Chapter 97 - A Whirlwind Romance

"Do tell," Madeline said to him.

"What do you mean? I already told you Cornelia and I were madly in love. What more do you want me to tell you?"

"You said 'were'," Madeline pointed out. 

"Eh, it's complicated," Emilio admitted.

Madeline told him, "I have a lot of time on my hands. Go ahead."

"Didn't you have something you wanted to say beforehand?" Emilio asked.

Madeline shook her head, "You and Cornelia sound way more interesting than anything I'd have to say." 

Besides, Madeline sensed something in its midst. 

Something Emilio was hiding from her. 

'What are you refusing to tell me, Emilio?' Madeline wondered. 

Did this have something to do with his actual feelings towards her mother? 

'Feels weird calling Cornelia my mother,' Madeline admitted, pursing her lips. 

'Then again, just because she gave birth to me doesn't mean she's automatically my mother.'

Madeline reminded Emilio that he didn't have to tell her anything, it was optional. If it was too personal to share, then he could keep it to himself. 

Emilio told her, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that…"

He racked his brain for a reason. 

There was no reason for him not to tell her anything. 

"That what?" Madeline inquired. 

"Err."

Emilio wondered how to put his whirlwind romance story into words, and if Cornelia thought of it differently.

Did she consider their love story nothing? 

Was that why she was able to move on so effortlessly? 

'Oh, who am I to assume? I don't know what actually happened. But… Cornelia wouldn't just abandon me and Madeline. That's cruel.' 

He'd never get over it.

Over Cornelia's cruel actions. 

Or had she turned heartless over the years? 

Had all her emotions disappeared? 

What, did she have some brand new, perfect family with someone else?

Emilio felt a pang of jealousy in his heart. 

All the time he had spent in that cave, he had never thought of that. The possibility Cornelia had left him for her new and improved family that didn't consist of a miserable killer that was confined to a cave for centuries as a lover and their lovechild. 

'Miserable killer.' 

What Emilio thought of himself. And lovechild, as in Madeline.

God, how could Madeline be dragged into this messy situation? 

Out of all families, she had him as a father and her as a mother. Fate couldn't have been crueler in Emilio's eyes. That was their biggest mistake. 

Meanwhile, he was proud of Madeline. 

Proud she had grown up with morals. He didn't want her following his path.

What was fate thinking, pairing her up with Xavier and making Cornelia and him her parents?

It was all connected to one another.

The one person Emilio blamed for his imprisonment and losing Cornelia was the one person Madeline was destined to spend the rest of her life with. 

Ironic. 

But, then again, Xavier had also done him a great favour. 

Come to think of it, Madeline would've never been here had he not been spared. She'd have never existed. 

Xavier wouldn't have a soulmate, Cornelia would've never had their lovechild, Emilio would've never been able to meet and spend time with his daughter, and many others. 

Briar would lose her friend. 

Indiana would've never gotten demoted, and she would've been able to join the hunt. 

The world would've turned out differently without that one action Xavier had performed. 

Sparing Emilio? That was what started this all.

That was why he was in an unlocked hut, sitting across from his daughter with the hut wall separating the both of them from seeing each other's faces. 

Emilio wondered if Cornelia had something to do with Madeline's fate.

She was practically omnipotent, and she was powerful.

But was she powerful enough to alter and or assign someone's fate? Was the supreme sorceress capable of such a daunting feat?

As powerful as she was, Emilio doubted so. 

She couldn't have anything to do with Xavier and Madeline mates, right?

If she had, Emilio wondered if she had done it to protect Madeline or to spite him. 

So after they met and after he figured out who she actually was, he couldn't hurt her because they were mates.

Not to mention, making Xavier Madeline's mate was a blow to Emilio - his ego especially.

Emilio's daughter, mates with Xavier? Back in the day, people would've found this hilarious. 

Now? Since it was the truth, it was anything but hilarious. 

Was Emilio okay with Xavier and Madeline being mates?

Honest answer? No, he wasn't.

For eons, Emilio wanted to inflict harm on Xavier. Make him feel the same pain he felt being trapped for centuries, even if Xavier did him a huge favour, sparing him. 

At the time he was spared, Emilio didn't recognize it as a blessing in disguise.

Now he did. All it took was hundreds of years.

"I said it was complicated for a reason," Emilio said to her.

Mainly, it was his ego preventing him from telling her everything. 

Oh sure, like any normal father would tell their daughter their mother abandoned him, left him for dead and never cared to check up on him, and that he had no idea how she came to exist. 

After everything Madeline had to find out, was this really the right time for her to discover that out as well?

Emilio wondered if he was supposed to be the right person she should hear this from. It was either him or… 

…Xavier? Oh no, definitely not him. 

Dragging Xavier in any situation was a huge no. To Emilio, especially. 

Hmm, speaking of Xavier, did he know anything about Cornelia?

After all, he was Eudora's great alpha. 

Yes, Cornelia was a master at hiding herself if she wanted to keep herself hidden and untrackable. 

But Xavier could easily find her. 

Emilio lost to a worthy opponent. 

Xavier could easily track her down, Emilio was sure of it. 

Then again, things were better staying the way they already were. 

Cornelia being found and dragged back here would do nothing. 

Why was he even thinking of Xavier dragging Cornelia back here anyway? 

It had absolutely no relevance to him and Madeline's current conversation. 

Back to Madeline, she knew her time was running out. It didn't take much to figure out that nearly an hour had passed. 

From what Emilio had told her, she knew that there was something there. Something unexplainable and inexplicable. 

Maybe it was a rocky relationship. 

Or a beautiful romance story. One for the ages. 

'Yeah, I've got to stop assuming this kind of stuff every single time someone doesn't want to tell me something,' Madeline thought to herself. 

She and Emilio chatted some more, and Madeline managed to get an explanation from Emilio as to why he was so hesitant to tell her anything. 

Madeline summed everything up. 

'So basically, Emilio's ego is in the way so he can't tell me anything because of that.'

She fidgeted in her spot, murmuring something under her breath.

Emilio said to her, "You probably have to go now, huh."

"How did you know?" 

"Instincts, I guess," Emilio said. 

"You should go then," he encouraged. 

Madeline felt it was rude to leave all of a sudden. 

They were spending time together. 

And Madeline would go as far as to say they were having a moment as well. 

It was great being able to talk to Emilio even if they didn't have a proper conversation. 

Madeline reminded herself, 'Baby steps. It's a start.'

'Now, I've got to go, wouldn't want to keep Briar and Indiana waiting for me.'

Rushing to their arranged meeting spot, Madeline found Briar and Indiana already waiting for her.

"What took you so long?" Briar asked worriedly.

"We couldn't find you in your quarters," Indiana added. 

Madeline told the two of them, "Sorry about that, I was paying Emilio a visit."

Indiana seemed surprised.

"Emilio as in the ex-alpha of Eudora Emilio? Or some other Emilio?"

Briar nudged her in the shoulder, whispering to her, 'There isn't any other Emilio here.'

'Ah.' 

Indiana then asked Madeline, "So, what were you doing visiting Emilio?"

"Brought him some cupcakes and leftover wine as breakfast," Madeline explained. 

"How thoughtful," Indiana remarked. 

She wondered if Madeline knew of her father's doings, unaware that Madeline was. 

Indiana was under the impression that Madeline was left in the dark and not told anything.

Glancing at Briar, she wondered why Briar hadn't said anything about it to Madeline. 

How could she stay quiet about something like this? Did she really think keeping this from Madeline was a good idea?

Indiana considered telling Madeline the truth, although she decided it was better to test out the waters before doing anything rash again and repeating her previous mistake.

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Author's Note: Woo, three more chapters till we reach a hundred chapters for Her Devilish Alpha! Not only that, but things will get more interesting from here, I promise. 

Oh, and also, is anyone missing Xavier? What do you guys think will happen next in the story?