[i]"And it was all because of you!"[/i]

The slap sent a tingling wave of heat up across Adrian's face, causing him to forget everything he was going to say to comfort her. He could only sit there silently, staring at the ground in complete shock. Suddenly a flash of anger appeared in his deep eyes, and he turned to glare at her, upper lip raised in a snarl. For a long moment, Adrian had become blinded by the darkness of his own humility, fists clenched tightly to keep himself from reaching out at her, heart thumping and his temperature rising, but as he slowly raised a hand to slide the hair that had gotten strewn haphazardly across his face back into place, the half-orc breathed a deep sigh and closed his eyes, trying to control himself. He couldn't hurt her. He couldn't hurt Rosalinda--or any woman for that matter--no matter what she'd done to him. He knew he'd willingly sit there and watch her carve his own heart out with a dull knife, painfully, slowly, but he would not lift a finger to her. Never could Adrian do such a thing.

He was brought back to his senses as she threw the note and it fell into his lap. With steady eyes, he watched her, listening to every struggled word she spoke. Almost cautiously, Adrian looked down at the note, then picked it up and unfolded it. "What did I ever do to you!?" Rosalinda questioned as he began to read it. Yes, it was a note saying what she'd described, and one that appeared to be written by him, but how could that be? Adrian did not recall writing such cold words, though he had to admit that the replication of his own handwriting was uncanny. He wished for a way to tell her that it was not him, but she was already convinced. The only thing he could rely on was their past together. Only their past could serve as an example as to why Adrian would never do such a thing! 

He crumpled the note in his hands, hating its existence, feeling waves of emotion overcome him as he listened to her call him a bastard and accuse him of being the cause of the death of her family. He could not look her in her hurt eyes. Once she'd threatened him and left, he breathed out an even deeper sigh, tossing away the note and biting his lip in thought. "Whoever did this to us," he spoke to the empty room, "I will find them and kill them." His words were sure, for one of the things Adrian hated the most was being framed for something he had nothing to do with.

Though she warned him not to go after her, his first instinct was to do so. Adrian prepared himself for what disaster may occur by doing this, but as he was about to stand to leave, the door opened and an unfamiliar form walked in. An older woman, she came and took a seat beside him. "Boy........ You really fucked up, didn't you?" she began. Adrian couldn't help but smile at that. It was true, and that was exactly the way he felt. Listening to her describe the condition Rosalinda was in when she first arrived, he could only imagine how scared she must've been, how alone she must've felt. It made him even more determined to catch the culprit. Rosalinda... cared about him, and felt heartbroken by him, but he felt he didn't deserve her sadness. 

"Why does she care about [i]me[/i] so damned much?" he questioned the cook as she got up to leave. It would have been better if she didn't care, but would Adrian honestly want that? He didn't know. Apparently the cook did not hear him, as she went on about a man found dead in the inn in the past, hinting that Rosalinda was the one who'd done it. He smiled again. He liked this cook. She had a warm heart, and he was happy to know that she had looked after Rosalinda during her stay here. Hopefully with Cook, Rosalinda hadn't felt alone.

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Adrian thought about what Cook had said. What could he do to solve this? His only plan was to beg her to leave with him, for he was sure all of the answers would be right there in his own kingdom. The bandits, the note, the king's blatant lie about her elopement, even the mysterious way he had shown up in the forest, he would be able to get to the bottom of all that back in North Vaces. Still, it would be cruel to ask her to leave the place she now saw as home, and it would only anger her more. 

He'd talk with her again, later, when he'd bring her meal. He'd treat her gently, and tell her that he would leave but bring back evidence of his innocence. That was the only thing he could promise her as of now. He'd go and come back, with something that would make her believe him. But tonight...Tonight he'd spend with her, as he did not wish to leave the inn knowing she was unhappy. Maybe they could speak to each other like they used to, and relax, without all of this tension. That was his goal, and as Adrian headed to the dining room, he was satisfied. He planned to tell cook when she'd come to serve the guests, then he'd go to see Rosalinda.

The smell of the food was heavenly. Entering the room, he noticed two girls were there, the unseeing one he recognized from earlier, but he did not recognize the other girl. Instead of rudely interrupting the maidens' conversation with his arrival, Adrian took a seat at an empty, nearby table. He placed his spear onto the table then removed the ribbon from it, fingering the blade in anticipation.