Chapter Text
ANAXA POV—
“Hard pass.”
“Are you sure? It’ll mean a lot to me!”
Anaxa lets out a soft breath of air. For the last few days, Hyacine has been trying to convince him to attend her schools annual university fair. As a professor, he would’ve immediately agreed to attending… had Hyacine not mentioned that Aglaea had already agreed to come with her as well. Of course, he doesn’t want to show his disdain so clearly… but he also can’t stand the idea of being near that wretch.
“Your mother is coming with you, isn’t she? If you have any questions, you can ask me after.”
“I suppose, but don’t you think it’d be better if you were there…?”
His face scrunches up slightly. He feels as though she’s trying to back him into a corner. She knows he has nothing better to do, she asked him well in advance if his calendar was free that day, and he had told her yes— not knowing what for or who would be there. He can’t suddenly lie through his teeth and say he’s busy.
“Hyacine, don’t push. I’ll think about it.”
He hadn’t missed the way her brow had furrowed at his words, a few complicated emotions crossing her face. However, she nodded in compliance.
“…I understand. I’ll see how you’re feeling later.”
She turned away to retreat to her room, and left him to his thoughts. Sighing, he looked back down to the book which he had been previously been occupied with— reading the spine absently. He was hardly in the mood for any light reading now, his thoughts now muddled by his (former) family.
Hyacine… he’s happy for the time he can spend with her, she’s his daughter after all. His own flesh and blood. However, even after all these years, he still sours when he sees THAT woman come to get her after a week.
Aglaea… his highschool sweetheart and former wife.
Once upon a time, he had been a student himself, attending school in Okhema just as Hyacine is now. At the time, he had a heated rivalry with Aglaea. It was less of an academic competition, but rather, one to see how would get the last laugh among the two. The both of them were stubborn, too much so. He had hated her; her pride, her reservation, her pragmatism, how hot she was.
Naturally, the next step was to get together. In a moment of weakness, he had admitted that she had earned his trust. Respect, even. But perhaps his heart was misguided. Or maybe it was too soon. But even after years of marriage and the birth of Hyacine, arguments became commonplace once more. Nights felt as though the biting back and forth was ceaseless. Just like he once had when he was younger, he could no longer stand to even look at that woman.
So, without regret, he had signed the papers which cut them off from each other. Each of them were in a good place, and each of them had their own time to be with their daughter. Hyacine must’ve been too young to remember it at the time, so there hasn’t been a single moment of her life where’s she’s seen the two of them get along.
A part of him feels regret for having to subject poor Hyacinthia to his own drama.
Anaxa swore to himself— never again would he allow his heart to make any decision. It thinks without reason.
“…Ah.”
He blinks, it seems he zoned out. He glances over at the clock— it’s evening. He has yet to eat anything, it might lift his mood to have something. Not that he’s upset over Aglaea of all people, of course.
He lifts himself up from his chair, leaving his book on the desk among randomly strewn papers. In silence, he makes his way over to the kitchen. At this time of day, the house is deafeningly quiet, and he would spend his time on the kitchen rather mindlessly. Once upon a time, it hadn’t been like that. Him, Aglaea, and a young Hyacine…
At the time, he had been the one to do the cooking more commonly. Having had to learn after the passing of his sister. He had enjoyed teasing Aglaeas attempts at cooking, usually burnt black. It was… hardly her forte, but he didn’t mind. He would cook for the two of them, and she would watch over Hyacine. That had been their special routine, until—
He snaps out of his thoughts once more, letting out a sigh as he rubs his face with his hand. He’s getting far too distracted, and this is more than normal. He doesn’t usually find himself thinking of the past so much— when he was more naive, when Hyacine was younger, and when…
He was in love with Aglaea.
The thought makes his face twist in slight disgust. No, he had gotten over her a long time ago. He’s single now as a choice. He’s married to knowledge. He doesn’t need that woman to be happy. And he will die on that hill.
Aglaea means nothing to him.