Vows and Bullets
Chapter 62: Garden of Graves

Chapter 62: Garden of Graves

[Music Recommendation: "Forever Rain" by BTS - RM - instrumental version by Smyang Piano]

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[Agent Selene POV]

Working as a secret agent in Mythos for years, I’ve come to learn that everything was not how it always appeared to be. The clients wouldn’t always be the good guys, and the targets wouldn’t always be the bad guys. In such situations, Mythos acts as the judge—putting the accuser to its rightful place and delivering proper justice to the real victim.

As I saw my partner, Agent Helios, whom I had always thought was a rude, confident, flirty pervert and a jerk, who’s also a perfectionist genius, trembled before me, hunted by his own nightmares... I was reminded of that lesson.

Indeed... even the mightiest have their weaknesses.

Nobody was perfect and without a single flaw.

Everyone has a story to tell—a reason behind every action.

And perhaps, this was his—whatever that nightmare brought him that caused him to sweat, tremble, and be out of breath—just as mine continues to pull me deeper into the darkness every time I was reminded of it. If you would look at it from that perspective, we were quite similar.

"Eun-Woo’ya," I gently called his name so as not to alarm him.

I patted his back and carefully rubbed it to help him calm down.

"Here, have some water," I said, handing him a glass of water.

He still looked a little disoriented, but still, he took the glass from my hand and drank it. A few drops trickled from his lips which I helped wipe when he was done. Soon enough, his breathing normalized.

"Are you feeling better now?" I asked to which he simply nodded, unable to respond. "That’s good then. Should we try sleeping again? Or would you like to—"

Suddenly, he turned to me and hugged me. His hands clenched tightly on my back. Feeling a little sorry for him, I hugged him back. We stayed in that position for a few minutes before I tried to lay him down and sleep. He didn’t remove his arms around me, which was a bit uncomfortable.

’Haah... Fine. I’ll let you do that for now since I feel sorry for you.’

I thought about those things, but in the end, I was still able to sleep comfortably after. The next thing I knew, it was already morning, and the servants were rushing inside the room to wake us up. Breakfast was ready on the table, and Eun-Woo was already there, sipping his coffee.

’Would you look at that? Not even a trace of him having a nightmare last night. He’s already back to his usual confident and classy aura.’

Noticing I was already awake, he smiled at me and gestured his hand towards the table, inviting me to have breakfast, so I got up and ate with him.

After breakfast, we bathed and prepared to head out. The servants helped us with everything we needed until we finished and stepped outside the mansion, where a luxurious car awaited us, ready to take us on a trip all around London. But first, to my surprise, we stopped by Eun-Woo’s mother’s grave. I didn’t think he would allow me to be there, given the privacy rule of Mythos and all those protocols.

The whole cemetery was too beautiful to be called that, especially the place where his mother lay. Lots of trees, plants, and flowers were around that you could mistake it for a garden. There were also pavilions around for people to sit and relax. And the tombstones were all beautifully made, finished with either gold or silver intricate patterns. Eun-Woo’s mother’s grave, in particular, had golden paints of a beautiful flower, along with loving quotes from their family.

"Hera Grosvenor, 1964-2001," her tombstone wrote.

That meant that she died at the age of thirty-seven—still very young. I wonder what happened? Also... Grosvenor? That’s a British last name, right? Could it be her maiden name? Why didn’t she use Jeon instead, which was her married name? Was it a custom in their family?

’Hmm... so many questions in my head, yet I couldn’t dare ask them. It’s alright. I’ll just wait for Eun-Woo to share them with me if he wants.’

After all the pondering I did when I first saw Ms. Hera’s grave, I bowed my head and offered my prayers. Then, I stepped back and let Eun-Woo spend time with his mother. He looked very solemn and sad as he knelt down and stared at her grave—like a little kid longing for his mother. He barely managed to let down the flower bouquet he held in his hands. I could understand the pain of loss even if it had been several years since she left the world. I felt the same when my father left us. Even up to this day, I still miss him very much.

A deep silence followed, and only the soft gush of the wind could be heard. Along with it was the calming sound of the flowers and leaves dancing to its whims.

Soon enough, Eun-Woo finished praying for his mom and got up. Then, we returned to the car and drove around the finest destinations nearby. They were all beautiful places and very fun to visit, but the fakeness of his smile remained on his face.

Loving and hating this place at the same time... I think I understand it now. Just like how I loved and hated our home where my father’s memories were. Why didn’t I realize that sooner?

The more we spent time together, the more I realized we were alike in many things. And because of that, somehow, I understood the weight of what he was going through at that moment. For some reason, I felt uneasy seeing him like that. So by the afternoon, when we were sitting in an open restaurant, having afternoon tea, I finally voiced my concerns.

"Ehem," I cleared my throat before beginning, "Eun-Woo’ya."

"Hm? Yes?" he responded, lifting his head up to look at me.

He was busy tapping on his phone at that time, but he stopped when I called him. We were also alone at that time—finally—so it was my chance to talk privately with him. Only the bodyguards were left, guarding at a distance a little far from us.

"You’ve been looking gloomy since this morning, and I know the day didn’t start so well with you," I explained. " You also mentioned about how you love and hate this place, and that—"

"Spill it out," he interrupted. "I hate all the yapping, so get to the point."

"Right. So... ahm."

’Ugh. Why is it so hard to say?’

I cleared my throat again before continuing.

’Why do I even bother caring about his feelings? I should just say it normally. There’s nothing wrong with that.’

"I’m waiting," he pressed on.

"You see... let’s just say I’m not used to seeing you like that, so... if there’s anything you want to do instead of this romantic date facade we’re doing, let’s do that instead! Anything you do to de-stress yourself, or whatever amuses you—even if it involves torturing people—let’s do that. Though I hope it’s really not torturing people."

I mumbled on the last part but still mentioned it since I remembered him liking that—just like what he did to me during my rank-up test.

Hearing those words, Eun-Woo’s expression changed from "come-on-tell-me-already" to "what-did-she-just-say" kind of face. His eyes widened, leaving his mouth open for a few seconds before responding.

"Ha-ha-ha," he laughed. "Would you look at that? It seems like my wife cares about me."

This time, his laugh looked more genuine than before.

"Ugh. Gross. Stop it. I’m asking seriously here."

"Hm... How about you give me a kiss? That’s scientifically proven to help release happy hormones. Maybe, I’ll feel better after."

I squinted my eyes towards him. Seriously, this guy.

"Ughhh... you’re such a pervert," I said under my breath. "Come on! Be a little serious! Don’t tell me you don’t have a hobby?"

"I do, but they’re the usual boring stuff. I doubt they would help in de-stressing myself. The things I find fun to do are something we can’t do here since we need to keep our facade."

"Like?"

"Shooting. I know that technically, we can do that, but it would be hard for me to hide my skills. Even if I managed to, then it would kill the fun, and it’s no longer exciting."

"You’re right. Is there anything else?"

"Hmmm..."

"Paragliding? Surfing? Fencing? Horse-back riding?"

"Nope."

"Come on. Think more."

"It’s alright. I’ll be back to normal in a few days."

"But..."

In a few days? That means he’ll be back to normal once we’re out of this country, right? Haaah...

Then, a sudden idea popped into my mind.

"Ah! How about kart racing? It shouldn’t be too weird if a rich heir is good at driving, right? You can drive as fast as you want and get an adrenaline rush. That can be exciting, right?"

"Kart racing, huh?" he chuckled. "You’re suggesting that because you love driving."

"What? No way!"

"Alright. I agree. Let’s do that."

"Yes!" I blurted out, feeling a little positive about it.

"On one condition."

"Hm? What is it?"

"You can’t show your driving prowess. After all, you’re supposed to be a pampered wife, right? It would go against your supposed personality."

"WHAT?! No way!"

And so, we decided to do it just as he suggested. Haah... I truly am such an unlucky person. Why did I ever decide to concern myself with him? Ugh.