339 Break The News To Him

CHAPTER 339

Who would she be deceiving if she denied it? Not just Astrid, Nerissa knew the elf as well, loved her. It was written all over the two of them but that did not change the fact that the elves could not be trusted.

Astrid took in a deep breath as she waited for her aunt to speak.

"I am not a baby Astrid, I know what I am seeing. And unfortunately for you, you cannot deny the fact that your heart beats for him."

A faint blush appeared on Astrid's face at her aunt's words. Yes, she had wanted to deny it head-on so that her aunt would not pester her with forgetting him and her feelings but she guessed now that it was out in the wild there was no other thing to do.

"Am I that obvious?"

Nerissa nodded at her, a small smile appearing on her face as she did. "You are, baby. And I am happy for you, but…"

"But I cannot be with him." She finished for her aunt. She had a bittersweet smile on her face that displayed her innate sadness.

"I am sorry, dear. It is how it should be."

"Okay." She took in a deep breath and released it slowly. She had been praying in her heart that those words wouldn't be what her aunt would tell her but it seemed that she could not defile or deny the truth any longer.

"Although, that was not why I called you here."

"It wasn't?" Astrid's already dull face lit up a bit. "Then what is? Why did you call me, aunt? What is wrong?"

She did nit give Nerissa any time to answer before plunging her with her questions.

"Astrid."

"Yes?" She looked so hyper and Nerissa knew that her emotions were starting to take over and tried calming her down.

"Calm down dear. Relax. I would tell you."

"Okay."

"Good. Astrid, tomorrow we would journey towards Fortland or where it once stood once we cross this abandoned plain."

"Okay."

"And that would only mean that from tomorrow morning, your journey with Jareth would come to an end. You would have to say goodbye to him for good."

If Nerissa thought that Astrid's face had fallen and looked dull, then she was sorely mistaken as the girl standing in front of her looked like the ground would open up any moment from then and swallow her up.

It felt as though all her world came crumbling down. Not that it had not crumbled before it already began but this time, she really did feel like it did.

Her eyes dropped, her expression fell. All that remained was a sadness like no other and that had only broken Nerissa's heart who more than anything never wanted to see her sweet Astrid look down but happy.

"Astrid."

"It is okay, aunt. We both knew this day would come. I had said my goodbyes once and I can do it again." Her words, though holding a sense of longing and sadness were filled with so much courage.

"It is what is best, Astrid. I would let you say your goodbyes as tomorrow, I am afraid you can't. Spend time and cherish your friendship today. I would be with Snow."

"Thank you, aunt."

"You deserve even that little and more dear. I love you, but before my motherly love for you, I must put your safety first. My duty remains and would forever stand. Your safety is what I live for and your kingdom wouldn't accept him."

"I know. I know."

"Go on then. Break the news to him yourself, dear."

Nodding her head, Astrid turned around and made her way back to where Snow was. By the time she got there, she saw Jareth leaning against a tree looking at her.

He did not need a magician to tell him that something was wrong as it was boldly written all over her.

Still, when Astrid walked over to him, she quickly masked it when she noticed his presence and looked up. Jareth was shocked by the bright smile that radiated from her face but on a closer look, he could still see the sadness in her eyes.

'How well you have grown, Astrid. You are learning to mask your true feelings.' Jareth thought and returned her smile.

Astrid braced herself up and walked to meet him. "Hey."

"Hey." None of them spoke fr some seconds, making the situation look awkward. "Are you oka?"

"Can I talk to you for some time?" Rather than answering his question, she said that.

"Sure." That was his only reply as he knew something was up but he did not say much about it either.

"Can we take a walk?"

"Alright."

Without wasting too much time, Astrid took her cloak with her and so did he as the night was already getting cold.

Together both of them walked away from their campsite and strolled through the open garden and far way from Nerissa and Snow.

All through their walk, Astrid and Jareth did not speak to each other much, just some small talks and jokes about training.

By the time they got to a clearing in the middle of another grass field, Astrid and Jareth went ahead to sit down there, spreading their cloak on the ground and sitting with knees raised up to their chins and head lifted, gazing up at the sky.

It was a beautiful night with the full moon and stars shining brightly in the sky. The whole scenery made it look like two lovers enjoying the moonlight together in a painting.

"Hey," Jareth called out to her after some time.

Astrid finally peeled her gaze off the moon and looked at him. "Hey."

"What is going on in your mind? What are you thinking about, Astrid?"

"Nothing. I am just thinking about how beautiful the moon is tonight. What about you?"

Honestly speaking, she was thinking about how to break the news to him and not really the moonlight. If there was anything, that would be that she was hoping the moon would give her a quick solution to her problems.

"Oh, umm nothing much. I guess we could say I thought the same thing," Jareth replied.

'Yikes, what a cheesy thing to say. I think it is about time I tell her the truth.' Jareth thought to himself.

He inhaled deeply and averted his gaze to the flowers around, thinking of how he could raise the topic.

Noticing the awkward moment, Astrid also peeled her eyes away and returned them back to the beautiful moon.

Both of them had things weighing down in their heart that they wanted to share to the other but how to start or what to say became a problem and they knew it was about time.

Few breaths later, both of them turned their head to face each other and as if on cue, they both spoke at once.

"I have something to tell you," both of them said at once.

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Ahhh, the moment we have all been waiting for is here. Give Astrid and Jareth your votes and gifts to boost their morale... hahahaa.