Alicia fell back into Zeres’ protective circle of arms after expanding the effort on moving forward to give him that kiss. That move sapped almost all of the remaining strength that she had in her. Her eyes were beginning to falter, and her vision got blurrier as she continued to c.a.r.e.s.s his face. "Please... promise me you’ll end this war and live." She begged, "Promise me, Zeres. Please." Her voice was begging him.

"I... c-can’t..." He caught her hand tenderly before it slipped down and pressed it onto his cheeks, savouring the touch of her palms on his skin. His voice was almost inaudible as he kept shaking his head in small motions like a broken machine running on a loop. Though the conversation between Zeres and Alicia could not be heard, those looking on could feel their hearts breaking at the tragic sight of these two people. Just the look on Zeres’ face was enough to drive a person with a heart of stone to shed tears.

"You can... I know you can. You... you love me, don’t you?" she asked with a tiny smile and Zeres froze. Though his tears continued flowing, what Alicia just said seemed to have shaken him to his very core. Zeres did not answer but only to continue staring at Alicia with a mournful expression and the look of being heartbroken shining from his eyes.

"Answer me, Zeres –" she coughed, and a small spray of blood spurted out and stained the front of Zeres’ shirt, shocking him that he jerked a little. When he looked at her face again, blood had begun to trickle from the corner of her lips.

Zeres immediately panicked and the agony that was momentarily forgotten came back crashing into him again. And the feeling was suffocating to the point that he thought he could not breathe. It was as though a large tsunami wave had hit directly on him, and the pressure bore down directly onto his c.h.e.s.t, aiming to crush his heart into minced meat.

"Answer me..." she repeated her request and Zeres’ tears flowed harder as he pressed his forehead against hers, his tears dripping like large droplets of rain onto her tired and wan face.

"Yes..." he choked out, "yes... I love you..." He could only choke out his confession. He did not think he would be revealing his feelings to Alicia in this way. A small, wry, and crooked smile graced his lips for a few seconds.

A responding smile curved on Alicia’s now pale lips.

"Thank you," She replied. She was not a fool not to realize this possibility. No one would ever do the things he did just for anyone else, probably not even for someone they call a good friend. At first Alicia thought that it was all because of Zeres’ kindness and selflessness. That he would do the same for whoever the queen at the moment was. But all the pain and sacrifices he had suffered and borne them all silently, just to keep her alive... it was truly too much. This kind of action would only make sense if he were doing it for someone he loved dearly – and would willingly give up his life for. Alicia did not understand how he could end up falling for someone like her who only thought and cared for nothing else but her queendom and her people. As she thought about it further, she felt as though the answer was exactly right at the tip of her tongue. But as she pressed on to figure it out, it fluttered right out of her grasp like the ever-elusive butterfly. Oh well, perhaps she was not fated to know the answer in this lifetime.

And now here she was selfishly forcing him to live on even if he did not want to, for the sake of the witches. Somehow, it was so ironic that this oh-so-selfless man had fallen so badly for such a selfish queen like her.

"Don’t worry Zeres, I will always be with you..." she s.u.c.k.e.d in a breath and her gaze glanced up towards the sky before her eyelids slowly closed, "I promise..."

"A... Alicia..." Zeres called out. His voice breaking as he looked down at her. His voice was so gentle as though that even if he increased his volume a little more, it would shatter her.

When she fell limp in his arms, his world came crashing down.

"No! W-wake up! No! You can’t..."

Tears came and he wailed. "No... don’t leave me... don’t do this to me..." he hugged her as tight as he could, not caring that the sword protruding through Alicia’s heart pierced through his as well, as he pulled her flush to his body and hugged her tight.

A little farther from them, Lilith wept, knowing that Alicia had breathed her last. Kyle squatted down as well and hugged her, his eyes red rimmed and suspiciously watery.

The night was so quiet as the rain began to fall. It fell quietly as if respecting the sombre mood of the occasion, drenching them in its cold shower.

The vortex was disappearing, and demons had started to move though this time, their connection from their summoner seemed to have broken and they were now moving on their own.

Zeke was the first to make a move upon realizing what was happening with the demons. His expression remained blank and utterly unfathomable though the darkness surrounding him had intensified. The black miasma coming from his eyes and the half of his body blazed like black fire and the demons who looked like they were rejoicing that they were now freed from Zeres’ manipulation and could now do what they want while they were on the surface, now suddenly felt a paralyzing fear enveloping them. The demons who had already begun to fly out of the city froze in their tracks and looked back as well.

Even Lilith and the vampires below felt it and all of them were forced to look up towards the source of that oppressive force. All except for Zeres.

___

A\N: The update schedule of this book is twice a week every wednesday and sunday (gmt+8), minimum of 2 chapters per update.

Do check my other books while waiting. You might want to check out Spellbound. It is a story inspired by the long lost tale arc so you might like it. ^^

Hellbound Heart will be out tomorrow so please follow my reading list because you will not be able to see it in my profile yet. You can only see it in my reading list.