Rebirth of the Fallen Zenith.-Chapter 19: A Gamble of Hearts

"Lord Orion... can I ask you something?"

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There was a strangeness in her voice, a vulnerability he wasn't accustomed to hearing from her.

Orion looked at her, his eyes hard and uncompromising. "Go ahead."

Laura breathed softly, her fingers lightly stroking a flower's petals.

"First... we're friends, aren't we?"

His brow creased a little. "it's look like?"

She exhaled a gentle breath and gazed up at him, her golden eyes full of something unsure. "Then... may I just be called Laura?"

Orion slightly frowned, something was amiss with the manner in which she was talking.

"And..." She paused once again; her voice softer. "May I call you just... Orion?"

Her posture shifted. The first time he'd seen her, Orion realized there was something delicate about her—an image that hadn't fit with the bold, confident owner of the Iron Fang Armory. This... vulnerability.

Something about it made him uneasy.

A cold shiver ran up his spine, as if something went wrong.

But then, after a moment's consideration, he pushed it away. It was just a name. A small thing.

"Alright."

The instant he uttered the words, Laura's face brightened. A real, radiant smile crept across her lips, and for a brief moment, she seemed... really happy.

But Orion let out a sigh. "Now tell me why you really came."

Laura's smile softened. She paused.

Then, at last, she spoke.

"Actually... I don't actually know why? But I do want to say something to you. Will you listen?"

Orion's face grew harder, but he nodded curtly. "Go on."

She breathed in.

"My mother passed away during childbirth. My father died six months ago. The Iron Fang Armory was the only thing left to me by father as his inheritance, but my relatives attempted to take it from me."

A shadow crossed her golden eyes. "I fought for it. Hard. But as a woman, owning and operating something like the Iron Fang Armory was never going to be easy."

Orion said nothing, listening.

"So I learned to adjust. Learned how to bargain, how to wow customers, how to talk my way out of deals. But in the process... a lot of nobles started regarding me as mere something to own."

Disgust flashed over her face. "A piece of meat for them to devour.".

"But Iron Fang Armory is not small. I got enough strength to drive them away. But I accept my destiny like this." She hesitated, then spoke directly to him.

Her face changed—disgust gave way to warmth. "And then you showed up."

Orion's eyes grew darker. "And?"

"And?" Laura asked wryly.

"When I first met you, I thought you were one of them. A typical noble—good-looking, but ugly personality."

Orion's lips curled upward. "And now?"

Her golden eyes flashed with something impenetrable.

"Now... I never met a man as handsome as you."

She hesitated, then spoke quietly. "But what won my heart over was your personality. You're unique."

Orion's muscles went taut. A familiar, unwanted sensation moved into his chest.

"I attempted to seduce you, to entice you," Laura went on, her voice a mere whisper. "But you never budged. Your blue eyes always had that cutting edge, as if you knew precisely what I was up to. As if you could see right through all of it."

Her eyes relaxed. "And somehow, that made me feel... safe."

Orion's heart tightened. A bad feeling. This was bad.

"You remind me of my father," she confessed. "You see, Orion... when a woman selects a husband, she sometimes seeks out a man who reminds her—just a little—of her father – warmth's."

Orion's face did not change; But his body tightened.

The warm radiance of sun caught in Laura's golden eyes as she stood before Orion, her fingers clenched around the hem of her dress—a rare display of vulnerability.

Her lips parted; her voice uncharacteristically nervous, uncertain, fragile.

"I don't know why..."

Her voice shook. Orion's piercing blue eyes stayed on her, unreadable.

"I... I don't know why. I don't know how. I just... I fell for you."

Her hand instinctively pressed against her chest.

"But I know one thing—I want to be with you. I want to stand beside you, to be close to you... forever. I want to marry you, Orion."

The words lingered in the air, vulnerable and unprotected.

Orion did not respond. Not a glimmer of feeling immobilized—frozen cold. But within, his reality broke. His heart shook vehemently.

Shia.

Her face appeared in his mind—the way she once smiled, the way her lips once spoke his name. Then... the icy metal of her sword biting into his chest.

Pain. Betrayal. Death.

His heart closed up. His body was as hard as ice.

And then his lips moved, his voice a bare whisper above a barely audible—

"Love...Is just a fragile emotion."

Laura's breath clenched when she saw how he did not give any reaction to her proposal.

She then, saw something in his blue eyes— a pain, longing and other emotion which she doesn't understood why this emotion is in his eyes.

"Orion?" she whispered.

Nothing.

"Orion!"

His head jerked up, yanked from the depths of his past. Laura stood before him, apprehensive but hopeful, waiting.

Waiting for a response.

But what she got—was a knife sharper than any sword.

His voice was icy, laced with a hint of anger, yearning, and something bitter.

"Forgive this, Laura."

His words landed like a sledgehammer.

"I will never marry you. Not you. Not anyone."

Silence.

The air became thick.

Laura stood stock-still. Her golden eyes opened in shock by his dismissal her mind does not register what he has said, but one tear manages to escape the corner of her eye. But she dips her head, unwilling to let him see it.

Why...

Why is this occurring?

Am I... not lovely enough?

She bit down on her lip hard. Her hands squeezed into tight fists around the material of her dress.

She had always thought she was beautiful. If she ever did decide to get married and proclaim it to the world, men would stand in line for miles.

And yet—he turned her down.

So easily.

So brutally.

The first time in her life... someone had rejected her.

Orion noticed her shoulders shiver and immediately wished he had been softer in his tone.

He had yelled at her.

He had let his past hurt flare up at a person who did not deserve it.

He was strong. But never hurtful because of his own hurts.

His tone mellowed, no longer rough, but adamant. "Laura, look at me."

But she didn't.

He breathed out. This time, softer tone— "You're beautiful. You're intelligent. You're perfect."

A moment's silence.

"But I don't have feelings for you. I don't love you. So, forget this... find someone else worthy of your love."

Laura lifted her head, golden eyes gleaming—not so much with unshed tears, but something deeper.

She swept the tear aside with the back of her hand, her face unreadable. Then, with a long moment of silence, she spoke—

"Why?"

Orion scowled. "Why?"

Her voice was low, but insistent.

"Why don't you want to love?"

A simple question.

But there was no simple answer.

Orion's face hardened—guarded, unreadable.

His history was something he never discussed. The pain. The betrayal. The lesson etched into his very soul.

Laura watched him intently. "you said I should find someone worthy of my love... but you know if you aren't worthy for my love, then in all Eldora is not worthy for my love.

He parted his lips—to dispute, to bring this conversation to a close.

But before he could, Laura took a step closer. Her golden eyes burned with determination.

"Orion you know, what I want. I've always had way to get that thing."

Her voice was steady now, confident, fearless.

"This time, my heart wants you."

His breath hitched.

"Your affection," she continued, stepping even closer. "So, I will learn how to get your affection."

Orion exhaled sharply. "Laura—"

But she told him, "which walls you build around your heart they won't stop me."

His eyes hardened. She was not kidding.

A wry sensation simmered in his chest between Irritation and Mirth.

"You're obstinate," he breathed.

Laura's lips twitched into a faint smile—one with both amusement and assurance.

"I was born that way."

His jaw tightened. "I will never love you."

She edged another step closer, golden eyes full of calm defiance.

"Then let's place a wager."

Orion's eyebrows furrowed. "A bet?"

Laura nodded, her face set.

"If you fall in love with me in three months, you have to grant my wish."

Orion's eyes grew dark. "And if I don't?"

She smiled.

"Then I'll never trouble you again."

The challenge lay between them, weighty and unshaking.

Orion's mind whirled.

Three months? Impossible.

Moreover, in less than three weeks, he would be off to the Magic Academy. And then they would hardly see each other.

She wouldn't lose this wager.

His blue eyes met hers.

"Fine."

A triumphant light flashed in Laura's golden eyes.

She cocked her head, tone having a soft self-assurance.

"Then just wait and see, Orion Vale."

The burning oranges of the lowering sun painted her in a heavenly light. For the first time, she seemed like something he couldn't help but notice.

But as the wind brought the gentle smell of flowers between them, Orion shoved aside the odd sensation that still lingered in his chest.

This was merely a game.

And he would not lose.

Just as he was about to continue playing, a voice called out from afar.

"Lord Orion, Lady Laura, dinner is served."

Orion turned towards the voice and noticed a maid stand a few meters away from them. then realizing the sky had started darkened.

Evening had fallen, tinting the horizon with hues of burnt orange and dissolving lavender.

They'd spent a lot more time speaking than he'd known.

Neither of them uttered a word as they set off walking back to the mansion, side by side.

The magic of the garden remained behind them, but the silence between them was no longer uncomfortable—it was heavy, laden with unspoken thoughts and knotted feelings.

Laura smiled softly, fingers trailing across the petals as she walked, Orion keeping his eyes forward, his mind elsewhere.

She had left her heart open.

And he had smashed it... but still, she smiled.

He sneaked a glance at her out of the side of his eye.

The setting sun encircled her with a halo of light, golden eyes glowing dimly, loose strands of dark hair swaying in the wind.

A lovely illusion.

But illusions were perilous.

He wouldn't be deceived by one again.