TRISTAN:
I cupped my head on my palms. When I first heard the king’s confessions, I couldn’t swallow his words too. I couldn’t believe that I once wanted to hurt my own brother so badly as well as the woman I loved so much in the world.
“Tristan, are you alright?...”
It was Samalah. I half-thought she had already followed Kaist to comfort him, but she was still here, her eyes full of unspoken pity.
“Go ahead and come after him… Your mate needs you the most right now,” I said.
Samalah did well by letting me tell Kaist the whole story behind our revenge from beginning to end. She must have really fallen for him considering that she never made any hateful remarks against his father and Talandor, like she used to.
“You’re right… My mate needs me.” Just then, Samalah moved beside me on the long couch. “Why did you tell Kaist the truth? I can see you have been hurt as much as Kaist to reveal it, so why?...”
“I… I don’t want to contin
KAIST:Upon learning that our guest have regained consciousness, Dahlia and I went back inside Sir Morland’s abode to hear his story.I remember Sir Casior Willfrey from when I was young. He was always part of the peace talk council that met with my father.To think that he was someone very close to Livia, that he had known my sister and brother all along while I remained ignorant of their existence for the past nineteen years made my heart even sadder.When we got there, Sir Casior was being propped by Sir Morland into a semi-sitting position. He was sweating a lot. He didn’t seem to look like the haughty and elegant knight that he was from the my memory.“I greet the sun of Talandor, Prince Kaist,” he said, bowing down formally at me.“Sir Casior, I don’t know if you are already aware, but Prince Kaist is Livia’s twin brother. He is worried about her and our mother… Can you also tell them wh
KAIST: “Wait, your majesty, shouldn’t you first talk this out with us,” Tristan Abell said. “There’s no need to talk about this. I’ve made my decision,” I answered. I still hadn’t fully accepted the fact that this man might be my brother. My hate for him and what he did to Dahlia and I still loomed fresh in my heart. “Your majesty, Tristan is right… Please reconsider it,” Dahlia said, holding me gently by the arm. “What is there to talk about?” Does Dahlia not know what the Apricus king and Count Jeteris demand me to do? Does she not realize her life is at risk? “Prince Kaist, Livia is also my sister. I have the right to discuss what needs to be done in order to rescue her!” I finally snapped. “And what do you propose to do? Do you want to take Dahlia to them?” “That’s not what I am saying. If we could extract the spirit stone from Dahlia, we could just give the stone to them. There’s no need to give Dahlia in e
DAHLIA:I could only blink after hearing Kaist’s words.My father is coming to meet me tonight. Why was it so soon?“Then I will be leaving Camdress very soon?”“Yes... A little later, when everyone is asleep.”So this was Kaist’s grand plan? He was willing to wage war for me, but he wanted me to escape from here and come safely back to the Capital.I couldn’t hold my opposing thoughts at bay anymore.“This is… Isn’t this just plain cowardice, your highness?”Kaist only peered at me with a plain look in his eyes. “I guess so.”“Is that it? Is that all you’ve got to say? You are determined to make the people here prepare for battle while you plan for me to escape? Is that even fair?”“Dahlia, tell me what’s more unfair… I had lost my father during this journey. Everything shifted away from me... The o
DAHLIA:It was a long shot plan, but I was desperate…“Alright, Dahlly. Let’s take a walk.”It was a breezy night, and the full moon perfectly illuminated the path near the town walls that we took.“I remember you used to like taking long evening walks,” Kaist remarked. We had stayed silent since I had asked him to walk with me. Perhaps he too was having a hard time parting with me today.“That’s right. Walking clears my head. It seemed like my troubles would disappear when I take a long leisurely walk like this. But Kaist, didn’t you also like walking?”“Umm, yes and no…”“Yes and no? What do you mean?”“I only liked taking walks because you loved it, and I always wanted to be the one who walks beside you when you’re sad…”I had almost forgotten Kaist’s confession about feeling the fated mate bond b
DAHLIA:Our fated mate bond was still working. I could sense Tristan near me despite not seeing where he actually was.He must have used his Shadow Rune magic to stay invisible. I’m glad too that he was there. Finding him now would be the least of my worries.It looked like he was utterly confused when I put Kaist to sleep. I immediately told him my proposition.“The red ruby – I have it. If you take me to Laudicia on the appointed time, we can stop this war.”His eyes went round with surprise, and then shortly after, it slated into suspicion.“What do you mean, Samalah? How did you get the red ruby from Dahlly?”“It doesn’t matter,” I said, dismissing Tristan’s idea. I did not have time to invent an alibi anyway. “The important thing is I got it, and if we can deliver it to the Apricus king, we can stop this madness.”“But this is not madness! Kaist
TRISTAN:I looked at Samalah’s eyes as it rounded in fear. This wasn’t like her… The Samalah I knew didn’t show fear in this manner…So, who was this? Who was this new person before me?Yesterday, as Sir Casion confessed everything he had been through and the reason why I was able to find him in the forest, it occurred to me that our enemies had always been one step ahead of us.Count Jeteris knew that Kaist would be led to Laudicia in pursuit of his family, and the Blasted Ones must have had a strong hunch that Dahli and I would be journeying to the plains of Laudicia to extract the spirit stone from her.So in essence, everything felt a little bit premeditated…I looked at Samalah at that point – the only person capable of creating a grand scheme like this. She wanted everything in Talandor to fall down into ruins even at the expense of bringing harm to Dahlia…She would be the per
DAHLIA:Of all the times he would ask for the truth, I didn’t know why Tristan was picking this moment…I wanted to go to Laudicia. No, I needed to go to Laudicia. I cannot come back to Camdress and ask someone else to help me go there lest I encounter papa, and he’d recognize me…I have no other choice but to enlist Tristan’s help to get there.So now, I had no choice but to hide the truth from him too… And yet, despite my dilemma, why was my heart yearning for him to recognize me?“If I… If I tell you I’m not who you think I am, would you believe me? If I tell you I’m really not Samalah, would you take me for a fool or believe my words wholeheartedly,” I blundered even before I could stop myself.His eyebrows shot up in curiosity. “So who are you? If you are not Samalah then who are you?”Sweat began to pour down generously on my back once more…
TRISTAN:“What kind of question is that?”I had known Samalah since we were children. We grew up together. How can she ask me such a silly question?“I know you did… You had only come to like me based on what you see, right?... You haven’t given much thought about liking me for me…”Samalah… Wasn’t she the one who told me I shouldn’t like her? She said she’d never like me back, and that love is nothing but a silly, fleeting illusion… She told me that our bodies are only meant for pleasure and nothing more…Seeing her cry like this, I couldn’t tell her to recall all those things that she had said.Actually, she had been breaking the rules she had set upon herself as of lately, and this included raising a child.She had a very hard childhood, and the real reason she studied potions and spells was to make sure she never conceived a child.Sama