Kingdom Of Glass [Kirito x Eugeo]

Chapter 10

The silence had become sickening- Eugeo had been sitting here for ages, simply watching Quinella as she flipped pages of her book.

It was very late in the evening, and all Eugeo wanted to do was sleep off the troubles of the day... He was sure Quinella felt the same, she was most likely annoyed that the Duren family had been present when interrupted at dinner, and was even more annoyed about this whole situation involving Eugeo.

Because of how late it was, the Duren family were invited to stay in the palace overnight. It was a dangerous journey to Duren at these hours, bandits and thugs would wander the roads continuously, raiding any carriage they see passing by. Lady Sortiliena and princess Tiese were both on the opposite side of the palace, while Lord Golgorosso was situated a bit closer to the middle, where Bercouli and Quinella were.

But currently, Quinella was in the throne room with Eugeo, where he supposes an interrogation of some sort was going to be carried out.

After he had been so awkwardly led by the royal guard, and left with Quinella in this room- she hadn't spoken a word, instead, she stayed focused on the books and parchment resting atop the table. Her face remained expressionless and cold, even when she knew Eugeo was waiting for her to say something.

He looked down at his lap as an attempt to avoid having to look at Quinella- it had to have only been about ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The silence was strangely comforting, although was still an anxious reminder that Eugeo's punishment was being decided as every second went past. Quinella was probably thinking of a way to punish him 'humanely', as to not destroy the trust a son was supposed to hold with his mother.

Eugeo decided he couldn't take this silence anymore, and let out an awkward cough- hoping it would coax Quinella to maybe say something.

There was a brief moment where he thought she was just going to continue saying nothing, her eyebrow twitched and she stopped moving the pages of the book. Eugeo watched silently, his eyes darting between the book in her hands, and the way her face slowly became more expressive.

She shifted her body weight, and finally looked upwards towards Eugeo. They made eye contact momentarily, though it didn't last longer than a second, as Quinella looked back down to her books again.

"Do you know what I'm reading, Eugeo?" She said, her voice sounded gentle, yet Eugeo knew it was forced. The question was a little random, but that didn't stop Eugeo from feeling worried- the conversation had started. Even if this wasn't the way he was expecting.

"N-no lady, what is it?" He replied. Truthfully, if Eugeo could see the cover there was no doubt he knew what book she was reading. He had read almost everything in the palace library...

"It's called 'Betrayal and Deceit', a beautiful story, really. Have you read it?" She replied, closing the book with one hand.

"Most probably, lady," Eugeo said, clasping his hands together. He knew what she was doing, though he wasn't sure where this was going. Quinella was often cryptic when using her methods of investigation.

"...Most probably." She mimicked, pushing the book to the side.

There were a few seconds where neither spoke. Eugeo kept his eyes downcast, too afraid of what might happen if he met Quinella's gaze.

"Tell me Eugeo, are you unintelligible? Dense perhaps?" Quinella asked.

Eugeo hesitated slightly- while he didn't believe he was either of the things Quinella was suggesting, he wasn't sure how he'd word his answer in a way that didn't make him seem egotistical.

"Well, no lady... I don't believe so." He replied, taking a shaky breath.

Quinella's mouth fell open slightly, then snapped shut. She took a short breath, before proceeding to stand up harshly.