novelraw Chapter 397: Confirmation and assurance [2]
Chapter 397: Confirmation and assurance [2]
"I want you to know." Coco said, her eyebrows pinching together. "But you have to tell me the truth, too."
Jacques blinked, nodding her head slowly because even though she doesn’t know what Coco meant by what she just said, she wants to assure her that she would say nothing, but the truth.
"Did you hate Coco Hughes?" Coco asked, her hands squeezing Jacques’ in an attempt to calm herself down.
"The Coco Hughes before you." Jacques answered almost immediately. "I don’t hate her, but I didn’t want her near me or Renaldo.. She was bad news."
"Oh.. So you’re okay with me now?" Coco felt a sigh of relief escaping through her nose and it took her a moment before she realized what she had just done. "I mean, I try not to become like her and change so I’m just asking if you’re okay with me."
"Of course." Jacques smiled and laughed, her voice dripping with warmth. "You were far like her— you’re the best Coco I could ever ask for."
"Does this mean that you believe me to be a different person who came from a different world?" Coco finally asked the question she wanted to ask the moment Jacques started talking and Jacques reaction gave her another relief.
The pink haired woman nodded her head and shifted in her spot, now kneeling in two knees and holding Coco’s both hands. "I actually believed you when you first said it."
Then she paused, a look of hesitation crossing her face. "But.. I thought.. What if you were playing a trick on me? So I ended up questioning everything that had happened so far.. And yes, in the end, I believed you."
Coco stared at Jacques, her mind now hardening her resolve, but there was still some doubt that she can feel deep inside.
So, to clear away the doubts, she asked another question.
"Are you a noble?"
The question came out before she could think about it because deep down, she had always wondered Jacques’ social status.
"I was." The kneeling woman answered. "But I left the house with Joachim because noble life isn’t just for us.. Our youngest sister will inherit the title instead and in exchange, we wouldn’t go to them for any help."
"You.. Don’t get along with the youngest?" Coco couldn’t help, but ask, her curiosity slightly lighting up the atmosphere between them.
"It’s not like I don’t.. It’s our father who we don’t get along with." Jacques sighed deeply, shaking her head. "His belief is hardly humane in my opinion so when he wanted me to inherit his title, I refused."
Coco flashed her a small smile then asked. "How about Coco Hughes’ mother— I mean, my mother? Do you know her?"
"About her.. Did you know that she has eyes all over the village?" Instead of answering Coco’s question, she retorted back another question. "Did you know that some of them work directly under the Baroness?"
Coco shook her head, her body tensing from what she had just heard, but she stopped and slowly nodded her head.
"Kairo and Drishti told me that the Baroness sent them.. Oh, and Chief Salamandara, too." Coco listed the people she knew in her mind, saying their names aloud.
"Chief Salamandara assured me that she won’t report anything revealing to the Baroness.. But I don’t know if I can trust her fully." Coco hummed, the tension in the air between are now completely cleared and was now replaced with a comfortable one.
"Is that why she gave us a permit slip before we received Sinclair’s invitation?" Jacques blinked, a look of realizing slowly dawning on her face.
"She just told us that we needed to get out of the village.. We didn’t know that it was because she was helping us.." She mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing in worry. "We passed by a wagon on our way to the transportation port, but we thought it was nothing."
"What..?" Coco’s hands tightened on Jacques’. "Does that mean Ruby and others are in danger?"
"Rey and Kairo left for Dilitrix Castle." Jacques was quick to assure Coco and elevate her worry. "Then, Ruby and her kids went to Yscehill Village for a vacation— well, probably under the guise of a vacation."
"That’s a relief." Coco breathed out and shook her head. "I haven’t paid any mind to Coco’s mother since I got here, but it seems like I need to be careful of her now, too."
"Right.. About that.."
"What?" Coco perked up, her eyes darting to look at Jacques’ face.
"We’re planning to leave the village and stay here." Jacques started and shot Coco a shaky smile. "I don’t want Renaldo to feel threatened so I’m going to protect by bringing him here.. We packed our bags without the thought of coming back."
"Oh.." Coco mumbled, frowning.
"Where are you two going to stay? How about Joachim? Mrs. Tani? Jonathan?" Coco asked questions after questions, her previous worry about her revealing the truth to Jacques vanishing in an instant.
"Joachim and Koa will be staying here.. For now, but they are planning to move to Archensheen instead." Jacques’ said, pausing for a moment.
"Jonathan.. Well, we’re planning to court him so we can protect him from your mother if anything happens." She decided to just tell Coco what she was planning for Jonathan’s safety.
"You like him?" Coco blinked, not expecting the news.
Jacques wasn’t expecting such a normal reaction from Coco, but she laughed, pleased that she made Coco upset. "Yes, we like him."
"Renaldo likes him, too?" Coco’s follow-up question made Jacques giggled.
"Yes, he does like him— much more than I like Jonathan I believe." The pink haired woman smiled, the laughter dying down slowly.
"Look.. What I’m saying is, no matter who or what you are.. I’m here." She squeezed Coco’s hands again to emphasize her promise. "I don’t care who you have as your enemy. I’ll do my best to help you and protect both your and my loved ones."