Chapter 41: A Gaze from the Past

The soldiers had left the camp and begun sweeping through Blackwood Forest in their respective groups. The area around the campsite grew quieter after their departure, leaving Elias still inside his tent with Evelyn and Elysia.

Elias sat at the table with both hands propping up his chin. His gaze was fixed on the simple map spread out before him, but he still hadn’t found anything he could use as a lead.

’If this search fails, what am I supposed to do?’

He had already split the soldiers into several groups to cover more ground. At the very least, that approach should have improved their chances of finding a clue. But what if the Heartbloom simply didn’t grow in the area they were searching? What if they were just wasting time looking for something that was never there to begin with?

Elias let out a long sigh and rubbed his face. He tried to think of other alternatives, from narrowing the search area based on environmental conditions to changing how they gathered information. But every possibility that came up ended with the same problem. They knew nothing about where the Heartbloom actually grew in Blackwood Forest.

’Damn it. I don’t even know where to start.’

The longer he thought about it, the harder it felt to find a way out. He couldn’t just order the soldiers to wander the forest aimlessly, but he also didn’t have enough clues to determine which areas they should prioritize.

Behind him, Evelyn and Elysia could only watch as Elias sank deeper into his thoughts. Both of them wanted to help, but they also realized there wasn’t much they could do right now to ease the burden the young man was carrying.

Evelyn occasionally glanced at Elysia standing beside her. She knew her little sister wanted to help Elias too, but seeing the young man who hadn’t stopped thinking about the Heartbloom search made it difficult for them to find a way to approach him.

After a while, Elysia finally walked over to the small table in the corner of the tent. She picked up the teapot of warm tea, poured some into a cup, and carried it over to Elias.

"Elias, your tea."

Elias didn’t answer and kept staring at the map on the table while thinking about other possibilities he hadn’t considered yet. Elysia held the cup out a little closer so it would be easier for him to reach.

But when Elias lifted his gaze, their eyes met.

And Elysia instantly froze with her eyes wide open.

That sharp stare made her body go rigid. Her hand holding the cup started trembling, and her breath caught for several seconds. There was something in Elias’s eyes that reminded her of a feeling she had wanted so badly to forget.

Without thinking, Elysia set the cup down hard on the table. The tea inside sloshed and spilled onto the surface.

She immediately turned and walked quickly out of the tent without saying a word.

Evelyn, who saw the whole thing, immediately turned toward her sister.

"Elysia?"

But her call got no answer. Evelyn stared at the now-empty tent entrance for a moment, then glanced at Elias to see if the young man had noticed what just happened.

Unfortunately, Elias had already gone back to staring at the map. He had even started shifting some notes on the table, as if the sound of the cup being slammed down wasn’t enough to get his attention.

’Oh god...’

Evelyn let out a small sigh. She wanted to chase after her sister but before leaving she grabbed a small cloth from near the table and used it to wipe up the spilled tea. After making sure the cup wouldn’t fall, she set the cloth beside it and hurried out of the tent.

* * *

Once outside, Evelyn looked around the camp. The soldiers had already scattered in various directions with their respective groups, so there weren’t many people she could ask. She tried looking toward the dirt path leading into the forest but didn’t find Elysia there.

"Elysia, where are you?"

No answer except the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

Evelyn started walking away from the campsite. She knew her sister well enough to know Elysia wouldn’t go too far without reason, but she also knew that when Elysia was genuinely upset, the girl preferred to be alone rather than let anyone see her state.

She passed several large trees while scanning her surroundings. Occasionally she stopped when she spotted something resembling a shadow among the trees, but after checking, it was just bushes swaying in the wind.

"Elysia, this isn’t the time for hide and seek," she muttered quietly.

Though she tried to sound annoyed, Evelyn was starting to worry. Her sister could be willful sometimes, but she never expected Elysia to leave the tent like that.

She kept searching around the camp until she finally heard the sound of soft sobbing from behind a fairly large tree. Evelyn immediately stopped and sharpened her hearing. The sound came again, and this time it was a little clearer.

"Elysia?"

She walked closer and found her sister sitting under the tree with her head down. Both hands covered her face, while her shoulders shook from the tears she had been trying to hold back.

Evelyn fell silent for a moment at the sight. She never expected to see Elysia crying like this, especially after what had only seemed like a few seconds of an incident inside the tent.

"Elysia, what’s wrong?"

"Don’t look at me!"

Evelyn immediately stopped. She raised both hands slightly, showing she had no intention of forcing her sister to do anything.

"Alright, alright. I’m not looking."

She turned her face away for a moment before slowly sitting down beside Elysia. And for a while, Evelyn said nothing. She just stayed with her sister who was still crying, occasionally glancing over to check on her.

When Elysia started rubbing her face roughly, Evelyn finally reached out and caught her wrist.

"Stop rubbing it. Your eyes will hurt."

"I don’t care..."

Evelyn let out a small sigh. She then released her sister’s hand and let her cover her face again.

"What’s wrong? You were fine earlier."

Elysia shook her head. She tried to answer, but her voice kept breaking from the tears that hadn’t subsided.

"I just wanted to help him..."

Evelyn turned to her but didn’t interrupt right away.

"I just wanted to give him tea. But why did he..."

Elysia’s sentence cut off. She bit her lip while trying to hold back the tears that burst out again.

"I don’t want him to look at me like that again... He already said he wouldn’t show me that look anymore, but... Why... Why did he..."

After hearing that, Evelyn stayed quiet while staring at Elysia. She was starting to understand that what happened earlier wasn’t just about the tea or Elias’s gaze. There was something that had frightened her sister so deeply, something Elysia couldn’t put into words yet.

Evelyn didn’t know what had actually crossed Elysia’s mind when she saw Elias earlier, but she knew her sister needed someone to stay with her.

"Hey, look at me."

Elysia didn’t obey right away. Evelyn stroked her hair gently before pulling her into a hug.

"He’s got a lot on his mind. You know better than anyone what kind of situation he’s in right now."

"But I’m scared..."

Evelyn paused for a moment, then tightened her embrace.

"It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me everything now. Besides, crying like this is going to ruin that pretty face of yours, you know?"

Elysia clutched her sister’s clothes without answering. Evelyn smiled faintly then went back to stroking her sister’s hair.

"But if you’re still scared, just stay here with me until you feel better. I’m not leaving you."

Elysia gripped her sister’s clothes and cried again. This time, she didn’t try to hide her tears anymore.

Evelyn kept stroking her hair while letting her sister pour out her feelings. She didn’t know what had actually made Elysia react that way, but she had no intention of leaving her sister alone in this state.

Some time passed before Elysia’s crying slowly subsided. She was still leaning against her sister, occasionally wiping the leftover tears on her cheeks while trying to steady her breathing.

Evelyn didn’t push her to go back to camp. She let Elysia rest for a bit, occasionally stroking her hair when the girl started sobbing again.

But their quiet moment didn’t last long.

From the direction of the camp, the sound of several soldiers returning could be heard. Evelyn lifted her head and saw a group of people walking toward the main tent, with one of them carrying something that looked like damaged equipment.

"That’s group five, isn’t it?" Evelyn muttered.

Elysia wiped her face one more time before nodding slowly. She still looked down, but at least she was calm enough to stand.

"Let’s go back. Looks like they found something."

Evelyn stood first, then held out her hand to her sister. Elysia took it and got up, tidying her clothes before following her sister back to camp.

When the two of them entered Elias’s tent, the soldiers from group five were already standing in front of the table. Elias himself was examining several objects they had brought, his attention so focused it was like nothing else mattered right now.

"Captain, we found something on the path group two passed through earlier," one of the soldiers said.

Elias immediately raised his head.

"What did you find?"

The soldier placed several items on the table, including a torn piece of dark cloth and a damaged weapon. Among those items was a small piece of fabric with a rose pattern still clearly visible, even though part of its edge was dirty with soil.

Elias picked up the cloth and examined it carefully. He didn’t know who it belonged to or what the rose image meant, but at the very least he could confirm they weren’t the only ones who had ever been in that area.

’I feel like I’ve seen this pattern before...’

Elias tried to remember, but couldn’t find a definite answer.

’Damn it, I forgot again. But wait, the problem isn’t just who entered this forest. I don’t even know what their purpose is.’

Were they just another group that happened to be exploring Blackwood Forest? If that was the case, maybe Elias could ask for their help finding the Heartbloom. But the presence of damaged weapons and traces of battle made it hard to consider them ordinary travelers.

Maybe they had clashed with another party. Or maybe they had come to this forest for something unrelated to the Nocturne Family’s expedition.

But Elias couldn’t ignore another possibility either.

’Could they know something about this expedition?’

He looked back at the rose pattern in his hand. If information about Valeria’s condition had spread, it wasn’t impossible that some party was interested in the Nocturne Family’s situation. Even so, he had no proof linking that piece of cloth to Valeria’s condition.

’Ah, hell. I don’t even know who they are, and I’m already thinking about too many possibilities.’

Elias placed the cloth back on the table, then shifted his gaze to the soldiers.

"Explain everything from the start," he said. "Don’t leave out a single detail."

The soldiers began recounting what they had found in the forest, while Evelyn and Elysia stood not far from Elias, listening to the report as well.

* * *