Under a large snow-covered tree, Michael was looking at the River town on the horizon. On his shoulder sat the baby dragon only he did not stare at the River town but stared at Gaya who was standing behind Michael tensed, her body was slightly shivering in a mix of both anger and shock.
Michael told her everything that happened after he left her at Royal land except the things that the system did. She seemed stunned hearing the events that happened in the Treacherous Ocean until she heard about the part where he Spirit walked with Lailah. When Gaya heard that, she had pretty complicated feelings arise inside her, jealousy, anger, a regret of not accompanying him into the Treacherous ocean, and murdering intent towards Lailah.
Her emotions and reactions did not surprise Michael as he was expecting this. He knew that any girl who is in love would feel exactly like her when another girl comes into the picture. Although Gaya never expressed her feelings for him, he knew she loved him, he was not oblivious to that fact but only waiting for her to tell him that she loves him.
It was one of the reasons that Michael chose not to have sex with Lailah because he wanted to be faithful to one girl, Gaya. However if what happened between him and Lailah made Gaya lose interest in him, he would not force her and hope to find his better half in the future.
"Did you know about Spirit walking?" after remaining silent and pondering about the events, Gaya asked.
"Only from the memories of Abras," He said, turning his head to look her in the eyes. Surprisingly, there was no anger in her eyes.
"Did you have any kind of feelings for that bitch?"
"If I had, I would have chosen the other method to neutralize the energies" Michael did not even take a moment to think about her question as he answered truthfully.
"Good," she said, walking towards him. When she got closer to him, closer to the point his warm breath brushed past her face. She looked him in the eyes before wrapping her hands around his neck to pull him closer to lock her lips with his.
In her kiss were the promise of years and the sweetness of waiting for real love. The kiss was not at all the same as in the movies, but one steeped in a passion that ignites. It was the promise of realness, of the primal desire that lives in us all. And with it, she told him that she is awake, connected within, that she embraces himself rather than hide as a copy of those romantic idols. There was something so heavenly about the kiss in the rain of snow, a tender moment that just wouldn't wait. It was that burst of love that is expressed, not caring if the snowflakes soak through to chill the skin. The kiss was a connection that shows the strength of the feeling, the mutual need. Nature could bring the rain of snow but their inner sunshine warmed them from within.
A few seconds after, Michael pulled her closer, slightly lifting her from the ground to show his appreciation of her. In that moment of the kiss, their chemistry became an ever-bright flame. In that kiss was the sweetness of passion, a million loving thoughts condensed into a moment.
Drops of happy tears flowed down from the corners of the baby dragon's eyes as he embraced the both of them with his stubby wings and placed his little head on their faces.
Their kiss lasted longer until they both ran out of air in their lungs.
"You are mine" her voice contained the right amount of love and killing intent to warn him that he can't run around seducing girls anymore.
"And you are mine," he said gently, giving a peck on her flushed red cheek.
"You both are mine!" The baby dragon broke the romantic moment with his protest and made the both of them chuckle at the same time. They looked at the baby dragon before they gave a soft kiss on each cheek.
The baby dragon curled up against their chest like a baby smiling and feeling the warmth of family that he never felt with his own dragon family.
Michael put his arm around Gaya's shoulder, gazing at the distance and savoring this moment in silence.
[Congratulations! Subordinate Gaya has reached 100% loyalty]
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking Mentor function level 2!]
[The host can now boost your chosen subordinate's cultivation speed by 40%]
The smile on his face grew wider hearing the notification in his mind but he did not immediately enter the system but stood with his better half etching this moment into his brain because not everything was about power as little things like this made life worth living.
"Mother, are you looking at me from heaven?" Gaya thought as she looked at the sky, tears strolled out of her eyes. She had only a few memories of her mother, she remembers her mother would say that 'There is only one happiness in life to love and be loved'
After her mother died, she never loved or was loved by anyone, even her father paid little to no attention to her because at first, he had to rule the kingdom, and then, he married another Salesi and had Xanali together.
A few weeks after he met Gaya, even without him knowing, he started to care for her as Abras's soul brought back the real Michael beneath the cold uncaring shield that he erupted to protect himself from getting hurt again after what happened to the orphanage he cared for.
His caring for her changed Gaya from within and made her feel what it's like to be cared for and loved. With him, she felt the protection of a father and the love of a mother, and the affection of a playful sibling.
Looking at the tears on her face, the baby dragon moved his claws to gently wipe off them.
"Cry baby" he giggled after wiping off her tears,
"Jerk" she flicked him on the head as a return to his snarky comment before turning her gaze at Michael.
"When will you marry me?" she boldly asked.
"After I dethrone your father and make you the queen of Nagaland," he said. It was not an excuse to delay marrying her but a promise he made to himself a moment ago. He wanted to give what she always desired, the throne of Nagaland. From now onwards, she would be his better half, his soul mate, his queen and he would give anything that his queen desires and he knew she would do the same to him.
"Then you will only get kisses from me, nothing more!" she stomped the ground, she expected him to marry her today itself but seeing the love in his promise, her heartfelt warmth.
"Oh?" she pulled her closer, "it's more than enough," he said before savoring her lips one more time.
*******************************
After leaving the place where they started the journey as each other's soul mate, they returned to Michael's home in the sect. With hot tea made by Raylene in their hands, they were laying on the sofa with the baby dragon in the middle of them.
"So did you find out who was running around pretending to be Lucifer?"
"About that, I have good news and bad news. The good news is all of the fake Lucifer's victims were sick noble sons of bitches that we would have eventually killed. The bad news is I think it's the guardians who are pretending to be Lucifer to catch the real Lucifer, us"
"Oh, how come?" Michael was surprised a bit by Gaya. If what she said was true, then it would show him that the guardians would play dirty to catch him.
"Because of this" she flicked her wrist as a portrait of a man wearing an eyepatch and a hat with feathers appeared in her hand.
"He goes by the name Quinn, he's a bandit captain wanted by many kingdoms. He has a large number of powerful beastmen under his command. A few years ago, he killed a guardian and his family which made him the priority target of the entire guild. He was hunted down by the guardians and declared dead but I saw this evil fuck alive and kicking in the forest surrounding the Royal Land"
"What's the connection?" the baby dragon asked. Michael told the baby dragon about his Lucifer persona and everything related to the Dark Lord as the baby dragon had to know to help Michael in the future.
"Those nobles who got killed by the fake Lucifer, they weren't killed in the Royal land as the Guardians and the Church is claiming, they were all killed during their travels'' After Michael left the Royal land searching for the Doctor, Gaya discreetly collected information about the killings. While she was gathering information, she learned about the security that the nobles had and wondered how did the fake Lucifer manage to kill them deceiving all the guards and security measures.
And her question was answered when she learned about each noble's schedule before they died through various means such as bribing and torturing the servants of the dead nobles without revealing her face.
She found out that all the victims had two things in common, one that all of them were killed after they traveled outside the kingdom and guessed only their bodies were brought down to Royal land to display to the people. Second, they had all done some evil deeds that deserve nothing more than a gruesome death.
She then immediately collected information to form a list of potential victims of fake Lucifer and learn about their schedule. With this information, she identified one possible victim, the cousin of Minister Gerty.
And that's where things got interesting...