EMBRACE || a violet evergarden fanfic #1

XXII

I left the Marchioness alone in the room without another word and joined the rest in the next room. All four men looked at me expectantly, but yet again, none of them said a word - until Kaji spoke up,

"Well, Violet? Did she say anything to you?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Nothing relevant to what I want, unfortunately."

They exchanged glances again, and Kaji and Akihiko turned to run back towards the room where I had came from - with Akashi following suit not long after. Dietfried frowned slightly as he met my eyes, "You're not telling me something." He said.

"Am I?"

My muscles tensed when he neared me, "Tell me, what form of torture exactly did you bring upon the Marchioness of Rhododendron?" He asked.

"She called me a war tool," I answered curtly without hesitation, "I only said what I had to."

I retreated several steps backwards, before folding my arms across my chest and started to look around the palace. "There is no reason for us to torture the Marchioness for information about the flower. The infamous moonlight flower can be found just about anywhere," I stopped before a glass-case that sat atop a gold-encrusted stand, and grinned, "we only need to look closely in the details."

My curious fingers reached out and lifted the glass case away from its precious treasure sitting inside this whole time. The moonlight flower had the beautiful colour petals that resembled the midnight blue sky ; it's centre enlightening like the moon itself.

I turned away from the flower to face Dietfried, who looked awestruck. "The visitors never paid attention to what was inside the glass case," I told him, "they thought it was just another piece of art that's too precious to remove."

"And the reason why it was placed here instead of the gardens, because the moonlight flower never really needed any sunlight nor water to survive," I explained, "the glass case was positioned exactly to face this large window - allowing the light of the moon to shine down on the flower and for the flower to stay nourished."

I extended my hands that carried the flower to him. It was a still, five second long silence before he spoke up, "This is it, isn't it?" He chuckled softly under his breath when he removed the flower from my palms and examined it for himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Once the flower gets delivered to the physician and an antidote is made, you and Gilbert must get going," He explained grimly, "I'm afraid the war can not wait ; and you and him must get to the frontlines' camp as soon as possible."

"And where will you be?" I asked him timidly.

"Back to my base," he replied, "this may be the last time I'll ever see you again."

Then, without warning, he pressed his lips gently against mine. I almost fell backwards, overwhelmed with shock, but he grabbed me before I did and pulled me closer, indulging in the contact between us.

We did pull away eventually, and gasped for air. I met his lime green gaze with my eyes widened as he continued, "When and if we meet again in the future, let us forget everything that has ever happened between us."

"Goodbye, Violet,"