Chapter 198 - One Year to Fall

Darkness.

It was the only thing that served as the haven for a certain someone—away from all the screaming, the sound of death, and the scent of blood. It was his sanctuary, where the demons have rested and let him fall into a deep slumber. However, this vessel did not need to sleep, considering the soul was strong and so was the spirit. The light existed on the spirit in the body, which caused all the strain.

He didn't suffer from it before, considering his original body had no light in it. But this vessel had one. Someone who was born from this body was a person that never stained his hand nor did he have any wickedness in his heart. 

And now, the soul inhabiting this pure body was a sheer, black and tainted soul who had rested for thousands of years, waiting for the perfect vessel. But who would have thought that the Warlocks from his bloodline were reduced into nothing, and this man who was his incarnate was a boy that was softer than the king of the first king of the Gronland Kingdom?

He chuckled. He shouldn't think about things from the past—it just reminds him how painfully Nightmare had failed him. 

The Forsaken let out a sigh.

"Did you accomplish your task?"

There was a long silence—but it was much preferred. 

"There is plenty of time, yes. But finish as soon as you can." The Forsaken exclaimed. "The prophecy is waiting to be fulfilled."

He had come this long way and worked this hard just to have his revenge. Three hundred years of fighting—the last hundred was a painful yet strategic retreat. All the defeat his country bore will be nothing but a fraction of the history he was about to create.

"You are dismissed. Accomplish what I told you to do; dispose of that girl after you acquire her full trust, Nathaniel—the boy I named after the Greatest Warlock of all."

"Yes, father."

**

Elindei woke up at noon, hungry. She sat down and then winced as she felt a sting in between her thighs. Elindei stared at her body groggily, until it all sunk back to her.

That night.

"You are mine, Eli."

Concealed m.o.a.ns, and parted thighs—shriveled screams and cries.

"Eli."

"Y-yes!"

Eli blinked as her door opened, revealing Nathaniel wearing his black tailcoat.

"Good, you're awake."

Eli covered herself up as she shamelessly recalls Nathaniel's n.a.k.e.d body in her mind. He was her lover, but it was the first time that they've done it. Eli couldn't believe that she gave herself before she could even get married. Elindei turned towards Nathaniel, who didn't look frazzled in even a bit. In fact, there was no emotion in his eyes—just sheer indifference, like before.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Elindei asked. "I feel like my h.i.p.s and my back had been—" 

Elindei's cheeks reddened, remembering a scene. Something that she didn't know he could do.

"Miss Eli?"

"W-why are you the one here?" Eli then lifted the blanket a little higher atop her chest. "Why aren't there maids?"

"Why, you say?"

Before Eli could speak, his lips found hers.

"Nathaniel…"

Elindei stared dizzily as Nathaniel, her butler—the young man she found on the streets—

A Heilen—

—kiss her once more. He sucked on her tongue and then glided his on her mouth. Elindei let out a m.o.a.n, pushing him a bit.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Nathaniel's ruby-colored eyes stared straight at her.

"But we're lovers, aren't we?"

Elindei bit her lips, blushing profusely. "B-but it's still so early in the morning…"

"It's noon,"

"Still!" Elindei buried herself on her knees. "I—"

"Miss Eli!"

Elindei's eyes widened as she pulled the blanket over her head. She then heard the head maid come into the room.

"The Duke's son… he's here!" The head maid exclaimed in pleasure. "Lucas Feuerlon, your betrothed, has paid you a visit!"

**

"Lady Eli, maybe you could try to smile…" 

Elindei's maids have been telling her that over and over again. She had just finished bathing and dressing up, but she hasn't eaten one bite of food. All she was looking forward was the cookies and the pastries in her teatime with Lucas, but other than that, there was nothing else. 

She reached a gazebo where Lucas was waiting. Upon making eye contact, he immediately sauntered his way towards Eli and then curtseyed a bow. Eli wanted to make an indignant eye roll, but she stopped herself by closing her eyes and gracefully bowing herself as well.

"Please accept this, Lady Eli. As a token of my love." Lucas exclaimed, giving Eli a bouquet of fresh roses.

The maids behind her squealed in silence. 

Elindei accepted the flowers, just to be polite. After all, Lucas was still the Duke's son. He was a step above her, and the Feuerlons, unlike the Feuerfalkes, have closer blood ties to the royal family.

In short, Lucas was an important figure in the empire.

--

They went to have the noble's usual routine—sitting down by the chair, drinking tea, and talking about the weather and the like. The servants simply watched from afar as Lucas and Elindei talked to each other. 

Unlike before, when Eli was still an adolescent, she doesn't really look at Lucas with much level of enthusiasm like before. Elindei cringed, remembering her dark past. Back then she would cling to Lucas and then call him her betrothed. He didn't like it then, but now, he could be comparable to a dog. 

"Lucas,"

"Yes, Eli?"

Elindei sighed.

"Don't you want to call off the engagement?"

Elindei finally let it out—it took her several weeks before she could utter these words.

"I don't," Lucas simply answered.

"Look, Lucas. If your family would want to get a portion of the port, we could come up with an agreement. Marriage could be avoided considering we're—"

"No," Lucas exclaimed. "I don't want to break off the engagement."

"Why?" Elindei clenched her fist. "You don't love me. What's making you do this? Are you avoiding another engagement offer? If you are, you can just tell them you have a lover—"

"But I love you, Eli!"

Eli blinked.

"What?"

Lucas clenched his fist.

"I love you, Eli." Lucas stared at Elindei with only sheer sincerity in his emerald eyes. "I love you, more than anything else."

Elindei's heart thumped painfully against her chest as she stares at the young man that she once loved. She loved him for years of her childhood and teenage years, yet now, why now of all times?

"I—"

"You have no lover or anyone else in your life, Eli." Lucas exclaimed. "Don't you?"

Elindei parted her lips, as a young man's face flashed into her mind. The memories of a young man in that pale moonlight, and then another image showed—his black hair and rubicund eyes.

"I… no…" Eli answered.

"Then what's stopping you, Eli? Am I not good enough?" Lucas asked.

Eli's eyes darted at Lucas. His platinum-blond hair and emerald eyes were one of the traits that were glorified and almost worshipped across the empire. His bright personality, as well as his merits, were worth more than any other. He was Lucas Feuerlon, one of the top mages in the entire empire, the duke's son, and a lady's man. Marrying him wouldn't be exactly bad—and Elindei knows he will make a wonderful husband.

Yet…

Her heart and body may have belonged to someone else now.

Lucas ambled his way towards Eli, and then knelt down.

Elindei's eyes widened. "L-Lucas, stand up." Elindei then glanced at the maids, who immediately made their exit.

"You can't bow down to me like that. You're the duke's son! What if rumors spread?" Elindei asked. She was too exhausted to act proudly in front of Lucas right now, and him making these kinds of gestures made her want to hold back for a while.

Lucas then wrapped his arms around Elindei's waist and then buried his face on her stomach.

Eli's eyes widened as her face began to turn bright red.

"L-Lucas!" Elindei then pushed Lucas' head away from her, but she figured she didn't have the strength. Her fingers were trembling, and her heartbeat was erratic.

Lucas, noticing her reaction, grinned sheepishly.

"Are you ticklish?" He asked. "But we used to do this as children."

Elindei's eyes widened. "What—ah! Hey!" Elindei began to laugh. "Stop it, it's weird!" She said, pushing Lucas' face away from her belly.

Lucas pulled away, but his arms were still wrapped around Eli's waist. He then leaned to Eli, with his head turned sideways.

"Eli, I'm sorry for acting like a cretin back when we were kids," Lucas said. "I know there's no excuse I can come up with, so I'm just sorry. I know I wronged you."

Elindei stared down at Lucas.

"I know you want to call off the marriage because you've got enough of me." Lucas said. "But… three years on the academy changed me. I know that because I've missed you so bad—and all the merits I've earned is to prove that I am worthy. I am worthy of an Elindei Feuerfalke."

Elindei parted her lips as Lucas hugged her tight.

"This time, for sure, I'll earn your love." Lucas exclaimed. 

"Lucas, I—"

"A year," Lucas asserted. "Give me a year. And if, by then, you wouldn't fall for me, I'll end my engagement with you."

Elindei sighed. 

A year.

That was more than enough for her.

She then, unconsciously, reached to stroke Lucas' soft, platinum locks.

"Alright." Elindei said. "Just a year."

**

Unbeknownst to Elindei and Lucas, a pair of red eyes are watching them from afar—and that person was emanating a strong black magic, but is concealed from Lucas' radar.

--

"Nathaniel,"

"Your soul does not harbor the sin of Greed for nothing."

--

He clenched his jaw as his hand found the surface of a pillar; and as he curled his fingers to clutch the concrete, it started to break into smithereens.