Thin Ice (M/M Transmigration)

Chapter 7

Cale sat himself down in front of Magdalena and stared at her. She glanced up at him from under her long fringe, giving him a confused look. He didn't respond. He was too busy trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. Well, that had happened last evening.

He licked his lips and opened his mouth. Frowned. Closed it and brought his hand up to his face to drag it through his hair and then bite his thumb. He slouched in the chair and tapped his feet restlessly on the ground, trying to find a way to start this conversation that wouldn't lead to her thinking he was insane.

Finally, he managed to blurt out, "Julius wants to marry me."

He covered his face with his hands and groaned. That wasn't how he had wanted to say it. Cringing, he waited breathlessly for her reaction.

"Well, of course he does," Magdalena drawled, "otherwise he wouldn't have asked my parents if there would be hard feelings."

"He asked your parents?" Cale asked. He looked up from his hands and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would he do that?"

"To make sure they didn't intend to bring up the matter of our former engagement again," she shrugged out and looked up at him. They were in the garden outside, a light smattering of snow covering the ground. The sun bounced off the glittering snow and lit up the garden patio like tiny little stars. She gave him a scrutinizing look, from the tips of his toes to the top of his head.

"He wanted to do it the proper way," she said when he still didn't respond. She continued, "Make sure that he had all the relevant people's approval so that he could court you properly — like you deserve."

Cale shook his head. He sat up straight on the stone bench and threw her a confused glance. "But what am I supposed to do?"

She rose an eyebrow at him, her lips pulling into the beginnings of a smile. "Do you want to marry him?"

He snapped his mouth shut. Slouched down on the bench again and looked away. Trees were swaying gently in the faint breeze, the leaves long-since fallen from their branches. Snow about a decimeter deep covered the ground and reflected the sun's rays. There was nary a cloud in the sky, the early morning coldly beautiful, the high walls of buildings surrounding the tiny oasis of a garden.

Not many people were out here this early. Cale had certainly never been here before. But he had slept fretfully, waking up from a mixture of dreams and nightmares that left him feeling on edge, restlessly walking here in search of advice.

He didn't know what to do.

He wanted to marry Julius. That was bad of him, he knew. Disregarding the same-sex thing and the age difference, he knew that Julius had a future, one that he wasn't in. He knew that in the novel 'Fire & Ice', Julius had played a startlingly big role in the background, his unprecedented skill as a stone mage proving highly useful in times of combat.

He wasn't a regular in the novel, and he didn't really interfere in the major battles, but he had a future laid out for him. One where he ended up falling in love with one of the girls who were in unrequited love with Sayer, giving Julius' character a depth that was—Cale was thinking in circles. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and sighed, closing his eyes briefly to gather his composure.

Then he mumbled out, "Of course I want to marry Julius. I would have already sent a letter to my mother if not. I just... don't know how this can work."

"So talk about it with him," Magdalena stated, like the answer was obvious. Cale shrunk back on his bench and dragged his hands through his loose hair again. The color of it was startlingly similar to that of the snow littering the ground.