Chapter 209: Practiced Words.
Sunnie didn’t have anything important to do that night. She just needed an excuse to leave Aya alone and be by herself. She just needed some fresh air.
That night, she sat down close to the waterside, staring into the stream while she threw stones into it.
"Asshole!" She snapped, throwing stones in. "Jerk!" She threw in another. "Asshole! Fool! Useless!" She kept cursing while throwing rocks into the water.
She kept throwing as she said, "You think you can just bring in any female here at will? Just because she’s from your tribe? Do I look like I care?!"
She threw another.
"You! Acting all close to that female? Do you think I’ll care? Why don’t we just break off the mate stuff and you can go and have her as your mate! You asshole!" She snapped.
"And you stupid girl! Who are you to walk into my own tribe and ask such questions?! Don’t you have a tribe? Huh? Why are you here, you brat! Clinging onto my husband as if he’s yours! Don’t you have yours?!"
She was pissed off and kept snapping while throwing rocks into the water. It was her way of calming down and pouring out her mind at that moment.
When she was done yelling, she sat down panting, trying to calm herself while rolling her eyes endlessly.
While she was panting and staring into the waters, she heard someone laughing from a distance.
Sunnie paused as she turned and stared at the scene. It was Karl. He was sitting under the tree all this while, watching and listening to everything she was saying while smiling.
When he finally laughed, Sunnie stared at him, shocked. "You... what are you doing here...?"
Karl slowly got up from where he sat, stretching himself as he approached her. "This isn’t private property. Aren’t I allowed to spend time here or?"
He came to stand beside Sunnie as he turned and stared into the water. "Don’t mind me... continue throwing your rocks and yelling. I think that will help."
He turned to her with a smile. "Or maybe you can go directly to him and throw that rock at his face and yell at the two of them. That would be more dramatic and fun, and that would be better. What do you think?"
"...."
Sunnie blinked and stared up at him. "Why are you suddenly smiling at me? What’s happening to you? Did you hit your head or something? Because that’s strange."
Karl, who was smiling, suddenly stopped. He wore his cold expression while he glared at Sunnie. "Whatever. None of your business. And I’m not smiling at you." He cleared his throat as he turned and stared in front.
Sunnie smiled as she got up on her feet. "How long have you been here though? I think you’ve learned a bad habit of always eavesdropping on my conversations."
Karl stared at her. "I’m not that bored. You’re the one who should learn to stop yelling out and disturbing people’s peace."
"I’m not forcing you to listen."
"Well, I listened against my wish. So this counts as harassment too."
Sunnie rolled her eyes as she stared in front. "Whatever. I’m not even talking to you."
Karl scoffed while also staring in front. He picked up a rock and threw it into the water. "You’re bad at hiding your emotions. Back then, when you were smiling and acting all nice, I could tell."
"I wasn’t pretending. I was genuinely happy," Sunnie said.
He smiled. "Sure. Being happy involves cursing them to their graves, I guess."
She folded her arms. "Whatever."
Karl smiled as he said, "Don’t worry. Eris might be annoying, but he is loyal at least. So don’t worry about it."
"I’m not worried," she denied.
Karl nodded as he said, "Sure."
They were quiet for a while as he turned and stared at her. He had something to say—something he had been practicing for ages. Something that had been running through his mind for a long time now. But he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
He had practiced this for a long time, but suddenly he couldn’t even bring himself to say it. He struggled for a while. "Eh... about last time, I..."
Sunnie turned and stared at him, their eyes meeting. "What is it?" Sunnie asked.
Karl blinked, staring at her. He should be courageous, he knew he should be. This shouldn’t be something hard to say at all. He had even practiced hard for it. But suddenly he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
"What is it?" Sunnie asked, blinking while staring at him. He stood there looking at her like a statue. "Hello?"
Karl hesitated and then forced himself to say, "I’m sorry."
"...."
The atmosphere instantly went silent. Neither of them spoke for the next minute. They stood there staring at each other as if a ghost had just passed by.
Sunnie blinked. She wasn’t sure she heard it right. No, she doubted she even heard anything right. She simply stared in disbelief. "Huh?"
"I’m not repeating myself..." Karl said as he turned away.
Sunnie smiled. "Wait, did I hear that right? Did the great eagle apologize to me?"
"Whatever." He cleared his throat shyly, looking away.
Sunnie found herself laughing abruptly as she said, "I can’t believe it... you... you’re actually apologizing to me?"
"Why are you laughing? Forget it, then. I’m not talking to you..." He looked away.
Sunnie stopped laughing as she stared at him. "Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry. I won’t laugh again. So why are you even apologizing? I don’t think I remember..."
"I’m not talking..."
Sunnie pulled on his arm. "Please say something. Don’t stop there... please." She gave him the puppy eyes, and Karl couldn’t help his heart from fluttering.
He panicked as he felt his cheeks growing hot. He brushed her hand off as he said, "Well, I didn’t know what you’ve been through and I... I was being... being inconsiderate and all... So... I’m sorry for it all."