Flames Of Redemption

69

As dawn finally set, Regan paced in her room, her emotions swirling from hate, fury, disgust and guilt. Maybe if she hadn't seen Agnar's affair, she'd have felt slightly better. But that would be a lie. She didn't know how to tell Artemis. But she knew she'd do it as soon as she would see her.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to collect herself. She walked out of the room, her face meeting with the cold breeze of the fortress.

Her steps echoed around, everything was calmly chilling. She went to the living hall. It was cold, despite the big fireplace. Regan felt as if she'd go crazy from not telling immediately of what she had seen.

She sat on one of the white loveseats, her hands trembling, her heartbeats quickening.

"Calm down," she told herself.

From the other side of the hall, she heard movements. She saw a guy with white hair. But it wasn't Agnar, it was his brother. His younger brother. Regan stood quietly, raising an eyebrow. The boy seemed to notice her as well and he sat down, his hair covering his eyes, his movements dull and distant as he looked through a flat tablet-like device.

"Where's your brother?" Regan asked in a whisper, her heart still pounding. The younger boy, looked at her, his gaze cold, but not creepy as he seemed to just study her, "I don't know. I don't care." He calmly replied.

Regan sighed, "I saw something terrible," she said. She couldn't keep it any longer.

Natsu didn't dart his eyes from the tech device, "What?"

"I saw him with Cora.... kissing Cora." Regan said embarrassingly. Maybe it wasn't right to tell his about that. Maybe he didn't understand. Or maybe he did.

Natsu looked up, his expression unreadable for a moment, "The servant?"

"Yes."

The younger prince looked down again, frowning, "I see," he murmured, "well, that's hardly a surprise. It's not the first time he does that."

Regan felt a chill run down her spine. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"It's something common. So, it's useless to do something to stop it, when no one of them cares," Natsu said with a hint of bitterness, "It's better to just let them be. They'll eventually get tired of it," his voice was careless as he couldn't care less.

The words stabbed Regan's heart. She wanted to deny them, to refuse to accept them as truth, "That's terrible. This is shameful," she whispered, her voice shaking.

Natsu just looked up at her, "Is it? I mean, yes it is. But what can you do about it? If you tell everyone, it won't change anything. You'll get yourself in trouble. Believe me when I say that."

Regan shook her head, "I can't let Artemis like this. I can't!"

"She knows," the prince said blankly, "and she doesn't care."

"What do you mean she knows? What kind of marriage is that? How is she still married to him? I-I, I can't fathom it!"

Natsu sighed, "Look, it may be foreign to you or maybe you're just acting like it's foreign. But if you can't stand it, you can leave. It's better to just leave than get yourself in trouble that would cost you dearly. You seem smart, you can do better. Just leave."

Regan frowned, and walked away instead. Before leaving completely, she turned back, looking at the piece of paper that Iris had given her. Maybe Natsu knew the language.

She approached the young prince, holding out the paper, "Hey, prince, do you know what this says?" she asked, hoping he could understand the language.

Natsu took the paper, and glanced at it for a moment. "It's... Ancient southern. It says the name of a local bar in the City of Lights, 'Diamonds and Fangs'. Why do you ask?" he asked, handing the paper back to her.