章 49: Because Otherwise...

"You… I..." Her voice faltered, upon trying for a strong comeback to his words. Sadly, she had none. It had been quite a while for her to be held tongue-tied by someone.

She was thinking that he was doing what he was doing because Ayden was related to her but his reply made it clear that Ilyan didn't care about that. To him, Ayden was a human more than being her ex-boyfriend.

"Even if I can't help but agree to that, I can't help but recall that he is the same human who… held your collar, talked to you in the manner that at least I find unacceptable and got physically charged at you. You still want to go and help him? I wonder, why."

"Because he needs it, that's why." Ilyan covered the distance between him and the door in two long strides and urged Melissa to let him go.

Melissa did her bit by trying to stop him a couple of times but Ilyan had made up his mind. Melissa shot a look at Irene who blinked once, and Melissa stepped aside.

"Thank you," Ilyan said to Melissa, grabbing the doorknob, "for being so sweet in allowing me to stay." Just as he stepped out in the chilly air, Irene brought herself closer to the door. When he turned to close the door behind, he was met with the void in her eyes that for some reason unsettled him.

"Go inside. It's cold." He could have just shut the door, but something about her stance did not let him move so he rather waited to hear what was troubling her from inside.

Several seconds passed but she just stared at him, leaving him uncertain about what bothered her. "I can't stop you. Not after the brilliant reasoning provided. But remember, if something happens to you, I will spend the rest of my life in guilt."

'Okay, so she was worried about his safety.' He shoved his hand in his pocket, vigorously searching for something and when he got his hand out, he asked her to forward hers.

Clueless, she did what he asked for and he placed something in her hand. When he lifted his hand from her palm, she got a view of something that looked like a broken piece of a star pendant. Not understanding what the gesture meant, she lifted her questioning eyes at him.

"This," he voiced, looking at what he had placed in her hand, "is precious to me. As long as you have this, you can be assured that I'll always come around safe to take this back. Even if I am to die, I will need this with me to die." With a smile touching the corners of his mouth, he stood there, indirectly taking away her worries.

"Interesting," she murmured, her gaze involuntarily going back to the piece in her palm.

As he slowly faded from her sight, her heart grew anxious. She watched him getting into his car, and that was it for her. She rushed up to his car, yelling to inform Melissa that she would be back soon.

Ilyan was putting the key in the car when the window of his side was knocked consistently. He looked up only to find Irene standing there, urging him to let her in. Slightly shaking his head, he asked her to get to the other side while he bent down for a brief moment to fix something up.

"Get inside really quick," he said, as he opened the door of the passenger seat. "You should have told me if you weren't going to listen to me."

"Sorry. As much as I believe that you are going to look for Ayden because of that human reasoning you gave back then, you can't deny that - I am the reason why you know this human. So, in this way or that, this absolutely concerns me. I will go with you."

"Fine," he reciprocated in agreement to the stubborn girl as he started the ignition.

As they drove through the empty lanes, Irene realized that everyone was home. Except for Ayden. 'Ugh." Annoyance spread through her, momentarily masking the concern.

The storm seemed to be getting mild as they headed toward Bridgeway Street.

"You have snow on your feet."

"Huh?"

"I said, you have snow on your feet. Take it off," Ilyan repeated, his eyes fixed on the road as he carefully moved forward. "Feel free to use that handkerchief over there."

She looked down at her feet. "Oh! Thanks." She dusted the snow off her feet. She wasn't wearing shoes because it hurt her feet but fortunately, she had her socks on. That certainly helped.

"I sincerely do not like that you are troubling yourself."

His comment stole her attention from the phone she was looking in. "Life doesn't stop troubling me so… I am pretty much used to it. Don't worry."

As he hummed in response, the subtle shift of his eyebrows left her curious about what went inside his head at that moment.

"It should stop troubling you soon because otherwise, I am going to start troubling it."