Ceres

82

In the middle of the night and at a certain place in the royal palace of Winsterein, Ceres was looking straight ahead.

A woman with white and silver hair flowing down on her cerulean gown lined with embroidered silver snowflakes was walking towards the door that Ceres was guarding.

She stopped right in front of Ceres. She has delicate yet elegant features. However, she doesn't show any expression on her face. She looks like she wasn't interested at Ceres at all.

Ceres was only looking straight ahead; as if she wasn't even looking at the woman in front of her.

The woman was about to touch Ceres' face but the latter spoke.

"Don't."

The hand that was about to reach Ceres' face stopped in mid-air.

The woman tilted her head a little as if wondering why Ceres said that. She kept her hand and said,

"You are one of those who can sense me."

The woman looked closely at Ceres seemingly studying her facial features.

"Why?"

Ceres' keen sense coupled with her unique ability regarding spiritual essences, she was able to detect the woman. But the latter was only achieved through her harsh training at Old Na's place... For some unknown reasons.

Ceres didn't answer the woman and kept on looking straight ahead; not paying any attention to the latter.

The woman sighed. It seems that she was used to this kind of scenario.

In her life, there are people who can immediately sense her presence and those people can be counted in her hands. Furthermore, those people do not always associate themselves with her as she was always by herself. That is precisely why, even though Ceres doesn't have any distinguishing features with her disguise, it piqued the interest of the woman. And, for some reason, she was expecting something out of Ceres.

However, because Ceres do look ordinary and the woman couldn't detect any spiritual essence in her, the woman could only ignore her interest. Ceres wasn't her target anyway.

The woman slowly shook her head sideways. After some time, she placed both her hands in front of her chest and a Carnation flower made of ice appeared out of nowhere.

"I came by to greet the person inside. Since you are here and have sensed me, can you give this to that person?"

Ceres looked at the flower and then, at the woman. But, her expression was still the same: blank.

"Why should I?"

Right after hearing Ceres' question, the ice flower broke into pieces and the pieces disappeared as if it melted in thin air.

The woman seemed to know that Ceres would ask and so, she walked to one side only to half-kneel on the floor. There, she lightly touched the floor and another ice flower appeared. However, it looked like the ice flower was actually growing on the floor. It has a stem that has three leaves growing on it. Yet, the ice flower seemed to not be in bloom.

"This will be a token..."

Then, she lightly touched the flower bud and it suddenly bloomed into a majestic Carnation. The flower seems to be realistic but the color and texture gave away its icy nature. It was not a real flower but, an ice sculpture.

"...An apology."

The woman stood up and was about to leave but Ceres once again, spoke some words.

"Why?"

The woman stood on her spot but didn't even look back at Ceres.

"Why, you ask?"

A slight smile appeared on the woman's face but her eyes which seemed as if it was looking somewhere else would make one notice that that smile was not of happiness. It was sorrow.

"Flowers grow, bloom, and wither; just like our life which is only good for one season."

The woman looked at her hand which she then, turned into a fist.

"It is my gift... And my apology."

Out of nowhere, a dagger pierced through the ice flower and the sculpture was broken into pieces.

"It is a nice gift but, we can't take it."

"I understand. I will bid fa---"

"You reek of death not because you have killed a lot of people but because... You are actually dying."

The woman looked back at Ceres with furrowed brows. Ceres continued to speak; it is one of those rare times that she actually spoke more than one sentence.

"Do you wish to kill? Or be killed?"

After some time, with a wave of her hand, the woman was slowly disappearing in front of Ceres. It seems like she was being broken into millions of ice pieces and those pieces just melt in the air.

"I have long ceased to even hope."

She closed her eyes and just when she was about to completely disappear, she was able to utter more words.

"If I have the chance, I wish to..."

The woman, even with closed eyes, showed one of her rarest expressions: a genuine smile.

"...Live."

She then, disappeared; like the melting of snowflakes in one's hands.

Ceres' expression was the same. And, she was only looking straight ahead; like she did not meet any one at all.

Gil appeared beside her and out of the shadows.

"That was---"

"I know."

Ceres interrupted Gil. Gil could only seal his lips and stop talking. He saw that even though Ceres was looking straight ahead, she was looking at somewhere else.

"She is a good person."

Ceres blinked once. However, that blink seemed to contain all of her past memories.

"...Definitely,a good person."-tbc