Chapter 85

85 The woman on his dream

Brom’s expression changed immediately, his eyes grew wide and his face was as white as the linen sheet that he brought.

“Brom, are you alright?” Asked Anne, while she helped him to sit on her bed. He was having a hard time breathing, Brom was in shock, and cold sweats came from his body.

Looking at his condition, Anne goes to the kitchen right away and makes some meylatee drinks for him. It will calm him down, at least for now. He drank it gratefully and after some color back to his face, Anne asked him the same question as before.

“Thank God! Are you alright?” Asked Anne.

Brom nodded his head, “Thank you, yes, I am fine now, thanks to you.” He gave her a smile that he rarely showed to anyone.

Anne sympathizes with him. She asked him another question afterward, “What happened to you Brom?”

The room was quiet for a short time until Brom spoke again, “That person who you saw behind me, do you know her?”

Now, it’s Anne that went quiet. She stared at Brom, and when she tried to ask him again, her bedroom door opened. There’s Vale outside of her room, stunned to see Anne and Brom sitting in the bed.

“Anne? What are you doing with Brom?!” Thankfully, Vale is one of the most level-headed men. He rushed inside the room and shut the door. “Oh, my Gods! You’re lucky I was the one who found you. Do you imagine if it was Xavier?!”

.....

“Oh, shush Vale, can’t you see I was trying to help Brom,” Anne explained to Vale while rubbing Brom’s back.

Vale looked at her while squinting his eyes. “Why are you rubbing his back?”

“I am trying to calm his nerves! He had a panic attack earlier.” Anne tried to reason with Vale, while Brom sipped on the meylatee drink in his hand.

Hearing the truth from Anne, Vale immediately goes to Brom and asked him a question, “Was it your dream? Was it coming again?”

“A dream? What kind of dream?” Asked Anne, even though the two of them pretended not to have heard anything.

“I’m alright, captain, it wasn’t like that, I got...” He looks directly at Anne, giving her a hint for her to be quiet for now, “Maybe because the room is too stuffy, right Anne?”

The two of them looked at her. While Vale demanded some answers, Brom prevents her from speaking. She chose the latter, “Yes, probably the fatigue finally set in...” She tried to find a good answer, “How about this, you take a rest, for now, I’ll be checked on you tomorrow, alright?”

They have their understanding, and their conversation will be continued tomorrow, in private. Brom excused himself afterward. Anne took the fresh linen and change her sheet. She took glanced at Vale and asked him.

“Alright, you saw me. What do you need from me?”

Vale scratches his hair. “Well, we need you to, uhm... help with the sheet.”

Frowning at Vale, she asked him once more, “Yes? What happened to the sheet?”

All of a sudden, a knock came on the door. “Vale, how is it? Could Anne help me put the linen sheet?” It was Justice’s voice, and she was in awe of the two of them.

Opening the door of her room, she smiled at Justice and make a sweet voice, “Oh my God, your majesty, what an honor!” Anne’s smile went missing, and she glared at Justice, “You want me to change your linen sheet? Dream on!” She slammed the door in front of Justice.

Vale was terrified. “Did you just?”

“Yes, I was rejecting the crown prince’s offer to grace my presence in his bedchamber. Now you, captain magi, get out of here!”

After Vale also got out of her room, she took a deep breath and finally could rest well. The next morning, she feels refreshed and ready to have a good shower; she opens her door to see Xavier and Vale in the kitchen having a conversation.

“Good morning.” Anne smiled at the two of them.

They called for her to go into the kitchen. Turns out Vale was cooking some breakfast. She sat on the chair and begin to eat. Xavier and Vale discussed their duty, as active soldiers, all of them have their duty that they need to do. As for the soldier that has a mission, Vale will be granted two weeks’ rest before he was go to his active duties again.

Xavier will go today. He got the twenty-four hours of guard duty at the west forest. Vale will accompany her with another person.

“Who is it?” Asked Anne.

“It’s Bernard, justice chief guard. He was great, a bit stiff, though.” Said Vale and then sipped on his caftea.

“Bernard?”

Justice came out of his room. He yawned, and asked for a cup of caftea from Vale, “Yes, Bernard, my chief guard, I hope our lovely commoner here will be fine with that?”

Seems like Justice was still a bit upset about the last night. Anne saw how the obvious aura of annoyance came from the crown prince. She chuckles and tried to start a conversation with him.

“So, have you succeeded in folding your linen, your majesty?” Anne couldn’t help herself tease Justice.

“Shut up. I just wanted to ask for some pointers. You know I’m trying to do it myself, right?” Said Justice with a frown on his face.

“Alright! I’m sorry, I was so tired. Let me help you with your bed later on, alright?” Anne tried to persuade him with a little charming smile intended just for the crown prince.

Xavier saw the charming smile, he curses and muttered, “D*mn! Now I want to sulk just because someone doesn’t want to change my bedsheet.”

Vale almost chokes on his caftea after hearing Xavier. After an hour, Vale asked Anne to go downstairs to meet with chief Amaris. She casually go to chief Amari’s floor and saw Brom eating his breakfast outside at the lounge. Every floor of the alchemia tower has a designated public room. For this floor, it was a lounge room with a breakfast nook, with a view of the open kitchen.

“Morning Brom. How are you feeling today?” Asked Anne to Brom.

He saw Anne, and with his casual lazy eyes greeted our heroine, “I’m fine, thank you miss Anne, do you want to see my mother? I think she was inside her lab all night. Probably will take a break in one hour.”

“Wait, did you say that your mother was inside her lab all night?”

Brom nodded his head, “Yes when she has a new project, she will take a short break now and then.”

She was stunned. As a healer, she always assesses everyone’s health, and to have a short break wasn’t ideal even using any health tonic. She gives in for now, after all, Anne doesn’t want to offend Amaris as she was the guest in her alchemia tower.

“Thank you for last night. I don’t want to make my captain worry.” Said Brom, opening the conversation between them.

“You’re welcome,” Anne smiled at him. She decide this is the right time for the two of them to talk privately. “Now, you can talk about the woman that gave you the nightmare. Who is she?”

“Wait, how do you know she was a woman?”

Smiling at him, she gave him the answer, “When you asked me about the person behind you, I never said it was a woman. I guess you unconsciously remembered her.”

Taking a deep breath, Brom nodded his head, “Yes, I was afraid of her. She was entering my dream for such a long time.”

“Was she a scary-looking woman?” Asked Anne. She was so invested in his story now.

“No, she was a beautiful woman, so beautiful that she doesn’t look real to me. With her long black hair and rainbow color eyes, she always tried to reach me with her slender figure.” Brom tells Anne about the woman while closing his eyes. Even when he remembered her in his mind, he was shuddering with fear.

She knows the woman, she already saw the woman, the woman that Brom mentioned was the same mysterious woman who bothered her in the forest in the Viora village and the same one at the palace ball. Everything becomes much clearer for Anne now. It must be why Brom felt something from her. That woman was the reason for it.

“Brom, she was in fact the woman that I saw beside you,” Anne gave him the answer that make Brom bittered.

He took a deep breath once again. “I thought it wasn’t her, but it turns out it was her after all. She likes to wander around, sometimes when I was alone, or even with people around me.”

Anne feels sorry for him. “Is that why you don’t like to be surrounded by people?”

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Brom went quiet. He stared at Anne and said, “You know, you’re a weird girl. Seems like your age doesn’t add up with your appearance.”

“I guess so...” Answered Anne calmly at Brom.

Amaris came out of the room and saw Anne, she told her to go inside her lab, and after she excused herself, Brom quietly stared at Anne from behind, when the door went closed, Brom then muttered to himself, “I guess I was right, she really is a stranger to this world.”