The Forbidden Love of Aesop Sharp

Chapter 31 - Another Way

Struggling, fighting, and pushing everyone as far away from me and my problems as possible. That's what I did the best. I had spent years enclosing myself, surviving more than living, fighting against pains and sorrows—until she entered my life. Katherine Evans disrupted my existence, shattering the barriers I erected around my heart and dismantling my defenses one by one.

Her entry into my life six years ago, when Headmaster Black entrusted me with the mission to assume the role of Eleazar Fig, was like an unexpected tornado. Yet, I hadn't seen her insinuate herself into my heart and take an indispensable place in my life. No matter how many times I tried to push her away and keep her at bay, Katie was determined to stay by my side.

However, I made a mistake throughout the years, and I now regret it bitterly. I had falsely convinced myself that it would be easy to forget her and distance myself. Despite time passing and the years separating us from our Hogwarts days, nothing between us had changed.

I still vividly remembered the evenings in the dungeons when she visited me after classes. She laughed heartily, sharing anecdotes about her life at Hogwarts and her adventures with Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt outside the castle. She explained her discoveries, and I admired her vivacity.

Her warmth and passion made her irresistible, I couldn't deny that. But the way I looked at her, given she was my student, terrified me. Pushing her away might have seemed the only option at that moment, but it wasn't the most effective.

The distance established between us had birthed a desire and a longing fiercer and more burning than when we were together. Our evenings together had ended abruptly, but I had tasted the warmth of her skin and the softness of her kisses, which consumed my soul day after day when she entered that classroom, and I couldn't touch her.

I thought I had put an end to all of this for good four years ago when she left the country. Unfortunately, not a day had passed without me thinking about her. Whether it was her letters informing me of her life and daily routine or the memories that imposed themselves on my mind, I had never had respite. The same fire burned within me, and I couldn't bury my feelings as I would have wished.

And then she returned, breaking the tangible balance I had established in my daily life and shaking my feelings again. Our first meeting upon her return had disconcerted me, and my only reaction had been fear and rejection. Later, cowardice and terror had driven me to maintain this attitude towards her, to protect her.

But I hadn't protected her in the end. By isolating her too much and keeping her at bay, I put her in danger because she could no longer trust me. Her face in the interrogation room as she listened to Martins would haunt me until the end of my days. Her trust was shattered, and she couldn't believe in me. She had believed in him.

How could I blame her? Despite the sadness it caused me, I could only put myself in her shoes and understand her distress. Who to believe between concrete actions and an explanation that makes sense when the person in front of you has only lied to you and pushed you away?

No. I could definitely not blame her for seeking a logical explanation to comfort herself. After all, a painful certainty was still much preferable to ignorance, especially in a situation where she was so vulnerable.

"Sharp? Will you answer me?"

Olivia's voice jolted me back to reality, and I focused on the young woman with her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes glaring at me.

"What do you want?" I replied defensively, not eager to embark on another conversation to reassure her. My role was for Katie and her well-being, not for her irritating little sister.

"We've been waiting in the freezing cold for 30 minutes. Are you sure she's coming out today?" Sallow asked in a calmer, measured tone, waving his wand to enchant a glass jar, a small fire igniting inside.