fr this time)!