Chapter 191: Heart to Heart Talk
They played until the salt cooled on their skin and the moon slid higher, then drifted a few paces up the shore and sat back-to-back on the damp sand. The tide pressed and pulled in a steady, hypnotic rhythm — wave after wave sighing against the beach — and for a long while neither of them spoke. The world narrowed to the hush of surf, the low cry of night birds, and the faint hiss of their breathing.
The silence wasn’t empty; it tasted of salt and warmth and something fragile that felt like a secret being kept between two people. Nero felt it settle around him like a cloak, heavy and good. He breathed in once, the cool night filling his lungs, and then let the words out before he could catch them.
"You know," he said quietly, startling even himself with the bluntness of it, "I love spending time with you."
Khione stiffened for a heartbeat — the motion so small he might have missed it if he weren’t listening as closely as he was — and then relaxed, exhaled slowly into the night. The sound was almost a laugh and almost a surrender.
"Are you for real?" she asked, voice thin with an odd mixture of disbelief and something softer.
"I’m serious," Nero replied, turning his head slightly so he could see the edge of her profile. The moon painted her cheekbone in silver. "I want to spend time with you more and more."
Her answer was abrupt, honest in a way that still felt foreign coming from her. "Me too."
The two syllables landed like a small, bright stone. Nero’s stomach flipped with a pleasant sort of shock — surprise braided with relief and something dangerously like hope.
"Good," he said after a beat, smiling without trying. "Maybe, if we spend more time together, I’ll—" He searched for the correct word and let it out with a crooked, self-mocking grin. "—court you."
Khione turned her head and met his eyes then, steady as a blade. For a long, suspended second her ice-blue gaze steadied him, measured him, and then she spoke in that same clipped cadence that had started to feel less distant.
"And who knows — I may accept your advance."
Nero felt his heartbeat trip and stumble; the moonlight seemed to quicken. He swallowed, attempting to tamp down the sudden fleet of anxieties that always surfaced when something important edged too near. "Are you serious?" he asked, the question thinner than he intended.
She made a small, impatient sound. "What? Why are you acting so shocked? You’ve heard the rumors from Lux and the others, I suppose." Her face was blunt, almost annoyed at his astonishment.
He could not deny it. He had heard — the whispered histories, the catalog of attempts and failures; the notion that she was an unapproachable fortress. He looked away for a moment and exhaled.
Khione’s voice softened then, small and plain. "It is true that I have always disliked these... relationships. Any man who approached me before was rejected. If it were the old me, I would’ve said no. I would never entertain the idea. But people change." She paused, and when she spoke again the explanation came out like stones dropped into water — deliberate ripples.
"Sometimes change is because of circumstances. Sometimes it’s because of someone. For me... it’s because I’ve been spending time with you. Things I never considered, I consider now. I — who rarely show emotion, not because I do not want to, but because I was born this way — have started to feel them. For that I am grateful. That is why I said ’me too.’ I am not promising I will accept you if you try to court me. Perhaps I might consider it. For now, I want to spend time with you. To know you. To know myself. Let’s take it slow."
It was raw and honest and utterly unlike the practiced, glazed politeness most people offered. Nero listened as if she were telling the map to a place he had searched for in the dark; every sentence a signpost, every admission a tiny victory. He felt something settle in his chest that was both tender and fierce.
"As expected," he thought, and then aloud, quiet and sure: "I want you."
Khione’s small, rare laugh flickered at the edge of her lips and vanished. The skin at her ears warmed, a faint pink that surprised them both. She dropped her gaze to the sand between their feet for a moment, then looked up again with a quick, earnest blink.
"I understand," he said. "Let’s spend more time together, learn about each other, build something slowly and properly. I want to know what you like, what you dislike. I want to know the things that make you... you. I want you to be there if I need you, and I will try to be there for you."
Nero turned now, fully, to face her — waves whispering like applause. He let the words pour out simply, plainly, every one of them pulled from a place that was nothing like the jokes he used to hide behind.
"I want to make you happy. To support you when you need it. To be someone you can rely on."
Khione’s breath hitched. The tips of her ears reddened again, a delicate bloom of color that made her look both avian and achingly human. For a second she looked smaller and less invincible than she ever had in his presence. Her gaze dropped; when it rose, there was a vulnerability there that only the night could have coaxed out.
"Me too," she answered simply.
He reached out impulsively and tapped her shoulder — a small, almost childlike gesture, half-teasing, half-solemn. She gave him a look that was almost a scold and almost a smirk.
"You are so devious," she murmured under her breath.
Nero laughed then, quiet and genuine, the sound gone soft in the moonlight. They leaned closer until their backs touched, palms resting in the warm, yielding sand. Above them the stars kept their slow, indifferent watch; below, the tide kept its steady, patient time. Between the two of them, a small thing that had been fragile and secret had been named aloud and, naming it, made it less frightening.
They stayed like that for a long while — two silhouettes etched against the sea, breathing in step with the rhythm of the waves — while the warmth of that night wound itself into memory.
"Tell me a few things you like."
The suddenness of Nero’s question hung in the air.
Khione didn’t answer right away. She tilted her head slightly, her white hair falling like a curtain across her shoulder as her gaze drifted toward the dark sea, she untied them once they descended. For a moment, it looked as though she was debating whether to speak or keep her thoughts hidden. But Khione wasn’t the type to linger in hesitation—once she made a decision, she committed fully.
"I like sweet things," she said finally, her voice calm but carrying a softness Nero rarely heard from her. "I like reading... spending time alone... and..." she paused for the briefest instant, "...I like cute things."
Nero’s eyes widened dramatically, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. His jaw dropped in mock astonishment, making his expression absurdly comical. He leaned closer with exaggerated slowness, mouth slightly agape like he had just heard the most shocking revelation of his life.
Khione’s expression soured immediately. Her lips curved downward, her pale brows twitching as the muscles of her face tightened.
"What is with that face? Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" she snapped, her tone icy but tinged with embarrassment.
Still holding his exaggerated look of disbelief, Nero raised his hands in mock innocence, a sly grin tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m innocent! It’s just... to think that you of all people would like cute things..."
The teasing lilt in his voice was unmistakable.
Khione’s face turned crimson, her usual composure shattering in the most uncharacteristic way. She realized instantly that he was making fun of her—mocking her rare display of vulnerability. Frustration and embarrassment surged at once, and before Nero could say another word, she lunged at him with surprising speed.
But Nero had already predicted this reaction. The moment she jumped, he rolled effortlessly to the side, laughing under his breath. Sand scattered beneath him as he pushed himself up to his feet, narrowly avoiding her pounce.
Khione landed with a small thud, spun around sharply, and fixed him with a fiery glare. "Get back here!"
Grinning, Nero bolted across the shore, the soft sand slowing his strides just enough for Khione to chase him. Her white hair whipped behind her like a streaming banner, her usually stoic features breaking into something livelier, brighter.
Their laughter echoed against the waves as they darted around, weaving between the darkened rocks and splashing through shallow water. Each time Khione came close enough to grab him, Nero would dodge, his playful grin only widening. And each time she missed, her frustration gave way to an unrestrained laugh she couldn’t quite hold back.
It was beautiful scenery, two people running freely along the moonlit shore—smiling, laughing, and sharing a moment that belonged only to them.