Dressmaking, venue checking, invitation printing—the rest of the next few days were filled with a whirlwind of activity as the majority of the staff members began to prepare for the biggest event yet.

 

And naturally, as the news of the wedding began to spread, curiosity began to spread amongst the people. Who was getting married? Why go so far to put in the effort? Would there be an open buffet they could eat from?

 

Thanks to the number of temporary jobs suddenly needed for the event, another kind of rumour also began to circulate, speculating that, based on the magnitude of the party preparation, Dias was somehow the groom looking for a bride-to-be. This news was one of the many popular whispers on the female side of gossip, beating even the bleak news regarding the roving bands of bandits that had made an appearance nearby.

 

At least that much had made it to Tira's ears. And it did so in such an unusual way that the experience might become one of the most unforgettable memories in her mind that she would always be able to recall for the rest of her days.

 

On one hand, it made sense why that particular rumor spread faster than any other—more on-the-nose speculation—so far. 

 

The adage of 'a man must have a wife in his life before he can become complete' was so hardwired into the culture of this land that it was hard to look at any rational evidence suggesting otherwise.

 

On the other hand, the problem was that… Dias was just too handsome for his own good. It was precisely because of this that his stans were going rabid with delusions and fantasies that it was honestly kind of terrifying to witness. Even accidentally passing by a group of those girls gossiping could give the false impression that they were doing a demonic ritual with how ominous the air surrounding those girls was.

 

Desperate times breed desperate people, it seemed.

 

Those fans were also the reason why she knew of this rumor in the first place. Some of those aforementioned girls were even brave enough to look for Tira to ask whether she had gotten dumped, and if the single spot was now available, to which; Tira answered every single time with, 

 

"My boss’ love life is of no concern to me. Put the ballot in on the race if you want to, but I’m not going to help you if any of your rivals try to experiment with murder in this lawless time."

 

Her words discouraged some but also encouraged others. Aside from leaving each meeting with a high adrenaline level from always being ready to fight, Tira felt relief whenever she remembered Dias was no longer her problem to deal with.

 

This newfound freedom from being scrutinized at every meal or outing when she had to stay close to the demigod was something she was going to enjoy thoroughly—

 

"Please come with me to the wedding."

 

Until that illusion was shattered when the demi-god himself came knocking on the library door in the middle of her task that afternoon; filing books.

 

Tira wasn't about to ask how he knew she was here; that would be stupid. She wasn't particularly concerned about covering her tracks and therefore, was easy to spot when entering or exiting the school grounds every single day. Not to mention, she never got a chance to ask him whether the tracking sense was a two way ability.

 

Well, here was her answer, then. 

 

"As your bodyguard?"

 

She looked briefly at Dias, who had folded his hands in a praying gesture, and saw his desperate and sad eyes and—was that... a sheen of sweat on his brows? "Why are you sweating? You told me demigods don’t sweat."

 

"I-Uh, I’m just nervous..." Dias took a deep breath before continuing to plead, "Look, I know you’re supposed to be on probation and spend your day off away from me, but I’m going to die if another little kid propositions me on the way back to my room."

 

He continued to beg desperately as he kneeled on the floor, careful to avoid the books strewn around and yet to be placed on the shelf. "Lydia is already threatening to put a knife to my neck and stab me for every young girl that comes up to her to ask about it… Please? Do I need to beg? I can beg prettily if you want, just please, come as my plus one. I—"

 

She sighed and cut him off right there with a stop-hand gesture.

 

"Dias," Tira said his name with as much of a threatening tone as she could muster, "if you want to kill me, you should try and choose a more straightforward way."

 

"I DON'T WA–" 

 

He stopped his rising voice after a threatening glare she gave and, after a few seconds of calming down, tried again to talk with his inside voice. "I don’t want you to die… I don’t!"

 

Of course he didn’t. That was not the point he was supposed to get at.

 

"You could try asking Lydia?" She suggested. 

 

Tira closed the book carefully since she wouldn't be able to put it in place until this matter was wrapped up, and gave the demigod her fullest attention for her next suggestion. "Or any other girls from the higher ranks? Felicia would have said yes if you asked her for it. Devy should be fine as well."

 

Still looking frustrated, Dias slumped down on the floor, crossing his legs as he made himself comfortable on the carpet with the most depressed face she ever saw and began his rebuttal with the most unexpected words.

 

"For starters, nothing is going on between me and Lydia."

 

He took his eyes off the ground to look at her directly, his lips and brows pressed into a line to emphasize the seriousness of his words—she could feel it through their bond as he suddenly opened the emotional floodgates for Tira to see.

 

"Even if she and many others are interested, I… don’t. I am not interested in anyone else."

 

She said nothing, observing the man in silence, taking in on how he was behaving, only to find on top of his openness, his heartbeat had been erratic the entire time.

 

"Everyone thought that Lydia was the one for you, though."

 

"I don’t care what everyone thinks. That's not the truth."

 

"Then go attend the wedding reception alone. You are the officiator anyway. What are you so scared of?" She voiced the obvious issue.

 

Dias was taken aback after hearing her. He must have been on the wit's end if she could get him exasperated so quickly, but also weirdly unguarded at the moment. 

 

Why? 

 

"Do you hate me so much that the idea of going with me was so undesirable?" Dias asked after he composed himself a second time with a bit of a whine reminiscent of a kicked puppy. Sadness flew through the bonds and Tira had to focus to not let it distract her from saying what needed to be said.

 

"I don’t hate you," she dismissed that right from the start, adding another line to crush his hopeful look. No more being misleading. "but nor do I like you enough to be your flyswatter for this matter, it was just a bit much of a request for me personally. I’m sorry."

 

A minute passed, then two, and nearly reached three when Dias finally looked away with a long, regretful sigh. "Alright, I’m sorry to bother you."

 

The emotional connection slowly dwindled. She felt like she could finally breathe again.

 

"I’m not bothered, but thank you for not pushing me for it."

 

Tira finally gets to read the book's label and crawls to put it away on the correct shelf. "I’ll be going with Sariya, if it makes you feel any better. Don’t listen to the rumors or expectations other than your own and just do what you want to do."

 

Looking back, Dias' expression had somehow turned from being sad to surprise, then gained peace as he smiled, which evolved into short giggling. "I miss talking to you. It’s hard to find supportive words that I know are meant to be genuine."

 

"Sentiment returned." She replied easily. It had been quite some time since they last talked face-to-face like this, and she had to admit it was a nice change of pace for once to be the one in control of the pace. "Still having trouble with the council?"

 

Dias nodded helplessly, picking up a book as he started joining in on the shelf filing activity. "I don’t know if this will come off as comfort or a threat, but I know you meant nothing harmful in regard to your experiment. After all, I would have known if you were doing it with the intention of harming me."

 

"But it's frowned upon in today’s society."

 

She explained while reading the title of the book she was holding, "What remains of it, at least. And I'm not completely blameless, as everything that happened was orchestrated by me in order to get to that goal; disregarding the fact that it was an experiment was unknown to the participants, then of how much scar and guilt I gave them because of it."

 

Dias stayed quiet as he helped unpack another box, already clearing the one open in the middle, his gloved hands reaching for a new book to sort. "You did it because you trust them to not kill you despite the opportunity presented."

"Yes." 

She looked at the clouds drifting by in the sky as they formed a neat line yet were disorganized in shape. Contra, contrary, contradictory. "But having the right reason still won't right a wrong action."

 

"Although I do realize, no matter which way I try to explain it, my excuses will still sound wrong because, fundamentally, we do not think in the same way. It was wrong of me to do that, to begin with, but as I’ve told you before,"

 

"You need to know."

 

"I need to know." Tira echoed. That was all it was. Simple. For her, at least. "I do apologize if that has put you in a tough spot with them, though."

 

Dias shook his head, still smiling lightly as he picked another book to file away. "You would be glad to know that it had not. In fact, they seemed to be more receptive to having me around."

 

Turning the book to see the title, Strategies for Beginner Chess with a label that had it marked for the left shelf. Dias put it aside as it didn't belong to the right pile. "Although that might have been your plan too, wasn't it?"

 

As if. She wasn't acting that thoroughly nowadays, she preferred to not think at all if possible. Tira knew it became too dangerous if she was allowed to think. "No, but I am glad it turned that way."

 

Sorting, rifling, and replacing the dupes on the shelf had filled the gaps of silence with the fluttering of papers and hard cardboard being flattened to be put aside. It was quite a comforting chore to do, an activity that was too easy to miss the passage of time with if one were not careful.

 

She had handed him a book, using the man’s useless height to fill up the higher parts of the shelf when he did not take the offered item away and instead just… held it. "Can you promise me not to do that again?"

 

Ah, see? He hasn’t realized it yet, but she didn't think this would be a good moment to bring it up and answer in half-truths. "No. Did you eat anything for the past few days?" 

 

Tightly pressed lips were enough of an answer as to his stand in the matter.

 

She didn't follow up with an apology of any sort after that question, since she neither regretted nor was she sorry for having done that. He had to figure this out by himself before she snapped and made the choice for him.

 

Sucking a sharp breath, Dias said nothing back, pushed the last book onto the top shelf, and left behind a whisper.

“It didn’t taste well without your company.”

From the door she heard a light shuffle of shoes; being toed off and quickly marking Sariya’s return from getting her late lunch. "Oh, you got to the last box already?"

 

From the open frame, streaming light beamed in, blanketing her figure in a halo, almost far away yet so close to touch. Tira gave a slight nod, allowing a part of the truth to come out.

 

Although it was only for herself, hidden in the shade of the books and shielded by the hair falling over her eyes once more.

 

"I had a bit of help."