Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 53: Bravery

Chapter Fifty-Three: Bravery

Everything was quiet.

As Ella stood embracing Xaphile Heseroph's trembling form, she realized something. Before she'd met him, she'd always thought that males in general were weak creatures. Civilized society portrayed them to be the strong ones... they always acted tough and ran around with their chests puffed out, always boasted of themselves and their valor, but it was all show.

A farce.

When it came down to it, they were cowardly and very selfish creatures.

She'd met many a man who'd asked for her hand to gain her political position... and many a man who'd tried to act stronger than she in a strange desire to impress her. She'd never really had a desire for anything like romance or marriage because she'd seen her whole life how men treated others.

That is... until him.

He was the first.

The first boy who had ever manged to stir her cold, icy heart.

And the very moment he'd wrapped his arms around her, seeking consolation... that stirring sensation had made her chest throb painfully, because she'd known, deep down, that even if she chose him he would never accept her.

Nothing she did would matter.

She'd scarred his back, she'd scarred his heart, and because of it, all she would ever amount to was the shadow of a girl from another world, who'd been given everything she'd never had.

The knowledge of this truth made her feel like a glowing ember slowly fading to darkness, wanting to burn but lacking the will.

The rushing of wind in the trees filled her ears. His long hair swept forward, brushing against her arms like silk, and as she stood there, time was somehow still.

In the arms of a boy so shattered that it caused his entire body to tremble... she somehow felt safer than she had in years, despite being the one consoling him.

There was warmth here, but these strong arms... this touch... she knew it wasn't her own, so when he finally let go of her, she stepped back. She'd let herself bask in the superficial safety his embrace had provided, but like all dreams it couldn't last and she was fully aware of it.

She frowned when she noticed the extensive bags beneath his exotic almond-shaped eyes, looking almost as if they'd been carved into his ghostly white skin. Their journey and the stress he was keeping bottled within him was obviously taking a fairly unpleasant toll on his body.

She wordlessly lifted her hands, standing on the tips of her toes to brush the tears off his cheeks, but his gaze caught her. She could see the magic in his being just by looking at his eyes, which were enchanting and clear like the night sky above... but also like the sky, strangely vacant.

As if something within him was missing.

"Calm yourself," she murmured, watching as those catlike aquamarine irises slowly began to fade of all reflection like before. "What you saw wasn't pleasant, but we need to hold ourselves together. Now that we've breached the barrier, all that's left is to find the Primordial Sprites."

His gaze drifted to the ground.

"Thank you," he droned, lifting a hand and gently setting it on top of her head; she blinked when his claws gently slid through her hair for a moment. "I needed a hug more than you'll ever know."

After a moment, he withdrew his hand and turned to slink away, long black hair drifting on the gentle wind, but Ella's throat burned.

She opened her mouth to call him back, but she couldn't.