Chapter 578: A Heartbreaking Separation & an Annoying (Annoyed) Customer

"E-Eve, please be mine! The Octavius you know died here in Thaad. Heka killed him. But the new me is nothing—a shaft and a perfectly ordinary man. A more confident one. Will you… be my wife?"

"...Yes, Tavi. I would love to marry you."

***

"Heh… Good for you, sis, good for you."

Janin stood in the narrow hallway outside Octavius's room, one ear pressed lightly to the wooden door, his body still and attentive.

The words he had just overheard—the raw, earnest proposal, Eve's tearful acceptance—brought a small, genuine smile to his face.

(No, he wasn't listening to his sister and best friend having sex. This was when Octavius proposed. Thank you for your understanding, as we protect Janin's dignity).

He pushed away from the door at once and hurried down the stairs, his footsteps quick and quiet on the worn wooden steps, out into the streets of Thaad.

The potion shop's sign was visible ahead, its warm light spilling onto the street. He pushed the door open hard enough that the little bell above it rang sharply, announcing his arrival.

"Susan! Miss me?"

The slim girl behind the counter looked up at once, her head lifting from her work.

Soft brunette hair framed a delicate face; her eyes, usually bright with mischief and warmth, filled with immediate concern when she saw him.

"Janin! I heard what happened… Is everything all right? Are you okay?"

He reached the counter in a few long strides, closing the distance between them.

Before he could answer she leaned across it, took his face gently between both hands, and pressed her lips to his in a consoling kiss—warm, lingering, full of relief that he was still standing in front of her.

When they parted, Janin cupped her cheeks and gave her a soft smile, his thumbs brushing away the worry lines at the corners of her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry about us. We've always had a way of fixing ourselves, of finding our way through the darkness."

Susan exhaled shakily and pressed a hand to her chest, her palm flat against her heart as if to steady its beating.

"Thank goodness… I almost feared you'd say something like 'the shame was too much so you three were leaving Thaad to start a new life somewhere,' ahaha…!"

"..."

"..."

The weak laugh died in her throat when Janin said nothing, when his silence stretched on, heavy and telling.

"…Janin…?" Her expression shifted, the beginnings of realization darkening her features, her eyes widening with dawning understanding.

"You're abandoning me...? I thought… I thought we had something real... that mattered?"

"We did. I swear to you, we did." He reached for her hand, but she drew it back before his fingers could close around it. "This is simply… It is something I must do... something I am bound to…"

"No, it's something Octavius must do! You're just going along with it, following him like you always do!" Susan's voice rose, cracking with emotion; the first glimmer of unshed tears made her eyes shine under the shop's soft light, turning them into pools of shimmering pain.

"Susan, don't be like that, don't make this harder than it already is… Before we even started our relationship, I had explained who Octavius was to me and my sister, and what he means to us," Janin said quietly, still trying—and failing—to take her hand again.

"I know… that's why I told you I thought we had something real... Perhaps I was wrong." The tears finally spilled over, tracking down her cheeks in silent rivers. "We had so many plans together… What if we had made children? You could have still left? Disgusting… I'm certain you would abandon us without a second thought…"

"Uhm..." A polite, hesitant voice came from the doorway, interrupting the tension. "I want to buy some dragon scales and a bottle of basilisk venom…"

"..."

"..."

Neither of them looked at the customer, their attention fixed entirely on each other.

Janin stood silent for a long moment, the truth of her words settling heavily in his chest, pressing down on his lungs.

She was right.

He should never have begun something with her while his life was still so tightly bound to Octavius's storms, to the chaos that followed his friend wherever he went.

He stepped around the counter, took her by the shoulders, and looked straight into her tear-filled eyes, his gaze steady and sincere.

"Susan… I love you. You are the third person that I have ever loved since I stepped into this world, the third soul that has claimed a place in my heart. And I would love to have you for a life partner, for the rest of my days."

Susan's eyes widened, her tears momentarily forgotten. She sniffed, still crying, but her arms rose almost of their own accord and wrapped around his waist, holding on tight.

"Are you telling the truth?" she asked, voice small, barely a whisper. "So you will leave Octavius and choose me?"

"Uhm..." The same customer tried again, more uncertain this time, their voice carrying a note of desperate hope. "I just want to buy some dragon scales and basilisk venom…"

Janin drew a slow breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say.

"About that… will you accept these terms I have to lay before you...?"

He laid everything out carefully, his voice measured and deliberate.

Octavius was in a devastated state; he needed the only two people he truly trusted close to him right now. Janin and Eve would remain with him while he recovered and while the two of them established their own family.

Janin's presence during that time would only complicate things.

Once his friend and sister were settled, he would return to Thaad—return to Susan—and build the life they had talked about, the future they had dreamed of together.

Susan listened in silence, tears still slipping free, tracing silver paths down her cheeks.

When he finished, a fragile, hopeful smile touched her lips, curving them upward despite the tears.

A soft blush colored her cheeks, warming her pale skin. She lifted one hand and began tracing small, imaginary symbols across his chest with a fingertip, patterns only she could see.

"You promise…?" she whispered, her voice sounding a note of tentative hope. "You will come back to me? Come back and stay?"

The customer cleared his throat a third time, looking profoundly awkward as he stood forgotten near the shelves, his presence completely overlooked: "Uhm, if you don't have some dragon scales and basilisk venom, I can just go now… Except you have some and will be willing to sell—"

"I swear to you, Susan!" Janin interrupted them, reassuring Susan with a confident smile, "I'm willing to make the compromise for you."