Chapter Sixty-Seven

“Phanie-ah, I heard you’re getting married.”

No… I’m not marrying anyone. I’m with you, don’t you remember?

“It is a lie from the beginning, isn’t it? When you told me you were running away from your home and your fiancé, it is a lie, isn’t it!”

No… I didn’t lie to you!

“You and that Jang Wooyoung plotted this together!  You come to me and gain my trust purposely, so you can let that bastard me, am I right?!”

No… It wasn’t like this! I didn’t know you saw him! And I didn’t know he tried to you!

“Luckily Sunny and the others found me in time, or else that he would have succeeded. You must be disappointed, aren’t you?”

No Taeyeon…

“Stephanie…This is what you get for betraying me.”

No… I didn’t betray you!

“This Crystal Tear contains not only our memories, but the pain and suffering I’ve been through.”

No…

“Have a taste of my bitterness Stephanie.”

No…

“This droplet of blood contains a curse. It will be activated as long as you get into a relationship. Either your partner kills you or you kill your partner. It will never end as long as your blood continues to flow. So don’t even think about lifting it.”

No…

“Phanie… You know I love you, don’t you? Why do you have to do this to me? Why do you have to betray me and force me to do this? I can’t bear to leave you… I just can’t…”

“But I guess, today shall mark our end.”

“Farewell…”

NO!

She tried to reach for the disappearing figure, but it only got further and further away from her until she couldn’t see her anymore.

NO! TAEYEON, DON’T LEAVE ME! PLEASE!

*

“Unnie!”

It was three in the morning, but Yoona was still wide awake. She couldn’t sleep at all, not when the owner of this house was suspicious. She wanted to see the sunrise tomorrow and of course, to have Tiffany by her side when light hits the ground. She wouldn’t want to find herself dead or to find Tiffany missing along with that Taeyeon woman tomorrow.

She had to stay awake and make sure everything goes right.

But she had forgotten one person, Tiffany.

“Unnie!”

Yoona had been trying to wake Tiffany up ever since she found her trembling and murmuring in her sleep. It started with a murmur initially and was accompanied by trembles as the murmurs got more frequent and louder––Dammit! She is even crying now!

“Craps…” Yoona muttered under her breath.

This wasn’t her first time sleeping with Tiffany, but it was definitely her first time seeing Tiffany cried in her sleep and it didn’t look right at all!

When Yoona failed to wake Tiffany up after numerous calls, she slipped an arm below Tiffany’s body and scooped her up, pulling the trembling hunter into her embrace as she tried her best to calm her down.

“Hush unnie, hush…”

Yoona swayed from left to right gently, like how a mother would do when she was trying to make her baby sleep. And fortunately, her method somehow worked. Tiffany calmed down in her embrace gradually and soon fell back to deep sleep.

But before that, Yoona finally found out what she had been murmuring for the past hour.

Taeyeon.

*

Taeyeon was pondering if she should take a look at Tiffany.

For the past one hour, she kept hearing Tiffany’s voice ringing in her ears. She sounded wretched and unusually desperate, as if she was being abandoned or something and was trying to get her back––

Memories were flooding her mind. The day when she left Stephanie, after she put a curse in her body, was especially cleared in her head.

Taeyeon turned in her bed frustratingly.

The amount of guiltiness was increasing in her. She hated to be feeling this way, but she couldn’t stop herself from behaving like this when Tiffany’s voice didn’t want to go away.

Clutching her fists tightly together, Taeyeon made a decision.

She will take a look and see it with her own eyes if Tiffany is alright.

Just as Taeyeon opened the door and stepped out of the room, Yoona came out from the guest room coincidentally. Taeyeon was surprised to see that hunter appearing before her that before she was able to react, Yoona already pulled out her katana and directed it at her face.

Taeyeon was taken aback by the sudden provocation. “What are you doing!” She hissed at her angrily while carefully taking a step back, distancing herself from the blade.

Yoona did not reply to her question, instead she moved a step closer towards Taeyeon, ensuring the tip of her blade was only less than a centimeter away from Taeyeon’s face.

“If you ever do anything to hurt Tiffany unnie,” She lifted up her arm slightly until the blade was leveling with Taeyeon’s eyes. “I will kill you.”

Taeyeon continued to glare at Yoona but remained silent.

Yoona didn’t mind the silent reply though. She withdrew her arm and slid her katana back into the scabbard before returning to the room.

It was only until the door opposite her close, Taeyeon finally found her breath back and dropped to her bed.

That hunter…

Taeyeon opened and panted heavily as she stared at the closed door.

… Is she the Princess?

It wasn’t a random assumption Taeyeon was making, but she clearly felt the Princess’s presence when Yoona pointed her katana at her. And if it wasn’t for the Princess’s presence, she wouldn’t have allowed Yoona to dominate her so easily.

But that doesn’t make sense at all either.

Why would the Princess stop her from hurting Tiffany when she was the one who agreed to her request when she said she wanted to kill Tiffany instead of mutating her?

This is getting confusing.

Taeyeon leaned back and lied on her bed.

But she is very certain that that hunter has got something to do with the Princess.

*

Tiffany only woke up after the sun rise. She was completely clueless to the incident last night and the only two people who were aware of it had decided to keep the truth from her.

The three of them were heading towards the land with Yoona walking in front, leaving Tiffany and Taeyeon trailing slowly behind. It was unknown when did their hands linked together, Yoona only knew Tiffany and Taeyeon were still far from the land when she was already near the entrance of the forest.

As much as Yoona wanted to rush them, she refrained herself from doing so when she noticed how attached Tiffany was towards Taeyeon.

It was as if without that woman, she would break apart anytime.

Yoona could never understand why Tiffany was treating Taeyeon so differently. Not that she was jealous or wanted to complain, but there was obviously something wrong with Taeyeon. Tiffany was always the most cautious person among them, how is it possible that she didn’t realize the obvious when the situation is as clear as plain water? She should have seen it through since long time ago.

The young hunter released a heavy sigh as she continued to observe the duo that had stopped walking when they were near the end of the port.

She must be bewitched by that woman.

Oblivious to Yoona’s thought, Tiffany stopped walking suddenly just as they were about to step onto the land, causing Taeyeon to stop along with her since their hands were held tightly together.

With their hand still connected, Taeyeon turned around and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Tiffany simply stared at Taeyeon and said nothing.

“Fany?” Taeyeon frowned and felt Tiffany’s forehead with the back of her free hand. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Last night’s incident hit her. Though Taeyeon didn’t see it with her own eyes, she knew clearly something must have happened to Tiffany or else Yoona wouldn’t come and point her katana at her.

And most importantly, she wouldn’t have heard her calling her name.

Tiffany was indeed affected by the same thing Taeyeon had in mind. No doubt she was completely clueless as to what she did during her sleep, but her dreams were still playing clearly in her head.

The images of Taeyeon misunderstanding her, hurting her and also abandoning her… they were creating fears in her. Tiffany had no idea why was she feeling this way. She only knew she was frightened. She was afraid that her dream might come true just like the last time––

The last time?

Tiffany’s face became paled instantly. She felt as though her head was going to burst soon with all these images (which she couldn’t differentiate whether they were part of her memories or dreams) flashing through her mind.

“Taeyeon…” Tiffany called out softly. Taeyeon was going to respond to her when Tiffany jumped into her embrace suddenly and buried her face deeply into the nook of her neck.

She doesn’t want to go. She doesn’t want to leave Taeyeon at all. She wants to stay here and make sure that Taeyeon is still with her. She wants to be with Taeyeon and nowhere else!

“Tiffany?” Taeyeon was surprised by Tiffany’s hug. But she regained her composure almost immediately and asked the hunter with a gentle tone, “Tiffany, what’s wrong?”

Tiffany didn’t answer. Instead, she inhaled a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly as she snuggled deeper onto Taeyeon’s neck.

“Tiffany?”

“Don’t leave me.”

“Huh?” Taeyeon was surprised by her words. “What’s wrong Tiffany? What are you talking about?” Taeyeon pulled herself away from Tiffany slightly and observed her. “Tif––” She lost her voice for an instant when she noticed those water accumulating in Tiffany’s eyes. “Fany…” She lifted up her hand instinctively and cupped Tiffany’s face gently.

Tiffany didn’t reject her touch. She even wished that Taeyeon was holding her rather than only caressing her face.

“Taeyeon…” Tiffany pressed her palm against the back of Taeyeon’s hand, causing the latter’s hand to press deeper into her cheek. She stared into Taeyeon’s eyes and whispered with a trembling voice, “I don’t want to go.”

Taeyeon swore she would have agree and drag Tiffany back into her house right away, if she did not feel that intensive gaze which was trying to burn a hole in her body from behind.

She replied unwillingly, “But Yoona is waiting for you.”

It was only then Tiffany remembered the existence of her very own dong-saeng.

Tiffany took a quick glance at Yoona before having her focus back on Taeyeon again. Pressing her lips into a straight line, she tried to come out with another solution.

“Why don’t you come back with me then?”

Taeyeon was taken aback by her invitation. How badly does Tiffany want her that makes her said that? “No Tiffany,” She rejected without a second thought and sighed. “I know you’re a hunter from Aurales and I heard that the rules are strict in there. Don’t break the rule because of me, alright?” This was definitely a very good opportunity for her to sneak into Aurales’ base, but using Tiffany’s love for her to achieve her goal was something which she would never do.

“But––” Tiffany knew that of course, but her only concern was the person in front of her.

“I’ll be here.” Taeyeon interrupted her. “You can always come and visit me whenever you want.”

Upon hearing that, Tiffany’s expression became even duller. Still pressing Taeyeon’s hand against her cheek, she replied, “But I came here the other day and waited till midnight, you never appear at all.”

“You were here?” Taeyeon was truly surprised by this piece of information.

“Yes,” Tiffany stared at her with resentment in her eyes. “But you were nowhere to be seen.” Her grip became tighter unknowingly. She was afraid if she released Taeyeon now, Taeyeon would disappear like the other day and never appear again.

Then it struck Taeyeon, the day after she came back from her friends’ captivity, she noticed someone barged into her house. But till today, she had yet to discover the intruder. Now that Tiffany mentioned it… why hadn’t she thought of her from the beginning? Tiffany was the only person, other than her friends, who knew about this place. She should have realized it right from the start that Tiffany was the one who came!

But Taeyeon doesn’t want to punish this intruder anymore. How could she punish her love one? Besides, something was becoming clearer and clearer in her mind.

Is Tiffany……

Taeyeon bit hard on her bottom lip, using the tinge pain to drop the question in her head.

Now isn’t the right time to talk about this. Tiffany is obviously feeling insecure now, she has to comfort her first.

“It was a misunderstanding.” Taeyeon slipped the hand on Tiffany’s face behind, holding the hunter by the back of her head and pulled her into her embrace again. “I was held by something and couldn’t make it back home. I promise I’ll be here when you come, alright? I will dump everything on hand and be here just for you.”

Before Tiffany could say anything, Yoona’s voice slipped into their conversation. “Unnie, we have to go already!” Patience had already worn off of Yoona. But as much as Yoona wanted to break the duo apart and dragged Tiffany out of here, she held back her urge, considering that respecting her unnie was more important.

The duo had no choice but to pull apart. Tiffany stared at Taeyeon for the one last time with hope glistening in her eyes, “You will keep your promise, right?”

Taeyeon didn’t answer straight away. She grabbed Tiffany’s right wrist lifted it up. Curling her own right pinky finger, Taeyeon hooked it around Tiffany’s pinky finger before stamping their thumbs together.

“A promise is a promise. Unless you break it, I’ll always keep it.”

“I won’t break it!”

Taeyeon chuckled and ruffled Tiffany’s hair. “I’ll be here waiting for you then.” She turned around and took a glimpse of Yoona who was observing them from afar. “You should get going now, don’t make your little dong-saeng wait for too long or else she may kill me.” Taeyeon said with a jokingly tone, but if Tiffany knew about the incident which happened in the middle of last night, she would know Taeyeon wasn’t lying about the killing part.

“I shall see you then.” Tiffany leaned in and planted a swift kiss on Taeyeon’s lips. “Don’t you dare to break your promise to me!” She said threateningly before parting with Taeyeon unwillingly. Every step she made, she never failed to turn back to catch a glimpse of the sorceress who was also looking back at her.

If only…

Tiffany gritted her teeth and looked away depressingly.

If only those misunderstandings didn’t happen, she would still be with Taeyeon now!

Taeyeon remained in her position and watched the hunters left. It was only until the two figures completely left her sight, finally managed to piece out the three syllabus word which she had been suppressing within for a long time.

“Stephanie…”

She has to be her.