Nathalie jolted upright and with puffy eyes, she scoured around how the dappled light in the dawn graced her chambers.

'Goodness, it's already morning…' She pondered with grogginess; so much she wanted to cry in silence as she begged for more rest. 

'Keith… I know he's too smart for his own good as he was much of an observant and always kept it to himself but…'

Though peering sideways, she glanced at the man beside him. His bathrobe went loose, showing so much of his sheen skin, even his battle scars never been this alluring, under the brilliance. 

'Right, I almost forgot about him— no, scratch that… After all that we talked about last night….'

Nathalie thought it was such a blessing to see his body, only to get covered with a few sheets, only on the important regions of him, which prevented more of her malicious thoughts from seeping into her head. 

Her gaze went upwards; she flinched when Keith was also awake, although with a piercing stare and a subtle grin came from him.

"Fancy the sight, hmm?"

[Cut it out!] With that, Nathalie rustled out of the sheets and stormed out to prepare for this morning.

However, Keith yawned while stretching, and then mumbled, "It's still early in the morning, I don't think we'd meet anyone yet, isn't it?"

[I know that, thank you very much.] She then trudged to the vanity after going to the drawer to pick up some garments. [But didn't you say I'd talk to Athan?]

"You're really going to go for it..."

[You've said it.]

"It was a heads up. Never thought you'd try to let it slide or possibly ignore him since."

After picking up some makeup primer and applying it to her face, she glanced at him. [I shall see it for myself, that assumption of yours.]

Keith ended up chuckling as he sat at the edge of the bed. "Is that why you had a hard time sleeping throughout the night?"

However, she remained silent as she went to do her makeup once more.

"Alright, I shall accompany you then."

Soon as he went to the divider, she sighed while putting down her foundation cream. 

In her mind, she didn't want to face Athan for as long as she could after learning the truth. 

Now that he knew that she wasn't the Mystique that he once knew— which was a glimpse of truth from it— she thought about ending whatever they had left and not to encourage upon salvaging the feelings.

But she didn't know that much, especially Athan now. After all, her preconceived notions of him changed and as much as she hated to admit it, he turned out to be the best version of himself.

Even so, hearing him talked about developing such feelings of her, despite knowing the truth turned out insane.

'Did Athan think that I turned out to be the goodness out of Mystique? Did he forget how Mystique fared recently?'

In her heart, she thought that after revealing the truth; he'd know the reason why she became too adamant about him. 

But then, it was as though she couldn't escape the world, it was more than a chance that she'd interact with them whether she liked it or not.

Keith's suggestion last night perhaps to settle their differences and the back and forth aggression the two had. 

She couldn't lie about how the two of them went cold that night.

'Right; I really need this… I must do this; I can't be this ungrateful.'

However, Nathalie and Keith talked about some important matters beforehand; especially the hesitation she had of him, and how they would've moved forward.

Nathalie wanted to live her life to the fullest. While her goals never diverged how she wanted to return to the life she once had; in the meantime, she wanted to cherish every moment.

Although it became a deep conflict; as her feelings grew deeper, she found herself unable to detach from every single one of them.

For she once thought she needed none of them, as though they were rather fictional. In this lifetime, however, they were real.

Nathalie couldn't bear the feeling of such separation once more, of who knew when the time comes, especially to the likes of Arnold and Keith.

Busying from putting on a light contour, mascara, and highlight above the cheekbones, she then grabbed a rouge lipstick, smearing her lips. Unbeknownst to her, Keith came in prim and proper with a flared robe and tunic he donned on.

After puckering her lips, she watched him how he was already good to go, with such quickness, she was still impressed by the feat.

[That outfit suits you.]

"Uhh, does it?" Unsure of himself, he checked his flared cotton sleeves, then adjusted the belt on his waist before lowering down to check his brown leathered flat shoes. "I appreciate that compliment, My Lady."

[You deserved it.] Withal, she kept her cosmetics in the bag and prepared herself for one last time. [It's still early in the morning, why don't you go seek him out and relay my message as I prepare, about half an hour for now.]

"Indeed. Perhaps he'd be surprised had we knocked on his headquarters."

[Alright, get going.] She then flicked off her hand as she grabbed the outfit she would've worn today. Then leered in his direction. [Unless you want to see me undressed.]

"Ahh! I shall take my leave in a jiffy!"

After which, he scooted out of the room, leaving her giggle in silence.

[Now that I think about it; ever since then, he has always been supportive of my decisions.]

Keith had always been Mystique's side, even the worst days of her life.

On the other hand, Nathalie opened up to him about how she wasn't the one he should serve all this time.

Though he begged to differ, like the time he swore his oath was also the time she lived as Mystique. Moreover, she was the same as her— so many similarities than differences.

So his devotion wasn't far from his notion, but he accepted her regardless.

'It might be because I treat him so much; I honor him, I like him so much— and even told him he was my favorite male character of all time— Yes, that must be it…'

But this also opened another idea in Athan's case.

Supposed Keith's words turned out true, she couldn't help but seek him about it.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like