Relief subtly washed over Isola’s face as his killing intent subsided and her body relaxed. Her gaze held a curious blend of uncertainty and a grim determination while still trying to compose herself after digesting all those memories she saw.
“You…You are the dead Hunter named the Golden Prince, or…you once was?” Isola asked with a trembling gaze as she added in a low voice, “I am asking…because I still can’t believe a dead Hunter is standing before me in the body of an alien demon,” Isola expressed her disbelief as she exhaled. She felt him being an alien was somehow related to all this.
Asher, having suppressed his killing intent, now had a solemn demeanor. He looked at Isola, a fathomless depth hidden in his seemingly chilly eyes.
“It seems you’ve seen more than you should have,” Asher admitted. His voice was not accusatory, but there was an undercurrent of regret. His past was a locked chest, buried deep within his consciousness, a Pandora’s box that should have stayed closed. But now it was open, the contents laid bare for Isola to see.
He immediately asked right after, “What exactly did you see?”
Isola drew in a deep breath, her eyes reflecting the turmoil of emotions stirring within her. Her voice, when it came, was thick with the weight of what she had seen, her words like individual drops of water, each carrying a piece of a tempestuous sea.
“I saw… many things,” she started, her gaze distant as she found herself lost in the echoes of the past, “You as a child… The death of your mother… caused by the woman you are married to…It was… dreadful,” her voice was barely above a whisper as she recalled the horrifying image of a young boy watching his mother take her own life.
But what she never expected was that Queen Rowena, the woman he was married to and seemingly had feelings for, was the one who was responsible.
Her gaze hardened then, shifting from the distant past to the man standing before her, “Then…I saw a man… named Cedric. Bloodied and defeated, surrounded by Hunters who were people he trusted and loved. The shock, confusion, and pain in his eyes… That was you, wasn’t it?”
Asher took a deep breath but didn’t say anything, though his silence and the heavy look in his eyes spoke volumes.
The final revelation tumbled from her lips, as chilling as the abyssal depths she called home, “But that wasn’t even the end… another terrible and cruel thing I saw was the alien soulless demon boy being tortured in the most protected castle of these lands, unable to even let out a whimper…Even if your soul wasn’t in that body all those years, you still…experienced those years of pain…didn’t you?”
Asher’s gaze darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes as he listened to Isola recount the years of torment he had undergone. For a brief moment, the cold indifference that colored his demeanor seemed to waver, the facade crumbling to reveal the traces of a soul that had been battered and bruised over time.
He took a step back, as if distancing himself from the painful memories that Isola was dredging up. His hand unconsciously clenched into a fist, the phantom sting of long-past wounds throbbing in his heart.
“Now that you know all this…you very well know I can’t let anyone learn about this…” he said, his voice taking on an icy edge. The tension in his tone was palpable, but it was quickly overshadowed by a wave of small relief that washed over him.
Despite the pain that was brought back to the surface, Isola had not mentioned seeing anything about his Ring of Damnation, nor did she see any other memories of his life.
At least that remained his secret for what it was worth.
Isola’s gaze remained steady, a cool counterpoint to Asher’s icy intensity.
“I’m not a threat, Asher,” Isola began, her voice infused with an unwavering certainty that belied the fraught situation, “I’m not planning to exploit your secrets. What I saw… what I felt… it wasn’t meant to be.”
Asher didn’t say anything but crossed his arms as he kept staring into her eyes as if trying to read her soul.
A soft sigh escaped her lips seeing how he was still unconvinced, “I don’t wish to cause you harm. I stumbled into your past without intention. Even if you have taken advantage of me in the past and caused my people to lose the war, you also didn’t treat me or my people like prisoners of war, no matter the reason. You also happen to be Callisa’s companion. So…even if I don’t like you, I won’t expose you, at least for Callisa’s sake. Because if something happens to you, you know very well she would never be the same and might end up like Drogor.”
After living in the Bloodburn Kingdom for the past month, Isola learned a lot of things about not only the surface world but about the kingdom as well.
And one of the things she learned was that the strongest dragon of the Bloodburn Kingdom, named Drogor, had never left its cave for over 500 years.
Everyone knows it was because its companion, who was the Bloodburn King at that time, had died in battle before its eyes. The death of its master left it broken, refusing to serve anyone else and resigning to die of old age.
Isola already knew how important the connection to one’s companion was, but hearing about Drogor only made her dread about such an unfortunate thing happening to Callisa who was also a baby.
In the face of Isola’s soft-spoken assurance, Asher’s countenance remained impassive, a cold statue carved from glacial ice.
“Callisa,” Asher finally broke the silence, his voice like a crisp winter’s wind. His dark yellow eyes locked onto Isola’s, their depths gleaming with an unreadable mix of skepticism and veiled curiosity, “I see…” Asher calmed down after realizing there were a lot of mutual interests between them for her to do anything to hurt him, just like she said.
His gaze then shifted to the colossal form of Callisa, who was still cowering while stealing timid glances at him. The slightest twitch of his lips might have been interpreted as an apologetic smile, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
“I can’t rely on your words alone, Isola. But I hope you understand the weight of what you’ve seen, what you now know. And for not only Callisa’s sake but for the sake of your people, I hope you’ll keep to your word,” His tone bore the gravity of a thinly veiled threat, a chilling reminder of the dire consequences should she break her promise.
His eyes, void of trust but glittering with a sharp intuition, returned to meet Isola’s once more, “Just remember, I always repay my debts… one way or another,” Saying so, he slowly turned around, silently staring ahead.
Isola listened to Asher’s veiled threat, her sapphire blue eyes meeting his gaze unflinchingly as he turned around. She knew the fate of her people rested in his hands and may end up in a worse state if their fate, including hers, ends up in someone else’s hands.
She wanted to say that he had no need to threaten her since she had already made up her mind.𝑜𝗏xt.𝗇t
But after seeing all those memories, she nodded silently, knowing that no matter what she said now, he would only trust what he saw with his own eyes.
Staring at his heavy back, she still found it surreal that a person who had gone through all that could still keep standing without getting completely broken.
However, she now realized why he overreacted like that about the prophecy she mentioned the first time in the belly of the Kraken and again right before he fell unconscious in the castle.
Because of a prophecy passed down in the human world, his own people turned against him and killed him despite the fact that he had just saved them all and the entire world.
His sacrifices, his love, and his commitment to saving them all were returned with a cruel blow of betrayal and death.
And another thing that shocked her was the kind of person he originally was. Beneath all his coldness, deviousness, and bloodthirst, she now knew a different side of him existed. A kind, loving and honorable side that was forced to endure a pain she could hardly imagine.
She took a slow step forward and asked softly, “Do you know…how you died and came to be here?”
Asher silently shook his head without shifting his gaze.
Isola remained silent for a few moments before looking up at him, “I know even if you were once a Hunter, you have now dedicated your life to getting justice for what happened to you, no matter the means or how unfair that might be to others.”
Asher furrowed his brow as he knew she must probably realized that he was using everyone and anything possible for his path to revenge. But he continued to remain silent, waiting to see what she was trying to say.
The silence stretched between them, humming with the weight of unspoken understandings, before it was broken by Isola. Her voice was soft but firm, tinged with the gravity of the situation, “In this world, everyone has a price to pay, even if you have already paid too much,” she began, her gaze never wavering from Asher.
Her sapphire eyes bore into his icy ones, brimming with unflinching resolve, “I understand your hunger for vengeance, the need to right the wrongs done to you, and I can’t say you are completely unjustified in your methods. But it does not excuse you from using the lives of others as mere tools for your retribution. Tools that have nothing to do with your pain and have pains of their own. But fine…I can’t really stop you from doing that, nor do I have a right to.”
A soft gust of wind swept past them, echoing the seriousness of her words, “So I propose a deal, Asher. I will help you in your pursuit of justice. I will lend you my strength, even my people, if necessary.”
Isola paused, letting her words sink in before continuing. “But in return, I want your promise. Promise me that you will not exploit Callisa or my people for your own gains in a way it would cause their ruin. They have had their own share of suffering, and I believe we can be more helpful to you if we are sincere towards each other.”
A faint cold smirk briefly graced Asher’s lips at Isola’s proposal. His dark yellow eyes glinted with an unreadable emotion as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back slightly.
He slowly turned towards her, his gaze never leaving hers as he leaned his face towards hers, their eyes just mere inches away from each other, “Do you realize that if I agree…It means you will have to let me ‘exploit’ you?” He asked, his lips curving into a cold smile.