My Infatuation With Death

Chapter 3 : My Little Timid Rabbit

Perspective : Conrad Garnier

The bell rang and we raised our mugs with alcohol.

"Cheers".

An adventurer's life is filled with adventure danger and booze, a lot and a lot of booze.

The carcass of the crab, we ended up giving it to the guild for harvesting materials and meat, the materials were divided to the guild and us, as they took 20 percent of the share. And well the meat, we ended up letting them prepare a feast for all of us. The hall was filled with adventurers all cheering for us, as we defeated those giant crabs.

"Cheers to the silver Valkyrie of Ustrax".

Silver Valkyrie is a title given by the guild to Regina. As she is a lady that is respected by both men and women.

To my right was Elkdrack and to my left was Yuna, as in the Ice Witch Yuna, She had strikingly vibrant blue hair, a distinctive blue robe, and a magnificent, pointy hat that embodied the traditional attire of witches. But her skin was otherworldly, as if it transcended mortal bounds.

legends say that she was hundred's of years old, I was not inclined to believe such a legend, I would have asked her age,

But,

"Never ask a lady's age".

That's basic etiquette.

So, I let that one slide. Besides her beauty and age, she was no different than other adventurers, and she was way too much into drinking.

And drinkers often disregard other's privacy and ask inappropriate questions, like she asked me with a slurred voice,

"Hey Conrad... what's the deal with you and 'Silver Valkyrie' ... are you guys together or what?".

I replied,

"Mind your own business".

With a loud but still slurred tone, she said,

"But ... I want to know .... you guys live together right ... I am sure there must be something juicy going on".

I, in attempt of correcting her misunderstanding said,

"No .. it's nothing like you envision".

She responded,

"Do you think ... I am an Idiot or something".

"The way she looks at you .... it's with the eyes of a lover".

I told Elkdrack, while pointing towards Yuna's state,

"I think she .... has too much to drink today".

In her defence Elkdrack replied,

"Trust me mate .... she is always like that".

"It's very rare to see her sober".

Yuna said,

"Hey ... don't ignore me .... come on spill the beans".

Her persistence got me curious so I asked her,

"Why do you care?".

She replied,

"That one she has quite a beauty .... young adventurers often come to me, to check their compatibility with her".

Knowing, that I decided to answer her question,

"Then .... If you must know ... she and I have a pure relationship of- that of a brother and sister".

That's right, It was true that she was my Fiance but it wasn't by our choice.

It was something we were forced upon. She could never be my wife, because I didn't see her like that.

All these people looked at her, they saw the courageous and strong Regina but when I stared at her, she would always be that, timid little angry rabbit that, I found in my castle's yard.

.............................. past. .......................................

When I was ten years old, there was a period in my life that was different from my carefree days. I approached everything with a serious mindset, diligently attending daily lessons on various subjects such as geography, history, magic, law, and more. However, to take occasional breaks and relax, I would often find solace in exploring the courtyard of our castle. Our castle was situated on an huge plot of land, large enough to accommodate an entire village. Adjacent to the castle, we had various other structures such as a guards tower, retainer's quarters, a training ground, and several other facilities. In addition, there was a peaceful outdoor area, which I referred to as a yard, although it resembled more of a small forest as it was devoid of any animals. I used to take my daily walks there, to freshen my mind. One day on such an occasion I found a little timid angry rabbit crying below the shade of a tree, whenever I tried to talk to her she would taunt me by sticking out her tongue and quickly scamper away. This became a daily occurrence,

gradually transforming into a mystery, that I was eager to unravel. Everyday, I would quickly finish up my studies, to visit that yard and under the same tree I would find her.

But one day that game ended, like usual I went to talk to her, I approached her slowly to grab her so she wouldn't run. My victory was certain.

It was when she spoke

"Why do you always come here ?".

"I said I don't want to have any more of those practices .... okay ...I am tired for today".

I didn't understood what she told me nor did I care. So I said.

"I am not here to take you for any sort of practices".

She appeared surprised.

"Then .... what do you want?".

I answered.

"I just want to know your name".

She told me her name was Regina and in exchange I told her my name. That was the day that timid angry rabbit for the first time spoke to me.

After that,

She immediately stood up and said.

"I don't want to know your name".

While she threw a rock at me, and once again scampered away.

Though the mystery was solved, my visits to that yard continued.

I would meet her under that same tree, sometimes we would just chat, sometimes we would play games, such as, hide and seek together. It was like having a little sister that I always wanted.

Like that,

Our secret meetings continued for 4 years and she had really gotten a lot closer to me, closer than any of my family and any of my servants. It was as if, we really had became brother and sister.

Then that day arrived.

My father, the King introduced her to me, and that was the period when I had began to deviate from my expectations, because I had started feeling frustrated by the way people solely perceived me only in relation to my father, whenever I accomplished something remarkable they would attribute it to my father's influence. Saying things like,

"That's what you expect from his majesty's son".

The fact was I did that work, not my father.

(It had nothing to do with him).

(They saw me as some sort of prodigy, they were never surprised, nor they would treat me like they treated other kids of my age)

why won't they praise me like normal. So yes, it was a bit of a rebellious phase.

And,

Let me advise you, when a fire is strong what you shouldn't do, is put oil in it. That's how I felt when they introduced Regina to me, as my bride to be. My family didn't knew that we had known each other, for them it seemed as one of my routine denials of my rebellious phase.

But for me It was absurd, the girl I viewed as my sister for the last four years was going to be my bride, It was excruciatingly painful.

But what was to be done, the king's order was absolute, and not even his sons could defy it.

There was nothing that I could have done, so, Instead like a jerk, I started to treat Regina like shit. In order to let her hate me so, this absurdity would finally end. But in our country women were treated like trash, and unknowingly I had started to resemble those trashy people who did that.

In my defence,

I couldn't have known that as, I was sheltered inside the castle walls my whole life, and when I learned of such, I felt the gravity of the things that I had done to my precious Regina,

And, it was all for nothing, as, I had unintentionally ended up conforming to my country's traditions.

And soon I came to realise that her situation and my situation was not that different. So instead of trying to break the engagement, we started to spend more time with each other.

(Like we used to)

Reading books about adventuring and enjoying each other's company without giving much thought to our situation. Was pretty much what we did.

Before long, Regina started dreaming of becoming an adventurer.

So, when I was leaving my country, I bought her along with me.

............................... present. .....................................

In that party, that day I decided that it was time to let Regina be free. so, she could soar above the sky as she always wanted. Our bond was a chain, a chain that had lost its purpose. Now, it was finally time to break it.

I chugged a few mugs of Alcohol, I really wanted to stop thinking about the past afterall I was a man free of all responsibilities.

Yuna said In a teasing manner "Deny it all you want .... eventually I am going to find out".

I replied in a drunken voice

"And when you do ... you will see that it was a massive waste of time".

"Don't you have anything else to do? ... go .. go bother someone else".

Maybe it was the drink, but I had started to get very dramatic.

And by dramatic I meant everything was starting to get hazy, while I was about to fall. but Elkdrack caught me at the right time.

Elkdrack asked "You all right mate"

I nodded. Me and Regina had a sacred bond between brother and sister, so I really hated that when people started to misunderstood.

I heard a voice.

"So you don't mind If I go after her?".

It was Thor Gild, another A class adventurer, seems he had been listening in, on our conversation. The guy was good at what he did, had a handsome face, was really kind hearted. And checked all the requirements, exactly the sort of people I hated.

He asked boldly,

"You said you are like siblings ... so it's cool with you... If I go after her?".

He was a buffoon, who claimed that he had a crush on Regina the moment he saw her.

People like him are oblivious, so oblivious that they don't know when to shut up.

As I was hammered (drunken), I answered him like an old father protecting his daughter.

"If you try that mister, first you have to go through me".

He replied, "Ok then I will".

I said "Good .... then I will crush you".

He replied "Try it ....".

It appeared that he was also quite hammered.

I said "But I am an S class adventurer .....you won't stand a chance".

He replied "There is no difference ".

As we two were about to have our own drunken fist fight, we heard a commotion.

It seemed, Regina was being harassed by a bald buffed guy.